The living cabin
There are good, individual reasons for all types of touring vehicles – we personally tend to prefer a small, handy solution that is also discreet in terms of presence. On motorcycle trips we learned that exposure during simple camping has both disadvantages (weather) and advantages (responsiveness). We liked the change between outside and inside on our trips to Namibia, but we think the simple canopy with boxes and bags and the roof tent could be improved, especially if you want to be on the road for longer.
We visit the travel fair in Hamburg, buy magazines like “Explorer” and “4x4 Action” and spend a weekend searching the Internet for cabin builders. Last but not least, we stay where we started: Fiftyten's cabin corresponds most to our expectations and also looks good – not unimportant for the designer's heart.
The considerations that contributed to our decision can be found here.
Since we had our eye on a particular living cabin early on, we were in Wiesbaden with Stefan Decker from Fiftyten just ten days after our return from Namibia to take a closer look at it for the first time before his trip to Algeria. The concept of a very open cabin with a converted pickup tray continues to impress us.
The following weekend we researched the living cabin market virtually. Most cabins are designed for indoor use. On the other hand, we find it nicer to be outside if at all possible and to only use the cabin as a place to stay when the weather is bad.
We therefore have Fiftyten prepare an offer for us, including as much of the interior work as possible in the calculations.
After Stefan Decker returns from his trip, we make a second appointment in Wiesbaden as soon as possible to discuss a number of questions and details and come to a final offer.
In the following days it took a few emails and several phone calls to clarify the last questions until we commissioned Fiftyten on March 28th, 2023. The planning is quite extensive.
On June 22nd we drive to Wiesbaden to hand in our car to Fiftyten the next morning for the conversion. We're excited to get started.
The trip is spectacular because of a strong storm. We are lucky to be driving between two fronts – but this trip with the cabin finished would have been the ultimate leak test.
Nochmals schlechte Nachrichten, seufz. Fiftyten ist nicht fertig geworden, es stehen Messen an und als neuen Termin für die Übergabe bekommen wir den 25.7. genannt. Das kommt heute doch sehr kurzfristig – nachdem wir die Tage nichts gehört hatten, waren wir eher davon ausgegangen, dass die Übergabe zeitnah klappt. So müssen wir bei Weigler den Termin für die technischen Umbauten ein zweites Mal verschieben und rutschen dort natürlich erstmal nach ganz hinten. Das ist schlecht für unsere gesamte Planung und wir müssen das jetzt erst einmal eine Nacht verdauen.
How exciting, the time has come and we are taking delivery of our car with a cabin today. Looks good! We get an hour-long introduction from Stefan Decker and then work through the last questions on our list. We capture most of it on video – there is simply far too much information at once to remember it all. How does it work to put it on and take it off, and how can you loosen or adjust hinges if necessary? How do you dismantle the two tech boxes between the camping cabin and the driver's cabin? How does it work with water and filter? How is the cabling to the power station and how is it charged? And we are sure that all sorts of other questions will arise over time.
After we drove to Mainz yesterday (today would simply have been too early) and dropped off the car in Leverkusen tomorrow for the technical upgrade, we had packed sleeping bags for a first night. We're looking forward to it. But first a detour to Oppenheim am Rhein to "The Greenmonkeys" – the website kept popping up during various research. Good website, small showroom, rather a disappointment for our needs. So let's head in the general direction of Koblenz, we hope there will be some camping options there. Since we are essentially driving empty, we need a restaurant as well as a washing facility and we found what we were looking for in Dausenau an der Lahn. We're doing well, the pizza is delicious, but unfortunately the valley is very noisy at night due to the main road. But we are happy about the good mattress and the easy usable construction of the roof tent.
The night was a bit restless, but we got a first feeling of what it can be like when we travel by car. And it feels good. Unfortunately it's rainy and there isn't an open bakery anywhere, so we set off first, have breakfast later and put the roof up again to dry.
Every now and then we stress that the power station won't charge – it takes many attempts to plug the 12 V plug so that it works. We will have to keep an eye on that. And we'll probably have all sorts of things on our minds in the future. Unfortunately, we are now giving the car away again.