NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & TΕ«rangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • ManawatΕ« - Whanganui
    • All ManawatΕ« - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • ManawatΕ«
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Young couple ditches $600 a week rent for 'stealth camping'

By Frank Chung for News.com.au
news.com.auΒ·
7 Jul, 2018 09:11 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber? Β Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access contentβ€”explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
β€Œ
Save

    Share this article

Emma Barr plays with son Flynn amidst new LED lights. Source - 6reasonswhy_travelblog

This month, Emma Barr, husband Chris and their one-year-old son Flynn will ditch their AU$600 (NZ$651)-a-week Newport rental on Sydney's northern beaches and hit the road in their new mobile home.

It's not a campervan or a Winnebago, but a stock standard "tradie" van β€” a Mercedes-Benz Sprinter just 6.5m long and 2.5m wide β€” which the couple have spent the last six months fitting out with a bathroom, kitchen, lounge area and double bed.

"This is quite a big movement we started to get into," Emma, a former real estate agent, told News.com.au. "It's huge in the US. Doing it this way, there's a lot of free camping and stealth camping you can do. Our van is completely off the grid β€” it's got solar panels, water tanks."

Emma, 29, said the van could keep them alive "in the middle of nowhere" without water or power for four days before they need to find a town. "Having a van like this allows us to travel anywhere and not have to be restricted to caravan parks," she said. "That freedom is something we really wanted."

View this post on Instagram

Tiny Human helping us move our stuff into the van today! πŸ™ŒπŸ»πŸ™ˆ β€’ It's getting sooo close to our move in day! Less than two weeks! 😍

A post shared by Cam, Em & Flynn πŸ‘ͺ (@6reasonswhy_travelblog) on Jul 5, 2018 at 3:42am PDT

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The van itself cost AU$17,000 (NZ$18,450) and the build, documented and shared with their 13,000 followers on Instagram and YouTube, cost another AU$17,000 to complete.

"It's very compact," she said. "The living space is about 4.5m by 2.5m, so it's pretty narrow. We've just kind of done the layout that works best for us. My husband and I aren't very tall, so lying down crossways our hair just touches."

View this post on Instagram

We have a bed! πŸ™ŒπŸ» β€’ Hehe the mattress needs to be slightly trimmed down to size but it is super comfy and we can both comfortably lie down head to toe! πŸ™†πŸΌπŸ™†πŸ½β€β™‚οΈ β€’ The Tiny Human loves the party lights too! 🌈 β€’ You can also see my block out blinds on the back windows! They've turned out really well and with all the lights on inside you can't see a thing from the outside! #superstealth 😎

A post shared by Cam, Em & Flynn πŸ‘ͺ (@6reasonswhy_travelblog) on Jun 28, 2018 at 5:25am PDT

"He's done such an amazing job," she said. "The good thing about doing it yourself is you can completely design your own layout. The reason we've done this layout, for instance, is so Flynn can be sleeping in the back and we can fully close that section off so we can stay sitting at the table and chair."

View this post on Instagram

Hi lovely people! πŸ‘‹πŸ» β€’ We have been completely MIA the last few weeks as we are putting together all the finishing touches on our Van Build! πŸ™Š So thank you for sticking around and being patient with us! β€’ It's getting so close now... As you can see we've finished the lounge/dining area except for the table and the kitchen is almost done too! πŸ™ŒπŸ» β€’ It's all coming together so much better than we thought and we can't wait to show you the finished product!! ✨ β€’ Hoping everyone is having a great week! Happy #humpday🐫

A post shared by Cam, Em & Flynn πŸ‘ͺ (@6reasonswhy_travelblog) on Jun 27, 2018 at 5:36am PDT

Once they move into the van, the family plan to travel around New South Wales for the next few months. "My husband has a contract that finishes in September, then we'll head south and kind of meander our way down to Victoria for the AFL Grand Final," she said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Chris Barr did many of the renovations to the van himself. Photo/Instagram.
Chris Barr did many of the renovations to the van himself. Photo/Instagram.

"Then we'll go to Tasmania for three or four weeks. Then we have no more plans, we're going to just keep going west."

Emma estimates living in the van will cost AU$500-AU$750 per week for food and fuel, which they can easily afford.

"We've sold all of our possessions," she said. "The cost thing and saving money was definitely a huge motivation for us, but also just the want to travel. It's something that my husband and I always wanted to do."

She said her business iLeads, a digital marketing firm that generates leads for real estate agents using social media to target homeowners or landlords in their areas, was "at a point now where I'm able to still travel and work".

Discover more

Lifestyle

This quirky pool float is winning the internet

08 Jul 03:32 AM

"We just thought, why not take it?" she said.

"We've always been relatively minimalist people, we don't like having a lot of stuff, but this has made us downsize constantly even more. For the last month, we've downsized our entire wardrobe to fit into a carry-on each, and that will need to downsize again before we move in."

Emma said "hashtag vanlife" was becoming "bigger and bigger in Australia".

"I think you're going to get more young people doing it and hitting the road," she said. "It used to be all the grey nomads but I think more young people are going to be picking it up and doing it."

View this post on Instagram

Straight back at it! πŸ‘©πŸΌβ€πŸŽ¨ β€’ Spending this beautiful Sunday in the Van varnishing all our door fronts and painting the insides of our cabinets! 🎨 β€’ I'll be tiling the splash back in the next couple of days which is soooo exciting! I love our tiles! And can't wait for them to be up!! πŸ‘πŸ» β€’ Hope everyone has a relaxing weekend! β€οΈπŸ™πŸ»

A post shared by Cam, Em & Flynn πŸ‘ͺ (@6reasonswhy_travelblog) on May 26, 2018 at 11:18pm PDT

So how long will they last in the van?

"Because we don't have any ties to anywhere in Australia, I honestly believe we will get to somewhere, fall in love with it, not want to leave and end up settling there," she said. "We've had a couple of people tell us they reckon we'll get to Perth and not come back."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

- News.com.au

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Business

Business|personal finance

Broadcaster Melissa Chan-Green on how she bounced back from redundancy

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Business|economy

Emails reveal Willis wanted Budget lock-up to be more restricted

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Small Business

On The Up: Speak eyes $4t market with personalised shopping tech

13 Jul 05:00 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Broadcaster Melissa Chan-Green on how she bounced back from redundancy

Broadcaster Melissa Chan-Green on how she bounced back from redundancy

13 Jul 05:00 PM

"I was really wrapped up with what I was doing was who I was."

Premium
Emails reveal Willis wanted Budget lock-up to be more restricted

Emails reveal Willis wanted Budget lock-up to be more restricted

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
On The Up: Speak eyes $4t market with personalised shopping tech

On The Up: Speak eyes $4t market with personalised shopping tech

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Opinion: Why Mary Meeker's latest AI insights can't be ignored

Opinion: Why Mary Meeker's latest AI insights can't be ignored

13 Jul 05:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • Β© Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP