If you’re anything like us, you find yourself spending most of your days waiting for the weekend, watching other people living out your dreams as you scroll endlessly through your Instagram feed, while you’re sat in your over crowded office at work, counting down the hours until you get to go home. Sometimes you toy with the idea of just packing it all in and heading to all the places you’ve only seen through an Instagram filter, but then reality hits you…and you find yourself asking the same questions…what would I do for money? for work? what about when I decide enough is enough and I want to come home, what do I do then? I’ll be jobless, homeless and having to start again….I guess it’s easy for me to tell you what I think you should do, I mean I’m just sat at my computer as I write this, I don’t live in a van, I don’t wake up in a new place every day, it’s easy for me to write what I think you should do, but putting these words into action, well that’s a whole different story. At 27 I’ve come to realise life isn’t about making money, or what you own, it’s about making memories, going on adventures, and finding that one person you can go on those adventures with. I’m happy to tell you that I’ve found that person, the other half of me, and easily the better half of me, and we are working on that life, you know that life we all ‘dream of’. We always said, when we get married, for our honeymoon we would go travelling, but then we got faced with those same questions…what would I do for money? for work? what about when I decide enough is enough and I want to come home, what do I do then? I’ll be jobless, homeless and having to start again….then we realised, no matter our age, no matter the time, no matter our circumstances, those questions and uncertainties will always be there, and really the only thing that stops you is you. So my advice to you is if you’ve ever dreamt it, then you owe it to yourself to find the courage to make it happen, and the rest will follow. If my passionate paragraph hasn’t been enough to convince you…here’s 5 reasons why you should quit your job, buy a campervan and go travelling around the world!
1. SAY GOODBYE TO ALL THOSE BILLS!
Living in a van means you will no longer have to worry about paying things like rent, council tax, electricity and gas bills, I mean sure you will still have to pay for petrol but you can leave all those other bills behind! More money = more miles you can travel!
2. YOU GET TO WAKE UP IN A NEW LOCATION EVERY DAY!
I firmly believe we were never meant to stay in one place for too long, that restless feeling we all get, I think it’s easier to shrug off than act on it, but imagine what would happen if you did?! Living in a van, you have the power to drive wherever your van will take you! You don’t have to worry about how long it will take, as you are no longer limited to a 2 day weekend or those 20 days of holiday you get yearly…The road is now your home!
3. YOU LEARN TO LIVE WITH LESS
Living in a van means there’s no room to haud your endless collection of dvd’s that you only ever watch once, or your overflowing collection of shoes that all pretty much look like clones of the ones already on your feet, when your living in a van there is just no room for any of that…You learn to live with the essentials, things that you use on a daily basis, rather than something that lives in the back of the cupboard and never get used, and you end up spending less because you realise you just don’t have room for it!
4. EVERYDAY’S AN ADVENTURE
From deciding where you’re going to sleep, eat and shower, from one day to the next, it will never be the same! Each day, a new road will take you to a new place, a new view, a new community and a new way of life. Each day you will be lucky enough to meet new people from all walks of life, and learn things without realising.
5. YOU GET TO LIVE THE DREAM!
No longer will you spend your days thinking what if, watching other people living out your dream on your Instagram feed, as that person living the dream will be you! You can forget about counting down the hours until you get to finish work, or counting down the days and week until your next holiday, as once you leave that lifestyle behind, you will be in control of how you spend every second, minute and hour of your days from now on!
All photos via Lovaine Blog.
