Kayaker builds Hobbit Van with butterfly windows for vanlife

When Canada’s top-ranked whitewater kayaker Ben Hayward decided to pursue his Olympic dream, he began a life on the road racing in Europe. To afford this itinerant lifestyle, he crafted a 72-square-foot wooden home on the back of a flatbed truck, dubbing it the “Hobbit Van” for its big, round door and butterfly-style windows. Hayward, and a friend from Wales, worked “7 straight days to source, insure, design, and construct every component for a homemade demountable camper”. His new home cost him 9,500 Canadian dollars (about $7,300 U.S.): $2000 for the truck, $1500 for the wood and $6000 dollars for the appliances, solar panels and wind turbine. The insurance was an additional $3000. “After buying the truck the first thing I did was spend 3 days trying to insure the thing. It was incredibly difficult to insure a crazy, wacky vehicle for a non-resident of the UK, especially because this was my first car I’ve ever bought, I have no driving record whatsoever.” With