Becoming a white van man…

Today 17th February 2025, I have completed the purchase of a 2019 Fiat Ducato, despite one small detail…i don’t have a drivers license.

To answer your first thought, yes it is highly likely I am an idiot of epic proportions but i have my reasons.

This is something i have considered for a while. I have been shooting around Rochdale for almost 15 years now.

In that time my photography has changed. Dare i say improved a bit. Below i have the perfect showcase. 2 images of the same tree 8 years apart.

14th March 2016

21st October 2024

I would say compositionally the images are all but identical. The difference? The timing. My eye could see an image was there, I could sense it in the photo-force, I just didn’t have the patience to ask why now? Could this be better another day?

Like Luke Skywalker rushing to fight Vader it didn’t really work out…luckily for me people don’t tend to lose hands for taking bad pictures….that i know of anyway.

Obviously i went back again and again, and it still wasn’t right….but now i knew it wasn’t. I knew the images needed something. Like Luke after my defeat, I was more mindful. I trained. Followed more and more photographers online like Thomas Heaton, Gavin Hardcastle, Henry Turner, Nigel Danson and seeing the work of more local photographers like Ian Lord, Zybsiu Rodak and Ste Walton. Listened to more podcasts than i care to remember.

I hope my work has improved. This leads me to my next reason: Been there, done that.

See, after nearly 15 years of shooting the same places over and over… things get blah. Eventually, you take the camera out less and less. And when you do, you struggle to find a composition you haven’t already shot six or eight times.

This led me to one conclusion—I need to shoot beyond Rochdale.

Problem 1: I can’t drive.

Problem 2: I don’t have a vehicle.

Problem 3: My DIY skills are about as good as a fish climbing a tree.

Solution 1: The obvious but most difficult step—passing my driving test. No way around it, really.

I could try using public transport to get around, but I don’t see that as a long-term option. I really need to learn to drive at some point, and I can’t keep postponing it with a “next month I’ll look at it again” mindset.

Solution 2: Buy a vehicle.

A much simpler step… so I did. I could have chosen something smaller and more “practical,” but I believe one man’s practical is another’s impractical. For context, as a kid, my parents owned caravans, and we’d go caravanning fairly regularly—Wales, the Lake District, the South Coast once or twice. There’s a level of familiarity to it for me.

Of course, a full-blown caravan is overkill and a bit unnecessary. Having a separate car and caravan also lacks the flexibility of a van. A van can be parked almost anywhere, provided it’s safe, whereas caravans need specialist sites due to their size.

Of course Motorhomes or roamahomes where an option. However…wheres the fun in that?

Solution 3: Climb a tree… I think?

After weeks of searching, I found a van that I believe will do the trick—a 2019 Fiat Ducato.

It was a former electrician’s fleet van, complete with shelving units galore and even a sink unit. All of this had to go before any camper conversion could begin.

Day One: The Tear-Down Begins

AirPods in, Africa by Toto playing, drill in hand—my dad and I got to work dismantling the interior.

As I tore down the shelving, I also checked the electrical setup, making sure everything that powered the sink pump—likely hidden under the flooring—was safe.

It didn’t take long before one side of the shelving was almost entirely gone. I tried to salvage as much wood and as many screws as possible… well, correction: I refrained from destroying them wherepossible. Got to do things properly and reuse what I can later in the project.

Once I had removed the final screws that cooperated, I went back inside and very professionally took out the last remaining board at the bottom of the shelving. Okay… I may have just booted it out, but it worked fine! A bit of silicone removal, and that was it.

By the end of Day One, only the wiring behind the side ply and the wheel arch cover remained. One side was pretty much done—a solid start!

Tomorrow’s weather looks overcast, so I’ll be tackling the other side next.

Update-the next update on this will be in vlog form.

I will post the video here, also on my youtube channel which i will link here-

https://www.youtube.com/@JRAPhotographylandscapes