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This Australian widower had no problem selling his beloved Volkswagen Kombi van to a young couple for half the asking price – so long as they promised to make as many special memories with it as he and his wife used to before her recent death.

26-year-old Elise and 29-year-old Domenic Cooke are avid world travels. So they were all the more delighted to find a sparkling, carefully cared for VW van for sale in the online classifieds section. However, their hearts sank when they saw that the asking price was $39,000.

The recently-married couple decided to go look at the van anyway, even if it was out of their budget.

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Domenic and Elise then went to pensioner Peter Von Maltzahn’s house to look at the vehicle. The van, still perfectly running in all of it’s cozy glory, was everything they hoped it would be and more.

While chatting with Peter, the senior told travel stories from decades past. His life had apparently been so filled with adventure during his marriage, it was enough to make Elise “envious”, even though she is a travel blogger herself.

 

Dejected, but still inspired, Elise and Domenic left Peter’s house accepting that they couldn’t afford the dream van.

But then one week later, the couple received a call from Peter. The pensioner explained that even though he had received two other offers for the van’s asking price, they had both been made by collectors who were content to let the vehicle gather dust in a display, rather than to actually use it. He then asked what Domenic and Elise could afford to pay.

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The couple said that realistically, they could only afford about half of the original price.

“He told us that the idea of the Kombi going to a young married couple, beginning their lives together, just like he and his wife when they bought it together back in ’72, meant so much more to him,” Elise told the Daily Mail. “With tears in his eyes he told us he would accept our offer, but only on one condition.”

 

“I told him we would do anything. He said, ‘You have to promise me you’ll have adventures and when you have your own children you have to take them on many, many adventures’.”

The couple has since taken the van – fondly dubbed Scout – across Australia, thus fulfilling their promise to Peter.

You can follow the couple’s adventures via Elise’s Instagram page.

Click To Share This Inspiring Story With Your Friends (Photos by Elise Cook)

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