Sisanda Mgojo
Think about how cool it would be to spend your time on the road while exploring all corners of South Africa and other parts of the African continent. Young couple, 23-year-old Acacia Denison and 26-year-old Michael Monk go through that every single day in their Yeti, the Van. Total Bliss!!
“We have always enjoyed traveling and experiencing new places. In 2017 we started a production company, Salty-C Production, where we create high-end marketing content for brands and establishments. Our work was taking us to new destinations and allowing us to travel. We came across van lifestyle on social media. People living in their vans – traveling to Europe and America and we knew that we wanted to do the same thing here in South Africa,” Denison says with excitement.
The two spoke about their experiences at Africa’s Travel Indaba which is taking place in the International Convention Centre in Durban.
Yeti is a home, only away from home. There’s a bed, a small kitchen and all kinds of modern amenities that one can wish for when on the road. The two can have a different view when they wake up in the morning every single day. South Africa does not have a shortage of spectacular views they can have as their backyard when they stop to rest and explore.
“We figured that having a van with us provides all the comforts of a home no matter where we are. It is such a comfortable and convenient way to travel with an off-grid backup power supply, having our double bed, a full kitchen setup to cook any meal at any time, a bench with a work table as well as plenty of storage for all the toys including 2 e-bikes, 4 surfboards, 100 litres of fresh water, and a portable braai,” Denison continues.
The two have gone on to organise a festival for others who enjoy their kind of lifestyle.
“Van Fest is an annual celebration of South Africa’s colourful van life community, gathering like-minded travellers for a long weekend of fun communal activities exploring different van builds and planning future road trips. We have hosted it for 3 years and we have noticed the community growing so we plan to host this event annually,” Monk explains.
Travel can be expensive if one has to think about transport and accommodation as separate entities. These young people have found a way to combine both of them. It’s only that you are in confined spaces with your travel partner all the time and there is no escaping them, but it’s an alternative that can help many who are up to it explore South Africa on the cheap.
