Meet the couple behind Drifters Campervans (and a few of our favourite van conversions)

Erin and James – the team behind Drifters Campervans, on the Sunshine Coast – have a real knack for renovating vans. And given Erin is a creative director and James an appliance technician, it’s really no wonder why. Their complementary skills have produced a few of our favourite campervans on the Camplify platform, with their latest effort, Frankie, bringing huge tropical vibes to the world.

We caught up with Erin to chat more about their journey to launching Drifters and how to go about converting a van.

How did you get into van life? And what inspired you to make a business out of it?

We used to live in Melbourne and we inherited an old campervan – a Volkswagen Transporter – from my brother, who had travelled around Australia in it. He returned to England and we inherited it, so we kitted it out properly. Then we had an opportunity to move to Queensland, so we decided to take a long trip up and live in the van for a couple of months. We drove inland from Melbourne up to Mungo National Park, east to the Blue Mountains, then headed north up the coast.

We met a lot of people along the way, but most were either backpackers in those run-down old campers or grey nomads in RVs. A few people asked us who we’d bought the van from, or who we’d hired from, or who we’d paid to convert it, but it was all us. We arrived in Queensland and thought maybe we should try it as a side business, but we didn’t want to rent the old one, so we converted a Hi-ace – Hendrix – and rented it out on the Sunshine Coast.

It sounds crazy, but five years ago nothing like that was really around, even though there are millions of renovated vans on the road now. There was a bit happening on the Great Ocean Road, and a bit around Byron, but not much happening where we were on the Sunshine Coast. It was a great time to launch the business and we had bookings coming in on the Camplify platform within the first 48 hours of launching.

Tell us about your fleet of vans.

We started with Hendrix then added Huey, a VW Caddy, a year later, which we recommend as being perfect for weekend surf trips because he’s the most compact. Our concept from the beginning has been to design every van as unique. You should be able to come back to Drifters, hire a different van and have a completely different experience. We were planning to launch a third van pretty much as Covid hit, so we put plans on hold, did some home renovations and had another baby, but now we’ve got Frankie – a Volkswagen Transporter – on the road.

Frankie’s layout is similar to our first van, Hendrix, but we’ve learned a little more about storage and how to make the most of the space. With Frankie, we went for a kind of ‘tropical lux’ vibe. We found the beautiful wallpaper and added a neon sign – completely unnecessary, but just really cool, right? We wanted to distinguish ourselves from that beachy, white-washed, wooden decor that is beautiful but so many vans have right now.

Is Drifters your main source of income or do you still work regular jobs?

This has always been a side business for us. We’ve found that we can balance things okay because I work from home quite a lot and James works for himself, which helps if there are pick ups. It hasn’t really impacted us as much as you might think; the only thing I struggle with is finding time for marketing, given it’s a lot of what I do for a job and easy to put on the back burner when I’ve got client work to do. And when there are bookings coming in, you’re actually just managing the day to day of things, getting people in the vans and out on the road.

Do you have any tips for people wanting to renovate a van of their own?

I’d say that if you want a finished van quickly, find the right people to help you get it done properly from the beginning. At least for some things. James is (annoyingly) handy so if he doesn’t know how to do something, he works it out. He’s also a meticulous planner and after converting a few vans, we’ve learned a bit about what works and what doesn’t.

Planning is essential if you want the renovation to be done right. It also helps keep things moving because you often can’t do one thing before you’ve finished another; the insulation before the walls, the walls before the wallpaper and paint, and so on. You’re always going to come across something that’s tricky, and vans can be difficult to work with because they’re a weird shape. You need to do your research and look at how others have nailed the really boring stuff, like what handles they use. Or how the drawers pull out, or whether the bed pulls or flips out or is permanent. Like I said, you learn a little more every time; whether it’s what kind of material is going to last longer, what’s going to be a little more practical or what kind of storage is needed.

A few people hiring our vans are either thinking about buying one themselves or have just bought one and want to test out what others have done. Honestly, it can be a bit disheartening when they come along and completely rip-off our designs, but I do think it’s a good idea to try renting a van if you’re really serious about renovating one. And imitation is a form of flattery, right?

Are there any Sunshine Coast camping spots you’d recommend visiting?

We love going to Bluff Creek Campground in Kenilworth – it has big, beautiful open spaces and we always recommend it to travellers. There’s a creek that runs through and plenty of space so you won’t have someone two metres away on their caravan block. It’s all unpowered, but our vans are self-sufficient and have solar panels, so they’re good for off-grid camping. I always find it really restorative there. You're just in nature and there's nothing to do, really.

Love what Drifters have done with the place? Be sure to keep them in mind next time you’re in need of a holiday. And don’t forget to follow them on Instagram to keep up with their latest van conversions.