VANMAZING: They're living their dream. And they're already working on the next one.
Veronika and George have big dreams, crazy ideas, and a pretty clear vision of how they want to live. As VANMAZING, they travel the world with their dog Safi—who’s been part of the family ever since a gas stop in Morocco—in search of good waves and new adventures. Now they’re converting an old military truck into their new home. And their surfboards might just be to blame. Excuse me?
Veronika, George & Safi – @vanmazing.life · Friends of OLLI
The Friends of OLLI are a community of extraordinary people. Free spirits, adventurers, globetrotters. With big dreams, crazy ideas, and a huge dose of curiosity about life. Everyone has their own path and their own story. Together, they share experiences, open up new perspectives, and encourage each other to follow their own dreams. ❤️One Life. Live It. ✊🏻
Tell us, who are you?
We’re Veronika and George. A couple with big dreams and an even bigger determination to make them come true.
We’ve always wanted to shape our lives according to our own vision. Travel, nature, surfing, creativity, and the freedom to decide how to spend our time—these are the things that truly make us happy.
We’re self-employed, and we live and travel in our own home on wheels. And if something in our lives ever stops making sense, we try to change it.
Life is simply too short to wait decades for the right moment.
What are you passionate about?
Freedom. That’s probably the most important thing.
We love waking up in the morning and being able to decide for ourselves where we’re going next. Working from anywhere and staying in one place for as long as we want.
Travel, nature, beaches, and surfing have become a huge part of our lives. Plus, we’re both pretty crazy about creating things—videos, our own projects, or entire vehicles that we build ourselves.
We actually always have some crazy project in the works.
"We only have this one life. And we really want to be there when it happens."
What does “One Life. Live It.” mean to you?
Living a life that truly feels like our own.
We want to make our own decisions, follow our dreams, and spend our time on things that matter to us. If something makes us unhappy, we try to change it. If we dream of something, we try to make it happen.
Of course, our life isn’t perfect. After all, van life isn’t a never-ending vacation. But we’re happy to accept the challenges that come with our freedom.
We only have this one life. And we really want to be there when it happens.
What moment in your lives will you never forget?
The moment we found Safi in Morocco.
We’d talked about getting a dog someday for quite some time. But we never expected that we’d end up finding and adopting a female dog at a gas station in Morocco, of all places.
It was one of those moments when you just have to trust your gut. We knew that Safi would completely change our lives and the way we travel.
And she has—in the most wonderful way imaginable.
Ever since then, Safi has been part of every adventure, every trip, and our everyday life. We can’t imagine life without her at all anymore.
What else do you really want to do or experience?
We just bought a 40-year-old military truck that we’re converting into our new home on wheels.
Our plan is to eventually travel to South America in it.
It’s a pretty ambitious project, especially since we’re doing most of it ourselves. But that’s exactly what we love about it.
It’s something special to take an old vehicle, figure out how everything works, solve problems, and—step by step—turn it into a home that truly suits us.
And when it’s finished, we’ll see where it takes us.
"We probably only bought the military truck because we needed a bigger garage for our surfboards."
What was your best spur-of-the-moment decision?
Definitely buying our first surfboards.
On our very first road trip in the van, we arrived in northern Spain, went to Decathlon, and bought the biggest surfboards that would just barely fit in the car.
We had barely a clue what we were doing. But it didn’t take long before we were completely hooked on surfing.
Since then, we’ve planned many of our trips around the best surf spots. We bought more boards—eventually even a longboard—and eventually had to modify our van so everything would fit.
Strictly speaking, we probably only bought the military truck because we needed a bigger garage for our surfboards ;-)
What really gets on your nerves?
Each other. Definitely.
We love spending time together. But we’ve been together 24/7 for more than seven years now.
Living, traveling, and working together in a van is a pretty intense relationship experiment. Especially when it rains for days on end and there’s nowhere to retreat to.
We’ve learned that you can love someone very much without wanting to sit right next to them every single minute.
What would you do again in a heartbeat—and what would you never do again?
We’d build a vehicle from scratch ourselves again in a heartbeat. In fact, we’re doing it again right now. It’s incredibly satisfying to take an old vehicle, understand its mechanics, solve problems on our own, and slowly turn it into a real home.
And what would we never do again? Spend any length of time somewhere where we can’t surf. We’ve simply become way too spoiled by having the ocean and our surfboards as an integral part of our daily lives.
What do other people often misunderstand about you or your life?
Many people think we’re on a never-ending vacation. But traveling is both our lifestyle and our job. We produce videos, run our own projects, collaborate with brands, develop products, and are actually always busy with something.
Even when we’re sitting on a beautiful beach, part of our brain is usually already thinking about work again.
That can be exhausting. But we love the freedom that comes with it, and we wouldn’t trade it for any traditional office job.
“We’d rather put up with the problems that come with freedom than settle comfortably into a life that doesn’t feel like our own.”
How do you travel?
Slowly, spontaneously, and mostly depending on the weather and surf forecast. Sometimes we drive on every day and wake up the next morning in a completely different place. Sometimes we discover a spot we really like and just stay for a month. We travel year-round and prefer the off-season, when it’s quieter and we can experience the places without large crowds. Since we also work while on the road, there’s no clear distinction between traveling and everyday life for us. For us, this is simply our life.
What are the three things you can't travel without?
Food, Safi, and our surfboards.
Our fridge always has to be well-stocked because George is a huge foodie. Safi is, of course, part of the family. And our surfboards have become almost as important to us as our bed. If there’s an ocean nearby, chances are pretty good that we’re out on the water right then.
As a fourth item, we’d probably add the internet. After all, it lets us work from almost anywhere. Actually, we’d have to list everything we have in our van. Because all these things are what turn a vehicle into a home.
What’s your favorite meal on the road?
Definitely shakshuka, also known as the Berber omelet. We fell in love with this dish while traveling through Morocco. Since then, our own version has been one of our absolute favorite meals on the road. It’s easy to make, filling, tastes fantastic, and only requires a single pan. Basically, the perfect van life meal.
Veronika and George, two free spirits with saltwater in their veins and sand on their skin. They love good waves, big dreams, and the freedom to shape their own lives. With energy and a drive to get things done, they turn crazy ideas into real adventures. And the fact that they took in Safi, a stray dog they met along the way, and welcomed her into their family says a lot about the two of them.
With their openness, creativity, and infectious enthusiasm for life, the three of them enrich the Friends of OLLI community.
Now they’re converting an old military truck for South America. Supposedly for new adventures. We suspect the surfboards just need more space. ❤️
Follow VANMAZING – Friends of OLLI:
- Instagram: @vanmazing.life
- YouTube:Vanmazing Life
- Online Store:Vanmazing Life
