Rob Hall : Life on the Road
A passion for travel, waves and a top-end skillset led this Scottish surfer to start a campervan company which aspires to make a difference.
For Rob Hall, starting a campervan company was not just about a love for campervanning – for him, it’s about what campervanning can do for people; how it can improve their lives, and if it’s not stretching things too far, how it could improve the way we treat the planet in general.
As a keen traveller since he was in his teens, and having lived in Australia and New Zealand as well as his home country of Scotland, Hall has experienced the value of travel first-hand. “I think that travel – global or domestic – exposes you to different viewpoints. You notice the small things when you travel, the people, their opinions,” he says. “And when you trust those opinions whilst on the road, your understanding becomes much more rounded. Those diverse opinions create ideas that can improve the way things are.”
A key facet of Studio Vans design lies in sustainability. “The notion of a travel lifestyle has historically sacrificed aesthetic design. Plus it seems people have found it difficult to travel in an environmentally conscious way in a van”, he says. “Challenging customers to do things more sustainably is one of the key motivations for the way we do things at Studio Vans.” Materials are sought based on both their aesthetic and environmental impact, plywood is minimal VOC, aluminium is robust and recyclable and the campervan kit itself is a for-life product, designed to outlive the customer’s van, allowing them to take it with them and into their next vehicle, if they so choose.
A lot of the travel Hall has done has been part of his greatest passion: surfing. Even aside from Australasia, it’s a pursuit that has taken him everywhere from France, Portugal and Spain, to Morocco and throughout Indonesia. “I have surfed now for over 20 years,” he says. “I lived in Sydney for a decade, surfing and feeling the rhythms of the water every day.” As a former competitive swimmer who grew up on the banks of Loch Lomond, water remains a major part of his life, “I love spending time in the ocean,” he says.
But it’s not all sandy toes and cool beers at sunset. “Everywhere in the world that I’ve surfed, there are bits of plastic washing up. A lot more needs to be done to do something with that plastic.” He’s since bought the machinery to recycle ocean plastic in the Hebrides into components for his vans, following on from other companies who have led the charge, and collaborating with them where he can.
As an experienced chartered, mechanical and environmental engineer used to office life, Hall knows the daily grind, and that’s why he tries to take regular breathers now to be creative, rather than just productive. “I value moments of time out,” he says. “I like a good, contemplative coffee. I like, when I’m not rushing out the door, the ritual of preparing a coffee and just sitting and enjoying it with a view, allowing my mind to explore. It’s good concentration time; good focus time. I make time for that a few times a week.” When he can, in the early, pre-dawn hours, he can be found quietly making his coffee waterside, “Sometimes I prep one at the beach before a surf,” he says. “I make my coffee, waiting for the light to come up.”
Robert Hall Profile
Studio Vans Journal Stories
By Freya Herring