What made us think about vanlife?

The plan to live in a van was officially born in May 2019, we were having plenty of big life talks (aren’t we always), but it wasn't long before it became a reality. We had booked flights to South America for a 6 month adventure July 2019 – January 2020. We knew returning from South America our life would be in a state of flux. Firstly our apartment lease would be up in January (a friend was subletting from us while we were away), so we would have to find a new place to live. Originally we thought I would have to find a new teaching job, but thankfully my school offered me a career break so this concern didn’t become a reality. Alongside this Philly would also be venturing into the self-employed world and we were very unlikely to have disposable income upon our return. So, prior to us venturing off to South America Philly and I were talking a lot about what our life would look like when we got back and this was when van life became a conversation. I have always wanted to live in a camper van; throughout my teenage years all my presents were campervan themed and I even used my student loan to buy a 1975 T2 VW that I have shamefully abandoned to rust on my parents driveway for the best part of a decade. The point being, I've loved all things #vanlife long before hashtags were a thing. Philly however, always said he would only ever travel in a more modern van which used to horrify me (yet here we are in a 2011 Citroen Relay lol).

These talks were never a reality just abstract chats, however, when we talked about returning to London and hopping back on the conveyor belt of debt that is the London rental market, all of a sudden, the last decade of jokey chats started to become genuine conversations. Returning to London after South America was going to be tight, we knew it would cost a lot of money to put down first months rent and a deposit on an apartment then we would be tied into a rental agreement eating up our income. We realised we would not be able to save money for future adventures while paying rent in London and ultimately, we wouldn’t have financial freedom for Philly to set up something of our own.

So, this is where the idea of van life began, a way to escape the cycle of debt we would get ourselves into in London, however, it was only the igniting spark, this alone would not be enough to turn it into a blazing reality. Our conversations turned to more than money, the van became about much more than a solution to economic issues, but about philosophical, emotional and environmental issues. Pretty much every value we hold dear became intrinsically linked to our reasoning behind choosing to pursue van life. I feel like there is a much deeper blog to come on all this issues, but for now, that is where it started, so this is where I will end.