Agy was perfect for us when we got her, it was 2019, I was still working, we lived in central London and she was our only transport. We didn’t have a car, so she needed to both fit on our driveway and in normal car parking spaces in supermarkets. She needed to work in central London.
For that, she was perfect, she had a Euro 6 Engine (no low emission charges), and was just under 5.5m long. She had everything we needed, a bathroom, a fixed bed, a fridge and 2 burner gas hob. She had heating and solar for off grid electric if needed.
We started by having weekend trips away to campsites, then progressed to occasionally staying outside friends houses. We took a summer holiday to Scotland and loved it. Then during Covid, I stopped work, we no longer needed to live in London and we gained the freedom to travel more often.
Agy gave us the ability to sell our house in London, move into her, put all our possessions in storage and await our house purchase on the island. We moved out the day after my 50th birthday. We had the most amazing summer despite covid still being around. We left London without a detailed plan and found ourselves staying in places like The Drove Road next to Stonehenge. We watched the sunset and sunrise over the stones, we listened to the sheep grazing (they are incredibly loud!),we survived a thunder storm so loud it banged all the windows shut when a blast of lightning hit nearby ground. It was the most wonderful time, if perhaps little unsettling as we were effectively homeless.
As the summer drew to a close, we headed over the water to the Island in the hope of pushing along our purchase, staying at a holiday park for a month. Eventually we completed our purchase in early October.
We knew we couldn't live in the house initially, so for 3 months we lived in Agy on the drive while we did the house renovations. Agy was not only our home, but as her bed lifted up, she was also a work van,we could get whole sheets of plaster in her, rolls of insulation, wood, paint, easyfill ( we used a lot of easy fill!) she enabled us to take rubbish to the tip, purchase bulky items, and throughout it all, she was our safe stable warm home.
Once we were settled on the island and I finished a couple of work contracts we decided we wanted more adventure, bigger, longer trips. We headed to Europe, to Shetland, to Ireland. We loved every moment of those trips and she was fabulous, we went to Nordkapp, as far north as it is possible to drive in Europe (ok she broke down, but it all added to the adventure). We toured Spain heading as far south as Gibraltar, we spent 2 winters in Benidorm, and we spent lots of time in Scotland. We were able to visit friends and stay in the street outside their houses. We could visit family if an emergency arose without worry where we would stay, and see dad as often as possible without frightening hotel bills.
However, as we both knew in our hearts that our lives had changed and Agy maybe wasn’t really what we needed now. I have a car, so we don’t need a van to get us about. We take much longer trips, we rarely do less than 10 days, and often travel for months at a time.
As we get older the reality of a bed that you had to use a step and still clamber up high to get into hits, as does me being trapped until Ian wakes up, or I wake him to get out of bed, so I can go to the loo. Agy was small, she was perfectly formed, but when you spend months at a time in a van, a bit more space is valuable. We’d put as much solar on the roof as we could, but in a British winter with a fridge on, it didn’t last more than a few days.
Storage was tight, for her size, she had a lot, but we still had to be really careful with what we took, so trips that included both summer heat (and a wedding) and the arctic (for example) took a lot of planning for clothing that could work with minimal space. She had a great boot, but it wasn’t that big. One big positive was we could both comfortably stand up in Agy, something vital if you are going to travel in British weather, not being able to even stand up on a wet cold windy day gets you down… If you are buying a van, think about this, It comes to be more and more important over time!
As we travelled round Ireland last year we came to the realisation that life and our travel has changed. Our needs from a van have changed. It wasn’t easy, we felt disloyal, she’d been amazing, but life has changed dramatically.
As I’m sat here in Spain I realise it is our 4th week away of this trip, the sun is shining, the local bands are practicing their drumming for Easter parades, I’m thinking about how Agy Van 2 has made life on our travels so much easier.
We have space for both of us to sit at the table with laptops open (Ian is designing his next musical instrument build, I’m blogging), we have not just a hob, but an oven, we have a microwave and airfryer that can stay here and tuck away in a cupboard while we drive. We have lots more cupboard space (handy to bring back our allowance of wine!).
.jpg)
We also have beds that are accessible. We can get in and out without disturbing each other, the bathroom is bigger, so it is just that bit easier to use; we have a fridge that works on both gas and electric so we have choices. We have a lot more solar, and I can pack without really having to carefully curate our wardrobe (I mean, we are still super stylish, but…).
AV2 has a huge boot, I mean huge, our electric bikes can go inside, not hang off the back of her and there is still room for everything we need and maybe the odd thing we don't, who doesn't need a hurdy gurdy in their boot? .
She is a little bigger, she’s 6.7 M long, and although overall she is no wider than Agy to drive, her internal width is bigger, so the van shuffle to get past each other is so much less cramped. She feels like an apartment, rather than a studio flat, if that makes sense.
The other huge difference we have noticed is her engine and gearbox. Agy was good, but oh my goodness AV2 is so smooth, quiet, efficient…she’s significantly easier to drive and when you frequently do 8 hrs driving in a day, that means a lot!
We are roughly away half the year now in AV2, maybe even more if we count the UK based trips as well. We needed somewhere a little more comfortable, a little more practical and Agy Van 2 is it. We are learning her ways, but loving every moment.
We have more exciting trips planned already and next winter's trip is partially booked. Of course we will take you with us on our adventure, so stay tuned for more thanks to AV2!
