When I bought my Hilux (Rafiki) in 2021, I didn’t have much choice in terms of setup because I just don’t care about comfort. At the time, I just got back from Africa where I was backpacking Ethiopia and living with its tribal communities. Comfort has actually never been something important to me, and I’m serious. Some of you might know it already, but I spent the 15 first years on my life (on and off though) on a very tiny and old sailboat, squeezing my body against my three siblings and my parents. At a very early age, I learned how to save water, indeed, I was sometimes having one shower every week…with the grey water of the dishes. I learned how to sail, to navigate, to anticipate bad weather…starting from the age of 7.
Having a rooftop tent was not the initial plan at all. I had my ground tent ready and stores at the back of Rafiki when the brand FrontRunner (the team from South Africa) contacted me before the expedition. I was nobody at the time (I’m still nobody though) and they so wanted to give me a hand. I never heard about them before, and I accepted some of their equipment, for free! The first rooftop tent I had for 17 months was theirs, until I changed it to the one you know now.
After 2.5 years, sleeping in a tent, nonstop, and not having a proper shelter just to hide from the world, and a place where I can safely grab the wheel and go, is missing. Today, I prpbably got older, or not, because I’m convinced, more than ever, to spend the next years to come in and with my Rafiki. And here are the draft and some ideas…
If you have recommendations, advice, tips or if you are based somewhere in Europe and want to give me a hand with this project, you’re more than welcome! I’d like to build it with the help of professionals, of course!
Ciao Charline, ti ho scoperto da poco e subito mi hai colpito e, colpito nel profondo. Mi ritengo come te un viaggiatore anche se non ho mai colto l'opportunità di affrontare un viaggio a tempo indeterminato. Come te amo l'Africa e la mia auto (un Defender) che ho allestito in tanti anni per viaggi overland. Sono decisamente un romantico, come non c'è dubbio lo sei tu e il mio viaggio ha sempre avuto quello stesso valore di libertà che percepiamo nei tuoi video e nelle tue parole. Dall'inizio, nonostante il tuo perfetto inglese e la tua origine francese, ho percepito la tua italianità nei valori dell'amicizia e della sensibilità. Ti apprezzo per tutto e ancor più per il tuo spir…
Are you too tall to sleep sideways? I'm designing the back of my Landrover to sleep as I'm getting too old to climb down from the RTT. At the moment I'm designing around a single width rock and roll bed and avoiding a gas stove by getting a Sterling induction hob.
Patrick