Vandweller Feature: Philly and Keely (aka: Us)

THE VAN

What type of van did you choose to become your home and why (bought or self built)?

Citroen Relay 2011 H2L3, self converted. We looked at a lot of vans but in the end decided we loved the shape of relay/boxer/ducato vans for the boxy spacious feeling. We also needed a van that satisfied Euro 6 emissions as we live in a LEZ in London, so when we found this silver baby and knew it was for us.

Do you know a rough cost of your van/build?

Well the van cost 3.5K and we think the build has cost around 5-6K, but we need to sit down and actually work it out properly. We’ve saved receipts, but we are a bit afraid to actually look at it in case its more than we realise. Fingers crossed its less lol!

What made you choose this lifestyle? Has that reason changed?

Well I (Keely) have wanted to by a hippy living in a van since i was a teenager. We ultimately chose to live in a van so we could save money while living in the city. The reason has changed, as we now know beyond the city we want to continue living in a van. We’ve fallen in love with the simple life and minimal possessions and want to continue living a more environmentally friendly lifestyle. We really can’t see ourselves going back into mainstream housing long term but maybe a plot of land someday.

How long did it take you to build/convert/move in?

It took about 6 weeks to get it liveable so we could move out of our London apartment and 6 further months to actually finish it while living in an unfinished van! Probably about 2.5 months of hard graft in it overall as we were very lackadaisical while living in it.

What’s your biggest vanbuild or vanlife disaster so far?

Vanlife disaster would be when someone slashed our tyres while we were in the van and when someone grafittied it while we slept.

Van build disaster: nothing too disastrous, plumbing was frustrating so was put off for a long time, and our sine inverter can’t handle two laptops, but again not disasters, just annoying.

How long did you originally plan to live in your van? Has that changed?

We originally planned to live in the van for up to 18 months, now we are seven months into that and we are nowhere near ready to give it up in a years time!

Describe your van “style” in one sentence?

Plain & Simple with geometric undertones

What is your favourite van feature?

Our kitchen tiles are my favourite (Keely)

Our magnetic board/shelf (Philly)

THE LIFE

Favourite Rainy Day activity?

Keely: Write/Read or play the guitar/ukulele

Philly: Play an intstrument or make some music

Both: Walk in the rain, we love embracing a rainy day, or if we are feeling lazy… watch Netflix

Name three items you must always have in the fridge.

Hummus, plant milk , spray bottle with peppermint oil to mist yourself on hot days

Favourite van cooked meal

I (Keely) love cooking, so my favourite meal changes every day based on my mood: thai green curry, tofu/vegetable dumplings, bangers and mash, bolegnaise. But the one meal that remains my daily steadfast favourite is my fave breakfast: Full Vegan Breakfast (seeded Toast, scrambled Tofu, Vegan sausage, Fried Garlic Mushrooms, Beans, Avocado, Hummus, All sprinkled ith Nutritional Yeast and sriracha)

Three vanlife highlights so far

Feeling free and weightless, not tied down

Everyhere we go our home is with us, so we can always swim, play tennis, climb, we are always geared up for whatever takes our fancy.

Being able to meet like minded people

What’s the hardest part about vanlife? Any vanlife realities you weren’t expecting?

Philly: Being aware of how much power our laptops consume, we didnt realise how much of a drian the 240v would be, and the solar in UK can not keep up with the power getting drained from my laptop, so we’ve had to limit the days we can actually work on our laptops and take it in turns.

Keely:A reality of vanlife is that not everyone understands the lifestyle, and turns out people who don’t get it can lash out. If you think you are parked in a nice area, it may mean that they are only nice to people from that area, vanlifers may not be welcome. So just coming to terms with that.

Have you ever felt isolated living in a van? Any advice on how to keep good mental health living an alternative lifestyle?

Yes sometimes, but usually when we are trying to hide because we are afraid locals will give us hate. But the online community for vanlife is awesome. Advice would be to talk to someone about your struggles, probably another vanlifer as not everyone understands this as a lifestyle choice, so easier to get an understanding ear from someone who has lived through it. Find a creative outlet, whether its writing, drawing, knitting, playing guitar. Creativity is good for the soul.

What do you do to fund life on four wheels?

We both work, Keely Full time teacher, Philly as a part time landscaper and musician. If we ever decide to hit the road full time we will need to establish a way to fund ourselves remotely, but right now we are just saving for the next year and exploring those options to help fund ourselves.

YOU

Un-van related hobbies?

BOULDERING!! We both LOVE bouldering, rock climbing at its finest. Aside from that obsession, Philly is a drummer and produces music and Keely loves tennis and trying to learn Spanish and Japanese.

Mountains or Beach?

Beach all day every day

Favourite season and why?

Keely: Summer, but now in the van I might need to change it to Spring so I don’t have to listen to Philly complain about how hot it is all the time. I love festive vibes of winter, but I would choose sun over snow if I’m honest.

Philly: Early Autumn, used to be sumeer, but summer is too hot in the van

Where are you most excited to explore with your van?

We are so uncertain about where we will be going in the van that I honestly couldnt tell you the most excited as there are so many possibilities, but we are both looking forward to hitting up Portugal, but beyond Western Europe there are endless possibilities waiting to be decided upon, that’s the most exciting!

What are your plans going forward?

Save for year and then be free on the open road

Do you feel like the experience of living in a van changed you as a person in anyway?

Yes, in a lot of ways. Too many to name here, we will be doing a blog about how we have changed as people living on four wheels.

Have you learnt anything new about eachother?

Philly: Keely is the messiest eater ever, I knew that all along, but I’ve been confronted with it in closer quarters now.

Keely: Philly is not good at putting away clothes. In the house I never realised as I just assumed the piles of clothes were mine, but now I know!! I ordered him more packing cubes to assist him tidying them away.

Any last words you would like to add?

If you want to try vanlife we think you should do it if you are committed to an alternative lifestyle. Our big advice is to give it six months to really settle in, I feel like every big transition we have ever done in life took six months for us to work through the settling in period. And hit us up if we are ever somewhere nearby on the road. Best thing about vanlife is the community of like minded people you can be a part of.

Finally, Where can people find you online?

Blogging @ www.chapterbychapter.com

Instagram @chapterby.chapter

Youtube @ chapter by chapter