Our escape plans..lumps bumps reality checks.
We haven't posted on here for while, for two reasons; I wasn't really bothered and we were working really hard. Two weeks ago adwords sent me an email saying that after a year of this blog being up they have now activated the account. I can now enter the golden world of monetized blogging. I just need be to interesting enough to get a few million people reading our adventures into rewilding, travelling, foraging and we too can enter the lofty world of instragram perfection and have a fun lifestyle entirely funded advert money of millions of followers. I like a challenge, but I do wonder how many people that proport to that life do so to hide the fact they live the life of Reilly based on
the bastion of white privilege the trust fund. But sounding like a posh kid doesn't win likes, followers or advertising revenue. I am sure there are plenty of van life vloggers, bloggers and digital nomads that work hard to live lovely lives on very little, they genuinely inspire the world to follow simpler lives, so hats off to keeping it real people out there. We are not privileged, I haven't got loads of followers [yet!!] so we have just spent six months working our arses off and eating lentils to save money. So we have basically got £5k out of fresh air to fund our next move.
So we bought Bob the Van.
Meet Bob, all three and a half tonne of him. Bedford Cf2 350, no rust because there is galvanised steel chassis and the bodywork is aluminium. Reconditioned engine that has done 45k miles and a clock reading of 96k. The paint work of Bob Marley on the side, Lauren Hill on the back and the last owners business name on the other side was done 10 years ago by Phil Blake, aka Philth. When he wasn't the famous street artist he is now. I don't know if the art adds to value of van of detracts it. It certainly gets attention. People stop to take photos and stare as it moves down the road.
Bob belonged to our friend John. It had sat on Johns drive for seven years and was used as guest accommodation. John decided to get the Bob the van back on the road, spent £2,500 on replacing all the nuts, bolts and break cables that had expired over the previous seven years. Bob continued to sit there being a landmark on his drive on the road to Llandeilo, for another eighteen months. We brought our mechanic friend Simon to look at the van. Simon's assessment was it was a marvel of good British engineering, the engine was beautiful in his words, perfect working order from an age when the british made engines to last. We always secretly wanted this campervan, inside is pretty spacious, we felt like it was like waiting for us to buy him. The money came in, we bought Bob. We drove him off to the MOT station he visited 18 months before. As he passed first time, people stopped to stare, and comment on the vans locally famous looks. As we drove him to his new home to be packed up and fitted out with our stuff, the reality sunk in.
We need lighter, and slimmer transport. We feel an absolute need to get out of Britannia, we are convinced the good ship is sinking. So we are going on road trip to somewhere, we are planning on Portugal, just somewhere we can live in a way where the actions of governments make little or no difference. We are going live simply, wherever the road takes us.
Life is in part a reality you create and in part a reality that happens to you. Some people are born with trust funds and a sizeable bank of mum and dad, but most of us aren't. We have to work to create our world. Our experiences and struggles make us wiser stronger people. We adapt we survive. Now personally both me and woodstock think money is not future. Living sustainably where your shelter and food sources are from your immediate local environment is way of not just surviving but thriving while the world shifts. To do so in Britain either requires living under the radar or a lot of money. We have it in our heads somehow Portugal will be different. We accept our road may take us somewhere entirely else though.
Buy Bob You Know You Want to
the art of philip blake
the bastion of white privilege the trust fund. But sounding like a posh kid doesn't win likes, followers or advertising revenue. I am sure there are plenty of van life vloggers, bloggers and digital nomads that work hard to live lovely lives on very little, they genuinely inspire the world to follow simpler lives, so hats off to keeping it real people out there. We are not privileged, I haven't got loads of followers [yet!!] so we have just spent six months working our arses off and eating lentils to save money. So we have basically got £5k out of fresh air to fund our next move.
So we bought Bob the Van.
Meet Bob, all three and a half tonne of him. Bedford Cf2 350, no rust because there is galvanised steel chassis and the bodywork is aluminium. Reconditioned engine that has done 45k miles and a clock reading of 96k. The paint work of Bob Marley on the side, Lauren Hill on the back and the last owners business name on the other side was done 10 years ago by Phil Blake, aka Philth. When he wasn't the famous street artist he is now. I don't know if the art adds to value of van of detracts it. It certainly gets attention. People stop to take photos and stare as it moves down the road.
Bob belonged to our friend John. It had sat on Johns drive for seven years and was used as guest accommodation. John decided to get the Bob the van back on the road, spent £2,500 on replacing all the nuts, bolts and break cables that had expired over the previous seven years. Bob continued to sit there being a landmark on his drive on the road to Llandeilo, for another eighteen months. We brought our mechanic friend Simon to look at the van. Simon's assessment was it was a marvel of good British engineering, the engine was beautiful in his words, perfect working order from an age when the british made engines to last. We always secretly wanted this campervan, inside is pretty spacious, we felt like it was like waiting for us to buy him. The money came in, we bought Bob. We drove him off to the MOT station he visited 18 months before. As he passed first time, people stopped to stare, and comment on the vans locally famous looks. As we drove him to his new home to be packed up and fitted out with our stuff, the reality sunk in.
THREE AND HALF TONNE WITH NO POWER STEERING, WE HAVE JUST BOUGHT A BEHEMOTH OF A TRUCK. BUYING BOB THE VAN WAS MASSIVE MISTAKE.
This ex minibus is 35 years old, it does NOT do fast. Don't get me wrong it does comfy, the living area is well stocked with oven , fridge, loo, shower, sleeps a comfy three people, it would great as park up full time living space. As it crawls up welsh hills, people stare at you. Partly because you are in a mobile street art gallery and partly because you are creating a MASSIVE FECKEN tailback. Bob the van is just about light enough to be driven on a car licence, but at over 2 metres wide experience of driving large vehicles would be useful. There was no way this van could ever do narrow mountain roads that you find abroad, so even if we spent £600 quid for power steering, this van still isn't suitable. Woodstock got the hang of driving bob quite quick, but parking it, well Woodstock or Bob aren't getting and younger. Woodstock ripped his shoulder ligaments January last year. It is one of the those injuries that can reoccur if the joint is put under stress again. Woodstock is no weakling, he used to teach martial arts and living off grid has kept him in fine health, but parking this lump of a thing he could feel the ligaments going again. SO BOB THE VAN IS UP SALE OR SWAPS.
We need lighter, and slimmer transport. We feel an absolute need to get out of Britannia, we are convinced the good ship is sinking. So we are going on road trip to somewhere, we are planning on Portugal, just somewhere we can live in a way where the actions of governments make little or no difference. We are going live simply, wherever the road takes us.
Life is in part a reality you create and in part a reality that happens to you. Some people are born with trust funds and a sizeable bank of mum and dad, but most of us aren't. We have to work to create our world. Our experiences and struggles make us wiser stronger people. We adapt we survive. Now personally both me and woodstock think money is not future. Living sustainably where your shelter and food sources are from your immediate local environment is way of not just surviving but thriving while the world shifts. To do so in Britain either requires living under the radar or a lot of money. We have it in our heads somehow Portugal will be different. We accept our road may take us somewhere entirely else though.
Buy Bob You Know You Want to
the art of philip blake
Look forward to hearing about your Portugal adventures. Ive become interested in doing a similar thing... land is very cheap to buy out there.Good Luck.xx
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