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It Started with a Van
A true story of a home on wheels built on hope, carpet glue and decent brews
Brief Description
What do you do when your car breaks down during a pandemic, nobody will fix it, and you end up buying a carpenter's van with no windows, no experience, and absolutely no idea what you're doing? If you're Andy, you convert it into a campervan. You...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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It Started with a Van
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Description
What do you do when your car breaks down during a pandemic, nobody will fix it, and you end up buying a carpenter's van with no windows, no experience, and absolutely no idea what you're doing?
If you're Andy, you convert it into a campervan. You install a diesel heater, carpet the walls, put a coffee machine on the worktop, and drive to Lake Como.
If you are Claire, you make a lot of tea.
It Started with a Van is the true story of how a faulty Mercedes, a bolt that took two weeks and an angle grinder to remove, and a YouTube channel that started with five views led two people from Barnsley on the adventure they never planned and couldn't stop having. It is a book about a van, a marriage, a dog called Pablo, and the difference between vision and reality.
Told in two voices, with no agreement on the timeline and considerable disagreement about most of the details.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781800757622
Publisher: Swift Press
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 16 July 2026
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Swift Press
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 129.0mm
Height: 198.0mm
Weight: 300g
Pages: 304
About the Author
Andy and Claire are a husband and wife from Barnsley. When Andyβs beloved Mercedes declares itself dead via a dashboard light Andy does what anyone would do and buys an old van instead β but with a cunning plan, unbeknownst to Claire, to convert it to a home on wheels. The good news is they at least agree on the name. St Christopher of Atlantis has since become a YouTube star with over 11 million views recording Andy (Chief Operations Officer) and Claire (Chief Converting Said Operations Into Something Approaching Workable Officer) going on an adventure with their dog Pablo and industrial quantities of tea. This is their first book.
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