VanLife

Briefly about the line:

Van conversion
Compact living
Reuse and redesign
Creative work
Vehicle maintenance
Trip planning and travel expertise

Travels:

Road trip in the Nordics with self-built campervan
Surf camp in Hoddevik
Joint trip to Spain and Gibraltar

roadtrip folkehøgskole, utsikt fra bilen

From van to well-being on wheels!

Experience dramatic nature, the pulse of the big city, beautiful beaches and putting mile after mile behind you on the road - all in the class' own little homes.

We turn a van into a cozy, sustainable home on wheels, and learn the value of a simpler life. Here you can create and build with your own hands. You can travel and experience the most wonderful things the Nordic region has to offer, and you can see how little is needed to live more sustainably.

Everyday life at VanLife consists of many hours in the workshop rebuilding and maintaining the vehicle, creative work to design the van so that it is both practical and homely, and travel planning. In addition, we go out a lot and participate in activities together with the other lines. We try our hand at climbing, surfing (we are going on a 4-day surf camp to wonderful Hoddevik), ice swimming, longboarding and much more during the year!

Subject areas

Sustainability, climate and citizenship

Compact living
Van cover
Reuse and redesign

Vehicle and practical activity

Creative work (design, crafts)
Vehicle maintenance
Trip planning and travel expertise
Selected activities related to line's study tours
Cooperation with other lines in the school

Road trip

Trip planning and travel expertise

Sustainability, redesign and collaboration

Sustainability is a consistent focus in what we do. Throughout the year, you get to practice living with simple means, reflect on what a sustainable lifestyle means to you, and build something you can be proud of! When we plan and build together, we learn about the construction process, and working with van conversion in practice offers many exciting challenges, both for the inexperienced and for those who already have experience. The school has a single workshop, but for more mechanical work we use local workshops. The line has a focus on reuse, and the materials we use to rebuild the cars are sourced as much as possible from recycling centers, dumpster diving or gifts from various players in the area.

Travel - Road trip in the Nordics

We travel on a 14-day road trip through the Nordic region, where you help decide the itinerary. Do you dream of exploring the vibrant city life of Stockholm, walking along the coastal paths of Skagen, experiencing the majestic nature of Lofoten, or perhaps discovering Skellefteå's hidden treasures?

Who is the line suitable for?

This is a line for you who like to travel, like sunsets and waking up with a view of spectacular nature! You must have no previous knowledge, but must be ready to work in a workshop and sleep in the car during the year.

Teachers on the line

Victor Nordvoll Axelsson

Victor is our teacher on the VanLife line. He is trained as a child and youth worker in Sweden, as well as completed education in folk high school pedagogy in the spring of 2022. Otherwise, he has instructor courses and experience in alpine skiing and snowboarding.

Victor has a great interest in sustainability and finding solutions that can contribute to us making good use of the resources we have, and the scheme at VanLife will be able to challenge the handyman gene to the fullest 🙂

In addition to mainstream subjects, he will teach something in joint subjects and elective subjects.

Equipment list

You can borrow this equipment from the school

Classroom for teaching/planning work for online content. The school has a workshop for simple maintenance work on cars, as well as interior work on up to three vehicles. Major vehicle repairs must be carried out at an authorized workshop, and planned into the line's financial budget, as part of the training.

Purchase of vehicles as output point. for conversion is also included as part of the contents of the line. Here, the school requires that purchased vehicles must be EU-approved within the last year.

You must provide this equipment yourself

Both work with vehicles and furnishings involve a lot of dirt, dust and dirt.

A full suit or similar that you can pull over your normal clothes, and thus take off when you leave the workshop. Alternative work clothes.
Safety shoes (with steel toe cap)
If you have equipment and tools, please bring them along

Clothes and equipment for the study tours:

Usual hiking equipment is required (winter sleeping bag, sleeping mat, clothing for outdoor use)
Any equipment you want to use during activities you choose to do (cycling, skiing, etc.)

Schedule

In addition to the main subjects, you also have joint subjects, elective subjects and project subjects. The common subjects is worth its weight in gold for building community and preparing you for life after school. We offer many exciting electives, such as golf, horse riding, photography, the hunting test, the boat driving test and much more. IN project subject you get the opportunity to, among other things, take up subjects, or explore different career paths.

No two weeks are the same, but a typical week might look like this:

Shared every day: Good breakfast + morning meeting (a word for the day, today's news, marking birthdays and other important information).

Monday: Room cleaning, Boarding subjects, Housing collection, lunch and line subjects
Tuesday: Electives throughout the day
Wednesday: Common subjects, lunch and line subjects
Thursday: Main courses all day
Friday: Line subjects. Boarding laundry the hour before dinner
Saturday: Seminar/activity/trip, student evening, Saturday dinner with hot meal

Price

From NOK 139,350

Including:

Instruction
All meals
Shared room at the school
All compulsory activities on the line
Joint trip with the whole school to Spain and Gibraltar (incl. 3 meals per day)
Bus trip: Road trip in the Nordics (incl. 3 meals per day)
Tours in the local area
Songbook
Accident insurance
Free use of student kitchens and special rooms
Internet
Washing machine

Minimum price for the line: 139 350,-

The price includes a double room with a bathroom in the hallway.

Loans and Scholarships

For the 2024/2025 school year, you can be paid up to NOK 137,907 from the Lånekassen. 60 per cent of this sum is a loan, 40 per cent is a loan that can be converted into a scholarship when you are approved for your year at folkehøgskole.

Here you can apply for loans and grants