3: Why We Decided to Live in a Van

Oct 16, 2018

It’s 17:20pm on a Monday. This time a few weeks ago I’d be starting to shut down programs on my laptop at work, desperately trying to get out of the door bang on half five. I’d then jump on my bike, swallow some double-decker bus fumes, and swerve round miles of snaking traffic to my doorstep, where honks and sirens would continue past my bedroom through the night. After making dinner, seeing flatmates, and getting things ready for the next day - the next day had already come.

I’m currently sat outside the van on an unusually warm mid-October day, parked at the edge of a young forest. My feet are bare, as they’ve been since they were sunk in golden sand at the beach earlier, and the sun is warm and bright on my face. Simone is currently in the trees somewhere, looking for firewood. I can smell the coffee brewing for the cups I’m about to get up and make.

I now have coffee. As the routines we once lived drift further away the longer we’re on the road, I’m beginning to solidify the real reasons we are doing this #vanlife thing.

Around 6 months ago Simone and I decided we needed a change. After living in London for five years, we began to notice things becoming cyclical. Despite doing well at our jobs, being surrounded by friends, being in a band and living a stereotypically solid city life of a couple in their mid-twenties, we ultimately knew this wasn’t what we wanted. Weeks slipped into months, weekends blurred together and we’d had enough.

So we made a list of what we wanted from life. It went something like this: being together, surrounded by nature, creating every day, seeing the world. We realised we could have all of that right now - and we didn’t need to wait to be ‘successful’ or retired - by living in a van. And the grind began. From April - September we worked relentlessly, spent little and sold all our belongings. (During that time, we also got engaged, Simone did an in-the-ring boxing fight in front of 2,000 people and we wrote and recorded an album with our band. Busy summer!)

After Simone 'THE DREADED' Picknett's fight

We set small, step-wise goals and met every one of them. Save £5,000 by x, then buy van, then save another £5,000 by x, then leave by x. It felt amazing to be working so hard towards something, and achieving it all ourselves. We knew the path was right as it all started to slot into place. Selling everything was hard, but liberating as we realised we’d been unnecessarily holding onto items for years. As we let things go, it became clear we can live big, with little.

So let’s delve more into that list we made 6 months ago, and if #vanlife has met those expectations so far.

SEEING THE WORLD

We’ve driven around 800 miles to date, usually driving for around an hour and a half a day. That’s the same amount of time we’d spend commuting in London. Except now, instead of doing the same route daily, we’re on a one-way ride. It doesn’t feel like we’re spending much time travelling, but we’re covering a lot of ground and everywhere we go is new. Not being on a schedule means we can amble along the scenic routes and get a feel for every place we go.

Yesterday I had the heart-swelling pleasure of visiting the rural village my Grandad grew up in. Following thick-accented directions, we headed to the tiny home where he lived with his 13 brothers and sisters until age 19, when he set sail to England with five pounds in his pocket, searching for a better life - and the rest is history. As we peered at the little bungalow, with my head full of stories I’d been told, our van suddenly felt spacious as we comprehended 15 people in such a small space.

With knowledge his reclusive younger brother who still lived there - who he’d not seen in 40 years - was unlikely to let us in, we knocked on the door anyway. After a long apprehension, while listening to the unwelcoming barks of dogs behind the flaking door, a sweet little old man with my Grandad’s eyes plodded round the corner. I introduced myself, and within 5 minutes we were being shown the room my Grandad was born in. 10 minutes after that, his sister happened to turn up and I found myself on a family visit to the graveyard where my great Grandparents lay.

The joy in my Grandad’s voice after I sent him the pictures of me with his siblings outside his childhood home will charge me for a while, and the trail we’re on now feels like, as well as moving forward, has trailed back to a source.

CREATING EVERY DAY 

As artists, it’s genuinely painful to not be able to flex our creative muscles when they need stretching because we’re confined to a desk chair. But it was so easy to fall into the mud we did - in that we needed funds to survive before we could think about making music, which always came second, or third… if at all. Funds that would just about pay for getting by - we were stuck in the rental trap, with £1,000 a month going into London landlords’ pockets. It makes it hard to take a risk or make a change when living month to month. 

Now, half of that is all we need to get by, all-in, for this lifestyle. We own our home - pretty much unheard of for a couple in their mid-twenties! Right before we left we spent five solid days working day and night - 16+ hour days - doing up the van, in pure passion. There was a moment when I realised this was the first time we’d ever been able to really put ourselves into a place, as rental fear has us scared to even put a picture up on the walls (…which we usually did anyway and took the deposit hit later).  

Without having to get up in the morning to do our unfulfilling jobs, we now have freedom to flow. Daily music, painting, writing. Already we’re feeling ourselves evolve - it’s like we’re at the university of ourselves, and we’re setting the curriculum.  Our souls are definitely thanking us.  

SURROUNDED BY NATURE 

The city drained us. Grey skies and concrete and faces. Everything was a little too comfortable, which ironically made Simone and I very uncomfortable, and uninspired. 

We were ready for a challenge, ready to get grounded. And we’ve really given ourselves one by trailing off into the winter! We’re worryingly watching the temperature on the weather forecasts step downwards, daily. But we know our bodies were built to cope so we’re interested to see how we overcome a different type of discomfort. And besides, another winter in London would have frozen us anyway.

BEING TOGETHER

And the best bit is that we get to share all of this. We both want the same thing - from life and doing music together. We get the benefit of daily prolonged morning cuddles and no longer needing to tell each other about the separate days we’ve had. 

We’re learning to have our own space within the space. So now I’m sat inside on the edge of the sofa writing, and with a DIY desk between us, Simone is sat on the other side playing guitar and recording. We create, then stop and show each other what we’ve been working on. We’re keeping in close contact with family and friends, and social media means we never feel too far away.

So that explains why we’re living in a van. It’s a list we’ve had to explain often to confused friends. Describe outweighing pros to concerned family. Offer an alternative life to status-quo-ing colleagues, a "thanks but, we’re doing this anyway" to judgemental strangers, and more than anything, an encouraging reminder to ourselves. 

Love,

Becky and Simone