Van Life DIY: Renault Trafic Conversion into Campervan ‘Hugo’

Campervan Hugo tells his story: Hi! I’m Hugo – at least that’s what my new owners (Johannes and Birgit) named me in the fall of 2020. I recently turned 6 years old and am an L2H1 Renault Trafic in a vibrant, life-affirming green color. I’m here to tell you all about my camper van conversion story!

I met my new family in Berlin. The young couple came all the way from Munich to check me out and see if they wanted to adopt me. Well, lucky for me, they signed the contract on the same day! Adoption costs: 9999€ – and I am worth every cent!

Barely a month later (both of them quit their jobs to take care of me full time) we drove to Karlsruhe, where Birgit’s mother and grandma live. It was very nice to meet her relatives and get to know my new extended family.

In the three months that followed, Johannes and Birgit took great care of me and took on a full-time project of van conversion to campervan. Like most people who take on a DIY project, I’m pretty sure they thought everything would be easier than it was.

But for anyone else out there who is thinking of a camper van conversion, read on to learn about their process. Maybe you’ll get some inspiration from my makeover story!

Essential Amenities for my Camper Van Conversion

Allow me to walk you through a few changes that happened during the story of my Renault Trafic camper conversion.

1. Insulation Against Heat and Cold

I was insulated with 19mm, 9mm, and 3mm Armaflex as well as sheep’s wool. After lots of research, Birgit and Johannes found out that wool is one of the best options for insulation: it insulates well against heat and cold, does not mold, and is eco-friendly (after all, it grows on sheep!).  So now, I can protect my family from heat and cold.

Johannes hard at work on the insulation

Johannes hard at work on the insulation

2. Click Vinyl Flooring

To create a liveable interior, Johannes and Birgit set about installing chic flooring. Unfortunately, the click vinyl flooring was much trickier than anticipated. Even I know that you should watch a video of how to lay vinyl flooring BEFORE trying to do it!

Birgit's mission: Move the flooring from the green grass to the green camper.

Birgit’s mission: Move the flooring from the green grass to the green camper.

 

Success! Finishing the edge of the vinyl flooring

Success! Finishing the edge of the vinyl flooring

3. A New Side Window and Skylight

In contrast with the difficult flooring installation, it was a snap to cut two new openings for my roof window and side window. That was done in just one day. I’m glad they chose high-quality Dometic windows. They even come with built-in screens and blackout blinds!

Once I got my new side window I really started to feel like a camper van!

Once I got my new side window, I really started to feel like a camper van!

4. Tigerexped Parking Heater for Winter Trips

The two decided early on that they would want to travel with me in the winter since I am perfect for a cozy retreat. For cold-weather trips, I got a parking heater from Tigerexped, which has 2 kilowatts of power.

I’m now able to heat the interior from 0 to 20°C (freezing to a comfortable room temperature) in just 10 minutes! They did all the installation themselves, aside from the gas tank tap, which was done by a pair of helpful hands from a local auto repair shop. I very much appreciate it, since the tank is one of my most sensitive components!

Autoterm Air 2D heater from Tigerexped

Autoterm Air 2D heater from Tigerexped

5. Stylish Side and Roof Panels for a Livable Interior

My side panels are made of multiplex panels that were sanded and painted white, plus 4-way stretch felt. Felting was fun for Jo & Bibs, I could tell they enjoyed it!

Luckily, felt is a forgiving material, so they didn’t have to be quite as precise as they had to be for other aspects of my van makeover. They simply applied adhesive spray to the Armaflex and pressed the felt on bit by bit.

Their oft-praised “secret weapon” was an orange peeler from Birgit’s mother’s kitchen. With it, they could stuff the felt into even the tightest cracks, and now I look nice and neat! 😉

The secret weapon: an orange peeler to help achieve a clean finish on the felt.

The secret weapon: an orange peeler to help achieve a clean finish on the felt.

My ceiling is made of 4mm-thick birch wood. Before installing, it was soaked with oil to prevent mold and keep it in good shape over the next several years.

It was the right plan in theory, however, they realized after the fact that they should have used a different type of oil. Unfortunately, my interior still has a distinct smell from the oil (even tho it is intended for living rooms!). I’m still getting used to it, but they would probably recommend a different one.

The smell is slowly fading away, and to accelerate the vaporization of the oil, they leave my closet doors open with the windows cracked whenever I’m parked.

Johannes admires my interior. My conversion from van to camper van is coming along!

Johannes admires my interior. My conversion from van to camper van is coming along!

6. Self-Sufficient Power for Camper Van Living

One of my coolest features is the 6 LEDs embedded in my ceiling- The front 3 can be switched on and off independently from the rear 3, and even from 2 different locations.

Alternate switching is the keyword here! All in all, they took great care of my electrical system. Especially Jo was very interested in this part of my camper van conversion, calculating all the cable strengths and figuring out the necessary fuses that I would need. 

Within my cozy cabin, I have a 180Ah AGM battery, a 300-Watt inverter for laptops, a 32-Liter cooler from Mobicool, a submersible pump, various USB chargers, and even a monitor so that Johannes and Birgit can hop in and travel with me while they work remotely.

The electrical heart of Hugo

The electrical heart of Hugo

And guess what – all of these devices are powered by the sun! My owners installed a 360-Watt solar panel on my roof. It’s a standard solar panel like the ones you see on house rooftops.

Johannes and I picked it up from a solar builder in the neighboring village. My owners first used industrial glue to attach 4 spoilers to my roof and then screwed the solar panel onto them.

The wires run into my interior and connect to the battery. I think it’s great that during my camper van conversion they figured out how to use the sun to generate green energy – after all, green is my favorite color!

360 W solar system on Hugo's roof

360 W solar system on Hugo’s roof

Update: Unfortunately the glue didn’t stick to the solar panel spoilers. Luckily Johannes and Birgit noticed before it was too late and dismantled the solar panel during their recent vacation in Italy.

So for now I don’t have a solar panel on my roof but Johannes and Birgit are working on a solution. Van conversion is a constant process!

In the meantime, I’m using a charge booster to charge the battery while driving. This can be switched on/off by a special switch in the driver’s compartment. Now that my interior battery cannot be loaded by the sun anymore, I’m very glad that this charge booster was installed.

Space-Saving Design Features

My interior living space is really cool and I have to say, very well thought out! It has to be, because as is the case with all camper van conversion projects, the space is limited: As a typical Renault Trafic before my camper conversion, I had about 5m² (54 square feet) of space in the living room – and a height of just 140 cm (55 inches). So it’s important to make the most out of every spare millimeter. 

Like most camper van conversion projects, I am full of hidden features and tons of practical space-saving tricks! Let me take you on a little tour of all the cool things inside 😉:

  • Funky LED sideboard with a corkboard and integrated USB charging station.
  • White cabinet wall with tons of storage space, the cabinet door is also the table. It’s made of beautiful acacia wood – for a camper van like me, fine wood is basically like fine jewelry. The external monitor is tucked behind the cabinet.
  • A camping stove that can be pulled out through a drawer, making it easy to cook outside if weather permits! Underneath that drawer is another drawer. Drawer-inception, so to speak. It serves as an additional area to cut vegetables when cooking.
Kitchen set up in a van conversion project

Drawer inception for expandable space in the kitchen

  • The entire space under the bed can be used for storage. There are 3 heavy-duty drawers + an area with space for either a folding box or a crate of beer. I’d love to say this was planned – but the fact that my humans chose these exact dimensions was pure coincidence.
  • I even have a small sink. The water comes from a 12-liter fresh water tank under the sink, flows through the kitchen faucet, and drains into the 12-liter waste water tank. By the way, the faucet can be pulled outside through the side window and used as an outdoor shower. Ideal after a strenuous hike!
  • The bed is flexible and adjustable, so it can either be used as a bench or a large bed measuring 200cmx125cm (about the size of a Full bed). If you want to sit at the table, the bed can be made into a U-shape and three people can sit.
  • The acacia cabinet door has two drive-in nuts, which allow you to screw in two large threaded bolts with feet to become the table legs. When it’s folded down, the table legs rest on a part of the bed, so it’s super stable.

The Final Touches for my Renault Campervan Conversion

My cozy interior really came together with the addition of the light gray “home-sewn” mattress (well… sewn by Birgit’s aunt – that was a 14-hour sewing marathon!).

The white curtains provide privacy and complement the white furniture and the dark brown acacia wood in the kitchen. Artificial ivy hides the electrical cables and creates a homey atmosphere.

With the ceiling lights on and a candle lit, I transform into quite a romantic little place! Seeing me now, you would hardly believe that I was once an empty Renault Trafic before my camper conversion makeover.

Bed arrangement in a camper van conversion project

DIY Van conversion project

Makeover complete! Can you believe how far I’ve come?

What’s Next for Campervan Hugo?

Originally, my new owners budgeted 2 months to convert me from van to campervan. That they overestimated themselves was clear to me from the beginning – but sometimes people have to learn the hard way!

I will probably never become a real full-time camper for the so-called ‘van life’. Even though Johannes and Birgit are very fond of each other, <5m² is a bit small for the long term.

In any case, the two had a great vacation with me this summer. We drove through Germany, Switzerland, and Italy together.

I’m not sure what our plans are for next year, but we will definitely go to the mountains for hiking or maybe a snowy getaway. If you’re interested in what the future brings for me, you can follow along at @hugo_campervan on Instagram. Maybe you’ll get inspiration for your own Renault Trafic camper conversion.

In closing, I just recently overheard a conversation that made me so happy, and I would like to share it with you. Maybe you as (future) van builders or owners see it exactly the same way:

“Hugo is our little second home and the whole world is our backyard!”

DIY Van Conversion

Top Ideas for Sustainable Travel Jobs

There are a lot of considerations that go into finding and establishing the right career. Often this is about identifying what job meets your highest personal and values-led priorities in life.

You may be one of the increasing numbers of people wanting to find a position that sees you making a meaningful impact on the environment. Not just where eco-friendly methods are used but a career where you’re empowered to truly make a difference. 

At the same time, you may want to also take the opportunity to explore more of what the world has to offer. Making connections with other countries and cultures has never been more accessible.

As such, you’re likely to be searching for a sustainable travel job – work that involves travel and a job that enables you to travel across the country or internationally in the course of your duties. 

But are there options providing you with the best of both worlds? Let’s take a closer look at how you can identify sustainable travel jobs and even pursue a career involving sustainability and travel. 

Sustainable Travel Jobs in Development

As we have reached a point of climate emergency, there is an urgent need for change. This is beginning to occur at the infrastructural level with various civic, private, and scientific fields contributing to developing solutions.

This also presents opportunities for enriching sustainable travel jobs. Many development positions involve spending time in various areas of the country — or even the planet — and applying your expertise to making meaningful change. 

One of the key sectors to engage in this way is urban planning. Many towns, cities, and rural communities have committed to making sustainable alterations.

Urban planners are tasked with developing design strategies for both short- and long-term projects aiding revitalization and better health. Sustainability is an increasingly central part of this career path; not only in managing the environmental impact of projects but also in making design choices that reduce pollution and waste.

There tend to be opportunities to find work that involves travel, both to find inspiration from other sustainable communities and in moving from project to project. To engage in the field, you’ll generally need a degree in a relevant area — architecture, economics, and sustainability are good options. 

However, if city design isn’t in your wheelhouse you can still pursue development through a career in environmental science. Becoming an ecologist is a great choice as your work with institutes and government agencies will see you traveling to a variety of locations to research ecosystems.

Following periods of analysis in the laboratory you can then provide reports on your findings to help address both local and global environmental challenges. As with any science field, you’ll generally be expected to hold at least a bachelor’s degree, in this case, ecology, biology, zoology, or other related areas.  

Sustainable Travel Jobs in the Nonprofit Sector

How to Find a Career That Involves Sustainability and Travel

Find a Career in a Nonprofit that combines Sustainability and Travel

While some sustainability efforts are being made by large corporations and governments this tends to move at a glacial pace. At the moment it seems like dedicated environmentally-focused nonprofit organizations are doing a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to educating the public and pursuing projects.

This means often your best route to a job that involves travel and sustainability is with a nonprofit. Just as volunteering holds travel opportunities, you can adopt paid professional careers with these organizations across the planet. 

While it’s certainly possible to get administrative positions, you’ll tend to find more success with specialized professions. Accountancy, legal expertise, and cybersecurity are common demands.

Sustainable nonprofits are also likely to be looking for those with technical skills for hands-on projects like solar electricity installation and community development. When applying for these positions in countries abroad, you’ll also find specialized sustainable travel jobs are often more eligible for visas than those jobs that can be performed by locals.     

It might seem like an insignificant thing, but when you are pitching your skills abroad, you need to make sure you’re mindful of local customs.

Australia is one of the common targets for those seeking nonprofit experience but the sustainable travel job market has some specific requirements for resume formatting and standards.

You need to adapt your resume for tone — don’t come across as overconfident, extend your 1-page summary to 3-4 pages of high detail, and nix the headshot. Small, culturally relevant considerations help indicate to sustainable nonprofits abroad that you’re respectful of their standards and keen to engage with them.   

Sustainable Travel Jobs in Tourism

Eco Tourism offers a job combining sustainability and travel

Eco Tourism offers a job combining sustainability and travel

The tourism sector has always been a good option for work that involves travel. However, it’s only natural that you might have some reservations regarding how jobs here reflect your environmental priorities.

After all, tourism is responsible for around 8% of global carbon emissions. The good news is there’s an increasing number of businesses in the travel and hospitality sectors that offer consumers sustainable options through eco-tourism.  

Ecotourism guiding is a popular choice for a sustainable travel job. It sees you operating both as a storyteller and environmental educator, helping to solidify tourists’ connection to the natural world and their responsibilities to it.

Guides can often find on-the-job training but in ecotourism, it certainly helps if you have knowledge or experience in conservation. Alternatively, you can target hospitality positions in sustainable hotels which are identifiable through apps like Expedia that allow you to search for businesses with eco-friendly practices.

While some simply have eco-conscious aspects, others are specifically aimed at providing holistically sustainable travel accommodation.   

Whichever position you pursue, it’s important to remember you’ll be interacting with the public. This means you also need to be committed to practicing COVID-safe protocols such as wearing your mask in public.

It’s vital, too, to get a vaccine, which is considered to be safe, having gone through rigorous testing and approval processes. While you may experience some initial side effects, immunization is a tool to keep you, your colleagues, and the general public safe and healthy. It also moves us closer to achieving herd immunity.

Conclusion

Finding a career that blends your sustainability priorities with your desire to travel is more achievable now than at any other time. Sustainable development, the nonprofit sector, and ecotourism are just a few of the current industries you can target.

Take time to explore the possibilities for a sustainable travel job where you can make a difference in far-flung destinations. 

How to Travel From Home – 7 Virtual Travel Experiences

Even the biggest homebodies have started to get cabin fever after a year of this pandemic, in which global travel seems like a thing of the past. If you’re suffering from a serious case of wanderlust, trying out virtual travel experiences during quarantine might be the best thing to do right now. Although flights are canceled and borders are closed, you can still see the world through your computer screen. Here are some way that you can travel from home and scratch your travel itch during quarantine.

1. Explore The World Through Webcam

With a near-endless supply of live stream webcams throughout the world, you can travel just about anywhere from home. Sites such as SkylineWebCams offer hundreds of incredible viewing experiences, so just pick where you want to go.

Webcams can be an incredible way to explore far-flung reaches of the earth that you might never get a chance to visit, such as the Lofoten Islands in Northern Norway, where you can live stream the Aurora Borealis. These cameras reveal magnificent landscapes and stunning night skies – you can almost feel the chill from here.

Live stream the Northern Lights over Lofoten Islands in Norway

Live stream the Northern Lights over Lofoten Islands in Norway

2. Travel from Home with a Virtual Roadtrip on Google Maps

If you’re an engine nut then travel restrictions may have seriously ground your gears. Road tripping is a timeless travel experience. From the highways of America to the back roads of Scotland, exploring a country by vehicle is a great way to get off the beaten track.

Thanks to Google’s incredible efforts mapping the world through “street view” you can travel from home by taking a virtual road trip. Drop the pin anywhere from Siberia to South Dakota to explore the streets.

3. Take An Immersive Jungle Tour

Take a deep dive into the natural world through audio-visual virtual travel experiences during quarantine. Travel Colombia has created a wonderfully rich and sensational jungle journey, exploring the birdlife of their deep forests through sight and sound. “By downloading the accompanying list, you can test your ornithological know-how and see which species you can spot,” says Dominick Cavazos, a travel writer at Last Minute Writing and Draft Beyond. “The wildlife on offer is astounding.”

Virtual travel in the Colombian Jungles during quarantine

Travel virtually in the jungles of Colombia during quarantine

4. Hit The Club

If virtual bird watching doesn’t get your heart rate jumping, maybe you’d rather explore the underground club scene of cities across the world. Berlin has been the home of hard-hitting techno for decades, and night owls all over the world are missing their dose of dancing.

Fortunately, virtual club experiences can bring the latest DJs into your living room. You can even experience the coming-of-age experience, getting rejected from superclub Berghain in virtual reality for a dose of realism.

5. Catch a Virtual Tour of World-Famous Museums

“Museums and art galleries have responded with appropriate creativity to the unfolding pandemic and many are now offering valuable virtual experiences of their collections,” says Alanna Morey, a lifestyle blogger at Writinity and Researchpapersuk. Traditionally, you might have queued for an hour or more to get into the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, but now a virtual tour can be loaded up in seconds.

Virtual travel and visiting museums during quarantine

Take a virtual tour of the Van Gogh Museum during quarantine

6. Embrace Yellowstone’s Force of Nature

Exploring America’s national parks could take a lifetime, but fortunately, the pandemic has brought us a few shortcuts. Travel from home by taking a virtual tours of these parks, which have been made available free online and can bring you up close and personal with the natural wonders they contain. Yellowstone National Park, for example, provides POV virtual travel experience videos through many of its most famous sights – without the crowds!

7. Explore Architectural Wonders

Step inside some of the world’s most fantastic buildings, without even taking a stride. These virtual architectural tours offer viewers immersive experiences filled with facts and jaw-dropping sights, proving a real insight into the history and cultural impact of these architectural creations. One of the great joys of travel is walking through a new city gazing at centuries’ worth of culture accumulated in the architecture – now you can embrace this experience in the virtual age.

The Future of Virtual Travel Experiences During Quarantine

Thanks to the wonders of modern technology, you can explore the world from the comfort of your own home. Whether you’re missing the hustle and bustle of underground clubs or the vast quiet of a National Park, virtual tours can take you anywhere you can imagine – and beyond. Traveling from home with a virtual travel experience during quarantine might quench your thirst for travel in surprising ways!

The impact of Covid-19 on the backpacking industry

Is there a moment throughout the day when you do not hear the words COVID-19, coronavirus or pandemic? In the age of Covid, backpacking enthusiasts and travel lovers are more inclined than ever to admire pictures of our previous destinations when travelling freely was the norm. 

This guide is for those who are missing travel and are wondering when they can step on a plane and explore the world with just a backpack weighing them down. It explores the current guidance on Covid backpacking, what backpackers can do now and what the future holds post-Covid for the backpacking industry. 

What is the current guidance for Covid backpacking and travel?

At the moment, every country is different as some areas of the world are suffering with the virus more than others, so movement is a lot more limited. Popular backpacker destinations such as Australia are currently not permitting any travellers into the country, after sending the majority of backpackers home in April 2020. Only those with Australian or New Zealand citizenship or have direct family in the country are allowed to enter. 

There are still some areas that are safe for travel, although they tend to have strict restrictions. For example, Dubai has opened its doors to travellers, however, to be admitted, you must show proof of a negative Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test that needs to be taken 96 hours before travel. This test costs around £100 to £150, so this could lead to quite an expensive trip before you even get to your destination.

Covid backpacking - riding a train wearing a mask during the Corona pandemic.

Covid and backpacking during the Coronavirus pandemic

Many locations in Europe, including the UK, which continually updates its travel corridor list,  which basically means you can travel without having to quarantine when back on British soil. However, anyone with British citizenship will need to isolate for 10 to 14 days after visiting backpacker favourites like Croatia, India, South Africa and Indonesia. Anyone travelling to these areas of the world will still have to fill in a passenger locator form to be admitted into the country. 

What can backpackers do in the meantime? 

Anyone with the travel bug will, of course, be finding it difficult to stay in the same place for a long time, but for now, that’s what we all must do to stay safe and protect each other. But instead of spending your days scrolling through Instagram at travel destination pages, why not get involved and support your backpacker community?

You can take inspiration from the New Zealand backpackers who have started a petition with over 13,000 signatures for the extension of working visas. There are plenty of other GoFundMe pages set up during Covid for the backpacking industry around the world, who are dealing with money issues or even health problems, so why not use your time and money wisely and support a good cause?

Take action from home during Covid to support the backpacking industry

Take action from home during Covid to support the backpacking industry

The lack of backpackers across the world has also massively affected the hospitality industry, as the majority of hostel workers and bar staff are travellers from around the globe. While many businesses have gone under, there are still some afloat who are reaching out for financial support. They’re not asking you to break the bank to save their business, as a little contribution will still go a long way to support. 

Post-Covid backpacking – When can we travel the world again?

Currently, there is no official confirmation about when we can travel the world again, as again, this will depend on Covid backpacking rules in the different corners of the globe. For example, Australia and New Zealand have made it clear that travellers will not be permitted for a while with visas on hold. However, there are many countries such as the USA and the UK that are desperate to get tourism back up and running and have also extended visas, while places like Mexico have kept the welcome mat out for a while. 

Even during COVID-19, backpacking is still possible in some places. Always check restrictions and travel responsibly.

Even during COVID-19, backpacking is still possible in some places. Always check restrictions and travel responsibly.

If you do plan on travelling in the near future, then make sure you stick to the country’s rules you are visiting. You can also keep track of cases online to ensure your trip is completely safe and successful.