5 things I have learnt about full time van life.

We bought our new to us motorhome in September 2020 as a solution to a problem of where to live in Brussels and it’s changed our life.

The job in Brussels got cancelled, Rescue Rosie has gone over rainbow bridge and offspring moved on, life now looks very different to four years ago.

I have learnt so much on my journey to life as an empty nester with 6 lefthomers.

I have been challenged, tested and learnt stuff about myself I never thought possible.

I downsized our 6 bed family home, decluttered things I never imagined I would release to new homes and built a business that keeps me on the road.

I don’t need a fraction of the stuff I had accumulated. Our 8.21m space doesn’t have that much storage. I decluttered our kitchen, books, craft supplies, clothes and had to be choosy about what I kept.

It liberated me from a job that I only had to pay for the house to protect things I didn’t really love. Go figure that conundrum.

Now I have things I love and use. My Nanny’s teapot, electric tricycle, laptop and phone.
I love our non-traditional lifestyle and I can honestly say I can’t imagine ever living in a brick house again.

For the first time in my life, I feel happy living the lifestyle I now have. Don’t get me wrong I loved bringing up my family, spending time with them, cooking meals and eating around our huge 12 setting table but all the stuff didn’t make me happy, cleaning and repairing a brick house to protect things that I only bought on a whim.

It can be challenging, tough but also fun. Chipping away at the ice on the tap to get water when it froze, watching pellets of ice clear the hose pipe like an alien vomiting and realising that water needs to be filled up in the daytime when the outside temperature has risen above zero.

It hasn’t all be fun and games, exploring and eating. Everyday tasks such as doing the laundry and shopping need a little planning. I no longer have a laundry room with my own washing machine and drying rack. Although I have splashed out on a twin tub. I now have 2 weeks worth of clothes I can make stretch and eagerly watch the weather forecast for dry and windy spells.

I no longer have a car and huge fridge freezer for grocery shopping. Shopping is collected in my basket every few days. Gone are the multi buys and stocking up on cheap deals. We shop at plastic free shops buying the quantity we need. Gone are my shelves of kilner jars too. I now have reusable plastic wallets for keeping grains and pulses. Weight is an issue.

The Axe Thrower is much more adept at cooking delicious meals on our ninja 9 in 1 than I am. I was always much more of a baker than a meal prepper. He can conjour up 3 different meals from the same ingredients that look and taste so different. If it was down to me, we would be eating dhal every day for breakfast lunch and tea.

I think I underestimated how much this lifestyle would cost. True it is cheaper than living in our 6 bed family home. We no longer have a mortgage and bills to pay but we do need money for pitch fees, groceries and motorhome repairs. Our van is also our home and the central heating needs to be maintained otherwise we are washing with a kettle of hot water.

We went to Spain for the winter and had the most amazing time. We didn’t eat out a lot as there were limited vegan options so that saved money. But I soon got into the Spanish culture of coffee at local cafes although this was so much cheaper than back in the UK. We enjoyed the bus and train to explore saving enough money on train to Madrid to have an overnight in Alicante thanks to the Axe Thrower’s research. Complete with the obligatory axe throwing session, for research purposes….

I also continued with my part time day job being able to do it remotely and continued to build my online business. Working remotely and flexibly has been brilliant for our nomadic lifestyle.

I don’t think I am outgoing or consider myself as influence but I have learnt I can just be me sharing what I love and helping people. Being authentically me is enough.