I meet Herb at the entrance to Granville Station in Vancouver. Together we’re driving down south to a small suburb called Ladner, which is located on the banks of the Fraser River. Herb is living here in a nice area surrounded by farmland and little canals. On workdays he drives up to Downtown Vancouver to pursue his work as a biologist. Because space is quite limited in Vancouver, a lot of people live in the surrounding suburbs. I’m on this trip with him because Herb is selling his camper truck, which he has used for about twenty years on numerous adventures throughout British Columbia and the USA.

Infront of my new truck in Delta, British California.

Since I had arrived in Canada a few days earlier, I had been really busy organizing lots of things for my upcoming travels like getting a social insurance number, a bank account and a canadian mobile phone number. While those things hadn’t been too exciting, I had bought a complete set of new camera equipment too. Switching from a big Nikon D800 mirror reflex camera to a mirrorless system was a change I had been thinking about for a long time. I just couldn’t bear to carry all that weight with me while traveling. So it was the perfect time to do that switch.

The biggest and most important thing to do on my list was to find a car though. Not having quite the choice of vehicles in my price range, I was very happy to find Herbs advertisement on Craigslist…

While our bus is moving slowly through the evening rush hour we get to know each other a bit and talk about old and upcoming adventures. After arriving in Ladner we walk for a minute before we stand in front of the good old Toyota Hilux pickup truck, which was parked close to the bus station. Herb hands over the keys to me and lets me drive it back to his house. We have a closer look at the truck in his driveway while I start to get a good feeling about this deal. I remember those Toyota Utes from Australia, where they were very popular and it wasn’t unusual so see engines with a few hundred thousand kilometers still running fine. Also it is really interesting for me to get such a small engine with just 2,4 liters, while the average truck engine size here seems to be even above 5 liters! I will be able to save a lot of fuel, especially because the camper weights only about 350kg.

After we’re finished with the truck we go around the back of the house, where the camper sits on its trolley. Even though it’s quite old, everything seems to work. Inside there is a double bed, a small kitchen with a sink, a two burner propane stove and a fridge which can be operated on battery, propane or via direct electricity supply. Most importantly to survive in cold winters there is a working furnace, which also operates on propane gas. In the back it’s got a table with two benches that can transform into another double bed.

I get invited for dinner and enjoy a nice little vegie dish with elements from Herbs garden. It all reminds me a lot on my time in Australia and all those nice people over there. After dinner Herb shows me how to get the camper on top of the truck. He then let’s me drive it back to the train that will get me back to Vancouver. We shake hands and decide that I should sleep over this decision first.

Two days later the decision is made and we settle for a very reasonable price. Because I have trouble to get all of the money in such a quick time, I drive over to Ladner again to make a first payment to seal the deal. Herb also helps me to buy and install a new deep-cycle battery for the camper. We work out a few things on the camper and install a bigger gas bottle in the side of it. I will have a smaller one as a spare for emergencies. While doing all those things, time seems to run by very fast.

I get invited for dinner again. This time we eat a chicken curry and homebrewed beer along with it. Not in a thousand times would something like that ever happen to me while buying a car in Germany! I get a lot of great tips about my trip and the possible routes I might take.

The next day I come back with the rest of the money and we conclude the full exchange. I get to register the car in my name and get brand new license plates for it. Obviously I get invited over dinner. There is even homemade wine this time. Yummy!

I’m happy and pretty sure that I have found the perfect guy to buy the perfect car from. While staying in Herbs driveway for the first night in my camper, I write this post, think about upcoming adventures and about a name for my new home…