Why she's called LoraLee.
It was at a joint Christmas party some 27yrs ago, packed wall-to-wall with people from two different companies who mostly kept to their own circles. You were standing near the punch bowl with all your friends, when a mutual friend grabbed my arm and said, "There's someone you need to meet." From that night on, we were inseparable. Within three years, we had saved every penny to purchase our first house together—a modest fixer-upper with an overgrown back garden and draughty windows. To our surprise when we received the paperwork the house was called LoraLee. This couldn’t be true, we couldn’t believe it. The first proprietor of the property renamed the house after herself Lorraine Lee which was such a coincident as we were also named Lorraine and Lee. Together, we spent over 10yrs painting walls, fixing leaky faucets, and slowly turning four walls into a home filled with warmth, music, and love.
To escape the stress of daily life and home renovations, we both took up camping. We started with an old two-person tent that leaked at the seams during a sudden thunderstorm in the mountains. Instead of ruining the trip, that night became one of our favourite memories: huddling together in dry sleeping bags, sharing a cuppa over a camping stove, and listening to the rain beat against the canvas.
For over twenty years, that tent—and eventually a slightly larger one—became our sanctuary. We explored coastline trails, hidden forest clearings, and lakeside campgrounds every summer. Camping wasn't just a hobby; it was the rhythm of our life together.
On a trip to Anglesey we both admired our new neighbour’s camper van, thinking what luxury compared to out tent, a proper bed off the floor. Lorraine then had this idea “why don’t we get one” we could sell our aging car, buy a camper van, we still could go shopping in it because it wasn’t too big, and we would maximise our time away. Unfortunately we didn’t expect them to be priced as high as that, not to worry may be something we could do when we retire.
Many years later of both of us working hard we decided to retire and enjoy that go anywhere life style. A camper van would be the answer. I had completed 30yrs in the Fire Service and Lorraine similar time at the local university, this would be our next chapter our next adventure.
We ordered a new Ford Transit Custom with the intension that we would both convert it together, exciting times, we could design it just for us and have what we wanted. We talked about the places we would visit, the towns, the seasides, the mountains and the continents we would explore, together this would our next chapter and the new road ahead.
Life however had very different plans, without warning Lorraine became unexpectedly ill and passed away 3 days later. My partner, my anchor, my best friend for decades was gone. The world seemed to stop, and the quiet in the house we had built together became deafening.
After taking delivery of the new van I had no interest in converting it myself, but I had to complete this project in honour of Lorraine’s dream.
Doing it myself still didn’t seem right, so I took the conscience decision to have it professionally converted. It would be turned around quicker, be a luxury conversion and have the certification to meet all the required standards.
Going away in it for the first night seem a good idea, Lorraine was there but wasn’t so to speak. No one to share that adventure, the experience, the fun and laughter we would have shared.
Lorraine wouldn’t have let this bother her and she always had a solution, she had loved the open road, the freedom of travel, and the joy of creating memories, I decided to list the camper van on a rental platform and name her LoraLee Campers.
At first, handing the keys over to strangers was difficult. But then the messages began to come in. Young couples taking their first anniversary trips, families introducing their kids to the mountains, and retirees fulfilling long-held travel dreams wrote back to share their stories and thank me for the experience.
Now, every time the van pulls out of the driveway, it carries a piece of her spirit with it—spreading the love, adventure, and joy we shared together across the country, one open road at a time.
Lee
