Hi, we’re Gav and Trudi Roberts and on this page you can find out a bit about us and our van life story.
We’ve been motorhoming in our old VW T4 Autotrail Cree since 2017. We’re not full time vanlifers – we have a base in Suffolk, UK – but we’re out in our motorhome as much as possible.
On this page we’ll share with you…
- The story of how we found our van after a year of frustration searching for the right one
- Why we got £1500 off the asking price – and how you might be able to do the same when you buy your van
- Our mission statement: why we feel van life is possible for anyone no matter your budget
- How we built this website
- How we and our fellow vanlifers make money on the road – and how you could too
- Our Social Media channels and free monthly newsletter
How we got started in van life
After about a year of searching for the right motorhome our luck turned when a friend of ours asked, “I need some money quick: would you like to buy my camper?”
She wanted £7,500 for her old 1992 VW Cree. Even this was out of our price range so we knew we’d need a loan.
When an inspection by a trusted friend revealed a major water ingress issue (a potential hazard, especially on older motorhomes) we got £1500 off the asking price.
RELATED CONTENT: Thinking about buying a used RV? Find out about the things you must check on old motorhomes
Sure, the van needed some major fixing to sort out the rot, but getting a motorhome for that price told us something important; van life is possible for anyone – no matter how small your budget.
Indeed, we’ve since met a vanlifer who travels every year from the UK to Greece in a beat-up old Mercedes Sprinter that cost him just £350! Talk about being brave!
Once the van was fixed we hit the road asap and have since travelled all over England, Scotland, and Wales.
RELATED CONTENT: See our best UK road trips and grab a free road trip ebook
Our mission statement
Getting started in van life on the cheap spurred us on…
We felt we wanted to share our story with others who were thinking of buying an RV and starting a new life on the road (either full or part time).
So we created this website, sharing our tips (and inevitable newbie mistakes) and wrote our first ebook How to Find Your Perfect Motorhome.
Our mission statement (and tag line for this website) became ‘get into van life without breaking the bank’.
Our story – and stories from other vanlifers – proves that it can be done even on the tightest budget.
If you want to get started in van life we want to help you!
Why Motorhome Hobos? How we came up with the name…
So, why hobos? How did we come up with the name?
Far from being lazy tramps as they have often been portrayed, most hobos were willing to travel miles from town to town on railroad wagons across the U.S. looking for any kind of work to make ends meet. See our blog post about hobos.
We might not be hobos in a literal sense, of course, but we certainly didn’t have £70,000+ to spend on a modern motorhome.
However, very much like hobos, we were drawn to the idea of ‘working‘ whilst on the road, travelling from place to place. Out in our van, we’ll often create content for this website, our ebooks, social media channels, and our free monthly newsletter.
Trudi is the main writer for the Motorhome Hobos Blog Posts as well as our social media channels (see below). She also writes poetry, much of which has been written on our road trips. You can check out some of Trudi’s poems at Whole Life Poetry.
When we’re not on the road, Gav is busy helping clients at his hypnotherapy practice in Suffolk and online.
RELATED CONTENT: Why Trudi quit her stressful job and became a vanlifer
How we built this website
So, what about this website?
We spent months wondering which platform to use for Motorhome Hobos. We needed something that could teach us how to build an online business, not just put up a website in 20 minutes. This is why we chose a company called Solo Built It!
Solo Build It! have been helping ordinary folks like us to turn ideas into profitable businesses for over twenty years. Their online teaching and support has been invaluable.
We chose the Word Press version of Solo Build It! as Gav was already familiar with WordPress, having used it for his hypnotherapy website.
If you’re thinking about setting up an online business and making money from doing something you love (no matter your age), watch our video about how Solo Build It! helped us get started and continue to support us every step of the way…
RELATED CONTENT: Read about the pros and cons of running a business with your partner – and the challenges we had to overcome
How to make money as a vanlifer
Since the pandemic thousands of people all over the world have changed the way they work – and how they live. Gone are the 9 to 5 commutes as folks ditch the office and work from home. And home might mean an RV.
The good news for us vanlifers is that there are hundreds of ways to earn money from your RV.
If you live in your van – full or part time – and are interested in how to make money on the road check out the many great tips from fellow vanlifer, Lesley Postle… (Thanks Lesley! There are some great tips here)
Our anti-advertising ethos
There are so many van life blogs and websites on the net these days but many of them – we feel – are ruined by annoying adverts.
When creating this site we were certain we didn’t want to spoil your enjoyment with ads after every few lines of text. You’ll never see a Google or Mediavine ad popping up on this site.
So, how do we make money?
Adopting a no-ads ethos meant that we had to generate income in other ways, such as affiliate marketing (where we promote van life and travel-related products in our motorhome gifts and accessories shop) and from the sale of our ebooks.
We also get the odd donation from Buy Me a Coffee…
It won’t make us millionaires but it keeps us and our old van going a wee while longer. Hobos through and through!
Find, like and share our content on Social Media
We’d love it if you follow, like and share our content on your Social Media channels…
EVEN BETTER – GET SUBSCRIBER-ONLY CONTENT IN OUR FREE MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
We hope to see you on the road!
Gav and Trudi Roberts,
The Motorhome Hobos – get into vanlife without breaking the bank
Any questions? Contact us here or check out our FAQ page
