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I’m Dave Williams, a writer here at DIYP and a journey photographer, author, and educator from the UK. For a few years, similar to plenty of different photographers, I labored a full-time job and shot on the aspect as a approach to fund new gear. I progressed from funding gear to fund my life, with shoppers and companions forming all through my journey. That hit a little bit of a roadblock throughout the COVID pandemic and my travels floor to a halt – I all of a sudden went from round 20 journeys a yr to zero. That’s once I determined to make my daydreams a actuality.
In March I took a hard-earned £5,000 and invested in a used Mercedes Sprinter 170 313 CDi. I spent 4 months changing it and making it precisely the best way I want it to be and now it’s my full-time lodging and off-grid, on-road workplace. The conversion wasn’t simple – I spent an evening soaking moist throughout torrential rain with a leaking roof, I modified my thoughts on batteries and water tanks mid-build – however now it’s able to roll.
The van is called Kofifernweh. This can be a mixture of the Icelandic phrase for ‘cabin’, which is Kofi, and the German phrase for ‘wanderlust’, which is Fernweh. Kofifernweh is a cabin with a need to journey.
I’ve obtained all the things I want and nothing that I don’t. Making the transition from house-life to vanlife has made me change my complete perspective on what’s essential in life. Weight and house are a real, recurring problem in what is basically a tiny house on wheels. All the pieces that goes in will need to have a function or, ideally, two or three functions. Kofifernweh has a plated weight of three.5 tonnes. I’m simply beneath that restrict and after the checklist of necessities, all the things on-board is fastidiously thought-about. Everyone knows that pictures gear might be significantly heavy, in order that’s needed to change into a part of the equation.
I’ve slimmed down my gear so I’m now carrying solely the issues I want with the intention to get the job executed. Composites and alloys have been chosen over their heavier counterparts, and the lenses, lights, and different trinkets I don’t want have been confined to storage.
The van itself has had all method of modifications to swimsuit my wants. I specialize in chilly climate pictures and this winter I’ll be heading to Lapland and the chilly, darkish north of Europe so all the best way round there’s 50mm of insulation to maintain the heat inside. This has additionally been a consideration for the identify I’ve given the van. Slightly than a van, I favor to see it as a cabin. It’s considerably nordic, is completed with wooden, and options ending touches that remind me of the locations I’m so keen on and accustomed to. The 4 seasons are represented on a cabinet door beside the double mattress which, should you have been questioning, is tremendous comfy!
On the surface too there have been plenty of adjustments to swimsuit my wants. Most notable is the paint job, which is a inexperienced, hard-wearing navy paint up prime and a rubberised, black bed-liner paint down low. Taking second place on the outside checklist might be the wheels. They’re 18-inch alloy wheels sporting Pirelli Scorpion All Terrain + tires, able to going just about anyplace together with ice and snow. I’ve plenty of lights positioned to assist me see in Arctic winters, the place hazard is round each curve. Reindeer and moose roam free, and the climate creates treacherous situations plenty of the time. It’s these treacherous situations that always make for the most effective pictures, so I must be ready for all of it.
By way of what I want with the intention to shoot and edit, I’m set. All the facility I want is saved in 200Ah Lithium home batteries that dwell within the storage space, proper subsequent to the fridge/freezer. The DC energy put out feeds, amongst different issues, all of the USB sockets dotted all through the cabin which tends to be sufficient to maintain my gadgets charged and prepared. All the pieces routes by means of a central panel hidden inside a cupboard the place all of the wires are fused and distributed all through the cabin, however there’s additionally an 1800 watt sine wave inverter which creates AC energy, similar to in our homes, so I can run different objects together with my printer.
So, right here’s what it’s all about. For the previous few years, I’ve been on the street rather a lot working as a journey photographer, author and educator. I’ve spent some huge cash on AirBNB’s and accommodations, in addition to automotive rent, flights, and different transport. Together with these bills got here time constraints in that I solely had a finite period of time at every location and due to this fact if the sunshine, climate, or different situations weren’t proper for a shot I used to be planning on getting I’d be out of luck and must quit. By shifting my private {and professional} life into my cabin on wheels I’ve been in a position to take away these bills and could have far fewer setbacks relating to these constraints. I can drive to a location. get the shot, do the writing, after which transfer on to the subsequent location with all of the planning, consuming, sleeping, and the rest I have to do already taken care of on the idea that my van is my house and my workplace.
All the pieces I’ll be doing will function on my blog and social media, and you’ll even track my progress once I set off from the UK, aiming to reach in Lapland at Christmas time.
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