It started with a random call from my brother in early June and ended a few weeks later with us buying a little campervan – a Mazda Bongo Friendee to be exact.
It’s a 22year old import from Japan – as all bongos are. It’s got a little kitchen unit with a hob and a fridge, and then there is a double bed in the pop top and a double in the back of the van with the seats pulled down. And there is room for the dogs too.
So far we’ve done a few little weekend trips in the van – or first to Buxton to test it out, and then another to Norfolk. Both were loads of fun but also learning curves – figuring out what does what and what we need to do to get the most from the van. On the last trip to Norfolk we even stayed on a site with its own launch on the broads so I got to go paddleboarding too.
We’ve started doing a bunch of renovations too. I am in charge of the interior, and I’ll definitely have an update post when I manage to get some good images, and my brother is in charge of the exterior. Apart from the stickers – It’s been a long time since I had a vehicle I could sticker up – and I’ve had some fun using up my snowboard sticker packs
It definitely has its quirks – all the instructions stickers are in Japanese, obviously it’s pretty old too, so getting used to driving an old car again is fun too, oh, and the windscreen wipers and the indicators are on the wrong sides so I’m forever turning the opposite ones on to what I need.
But I am absolutely in love with the little beast, I am having so much fun driving it, and also planning the interior updates too.
Stay tuned for more posts about the interior and our trips, but if you’d like to follow more of our Bongo-ing adventures on instagram, pop over to Hoppy Campers and give us a follow.