Thursday, Sep 23, 2010 at 09:42
Hi Terry,
Happy to answer your questions. When we were first looking at vans, we drew up a list of needs/wants and basically took our shopping list to the caravan shows to see what would meet our criteria. When we first looked at Traveller, it pretty
well ticked all the boxes and I guess it set the benchmark for us. We looked at many other brands and whilst some very similar to the Traveller, we found ourselves keep going back to Traveller for a couple of years due to the fittings and quality standard, as
well as their ability to make modifications. We also enjoyed speaking to the owner of the business as we had the ability to ask many questions about the construction of the van - something we were unable to do with other brands given we were talking to salespeople. Researching through all the caravan magazines also helped, but again, we were always drawn back to Traveller. When we finally went to purchase we managed to tour their factory with the owner and as my partner has a strong manufacturing background, we were happy with what we saw.
So, the changes we made:
Fan forced oven - not a change, it came standard with the oven (apparently a new addition in mid 2009 to all Traveller vans)
Water tanks - installed an additional two tanks to make a total of 3 - two for shower/toilet/sink and one purely for
drinking water
Pump - second pump installed for
drinking water only
Bed raised an additional 6" for extra storage
Tunnel boot opening made larger on one side to accommodate our generator
Solar panels installed on roof and additional wiring added for external panels
12v switching added throughout, ie next to the beds, by the kitchen table, and externally
LED lighting throughout
Double power points added all over the place to meet our requirements
Hyland hitch installed
Alarm system installed
Stronger rear bar to accommodate a fold up boat trailer and toolbox, and had a jerry can holder installed
Vanity was modified to our needs, ie mirror positions and drawers
IPOD compatible stereo system with internal and external speakers
Skylights installed rather than 4 seasons hatches
External TV point and arm added for watching TV underneath the awning
Extra large awning installed
Additional light and sail track installed on the offside of the van to reduce sun
Off road package added (6" drawbar and
suspension raiser)
Sovereign bbq in the tunnel boot
There's just the two of us travelling and since we've received the van, we've had a full annexe made but we're not sure whether that will come with us on this trip.
We've also recently had 12v airconditioning installed (basically works like evaporative) and draws next to no power. You can also just have the fan operating when travelling to pressurise the van to keep the dust out rather than having to block the vents. Also have installed a fan behind the fridge to help it along.
What would we change?
My partner wishes that we'd made an external entry point for storage on the offside of the van so it utilises the space under one of the kitchen seats (possibly a good place to store annexe stuff)
Although not mandatory, we wish we'd installed an external shower given the amount of free beach style
camping we're looking at doing. We've now bought one and will install it soon.
Apologies for the long response, but I think it really comes down to what you want/need and then shopping around to see what suits you (and most importantly, the budget) :-)
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