“Edelweiss” has proven to be a reliable vehicle, as a home with a panoramic terrace and as a mobile workplace. Or, as Thomas puts it: “It is more than just a car – it is a family member and travel companion.” The fact that Regina and he are on a world tour with a VW T3 Camper is the result of thorough preparations – and a long story.
Big VW Bulli dreams
Thomas was bitten by the bug as a child on camping holidays in a VW van. In 2010, he achieved his dream of owning his own Volkswagen Bulli camper van: a T3, originally a standard van built in 1988, which had been converted into a camper van and licensed for the first time in Salzburg in 1989. From that point on, Thomas spent almost every free minute exploring the countryside in his camper, christened “Edelweiss”. With the VW T3 came the next dream – a trip to India. And when Thomas met Regina in 2016, one of the first questions he asked her was: Could you imagine going on a world tour in a camper van? Regina, with no previous camping experience, was soon won over by Thomas and “Edelweiss”. Three years later, they made the decision to get off the treadmill – to quit their jobs and leave behind their everyday routines, which had been dominated by heavy workloads.
“The little free time we had was packed, in order to make the most of it. The only mantra was ‘efficiency, efficiency’,” Thomas recalls. They resigned from their jobs in early 2019, Regina from her position as an accountant in a large company and Thomas as a journalist at ORF. “Back then, getting out felt like the only logical decision.
A made-to-measure home
The VW T3, which was getting a little old in the tooth, first had to be made fit for an adventure of this magnitude. As such, “Edelweiss” was completely gutted, given a general overhaul, repainted and refurbished. The majority of the work was undertaken by Regina and Thomas themselves – electrical system, solar system, water filter and interior, all done ‘in-house’.