Daniel Start uses his campervan to make writing guidebooks easier
I bought my first campervan 20 years ago, when I started researching Wild Swimming. I needed to visit every river, lake and waterfall in Britain and I didn’t have very much money as I had no publishing deal.
So, it was a very old Ford Transit called Betty, which cost £1,800 from Gumtree. Sadly, she died after only a year.
I was driving through the Lake District when, unbeknown to me until she came to a juddering halt with a bang, the oil sensor had come out of the sump, leaking all the oil and disabling the warning lamp at the same time. I decided on a more reliable vehicle but could only stretch to a car.
I went to a used car dealer and asked to lie down in all the different estate models. The Vauxhall Astra had back seats that lay down the flattest and longest. I made cardboard cutouts for the windows and I wrote my second guidebook, Hidden Beaches, sleeping in the back.
When I met Tania, my wife, we conceived the Wild Guide idea, a compilation of all our favourite exploring ideas. We used to travel with piles of guidebooks and printouts – to the best walks, ancient woods, secret coves, tiny churches, swimming rivers, lost ruins, etc. This made us think.
Shouldn’t there be one guide that compiles the best of all the adventures for each region and includes the very best pubs, microbreweries, food producers and campfire campsites?
We started the research, touring again, but once our small breastfeeding baby daughter came along, Tania put her foot down and the Astra had to go.
The grey VW T5 panel van we chose was beautifully converted by Cambee and was perfect as it could do a three-point turn in about the same space as the estate. That was essential for the number of dead-end tracks and tiny lanes that we encountered on our quest for the wildest, most hidden places.
With the pop-top roof we had two double beds, and she was fast and smooth. We kept the bench seat in the front, so the three of us could all be together, and installed a solar panel to charge the camera and laptop batteries (no need for electric hook-up).
We like to do our photography in the early mornings and evenings when the light is magical. That’s why a campervan is essential – if we were in a B&B or even a campsite, we would miss those moments.
Instead, we can stop and park up right by the waterfall, hilltop or meadow and be out there for the light.
