Building a lifestyle on wheels

A YOUNG couple living with family in Barwon Heads are building their dream home on the back of a truck, in which they soon hope to travel around Australia and maybe even the world.
Dan Campion and Louise Purcell’s infectious spirit of adventure and passion for travel led them to purchase a second hand fire-truck three years ago from Toowoomba in Queensland, and they’re now knee-deep in its restoration and rebirth as a palace on wheels.
Getting the rig back to Victoria was an adventure in itself – the couple deciding on a whim one day to buy the truck, which necessitated selling their car to fund the purchase, as Dan explains.
“It was an impulse decision – we saw the truck advertised on Gumtree, so sold our car to a Sydney buyer and drove it there, then flew to Queensland planning to drive the truck home to Maffra,’’ he said.
“We got to Queensland, picked up the truck and hit the road. I’d had my truck licence for a day and we’re driving up this massive hill out of Toowoomba and we really had no idea if we’d make it up and over the hill, let alone back to Victoria.
“We were coming into Sydney in peak hour, in a vehicle we’ve had for a just a few hours, when the engine started making a funny noise… there’s traffic everywhere and Louise and I looked at each other thinking ‘What have we done?’.’’
To cut a long story short, the couple made it home thanks to a friendly mechanic who fixed a broken injector and also found them a bed for the night while the repairs took place.
Three years later the dream that seemed a nightmare in peak hour on the freeway is fast approaching reality, with the coronavirus shutdown allowing the pair to focus on the build while they’ve not been working, and document the project on YouTube as it takes shape.
The finished product will feature, among other things, a slide-out room and pop-top roof behind the dual six-seater cab.

“It’s such a complex design, overcoming the engineering problems, thinking about it all the rules and regulations. Design is really important so we meet all the regulatory requirements,’’ Dan, who is a qualified fitter and turner and carpenter, said.
Louise, who has a background in creative arts, is taking care of the exterior design, which will have a nautical theme as well as some “non-negotiables” inside.
“There will be a hot shower and air-conditioning for sure,’’ Louise said.
“Dan and I did a previous trip in a troop carrier from Uluru to Perth, with no air-conditioning, with two French hitchhikers tagging along in the back… 1,500km on a dirt road… listening to French trance music. Never again!’’
Dan and Louise’s finished product won’t look like any other motorhome on the road, and that’s just the way they like doing things – a bit different from the norm.
“It’s all about the lifestyle. We have similar values, we want to live adventurously and experience as much as we can. Building this has been challenging, time-consuming. There’s been plenty of times we felt like giving up,’’ Louise said.
But their spirit of adventure doesn’t factoring in giving up, and the pair hope to be ready to roll by Christmas so they can, in Dan’s words, get moving and “suck the most out of life when we can.’’
“We’re not keeping records, it’s not about the cost. It’s about building a lifestyle and having the experience,’’ he said.
One day, in a post-coronavirus world, they hope to soon be touring Australia and, if possible, take the reborn Isuzu to Africa.
“We’ll test it out around Australia for 12 months and then see what happens,’’ Louise said.
You can view the couple’s first video of the build by searching for Alternative Living Lab on YouTube or follow their updates on Instagram: @thebarefootbeard and @thirdeyeguide