Belarusian teardrop trailers: a family hobby turned into a travel business

Minsk Automobile Plant and MAZ-Kupava introduced the Kupava 273140 motorhome built on the MAZ-365022 chassis with a 150 hp Euro-5 diesel engine and a six-speed manual gearbox. The model features an autonomous heater that runs up to 56 hours without the engine, a Diptihi system for remote monitoring via a mobile app, two sleeping areas for four people, a kitchen block with a gas stove and a 92-liter refrigerator, and a bathroom with shower. Operating temperature range is from –30 to +40 °C. The vehicle can be driven with a category B license.

Moscow residents Valery Kosygin and Alexander Chernov spoke about living in converted minivans and caravans. They travel across Belarus, noting its cleanliness and hospitality, earn money by repairing and servicing motorhomes, and connect through the Go Vanlife app. The vanlife community has more men, but also includes families with children and older people.

Armenian blogger Herbert Khachaturyan brought a homemade motorhome to Belarus, making the country the second point of his round-the-world route. The motorhome contains a bedroom, a kitchen with a stove, Picasso paintings and souvenirs from Belarus. The blogger planned to spend two weeks in the country but extended his trip due to the hospitality of locals and the beauty of nature. The next point on the route is Kazakhstan.

An exhibition of travel vehicles took place in Volozhin, featuring dozens of unique cars. Among the exhibits was a motorhome based on a bus worth 200,000 euros, as well as a car with a roof tent, on which a family recently returned from a trip to Georgia. The owner of the motorhome, Herbert, who travels the world, said that the interior fit-out cost him 30,000 euros because he did it himself. Exhibition participants also competed in a tourist route, with the main prize being a flight on an airplane or in a wind tunnel.

Dozens of motorhomes and campers arrived in Valozhyn for an exhibition and tourist route. Among the exhibits is a bus converted into a home worth 200,000 euros, as well as a car with a roof tent whose owners recently returned from a trip to Georgia. Organizers note that some retro vehicles are valued at hundreds of thousands of euros and must not be touched.

The number of travelers choosing motorhomes in Belarus is rising. This year's rally gathered about 300 motorhomes. Renting a motorhome costs about 300 Belarusian rubles per day, which is cheaper than a hotel for a family of six.