How Vanlife Sparked Vunked: Turning an Electrical Headache into a Thriving Business

From Borrowed Vans to Full-Time Van Enthusiast

Hey, I’m Ross Deacon, and I run a company called Vunked, where we help people with van electrics, making their dream campervans a reality. But funny enough, my own van life journey didn’t start with me owning a van. It actually began with me nicking my business partner Alan’s van for trips around Scotland.

Alan had converted his van, and after seeing how good it was, I kept finding excuses to borrow it. I had my first proper taste of van life in 2018 and 2019, taking weekend trips to places like Glencoe. Waking up next to a river with mountains in the background and birds singing? That was it. I was hooked.

But I didn’t fully commit until I moved to New Zealand. The best way to explore this country is hands down in a van, so I got myself a Nissan Caravan—tiny, couldn’t even stand up in it, but it did the job. Packed it full of surfboards, outdoor gear, and squeezed a bed in.

Three months living in that van, traveling across both the North and South Islands, was an adventure I’ll never forget. There were some rough days, like when it rained, and I felt like a goblin crawling around in my tiny space. But the freedom? Unmatched.

My New Zealand Van Conversion

Of course, before I could hit the road, I had to get the van ready. With only 10 days to pull off the conversion, I went all in. My girlfriend wanted to buy a ready-made camper, but I was like, "No, no, no, I’ll build it." By day 10, she was standing there with her arms crossed, wondering why we weren’t already on the road. Fair enough.

To speed things up, we bought a VanLab conversion kit. Flat-pack style, like IKEA for vans. The instructions were terrible (one A3 sheet for the whole thing!), but we figured it out. Added a bed, a sink, a portable gas hob, and my girlfriend made perfect curtains (which took her three days). That was it.

Did we have solar? No. I sacrificed it for a surfboard roof rack. Priorities.

UK vs. New Zealand Van Life

Every country has its quirks when it comes to van life. Van life in Scotland was very remote. I didn’t meet many people, but when I did, they were always friendly. England was trickier with finding places to park.

New Zealand, on the other hand, is built for this lifestyle.

Every council has designated spots, often in stunning locations like beaches and lakes. Some areas are super friendly towards campervans, while others enforce strict self-contained rules—meaning you need a toilet in your van.

The Self-Contained Loophole

Speaking of self-contained vans, this was something I learned about the hard way. Halfway through our trip, we realized we needed a self-contained certificate to stay at certain campsites. This meant having a toilet in the van. Our van was tiny. No way we were fitting a toilet in there.

So, I found a guy online who said, "Just send me photos, and I’ll certify it." We bought a toilet, took some pics, got the certificate, and sent the toilet back. Job done. Were we naughty? Maybe. But we were always respectful of nature and left no trace.

Favorite Van Life Spots in New Zealand

Despite the occasional camping hurdles, van life in New Zealand is an absolute dream. If you love surfing, head to Shipwrecks Bay at 90 Mile Beach. It’s got an epic left-hand wave, barely anyone there, and a campsite for $5. Absolute paradise.

For hiking, The Pinnacles in the Coromandel Peninsula is unreal. Feels like something out of Lord of the Rings. Wellington is my favorite city—chill, lots of coffee spots, and right on the water.

How Alan & I Started Vunked

That love for van life led to something bigger. Alan and I both come from engineering backgrounds, so when he was converting his van (under a bridge in Glasgow, in winter, with a head torch on), I helped him out. The electrics part was a nightmare. We figured, if two engineers were struggling, how hard must it be for everyone else?

We saw a gap: people needed reliable, simple-to-understand electrical kits for their vans. There were too many conflicting opinions online, and electrics aren’t something you want to get wrong. So we built Vunked to take the guesswork out of it.

The Ultimate Van Electrical Tool

To make things even easier for vanlifers, we developed the Vunked Electrics Builder tool. Originally, we were doing sales calls to help people figure out what they needed. That got tiring fast. So we made an internal tool to speed up the process. Then we thought—why not just let people use it themselves?

The tool lets you input the appliances you need (fridge, lights, USB sockets, etc.). It then walks you through each part of the electrical system: batteries, solar panels, inverters, the works. It even calculates how long you can stay off-grid based on your location, saving people weeks of research and headaches.

What Electrical Setups Most Vanlifers Go For

So, what do most people choose? The majority opt for a hybrid system—solar panels plus a battery and an inverter/charger (usually a Victron MultiPlus). Solar is an absolute no-brainer. It’s cheap, reliable, and always charging. We tell customers to max out their roof space with panels. The inverter/charger setup is also popular because it lets you charge your battery when plugged into a campsite—a great backup.

For budget vanlifers, we recommend keeping everything 12V. No fancy 230V appliances, no inverters. Just a battery and solar. You can get a simple system running for under £800-1000 if you go second-hand or use brands like Renogy. We used to sell Renogy but found they had too many reliability issues, so we stick to Victron now. They just work.

Van Life Hacks

Of course, van life isn’t just about electrics—it’s about making the most of your space and experience. Here are some of my go-to hacks:

1. Batch Cooking – Our tiny van made cooking a pain, so we’d pre-cook massive batches of chili or curry. Less cooking, more exploring.
2. Google Maps Saves – I mark all cool spots (surf breaks, cafes, hikes) with icons. Makes planning easy.
3. Parking Apps – Parkmate in NZ is a lifesaver for finding free/cheap overnight spots.
4. Be Ready for Weird Wake-ups – One night, at 3 AM, an air raid siren went off. I thought we were about to die in a tsunami. Turns out, it was just the local fire brigade call-out alarm. Lesson learned.

Advice for New Vanlifers

If you’re just starting out, take your time. There are loads of good resources online now. TheVanConversion.com is great for breaking things down. Join Facebook groups—they’ll tear apart your bad ideas but give you solid advice. If you’re in a rush or lack confidence, consider flat-pack conversion kits.

What’s Next for Vunked?

With all this growth, what’s next? We’re making our electrical tool even better—adding support for 24V and 48V systems. We’re also expanding into off-grid setups for huts and boats.

Follow us at vunked.com or on Instagram and Facebook. We’ve got a new social media guy, Harry, who actually knows what he’s doing. If you need help with van electrics, give us a shout!

And that’s it. Time to go surfing. 🏄‍♂️

Website: https://vunked.com/
FREE electrics builder tool: https://builder.vunked.com/
Instagram: @vunkedvans
Facebook: @VunkedVans