Wana explore in a camper? My experience with Bunk Camper

Last month, on a trip to Scotland, Eoghan and I dragged our bags through Edinburgh and headed out to collect our Bunk Camper. We had 3 days to see as much of Scotland as we could, so we rented the “Roadie” online before we left Ireland, to help make it happen.

Before leaving Ireland we (Eoghan) had looked up so many camper sites. It was a big trip for us, so picking a good van was a big deal! Because of the price and the website, we chose Bunk Campers. From the picture above I’m sure you’ll agree we made the right choice.

Collecting the Camper

Once we arrived, we sat in the waiting room until a staff member appeared. He was so friendly and had us sit down while he talked us through all we might need to know. He went over what we’d booked, the insurance options etc. In between he chatted to us and asked had we driven a van before. We talked about our plans with him and he suggested other places to go that we should go.

We’d booked the minimum for our trip seeing as it was only a few days. We added bedding and the additional driver – so we could both experience the fun! When you book, there’s a range of extras you can add for your trip though – things like table and chairs, microwave, a chemical toilet, bike racks etc. You can add a tank of Gas for cooking, but you automatically get whatever the last person left behind. We took our chances with that and there were no issues. He reminded us of these extras and inquired if there was anything else we would like to add on but we declined, and that was accepted no bother.

After we’d shown our drivers licenses and gone through everything, he brought us out and gave us a tour of the van. He showed us how everything worked – the sink, cooker, gas, heating – there was nothing left for us to question. What I loved was there was a heater which ran off the diesel instead of the battery, so you could heat the place up while the van was off – no worries of killing the battery. You know I had that heat going good and long before bed time!!

The final bit was a check of the outside of the van. He pointing out and took note of any small marks or scratches so we knew we didn’t have to worry about those. And that was it, the whole thing took about 20 minutes and then we were off on our adventures.

The Trip

It was both our first time driving a camper and it was absolutely brilliant. I was a little nervous about how it would be to handle, especially because I’ve only ever had tiny cars. It was so fine. It was really easy on fuel too.

The van had all you needed. When we travel, we (I) like to eat out a lot so we didn’t use the appliances much. We did eat our Pancake Tuesday breakfast in the van but other than that, all our meals were in pubs and restaurants. That being said, everything you needed was there, and if we’d been travelling longer we definitely would have made more use of them.

One worry I always have is getting cold, but it was not a problem at all! Once we used the heater before bed and for a few minutes before we got up in the morning, we didn’t notice any cold – and we went at the beginning of March!

I loved the entire experience. It gave us so much freedom for traveling. We didn’t have a set plan for our trip and having a van made this so much easier. Instead of having to look for a hotel come the evening, we drove into the night only stopping to sleep and then getting on the road again the next morning.

One night we pulled onto the side of the road to sleep, not knowing what scenery surrounded us. On waking and looking out, we were so suprised to be on the edge of the most glassy still lake, with a castle at the opposite side. We wouldn’t have seen half of the scenery had we only rented a car. For our trip we left Edinburgh and headed West, for the Isle of Skye. Once we’d seen all we could there, we took a drive to Loch Lomond and slowly made our way back to Edinburgh. The views we saw were only made possible by having the van, we got to see so much.

Dropping our camper back

Dropping the van took no more than 5 minutes. Once we’d taken all our stuff out, a guy did a quick check of the inside and outside. We took such good care of the van and made sure the inside was spotless when we returned it. We had no issues getting our deposit back; actually, I was so happy when the guy told us he could see we’d taken really good care of it.

Why Choose Bunk Campers?

Bunk campers have locations in the UK and Ireland. It was news to me that the company actually originated in Belfast. There’s locations in Belfast, Dublin, as well as all over the UK. The one we used was so close to the airport in Edinburgh. The tram took us to the airport and from there it was only a short taxi. So reason no.1 – Great locations.
They’ve partnered with Discover Northern Ireland, Tourism Ireland, Visit Scotland and the Caravanning club – so you know they’re legit! In case you need any more convincing, they’ve also been featured in a number of international publications, both online and in print. We didn’t know any of this when booking, once we saw their website we knew they’d be good.
And finally, like I mentioned above, they are able to provide all the things you need to make your trip as easy as possible. Everything from wifi to outdoor seating.

If you’ve wondered about using a camper for a trip check out their site, there’s so many campers to choose from and they’re super affordable. Since using the company, we notice them all the time in Galway! Every time, we point them out and talk about our own trip again. It’s completely solidified in my head that i’d love to live the van life!! We would 100% use bunk campers again – we’ve actually already talked about it so many times since.

Wana see the entire trip?

If you’ve used a camper before, did you think of the experience? Let me know! If you haven’t, what would your worries be about it?

Thanks for reading, hope it’s been helpful for some of you guys.

Tinyboots.