Jess and Tom had been renting a flat in Manchester for five years when they decided something had to change. Both working remotely since 2023, they realised they were spending most of their income on a place they barely used. The idea started as a joke over a Sunday morning coffee, but within a month they were visiting converter workshops across the north of England.
They chose Summit Campers after visiting three workshops in person. What swung it was the team's willingness to talk through the realities of full-time living rather than just selling them a spec sheet. The first design meeting lasted three hours and covered everything from shower drainage angles to how many USB sockets they would actually need. The converter pushed back on a few of their initial ideas, suggesting a smaller hob in favour of more worktop space, which turned out to be one of the best decisions of the entire build.
The build itself took fourteen weeks, which was two weeks longer than originally planned. A supply chain delay on the particular skylight they wanted meant a brief pause, but Summit kept them updated with weekly photo reports and were transparent about the timeline. When they finally collected the van, the fit and finish exceeded their expectations. The birch ply interior has a warmth that photographs do not fully capture, and the layout flows in a way that makes 10.5 square metres feel genuinely liveable.
Eighteen months on, Jess and Tom have covered over 28,000 miles across the UK and Europe. They spent last winter in Portugal and plan to head to Scandinavia this summer. The solar setup has been more than sufficient for their laptops and devices, and the diesel heater kept them comfortable through a surprisingly cold December in the Algarve. Their one regret is not doing it sooner.