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The BEDFORD MJ you see here is NOW FOR SALE, contact us (top right corner) for information etc if you are interested. Go to Truck details and Photo Galleries (our Bedford MJ) to see more details.
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Chapter One.

Six years ago we made our first long haul flight, destination Thailand, to meet up with Lee and Vicky (son and daughter in law) who had been backpacking around the world for the previous 12 months. Over the following 2 years we met up with them on their travels in Vietnam, Malaysia and Borneo. Each time we visited them the desire to travel grow; the travel bug had got us, and most of all the love of south Asia.

In 2004 we made the decision to re-locate to Malaysia.

We had left England in 1996 to live and work (very hard) on the beautiful island of Mallorca in Spain building a successful property renovation company in the process. The years go by as we all get stuck into the routine of life. One day we felt it was time for us to move on. Our plan at first was to finish our house we were renovating, sell the business etc and fly to Kuala Lumpur (KL). The age difference between Steve and I is 15 years, the big 60 was coming up fast for me. Then the though, why go from A to B and miss out on so much of the world? Too old to backpack, not fit enough to cycle, so why not drive over land. All well and good but we needed a tough reliable vehicle preferable 4x4. We needed a truck! Comfortable and rugged, but a motor home as well. Now that would be an adventure! Over the coming months, our energies went in to finding to right vehicle. After much fruitless searching we found a dealer ship in the UK who specialised in ex-British army trucks, tanks in fact anything land based that has wheels. We purchased a Bedford MJ 4x4 troop carrier (wonderful!) now we needed to make it into a motor home, so we found a company in the south of England who assured us that they could make the box to form the basic home, Ok all well and good, and in November 2004, deposits were paid.

Five months later and a lot of wasted metal and time, thing were not going well. The problem with most trucks and especially a 4x4 is that the chassis flexes and in this case as much as half a metre front to rear, big problem. Back to the drawing board?

After a lot of research and help from friends, family and some serious CAD automation from a specialist car manufacturer, a solution was found, so the design was changed, we pulled out of the built in the south, cutting our losses and had the truck sent north, to Liverpool in fact where a company specialising in the manufacturer of shipping containers was rearing to go, a steel container was built with the suitable supports and suspension to overcome the flexing disasters from the previous company.

Success!!

September 2005 we drove the truck back to Mallorca to complete the build.

Working full time, completing our house build and creating our dream truck was no mean feat. We finished the house in May 2006, had a big party to celebrate and put it up for sale. After a few false starts we finally sold the house, it was now June 2007. The biggest heartache was finding a good home for our two adorable dogs. This was achieved at the last moment, now we get regular reports from their new owners that all is fantastic.

A huge thanks to you John and Suzie.

So now we are parked up in a friends Finca still in Mallorca, knowing we are within weeks of finishing the build and starting our new life on the road.

Thanks Steve and Cathy.

Ps, Follow our journey by opening "OUR DIARY"