Living, travelling & kayaking in a Ply Guys converted campervan across continents

1 hour ago

4 min read

@theplyguys

Nov 2026

6th November

Amber Maslen made a life-changing decision to buy a Renault Trafic and have it converted by The Ply Guys to aid her kayaking adventures to some of the most beautiful parts of the world. Experiencing vast cultures, resting at scenic locations, and living a life very few have ever experienced.

This is her story of what it was like to live, travel, and explore in her Ply Guys kayak-tailored campervan! ✌

I have kayaked almost my whole life, firstly as a professional slalom paddler, and then later as an extreme whitewater kayaker. In 2025, my life took a turn when my partner of ten years and I broke up, and I was left with a choice: try and pursue my normal life alone, or drop everything and pursue the few things I loved. It sounds like an easy choice, but I can say with absolute sincerity that leaving everything you know, and most of what you own, behind, is a difficult thing to do.

I decided to buy a Renault Trafic because I could afford a relatively new model. I had sort of vague plans of outfitting it myself and was mercifully redirected by a close friend to get someone else to do it for me. This friend has an eye for efficient, sustainable businesses with good ideas – and he recommended The Ply Guys.

Like most life-changing decisions I’ve made, my intention was very strong and my plans very vague. Craig from the Ply Guys gently helped me plan what I would actually need for living in a small van full time, and we created a concept that ticked every box I had (which was admittedly few, though very important ones).

I didn’t have a plan other than I wanted to travel around, and go kayaking. As the van went through the finishing stages of preparation, a new person came into my life – another whitewater kayaker who has the same dreams and plans as me. When the van was finished, Michal moved in with me, and we began a wild journey I never, ever could have predicted.

We had a very simple mission: go kayaking as much as possible. Because of the nature of our sport, that can involve a lot of driving as we chase weather systems across the continent. Our journey began in Galicia in Spain, where we paddled on some of the wildest rivers I’d ever seen at that point. The rapids were huge, and I spent a lot of time scared and learning the very basic principles of remote paddling.

My journey in whitewater kayaking at the beginning of the year was limited, but in Spain it started to change quickly. Michal and I started to work together as a team, looking after each other in exposed regions and solving problems together efficiently. One of the most challenging places we went was Morocco. After a 12 year drought, the country was effectively melting. Roads were ruined, rivers were flooded, and locals did not have a lot of time or patience for annoying tourists. Having the heater in the van in the Atlas mountain range probably saved our lives, and it is absolutely astounding what a two-wheel-drive Trafic is capable of.

Following Morocco we did probably our most impressive drive of the year – to Turkey. This meant effectively driving from Africa to Asia, across Europe. Being able to park up and sleep anywhere was absolutely critical to travelling this way, and the clever layout of the cooking drawer and bench meant we were able to stay super low key and safe everywhere we went.

Our routine was simple and easy, focused on eating well and quite early in order to hunker down for the night and stay warm. Turkey was an absolute pleasure. Apart from being a little warmer than Morocco, van life there is incredibly easy. I had my first proper benchmark in kayaking, on the Manavgat.

It is to this day one of the most spectacular rivers I have ever paddled, with some of the most beautiful and scary rapids. I strongly remember this being the first time I felt like I was engaging all the skills and techniques Michal patiently taught me in Spain.

People were so curious to see the van, most memorably a goat-herding family in the Koprucai region. The father of the family climbed in, pulling out the bed and the drawers and investigating every little thing, his curiosity was really nice to see.

Another of my favourite locations was Scandinavia. We had already spent the summer kayaking in multiple places – Turkey, Corsica, the United States and Scotland. For Sweden, we had a particular mission – to complete a first descent of the river Ruonekgarttje. It was a 10km mission uphill with our boats in remote northern Sweden, and it is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.

We were so proud of our achievement, from hiking up this hill to paddling down 10 unknown kilometres of beautiful whitewater. Having the van waiting at the takeout for us with a heater and our food was absolutely incredible.

Renault Trafic campervan - Travelling across the continent

Having a van that is essentially a small house has been one of the most freeing experiences of my life. Not everyone is going to want to drop everything and move into one full time, but the experiences you can have with the ability to truly immerse yourself in places is unparalleled. If you can just park up and sleep somewhere without properly leaving, it gives you so many options to travel further and explore deeper than if you had to continuously make your way back to hotels. Everything in a van can be as easy or as hard as you want it to be.

In kayaking we grade rapids between class 0 and class 6, with zero being totally flat and six being unrunnable. There is a lot wrong with the classing system, but with tongue firmly in cheek, I can say we have lived a class 5 van life: difficult, extreme, thrilling, unique, and I plan to do the whole thing over and over again.

Watch a short reel of the van build here ⤵️

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/QMrexIRbHUw

Follow Amber & Michal on all their adventures ⤵️

https://www.instagram.com/ambermaslen/

https://www.instagram.com/mkuthan/