A Girl, Her Dog And A Homely Van Called Pam Are The Perfect Road Trip Trio

The Renault van that she chose to travel is not an ordinary one. It is specially restored just for their trip. Marina decided to go in a van when she realised the difficulty to find both public transport and accommodation for her and her dog.

Marina said, "I understood that I really wanted to live a different life more true to my values. So I gave most of my possessions away, gave my notice in and bought a mistreated small van. I decided to travel by van as it would be the easiest option to have Odie the dog with me and to carry everything I needed."

Marina decided to restore an old van and travel in it so that if there is any trouble in between the journey with her van, she can easily mend it. She added, "I thought that If anything broke, this way I would be more likely to know how to fix it."

During the restoration process of the van, Marina didn't get enough support from social media platforms, and she thought it was because she is a woman. So, she came up with another plan and started her blog and named it ‘PamTheVan'.

"When starting the conversion, I realised that most blogs/information out there was written by men. Nothing wrong with that, however, I could not understand a thing of what they were saying! All the posts I could find were quite in depth and (to me) complex," Marina said.

She added, "As I didn't have any knowledge on mechanics/woodwork/electrics, etc., I found it very hard to orientate myself into that sea of information. I could not find one woman doing that by herself; there was always a man in the background."

"This is why I had started writing a blog with very easy to understand guides on how to convert your van, as I would have loved to have access to this kind of information when I first started."

Marina hopes she will be an example for many and her journey will inspire others to quit their unsatisfying jobs and follow their dreams.

"I think that too many people are unhappy with their life, with the stress of a 9-to-5 job, the struggle of making enough money and the lack of purposefulness. Many dreams of travelling the world, exploring new countries and get to know new cultures," she concluded.

"We are living in a time were many jobs can be done through the web, so why not take advantage of it?"