The awesomely named Vandals is a Wellington-based campervan rental and renovation company founded by Inge Laan, a designer with a “a passion for pretty things”. When she was unable to find a “cute van”, Inge opted to create one for herself instead, and so Vandals came to be.
“I grew up in a practical Dutch family where by the time I was 10, it was normal to hold a drill and put up my own picture frames in my bedroom,” says Inge. “I moved to New Zealand six years ago and when my family came to visit this gorgeous country we wanted to do the whole classic travel-in-a-van thing. Although I grew up in a practical family I had never done any woodwork before but was hooked from the first moment. Next summer Vandals was born!”
As for sourcing vehicles, Inge uses Trade Me and a trusted mechanic. “Then there is my social network,” she adds. “People know that I renovate vans, so I receive regular offers, mostly of existing campervans—but I don’t buy those as I like to start with a blank canvas.”
A “vanovation” can take up to 10 months (“always a lot longer than I think!”), with Inge limited to mainly fitting them at weekends, between her day job as a business coach, and tending to her garden. “I grow all of my veggies from seeds and love nurturing them,” she says. “I love to keep challenging myself, trying new things. Plus, every van must be a unique piece of art, which certainly adds to the time.”
Is there a specific van that you dream of working on?
“I would love for my next challenge to be a Volkswagen Caddy, it is not really a bus but big enough to sleep in. Because the Caddies are smaller, the challenge of functionality and practicality is even greater.”
Is there a typical Vandals client?
“I wouldn’t say there is a typical customer, but I think compared to other rental companies I do attract people who like to travel around in differently styled vans without the commercial stickering that screams ‘tourist’.” It is the design aspect that gives Inge her biggest kick, “making something that looks good while also being very functional and practical at the same time”.
“I love deciding on the colours, the fabrics, sourcing all the kitchen goods. I basically have an excellent reason to create something different over and over again, to do some mad shopping and scroll through Pinterest and Instagram without feeling guilty!”
The designer tries to live “in the moment” as much as possible and admits to being prone to over-planning in the past. “To be productive and stay sane, I’ve discovered the art of ‘vague planning’!” she says. “That is, enough planning so that you know what’s up next while leaving enough room to handle the unexpected. It means you don’t feel too useless if all doesn’t go exactly as you imagined.”
To be productive and stay sane, I’ve discovered the art of ‘vague planning’!
Vandals’s next phase will see Inge concentrate less on rentals and more on sales and creating custom-made vans. “I also want to share my knowledge and help others, so I will start making videos. I have another two great things in mind, but they’ll remain under wraps for now—follow me on Instagram so you won’t miss it!”
I finish up by asking Inge if she gets many unusual design requests.
“No, surprisingly not! People are generally very self-sufficient and source a lot of things themselves. I guess the oddest question was someone asking how long the drive to the South Island was. Considering I am in Wellington I explained that they needed to take the ferry. They were quite determined, and I really had to convince driving was certainly not an option. They ended up driving the van into the river, so I guess that their desire for driving on water was just too strong in the end.”
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