Masters to Watch: Hein van de Laar (founder Lume Traveler)

The quirky LUME Traveler is a striking choice: rugged yet refined, dutch design. LUME Traveler mixes legendary looks with unsurpassed attention to finesse. The result? A high-end aluminum caravan. In the latest edition of MASTERS, MASTERS talks to the founder of Lume Traveler, who will be at MASTERS EXPO in RAI Amsterdam from November 18-22.Text: Bart-Jan Brouwer
Image: I-DO

Silver bullet

"My basis is formed by interior design and the love of beautiful things, from cars to boats. I was never impressed by the design of caravans, with the exception of the typical aluminum models with rivets from the American Airstream. I saw it as a challenge to make such a silver bullet more beautiful. But that turned out to make little sense, because the Airstream has to meet different requirements to be on the road than apply in Europe. One morning I stepped out of the shower and thought: I'm just going to develop a model myself. I thought it was a gap in the market, because to me the other caravans are all the same, inside and out. People like to drive a nice car, but then they don't want such a white box attached to it. There must be a better way, right? I started making sketches, with nice curves in them, and then sat down with a designer. Then a whole process followed to make it feasible. Gradually we arrived at a prototype, which combined state-of-the-art design with rugged simplicity and modern technology. With this we went to the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf. There we received such a warm welcome and such rave reviews! That encouraged us to continue with it."

Comfort

"Actually, we are introducing a legend. An exclusive premium dutch design camper, but with the advantages of traveling with a separate car. Not only the shape differs from the regular caravan, also the use of materials. It looks like aluminum and it is. The wood is real wood, the glass is real glass. My budget is not endless, so shareholders came along. They contributed not only finances, but also a lot of knowledge. So the idea arose to standardize some models as much as possible, because then we could build on stock. We only want to assemble. There should be no drilling machine involved: that hole should already be there. Because the caravan is heavier than 750 kilograms, it has a type approval, so it can be registered throughout Europe. Initially I called it the Cube Travel Trailer, but Cube was already in use. One morning my girlfriend woke up and said, "Why not Lume? The name is a reference to aluminum, to light, and in Armenian it means "world. I immediately liked the name. A Lume represents enjoying the outdoors with the comfort of a hotel room. Often you come home broken when you've been camping. With the Lume Traveler, you don't have that. There are thick, full-size mattresses in there - you sleep better than at home. Fold down the small table to create space for an extra bed for two children.... Another highlight is the roof that folds open like a convertible, so you can see the stars from your bed - a more-than-five-star experience! In the Lume, you are self-sufficient and have your own hygiene, also very important in this day and age. It has an outdoor shower, complete with shower curtain. It has a comfortable toilet, air conditioning... And you also cook outdoors: when you lift the tailgate at the push of a button, a kitchen emerges with four upper cabinets for dishes and glassware, two large lower cabinets, three PITT Cooking gas burners, a 40-liter refrigerator and a gas connection for the barbecue."

You can read this article much more in MASTERS #47. Never miss anything from MASTERS? With 4 high-profile MASTERS editions, the annual LXRY LIST and many more extras, you will easily receive lots of reading pleasure at home: substantive reports, great photography and unique brands, trends and places in the world. Give it to yourself or a loved one as a gift. Conveniently close your subscription here now.