2026 Vanlife Festival Talks
Your Talk coordinators for Vanlife Festival :
Glenn & Ngaire – Event Talks Coordinators
Vanlife Festival are excited to bring you our new dimension in our talks room,
not only do we have great talks; our Coffee morning chats and open discussions on
all van related topics (just like around the campfire) are open to all and are relaxed
with many traders dropping in for a chat, the team behind the festival will be popping
in for a coffee and chat also.
Glenn & Ngaire, your talks Co-ordinator Team, Red On Tour, brings a wealth of
experience and knowledge from the Goldmines in Scotland to Welsh valleys in a 4×4 Crafter. You will often find us lighting the campfire and chatting with strangers who become friends, we started with tents and motorbikes to VWT5’s to our 4×4 Crafter (The Bothy) and our new micro Camper (The mighty Atom) which we are building in our spare time.
Ngaire from the Islands has lived in some of the remotest Glens in Scotland and Glenn, works in some of the remotest places around the world. The coming together of these experiences brings a varied and diverse outlook from your
hosts.
Coffee and Chat Sessions
Relaxed and informal
Informal, campfire‑style chats open to everyone.
Space to ask anything van‑related: choosing vans, fitting out, living on the road.
Traders and festival team often drop in.
Includes a children’s area and is dog‑friendly (on leads).
Wanderer’s Wisdom : Stories from the open road
A collection of real-life journeys from travellers who’ve embraced life beyond the ordinary.
What This Session Is About
Wanderer’s Wisdom brings together a diverse group of travellers who share personal stories, lessons, challenges, and transformations from life on the road. These talks focus on the human side of vanlife, overlanding, and alternative travel — the emotional journeys as much as the physical ones.
Gap Decaders
Phil and Izzy, known as The Gap Decaders
They left behind traditional careers to embrace a life of full-time travel, showing that adventure has no age limit. Much of their journey has been spent on the road, travelling across Europe in motorhomes and overlanding trucks, seeking out unforgettable routes and off-the-beaten-path destinations. Through their website and social channels, they share practical advice, honest experiences, and the inspiration to help others turn travel dreams into reality.
7 in a Bus
Bus Life with a Baby: The Bit No One Talks About
7 in a bus share their real-life experience of welcoming a new baby while living full time on the road. This honest and relateable talkcovers the realities of bus life with a newborn, form mangaing space and living conditions, to navigating midwife and health visitor support without a fixed address. They’ll also explore the challenges (and surprises) of adapting to an unplanned addition, and how they’ve made it work as a family of seven, proving that life on the road doesn’t stop for anything.
Dave Manning
Living the Vanlife between the UK & USA
20 years of Vanlife Hacks: Vanlife in UK vs USA from how to keep your veg to how to poop! He’s have been living in a vintage VW campervan off and on for over 20 years. To live in such a small one, you have to be resourceful. He’s learned a lot the hard way and his talks always get folks laughing and learning…
Martha and the Van Dweller
Travelling full-time
If you want to know what life is really like on the road – the amazing adventures, the challenges, and the hilarious moments along the way – then come and join us. We’d love to share our story with you!
BlueFix
Van Electrics
Bluefix will be delivering an informative talk covering van electrical systems, safety considerations, and best practices for safe installations. This session is designed to help attendees better understand their setups, reduce risks, and improve overall safety when living and travelling in vans.
Florry the Lorry
Living full-time in their self-converted lorry
Galavanting Godfrey
Car camping with Anita
A life loving ADHD riddled single full time working mum, who both loves and craves exploring, adventure and wild swims.
Navigating a new life now without a van and adapting to dinky car camping in order to still facilitate adventure . Showing how both safe solo and family exploring can be undertaken simply whilst making memorable memories along the way.
Balancing busy lives and bucket lists whilst being budget friendly Anita’s sharing her journey, trials and tribulations and key experiences to date from being woken up by the police at 4 am to haunted inns and everything in between.
Your vehicle doesn’t limit your adventures …
Bus different with Linzi
Bus adventure
Lindzi brought her double decker bus in 2023 and spent until mid 2025 converting it into her home and a huge book swap.
As a specialist behavioural teacher, she recognises the importance and benefit of encouraging literacy skills. It was also through this work that she became inspired to launch a platform that shares the full picture on neurodivergence – rather than a deficit-based approach.
A Different Human Design and A Different Podcast Official, attend events, offer community outreach, mentoring and counselling as well as informational resources.
Lindzi will be talking about her journey, from what inspired the bus adventure in the first place to how she copes with ADHD, autism, dyslexia and dyspraxia. She invites you to visit her bus, help yourself to free books as well as ask any questions you have around neurodiversity, mental health, wellbeing, education and counselling.
Vanlife Unpacked
Insights & how to’s is a hands‑on, advice‑driven panel for people planning a build, new vanlifers wanting practical guidance or anyone curious about the realities of full‑time vehicle living. Featuring long‑term vehicle dwellers and self‑builders. It focuses on the real how‑to’s of living on the road, from building your home‑on‑wheels to navigating everyday life in it.
Vanlife Unpacked Panel session:
Come along if you are planning a build, your a new vanlifers wanting practical guidance or your curious about the realities of full‑time vehicle living.
The panel will cover : How to design and build a liveable van, bus, or lorry. Mistakes to avoid and lessons learned the hard way. Budgeting, materials, and off‑grid setups + practical considerations. Daily life realities: space, weather, breakdowns, and long‑term sustainability, finding freedom through alternative living.
Jeremy – Panel speaker
Winner of Touch the Truck with Dale Winton, as well as a singer and poet — has lived in converted coaches for more than 30 years. His journey into full‑time vehicle living began in 1992, when he moved into his first coach. The one he calls home today has been with him since 1998, making it not just a vehicle but a long‑standing companion through decades of creativity, travel, and storytelling.
Loz Anstey – Panel speaker
Owner of Bambam the t25. A retro VW camper is all Loz has ever really wanted in life and back in 2022, she made it happen. Loz describes the last four years as an absolute ride! With highs, lows, hours of floor painting and endless waves and smiles from passersby.
Rich & Kate – Panel speakers
Cat: florry the lorry – Panel speaker
Cat is a vanlife pioneer with over 30 years of experience on the road. Over three decades ago, she spent 18 months living full time in a motorhome in New Zealand with her then 4-month-old and 3-year-old daughters. Today she continues life with her husband Chris and their Labrador Rolo, living full time in a self-converted lorry. She has travelled extensively across Europe for years and spends significant time in Spain. Having experienced vanlife before the internet, mobile phones and social media, Cat has witnessed its evolution first-hand and remains passionate but realistic about life on the road and how it evolves over the years
Wanderers Rest
Wanderers Rest – What It Is
Wanderers Rest is the campfire‑style social space within the Field of Inspiring Dreams area at Vanlife Festival 2026. This is a warm, relaxed spot where people can gather, chat, and connect, in the evenings around a real fire.
Purpose & Atmosphere
- A cosy, informal hangout for festival‑goers.
- Encourages open conversation, storytelling, and community bonding.
- A place to unwind between talks or settle in for deeper chats.
- Built around the ethos of friendship, openness, and shared vanlife experiences.
What Happens There
- Casual discussions with other vanlifers, self‑builders, travellers, and curious newcomers.
- Space for spontaneous conversations rather than structured sessions.
Family & Pet Friendly
- Welcoming to kids and dogs (on leads).
- Designed to feel safe, inclusive, and comfortable for all ages.
