A couple who were fed up with London’s high rents and extortionate property prices move are now saving £1,400 a month by living in a camper van.
Robert Bolohan, 28, and his wife Mariona, 26, founders of translation agency Lotuly, converted a minibus into a camper van to live and work away from the capital.
A few months into their adventure, Robert said it was the best decision they have ever made.
He said: ‘Not only has it transformed our lifestyle for the better, allowing us to travel as much as we like, but we have also saved a fortune in the process.’
Average monthly rents outside London soared to a record high of £1,190 in the first quarter of this year, with tenants in the capital paying more than £2,500 for the first time, according to figures from the property website Rightmove.
Robert Bolohan, 28, and his wife Mariona (pictured), 26, founders of translation agency, Lotuly, converted a mini-bus into a campervan to live and work away from the capital
Pictured: The mini-bus that the couple has converted into a campervan. A few months into their adventure, Robert said it was the best decision they have ever made
Robert said: ‘We initially made the decision after we struggled to buy a house, despite having a £40,000 deposit, and so far believe we are saving around £1,400 per month.’
The couple were inspired by the social media trend #VanLife during the coronavirus pandemic.
They believed that the transition would suit their lifestyle as they work remotely and love to travel.
Robert said: ‘We bought the minibus in April 2022 and took eight months to convert it into a fully electric, self-sufficient and off-grid campervan.
Pictured: Robert Bolohan and his wife Mariona. A few months into their adventure, Robert said it was the best decision they have ever made
‘We opted for a minibus over a normal van as they tend to be bigger. It has its own challenges, but I think we made the right choice.
‘We sold our other car and reinvested the money into the van, recovering part of the investment, so to speak.’
Robert said that the pair are saving money each month on rent and energy costs, which already feels ‘significant’ after just a few months.
He said: ‘The fuel costs of the van can vary depending on how much we travel, but right now it’s pretty cheap to run.
‘We used to pay around £900 on rent, £150 on council tax, and £200 on energy bills each month; alongside other living expenses, we ended up spending around £1,800 per month. Now we don’t have to worry about any of those expenses.
Pictured: The interior or the minibus before it was converted. The couple were inspired by the social media trend #VanLife during the coronavirus pandemic
Pictured: Mariona inside of the vehicle. They believed that the transition would suit their lifestyle as they work remotely and love to travel
‘We pay around £400 on fuel each month, so overall this means we spend £1,400 less than we used to, thanks to our new lifestyle. Since we moved into the van in December, we’ve saved around £7,000.’
He added: ‘The lifestyle change has also meant that we’ve saved money in other ways, too. We live a much more minimalistic lifestyle due to the size constraints of a van, which tends to mean less spending.
‘We find free spaces to park where we can, and we enjoy shopping at local markets for groceries which is usually cheaper than the supermarket.’
The move hasn’t affected their jobs as the van is equipped with Wi-Fi and the couple said that if anything it has helped them run their business ‘even better’.
Robert said: ‘Being able to go outside and explore after work has helped us to prevent burnout.’
Robert and Mariona’s goal is to save up to buy a house in the UK or Spain, but right at the moment they are focusing on enjoying life in the van.
The couple met while out jogging in the streets of Lleida in Catalonia as teenagers and bonded over their shared love of languages.
Pictured: The conversion of the minibus begins to take shape. Robert said: ‘We bought the minibus in April 2022 and took eight months to convert it into a fully electric, self-sufficient and off-grid campervan’
Pictured: Wiring is installed inside of the campervan. Robert said: ‘We opted for a minibus over a normal van as they tend to be bigger. It has its own challenges, but I think we made the right choice’
In 2015 they moved to London.
After staying in hotels for the first few months they rented a studio flat in Hayes, west London, for £900 a month.
They lived in that flat for four years and during that time became company directors of Lotuly.
They got married in January 2019 in Uxbridge and then a year later moved in with Robert’s sister Roberta and his mother, in West Drayton, near Heathrow.
Their aim was to be closer to family during the pandemic but they also wanted to save money to reinvest it in their business.
However, their shift from being sole traders to company directors made securing a mortgage more difficult.
So they bought a Transit minibus for £14,000 to travel the country in the hope of finding a place to settle down.
Pictured: The conversion of the minibus at an almost complete stage. The couple also invested in a reliable battery bank and solar system
Pictured: The finished version of the campervan. Robert said: ‘We pay around £400 on fuel each month, so overall this means we spend £1,400 less than we used to, thanks to our new lifestyle. Since we moved into the van in December, we’ve saved around £7,000’
The campervan has a kitchen and space for the couple to do their work. Speaking about their decision to live in the campervan, Robert said: ‘Not only has it transformed our lifestyle for the better, allowing us to travel as much as we like, but we have also saved a fortune in the process’
They made sure the van was fully sound-proofed and insulated, and also installed a skylight on the roof.
They also invested in a reliable battery bank and solar system.
Robert told The Times in May last year that Rugby and Leamington Spa are high on our bucket list of places to visit, but they could end up settling down anywhere.
He said: ‘We have been renting in the UK for seven years and in that time we haven’t seen much of it, so off-grid living seems like a natural next step for us to take and because our business is entirely online, we have the flexibility to make it work.’
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