About Beelzebus

Why this name? What does it mean?

“Beelzebus” is a portmanteau, a blend of two different words combined in one.
Beelzebub + bus = Beelzebus.
We wanted the name of the bus to be unusual, easy to remember and a bit metal.🤘

What is the make and the year of your bus?

It’s a Mercedes 508D from 1984.

What is Beelzebus’ fuel consumption?

1,3 L diesel / 10 km

How long did it take to renovate your van and how much did the initial van cost?

It took us about 6 months of full-time work to renovate the van and it cost us about 150,000 SEK (14,600 EUR). We purchased the van for 40,000 SEK (3,900 EUR). The house and the van renovation, the house sale and moving out took us about a year.

Do you have a shower and a toilet in the bus?

Yes and yes. We don’t have a separate shower/ WC room but we have a portable toilet and an underfloor “hidden” shower. We traveled without having a shower for about 6 months, so it is not impossible. But after staying above the Arctic Circle in winter time, we decided to build an underfloor shower. So Balthazar still has his own space and we can shower inside of the van whenever we want, for example, when it’s cold outside.

About Balthazar

What breed is Balthazar and how old is he?

Balthazar is an Irish wolfhound. He is 6 years old.

Why is he so big?

Irish Wolfhounds usually take the prize as the world's tallest dog. A male might stand nearly 90 cm (3 ft) at the shoulder and weigh up to 82 kg (180 pounds). Females will run smaller but are still a whole lot of hound.
Balthazar weights about 80 kg and is over 2 m (6,5 ft) tall when he is standing on his back paws.

Is it hard to travel with such a big dog?

No, not at all. We had to compromise on having a shower room in the bus but that is not such a big problem for us. We wanted Balthazar to have his own space with his own bed and to be able to turn around in the bus. We also wanted him to be able to choose where he wants to sleep as he changes his position throughout the night a lot, probably because he is so big. Balthazar loves sitting on the front seat and look out of the window and he gets really excited about exploring new places, especially soft sandy beaches. It’s a very calm breed. He likes hanging on the sofa and taking naps during the day. So it is absolutely no problem having him with us. It is a privilege to be able to share our adventures with him.

About us

What old are you and where are you from? Where are you based?

Björn is 33 and Katja is 30. Björn is Swedish (half Dutch, by the way) and Katja is from Belarus (half Russian😁). We sold our house so we are not really based anywhere but we are still strongly connected to an island called Gotland in Sweden, but hope to move to the mainland eventually.

Do you ever miss having a solid 'home' and have you considered or would you consider moving back into one at some point?

We didn't miss having a "home" when we were on the road at all, to be honest, because we had our home with us. Now when we are back on the island, where all our friends and relatives have houses and appartments, it is a little bit weird and makes us miss our old house a bit. But we wanted to move from this island, so there's no point to get any "normal" home here for us anyway. We are counting days until we can leave. But yes, our goal is to get an off-grid cabin that we can use as our base, when we have to or when we are tired of traveling and need to take a break for a while.