Vanlife with @freespiritbylisa
It all started with a dream of living life to the fullest. The dream became stronger and stronger, and the couple ended up selling their apartment in Stockholm, quit their jobs and buying an old school bus from Italy.
Today, the couple lives their everyday life on rolling wheels and discovers beautiful places around the world in their converted surf bus with a compact living kitchen by Nordiska Kök. But what made Lisa and Christoffer leave the safety of everyday life and live "Vanlife"? And how is it possible to cook in the rolling home?
Lisa runs the instagram account @freespiritbylisa where she shares the couple's everyday life.
The converted bus includes a dark oak kitchen from Nordiska Kök.
In 2020, the couple came to a turning point in their lives and felt stuck, something had to change. One of the couple's major interests from before has been traveling the world. Seven years ago, the great journey began when Lisa left Sweden, to travel to India where she hoped to find herself, but the journey brought other insights.
“I thought I would "find myself", but it wasn't really that simple. But I found a lot of other things - everything from Ayurveda & yoga to the love of waves. Me and my backpack travelled between Bali, Sri Lanka, India & Costa Rica,” Lisa explains.
Lisa and Christoffer left everyday life in Sweden to discover the world in their converted school bus.
The surf bus houses a Nordiska Kök kitchen, bedroom and living room all in one.
After a few years on the road, Lisa realized that to fully live the dream she had, she needed to immerse herself in what it meant to run her own business so that she could work from all corners of the world. That insight made her journey take a detour to Stockholm. There she met her life partner, Christoffer, who also longed for something else. After graduation, they left their everyday life’s behind and found their own way of life, “Vanlife”.
Smart features in this compact living kitchen on wheels.
In Stockholm, Lisa met her life partner Christoffer.
One of the couple's passions is to travel and discover new places.
How come you chose to live Vanlife?
We don't want life to revolve around our jobs. We usually say we want to live full time and work part time. In 2020, we felt more stuck than ever. The pandemic made it difficult for us to travel, and Christoffer's job made it impossible for us to work remotely. That led to the brilliant idea of buying an empty van which, with a lot of help from a friend of ours, was converted into a home on wheels. Christoffer resigned and in June 2021 we moved into our van and left the life we knew for something freer and simpler.
We loved the lifestyle and the feeling of being able to discover the world with our own home. A year later we joked together with our friends, "Imagine how cool it would be to rebuild a school bus all by ourselves", which then turned into a real project during the summer of 2022. This summer we sold our apartment in Stockholm, which was our only safe point, to indulge ourselves in the freer life.
Dark stained oak with light work top. The couple's cabinets hold plenty of storage, which is a must when living in a small space.
Morning swim in the Atlantic before starting the day.
What's the best thing about living in a Van?
The absolute best is the freedom. Wake up to the sounds of waves, singing birds and the warm sun rays next to the sea. To always have your home with you and be able to move it wherever you want, visit places you would never otherwise do, meet new people, and end the day looking up at the clear night sky. It is everything we ever dreamed of.
A pleasure to take the dishes with the Atlantic as a view.
The couple often find themselves in warmer climes where breakfast can be eaten on a blanket outside the bus.
“It is hard to fully understand the reality of that we get to cook in an incredible kitchen with a panoramic view of the sea. It's something you never get used to.”
Follow @freespiritbylisa and be inspired by her lifestyle.
"Thanks to the smart solutions from Nordiska Kök, we've got as big a kitchen in our school bus as we had in our apartment in Stockholm, Lisa says."
What is the best thing about the kitchen?
The kitchen has so much that makes us fall in love with it every day. The combination of the dark wood against the countertop in light stone. The cabinets that are incredibly beautiful but also hold more storage than we could ever imagine. It is the best of both worlds in terms of aesthetic and practical.
“Thanks to the bespoke and smart solutions from Nordiska Kök, we have been able to create a kitchen as big in our school bus as we had in our apartment in Stockholm.”
