Category: Projects

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Cankuna Sunshine Collective

The last months were once again very challenging for us. Nothing went as planned and one bad news followed the other. We needed some rest after this energy-sapping time, just the thought of starting our trip right away was pure stress. So we took our time. Time for us, in which we could think about our dreams and ideas for the future and forged new plans and concepts for our life on the road.

Up to now we have always made longer trips with our bus and then came back to Germany to build campers for you. In order to have a mission on the road in the future, to be able to pursue our passions and talents and at the same time do something good for Mother Earth, we founded the Cankuna Sunshine Collective. With this project we transform our bus into a rolling studio, café and store at the same time.

Another mainstay, which we have founded under the Cankuna Sunshine Collective is a small, independent fashion label. We have been playing with the idea of designing clothes exactly according to our ideas for a long time. So we made short work and in cooperation with a dortmunder screen printing workshop we brought out our first collection. Since the environment is very important to us and we think that we can change a lot with conscious consumption and the conscious production of consumer goods, we produce the shirts and hoodies as sustainably as possible. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

The first edition is printed on 100 shirts and hoodies, 50% of which are second hand items that we have painstakingly gathered and selected over the past few months. We believe that fashion doesn’t always have to be produced from scratch, instead we give used pieces that we collect on our travels a new life through Lara’s art and design’s, creating an even more sustainable alternative to fair fashion products. Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version) The other 50 shirts are Fair Trade organic cotton and stock that could no longer be sold.

We want to create an inspiring place in the future at markets, festivals or just standing on the beach wherever we are. You can browse through Lara’s illustrations and art supplies, buy a cool shirt, enjoy a delicious coffee from our portafilter machine, or just have a nice conversation.

Julian is currently planning workshops and consultations on eco-friendly van expansion, alternative energy generation, and resource-saving travel.

To simultaneously address the most pressing environmental problems of our planet, we organize beach clean-ups, actions for marine conservation, and try to bring together an army of volunteers who contribute to the protection of the environment. The mission is to defend biodiversity, end the destruction of ecosystems, do something positive together, and have a great time doing it. In addition a part of our income is donated to environmental organizations, which we promote at the same time.

 
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A brief review

We’ve been asked repeatedly over the past few months where we are, what we’re doing, and why there are no recent blog posts.

The year 2021 was not easy for us. Early on, we were floored by the news that a beloved family member had died. After some back and forth thinking, we decided to pause the trip and head back to Germany.

There we spent the days organizing the funeral and taking care of the estate. As if all this wasn’t hard enough, our checking accounts were getting emptier by the day. Traveling was out of the question for the time.

But hey- in Germany summer was just around the corner, for us the ideal time to replenish our travel funds.

In order to offer other adventurers and people looking for an alternative the possibility to realize their dream, we started the project “Cankuna Campers” about 2 years ago. Since then, we have converted buses and vans (sometimes more and sometimes less regularly) for, or even with, other people, allowing us to pass on our experience and make the upgrades as sustainable as possible.

Again and again inquiries for solar conversions and complete rebuilds came in and we were already booked up after a short time for the next 9 months.

There was no end to the work and our departure date moved further and further back.

Meanwhile, in addition to a job we’re finishing up, we’re in the process of planning our next big trip. In about a week we will go to England for the first time. We will make our way up the coast through Cornwall and Wales, then cross over to Ireland. We have stopped setting precise goals and time frames and instead just travel. Nevertheless, there is a big dream for us to travel to New Zealand and Australia with our bus. To make this dream come true, we will probably ship the bus to New Zealand next year and stay there as long as we want.

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Operation roof raise

Manu has been living in his Düdo for quite a while now. Unfortunately, however, his bus has no standing height, which severely restricts the feeling of space and freedom of movement.

This is now to change for good!

The Düdo is now getting a high roof.

Manu bought the roof used and lovingly refurbished it. Together we have then his old roof abflext, welded the frame of the high roof and glued the GRP roof with vast amounts of bodywork glue.

 

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A new project

 

Slowly we are finished with the expansion of our school bus and already comes the next project. This VW T3 has one night for inexplicable reasons, the battery started to burn and large parts of the engine, as well as the interior of the bus were destroyed. Our task now is to restore this sweetheart and get it back on the road. First we tore out all the things that were no longer usable to get an overview. Since the engine had taken quite a beating from the fire, we decided to remove it and take it to an engine rebuilder. Now we had time to take care of the body. The paint was burnt in many places and some sheet metal had warped due to the heat. Accordingly, we dented the body, treated rust, partially at spackled and painted. A new underbody protection we have applied in the necessary places again. The rear and right side windows were cracked by the fire, so we replaced them with new seals. The interior of the Bulli was covered with 4mm poplar plywood and the necessary parts were replaced. The engine was repaired, but a lot of work had to be done to get it running again. The entire electrical system, all water, oil and diesel hoses and all gaskets and engine attachments had to be replaced. After 2 months of work it is done. The Bulli is roadworthy again and its owner is happy.