About our Camper Van – Fifteen Years on the Road

I’ve had my VW T25 for more than fifteen years. Long enough that it’s stopped feeling like a vehicle and started feeling like the family pet, complete with its own name. It’s been there for countless weekends away and school-holiday escapes to France, Germany, and Spain — quietly clocking up miles while we grew up around it.

Growing Up in a Camper Van

My children have grown up with the van. Oldest child was two-years old when we bought it. My youngest was just three months old on his first weekend away. Mum was insistent our lives were not going to change with a new arrival.

As the boys got older, the trips had to change. Each weekend needed a different theme to keep things fresh. What once revolved around naps (mostly mine) and nappies slowly became about bikes, body boards, small music festivals, later evenings, open fires, and trying to find space for everyone — and everything.

What Camping With Children Teaches You

Camping with children teaches you a lot, whether you want it to, or not, as the case may be.

It teaches you to adapt, to pack smarter, and to let go of perfection — which can be the hardest lesson of all. Over the years, I’ve picked up plenty of hard-won experience. Not learned from manuals or checklists, but from real trips, missed turns, weather changes, and the quiet satisfaction of getting it right just often enough (about 51% of the time), to feel like you’re winning at life.

What This Site Is About

This site is a place to share those experiences.

Not expert advice — just honest stories from life with my VW T25. What worked, what didn’t, and what we learned along the way. From theming weekends around activities and food, to finding new ways to keep familiar trips feeling fresh.

In 2026, I’ll be writing about a year in the life of our T25. From the annual MOT in March, through to the end of summer. I’ll be sharing the rhythms of our van life: campsite stays, menus that don’t rely on bacon and bangers. Plus, thoughts on what an occasional beer or bottle of wine pairs well with as the day winds down.

It’s about slowing the pace, staying curious, and appreciating the small moments that make travelling in a VW camper something special. Or, makes it worth spending cash on the ‘money pit’.