Matty’s love affairs with van life began in his youth, with coastal escapes in his mother’s purple VW Kombi.
Then, venturing out at 18, he spent nine years exploring the world, finding solace and joy in van life’s boundless freedom. Determined to follow his dreams, he built his own mobile home to traverse Europe, later repeating the feat in Australia, where in Byron Bay in 2021, he met Gina.
“We soon bought a 35-year-old yellow Ford Spectron together,” recalls Gina. “We collected and reclaimed timber pallets from Byron Bay and Ballina industrial areas and worked on the camper fitout in their free time.”
After documenting the process of building this van together, and road tripping along the East Coast of Australia, a friend of theirs reached out wanting to buy the van off them.
The couple replied with a number with a decent profit margin, and to their surprise, the friend said “yes” and paid for it soon after.
“That’s how we ‘accidentally’ started a van fitout business, Byron Bay Van Fitouts,” adds Matty who now runs the operations, and oversees their team of builders, while Gina runs the social media marketing and admin.
“We’re a team of van life lovers, with everyone in our team having their own van for road trips,” Gina tells Verve. “Some are even living in theirs full time. We love this way of life, and it’s an absolute pleasure and honour to create these homes on wheels for more people and families to enjoy around Australia.”
Find out more at:
Instagram @byronbayvanfitouts | Facebook @byronbay.vanfitouts | Website byronbayvanfitouts.com
