#VANLIFE: THE MOST ADORABLE FAMILY & LLOYD, A CONVERTED BUS TURNED HOME-ON-WHEELS
A SPOTLIGHT ON #VANLIFE WITH MARTE + JED
We have a treat for you today! This #vanlife share is sure to make you smile and fill you will vanlife #goals. Marte and her husband, Jed, purchased their bus (Lloyd) two and a half years ago and took 18 months to renovate it into their dream home-on-wheels. They sold everything and hit the road with their two children, Ellida and Embla, and now spend their days making memories that will last forever.
“Don’t wait for a life changing event to change your life”. - Jed
What’s your name? My name is Marte and my husband is Jed, we have Ellida 4 years old and Embla 2 years old.
Where are you from? Tell us a little about yourself! I am originally from Norway but I moved to Australia 11 years ago. I met Jed back home in Norway and when his visa ran out I decided to come to Australia with him for a year and here we are a decade later. We are now married with kids and living a life we dreamt up, travelling the country and spending everyday together.
What’s a typical day look like for you? A typical day for us would be a hard thing to describe as we are always somewhere new and our flow adapts to each new place. Generally we like to park up near beaches and stay places that are warm. In Australia we are pretty lucky to have places that are warm all year around. So a most typical day would involve some time for Jed to surf in the morning, followed by some time for me to do my Yoga Practice and then we would go to the beach or if I am doing some work Jed will take the girls for a play somewhere.
The bus is really affected by the outside temp so it still gets cold in the evenings. That’s when you’ll find us snuggled up at home, cooking dinner and lighting the fireplace.
When did you first get your home on wheels? We bought Lloyd the bus 2.5 years ago when we just had Embla our second daughter, but it took us 18 months to convert it into a house on wheels so we are nearly up to a year living on the road now.
What was the build-out like and how long did it take? Any difficult challenges you faced? It was the hardest thing we have ever done. We just had our second baby and Jed was working full time as well as fitting out the bus. We didn’t expect it to take so long but we learnt a few life lessons along the way. Having said that it was the best thing we have ever done for our family! We have to pinch ourselves sometimes that we are actually living this life now after all that hard work.
What’s your favorite part of your home? That it moves! And that it feels different and fresh at every new location. We also definitely love the little bath we put in for the girls. They use it every night and its always nice to have some solid routines and comforts for the girls when we travel so much. But my absolute favourite part must be our windows and the ever changing views they provide.
Where to next? Right now we are just hanging in Byron Bay for a couple of months and from there we have no plans. We never really do. It seems life takes us to where we are meant to be at the moment and we feel comfortable trusting that. Once the boarders open to Queensland I can see us moving closer to the tropics for a little while but we are open to anything.
Best advice or tip for those wanting to choose #vanlife? My husband always says “Don’t wait for a life changing event to change your life”.
We sold everything we owned, cars, house, stuff and built our home from scratch. Jed left a well paying full time job. We took the risks and made the commitment. It might feel scary to begin with but it will be well worth it. Don’t wait for something awful to happen to push you into that decision. You deserve to live your dream life no matter what your current life is like. Make the leap.
What is the most difficult challenge you’ve faced living in your van or on the road? When the lock down happened we were travelling Tasmania and because we were no longer allowed to travel in our motor home we isolated ourselves with 3 other bus families on an amazing property at the far south of Tasmania. It was an experience for life and beautiful friendships and memories were formed but it was also incredibly hard. It was very remote and we didn’t have access to water. The weather turned when we were there also so it got very cold and our solar didn’t charge well. The uncertainty of what was happening with restrictions and no contingencies being made for people who live full time on the road was straining for a while. But then life guided us up to a sunny property in NSW and we were lucky enough to spend the rest of lock down there.
What song is a “must” for the road trip playlist? A song that means a lot to us and resonates with our life philosophy is ‘Society’ by Eddie Vedder and if you haven’t seen the movie in which this soundtrack is from I highly recommend it. Into the Wild.
What’s the most memorable moment you had while traveling? There are so many but one of my favourites are from the beginning of our journey and it is so simple yet one of my favourite memories. We had just pulled over to a free camp right by the ocean after spending a few weeks in a warm beachy place on the West coast of Australia. The weather turned and it got really cold all of a sudden while I was cooking dinner outside. It was super late so we really just wanted to get dinner done and put the kids to bed but nothing was working out. Then we decided to just embrace the chaos so we lit the fire for the first time in weeks and set up a pretend Italian restaurant inside. We played Italian music, ate spaghetti by the fire and watched the storm roll in over the ocean. Sometimes life is really just what you make it.
How do people find you/connect? I share a lot about our life and travels on my instagram @runningwld_mama and my husband does to @wander_jah_buslife
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Contributed by estCA staff, Lindsay Vacek