We got in touch with a friend of the JK Team, Abigail Hobb, about her #vanlife adventures and the incredible campervan conversion she undertook to transform a high top Ford Transit into a dream camper.
‘Wait!’, you say ‘a FORD?! A Ford in my VW camper feed?!’
Well, yeah! Our first and foremost love will always be Volkswagens. Classic or modern, air-cooled or water-cooled, our carpark, garages and driveways are filled with VWs and that’s not about to change any time soon, but with JK Conversions seeing us add in more and more parts to help people convert their vans into campers, we wanted to see what people could do with a different setup.
Check out our full range of conversion parts, and read more about the brilliantly named Gino D’Campervan below:
Abi, Jake, Freddy & Gino
Abi and Jake worked on the Transit conversion themselves during the Covid-19 lockdown, and told us it was one of the most rewarding experiences of their lives.
Back in 2018 they toured the east coast of Australia in a camper and fell in love with the freedom and vanlife experience, so seized the opportunity presented by lockdown to create their own camper from a former police van.
Within the first three weeks they’d totally transformed a shell of a vehicle into their very own home on wheels.
“You can make yours as basic or as fancy as you want but at the end of the day none of that really matters, the best part of having a campervan is the freedom,” Abi told us.
She and her partner Jake now enjoy trips away with their dog, Freddy, who has his own den inside the camper!
We asked Abi and Jake how they got on with the conversion, what their plans are for Gino D’Campervan, and what their advice would be for anyone who’s thinking of undertaking their own camper conversion.
So, what’s the best place you’ve been in your camper?
“Apart from all the beautiful locations we luckily have here in Cornwall, it would have to be Wales.
“We took a week out last year and travelled from the south to the north visiting various locations and hiking up Snowdonia. I’d love to say we were rewarded with a stunning view but you couldn’t see five feet in front of you, we were soaked through to the core and it was so, so cold!
“The New Forest is also my personal favourite for day trips, and Freddy really enjoyed it too.”
Where are three more places you’d love to go to?
“We would love to do some of Europe in Gino such as France, Switzerland and Scotland.”
What’s the best feature you have installed
“Probably the kitchen area (aesthetically) and also the dining area. We built a sliding table into the bed frame and also a hidden drawer for our laptops etc.
“We hid our fridge under one of the chairs to utilise space so it means we have a little workspace/dining area. Perfect for laptop days in the van!”
What are your top 3 tips for anyone looking to convert a van?
“The most obvious would be to fully research the van, check all the specs, it’s history, rust issues etc. YouTube and Pinterest is SUPER useful and will become your best friend.
“I’d be up some nights until 1am just watching videos of other people’s conversions.
“Persevere with it, it’s long and there are tiring days but I promise you it’s worth it. When you’re sat overlooking a viewpoint in a van you can say you converted, you’ll forget the struggles!”
The Gino Diaries
Abi and Jake documented their journey from a basic, former police van into a super cool campervan on their Instagram account.
