The first three months living full time in our campervan have felt like a million years! In the best possible way! For the first two months we were in the UK as I was still working full-time at a software company so we saved adventuring till the weekends and were mostly stationary during the week. We booked a couple of campsites here and there to save us having to move somewhere new every night.

Because I was still working it kinda felt like we were in a waiting game. I was trying to be present in every moment but we couldn’t shake our excitement for our upcoming European adventure. So once we were headed to the Eurotunnel in Folkestone with the sun setting behind us, we had the tunes blasting and felt like true vanlife was beginning.

It seems pretty crazy that three months have gone by already. So much has happened and looking at my gallery on my phone makes me pretty shocked at how much we packed into this time! So having had some time now to reflect on our first three months, these are my learnings.

1. People have a LOT of questions. Which is really really lovely that people want to hear about your life choices, but it can be exhausting sometimes. Especially when people don’t get it and the questions turn from quizzical to judgy. However, I do understand that someone living in a van is a completely unheard of concept in other people’s world and I would probably have the same number of questions!
2. Sometimes my career driven head pops to the surface of my brain like, hey, what are we doing here then? Everyday is a weekend? And it struggles to comprehend this. But then I pull myself back into the present. Focus on right here, right now. And even if we aren’t in the most scenic parkup in the world, my heart sings. I guess it’s a classic heart vs head, and my heart is truly winning.
3. Spain and France are the absolute dream for vanlife. The UK – not so much. We did find some great parkups in the UK however nothing compares to how welcome you feel in Spain and France with free places to top up water, empty waste, rubbish, recycling and so on. Given that we’ve been in France and Spain throughout August too and have never struggled for a spot to park, it makes for an awesome place to be in the van over summer (although very hot!).
4. I’ve never loved cooking so much! It’s ironic that having reduced our kitchen equipment to about 10% of what we had in our house, I have loved cooking more than I ever have before. We’re eating better and fresher food, using up every last ingredient and have 0 food waste, and I am enjoying making meals I never have done before, all from chopping things up and seeing what happens! In our house I used to order Grubby (a vegan version of HelloFresh) and the thought of cooking fresh food and enjoying it was too overwhelming. But now, I LOVE cooking!
5. It is nowhere near as easy to meet people as social media makes it out to be. Having been away on long trips in the van before we knew this was the case (bare in mind we are also quite introverted). Maybe this will happen in time, and as we get to know more people it will expand our social circle. Don’t get me wrong, I am super happy with it being the three of us, so our worst case scenario really isn’t bad at all! But if you’re looking to go into full-time vanlife to meet people, it won’t just happen. You have to put the effort in.

So lets see where the next three months takes us! And here’s to going with the flow and seeing what happens. Life is so beautiful when you’re following your heart.