It Started with a Van cover art

It Started with a Van

A true story of a home on wheels built on hope, carpet glue and decent brews.

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It Started with a Van

By: Andy Stocks, Claire Stocks
Narrated by: Andy Stocks, Claire Stocks
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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 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.©2026 Andy Stocks and Claire Stocks (P)2026 Little, Brown Book Group Limited Travel Writing & Commentary Funny
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Loved hearing their story in their own voices ! and getting to know the people behind the YouTube vlogs.

Sense of humour

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Enjoyed listening to this book immensely.
I wanted more and hope there will be a second book.

A warm, honest, amusing, uplifting story.

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Loved this book. Written with genuine humour and provides honest insight into the joy of van life travel🖱️

Real humour and van life insights

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Absolutely loved the humour. Andy and Clare are a comedy duo.Love their story and hope there will be another book to follow. Enjoyed reading their story so much. Well worth a read.

Fabulous story of how it all began.

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I liked the way the story presented how the adventure developed and the enjoyment grew with every new development. There was nothing I didn’t like about the whole story.

The was the van transitioned from a van parked the driveway to a van starting new adventures

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