Every so often we see something that stops our scroll. For us, it was when Travels with Hilda posted a photo of their vehicle parked outside a church with the caption “Our car attended the wedding.”
Not everyone in the family was on board with the idea at first. Maltese weddings carry lots of tradition, expectation and a long guest list of opinions. But Mike and Louisa had already decided Hilda, their Hilux carrying a ModCAP Camper, would drive them down the aisle. “In the end she reflects the journey we’ve had so far and the dreams we continue to pursue,” Louisa says.
The full story behind that photo is the real reason it hit so hard. Mike had planned to propose on the family’s first big trip together, once they reached the northernmost tip of mainland Europe, Nordkapp. Life had other plans. Louisa’s father passed away suddenly while they were on the road, and the trip ended early. It was only once Mike had driven Hilda home, dust still on her tyres, that he proposed while camping, with the truck parked right there beside them.
“As cliché as it may sound, overlanding and Hilda are two of the reasons our relationship has grown stronger over the years,” Louisa says. “What you overcome by overlanding as a couple and a family, the memories you create and the freedom you feel, are all important reflections of our life.” Some parts of the wedding stayed traditional. Hilda not being there simply didn’t feel like an option.
The Nine-Month African Expedition
Long before Hilda, there was Lucy. A Land Cruiser kitted out with an Alu-Cab Canopy Camper, bought fully equipped through Bushlore for a nine-month expedition across Southern Africa. Between 2020 and 2021, Mike and Louisa covered just over 37,000 km through seven countries and 17 national parks, from South Africa up through Namibia and Tanzania and back down through Mozambique. Much of this was during COVID when the usual crowds weren’t there.
That trip is where the restlessness that still defines this family took root. “It showed us the freedom we longed for,” Louisa says. The plan to keep overlanding, continent by continent, was already forming when Frank arrived. Most new parents spend the months before a birth buying nursery furniture. Mike and Louisa bought a Hilux and started building it around their son.
“There was no reason for our plans to stop,” Louisa says. “If anything, we had even more reason to continue pursuing our dreams.” Louisa quit her job. Mike restructured his work to travel. Their first trip as a family of three, with an 11-month-old Frank in the back, was “anything but easy”. It did convince them that a conventional life wasn’t for them. “Neither of us had ever done things the normal way, so why should we start now?”
Building Hilda
Hilda started life with the same setup that had proven itself on Lucy. The family then upgraded their Canopy Camper to the ModCAP Family Camper once Leah came along. The difference, Louisa says, was immediate. “As a family of four, we feel the switch to a ModCAP Family Camper was a life-changer.” More sleeping space upstairs. Somewhere to sit downstairs once the kids are down, or when the weather turns.
Because Hilda is a double cab rather than the single-cab Lucy, Mike custom-built the internal structure from scratch to make the same self-sufficient setup work around two car seats: a diesel heater, a 25-litre fridge and a 25-litre freezer, a full kitchen, a 12V oven, a water heater, and 120 litres of water storage. On a Maltese winter night or deep into a Dolomites pass, the heater earns its keep. The water heater does something quieter but just as important for a family with two small children. It means bath time still happens wherever they’ve parked.
“We were never ones for vans and campervans,” Louisa says. “We wanted something more wild.” Off-roading, remote access, total self-sufficiency. The brief never changed. Only the number of people it had to work for did.
Slowing Down on Purpose
Ask Mike and Louisa to define slow travel and they don’t reach for a brochure version of the idea. “It’s about being present and going back to basics,” Louisa says. “Life can be super-fast and all over the place as we try to keep up with everyone and society. Being on the road allows us to simplify things, focus on what we really need and, most importantly, spend quality time together as a family.”
It isn’t automatic, even for them. “As a couple, we love being on the go, so we often have to pause and stop ourselves from moving on too quickly,” Louisa admits. The itinerary, when there is one, bends constantly. The family knows it’s time to move on when water or food supplies run low. Otherwise, they’re happy being self-sufficient in the middle of nowhere for as long as it lasts.
How They Parent
That philosophy extends to how they parent. Frank and Leah hike in carriers, not because Mike and Louisa are waiting for “old enough,” but because they decided hiking would simply be normal, not an exception the kids grow into later. “We need stronger backs!” Louisa laughs. What they’ve gained in return is a secondhand sense of wonder. “Watching the world through their eyes and seeing the excitement they feel over the smallest things makes you feel like a kid again. Especially when you’ve seen so much and start taking things for granted.”
A typical off-grid day has no fixed itinerary. Sunrise through the window, a slow breakfast, a hike or a swim, an afternoon nap that buys the adults twenty quiet minutes, then a few hours spent turning whatever nature has on hand into a toy. Bath, dinner, a fire if the wood’s dry. “No strict schedules, no rush,” Louisa says. “Just time together, exploring, playing and enjoying the simple things.”
The Family’s Festive Plans
Ask Mike and Louisa what the holiday season means to them, and they describe something close to the same instinct. “It’s a time we stop, reflect on the year that’s passed and appreciate all we have and everything we’ve experienced together,” Louisa says. Family is central to it, which is exactly why, every December, this family that spends half the year on the road comes home to Malta.
But coming home doesn’t mean switching the lifestyle off. “December is actually a beautiful time to be outdoors in Malta, and we love our little wild camping moments,” Louisa says. “For us, the festive season isn’t just about traditions or presents, but about spending time with the people we love, creating memories and appreciating the outdoors and the simple things in life.”
For any parent who assumes a “normal” Christmas is the only way to give their kids a good one, Louisa’s answer is direct: “The more authentic you are to who you are, the more enjoyable things become.” Her family keeps some traditions, because those matter too, but they spend as much time outside as the weather allows and the kids have learnt that Christmastime isn’t just about toys and presents. “They need presence, fresh air and a chance to run around and be kids. Something that seems to be becoming harder with phones and television.”
Asked for the one experience she’d gift every family this year, Louisa doesn’t hesitate: “I wish everyone would slow down, put their phones away and step outside. Jump into that cold sea or lake, make a campfire, look out for a shooting star or go for that hike. It doesn’t have to be anything big or planned, just be present with the people they love, with no distractions, just them and nature. At the end of the day, the best gift we can give our children isn’t more things, but our time, our presence and memories they’ll carry with them as they grow up.”
Where Next for Hilda?
The next chapter is already mapped out. In 2027, the family is planning a six-month overland trip from Malta through Central Asia — the “Stans” — drawn by the region’s rawness and relative lack of crowds. From there, Hilda will be shipped to South Africa for a seven-month trip around Southern Africa, starting January 2028, bringing the family back, in a sense, to where the whole idea first took hold.
To anyone still on the fence about taking a similar leap, Louisa’s advice has the same unhurried honesty as everything else she says. “There’s never a right time, so just start. The hardest part is saying, ‘Let’s go.’ You can figure it out as you go and create the right setup and lifestyle that suits you. Kids also adapt, often better than adults, and life is never guaranteed, so do the things you wish to do now. Your kids will soon grow up.”
It’s the same instinct that put Hilda at a wedding nobody expected to see her at, and the same one driving a family of four toward Central Asia next year. Not a bigger plan. Just the decision to go.
Keep up with the family’s adventures @travels_with_hilda