Climbing and Looking for Somewhere to Live – Lake District (part 2)

We parked next to Coniston Lake and had the most amazing view out of the van. Literally three steps out of the door and you'd be soaked!  We couldn't climb the next day and decided to head up to Old Man Coniston via a couple of scrambles. The first problem was parking. We tried to...

Living and climbing in a van… The second six months

At our six month point in the trip I wrote a short review of that time to sum up what we had been up to. So I thought I’d do the same for the second! Each of the things on here have more in depth individual posts, that go into more detail, however this will...

The End

Every adventure has to end at some point, it’s usually a mixed bag of emotions and ours was no different. We finished our last week city hopping and visiting friends in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, each of which has their own post. By the time we were at the ferry port I was looking...

“What’s the best things that you have done so far on your trip?”

  This is the most common question we have been asked when we meet friends, each time it is asked, we mumble for a while between ourselves as we try to break down ten months of continuous travel, adventure and van life. It’s too difficult to pick one experience that has outdone the others, as...

Van life reality- Travelling ups and downs

I have often sat at home watching other people's travels through social media, often with a huge fear of missing out on all the great adventures that are going on around me! Often it's work or other commitments holding me back, however I'm now happy to say I have been living a great adventure on...

Van life reality – chasing the porcelain express

As is becoming the usual on this trip, occasionally I accumulate enough things that go wrong and defy the perfect #vanlife perception that I'm able to write a blog post on it. I will also make sure the post has pictures of our van in only the best settings, as who takes a picture of...

Slovenia- Below freezing

After leaving Croatia due to cold weather, we thought we would entertain even colder climates in Slovenia, and see how both the van and us would fair. On crossing the border we headed straight for Bled, and stopped at a service station for the night. In Croatia we had already given into the cold at...

Our Six Month #vanlife Tripaversary!

It feels like half the time, which can only be a good thing! When we set out we planned on a years trip and so far it is all going to plan. Of course there have been a few problems on the way ( no one mention getting stuck and wedging the van under a...

Van Life Reality Part Five- The Creep!

Just as we passed the halfway point of the trip, I had a thought about these van life reality posts and how I may not have much to say from here on in, as it all becomes the same old problems, just in a different light. However that evening was the night of the creep...

Van life reality – A good place to be

How did I end up here? A series of decisions and processes have ended up with me living in a van, travelling, climbing and having the best time of my life, for the most part. Outside of the most part is covered in these ‘reality posts’, however I wrote that these would cover the good,...

Croatia – first impressions

 We drove into Croatia at night after a long day of freeloading wifi and power at the Bled tourist office, as jess has work, its only fair to say how good the office is and the information we received from the staff was above and beyond all other tourism offices we have use on this...

Keeping van life reality in check part three

As my journey through living full time in a van continues, I thought I would continue to shed light on the lesser advertised realities of my #vanlife experiences. This post just runs through the latest things that have gone wrong and anything that opposes the general perfect Instagram vision of living in a van. Rude...

Dolomites take two! Via Ferrata and climbing on the Col Dei Bos

 Finally we have made it back to the mountains, oh how much I have missed being here! It sounds weird to have been travelling, climbing and diving across Italy and Sardinia, and the whole time I felt like there was something missing, and I've not realised it was this, hills, mountains, towering rock faces, amazing...

Mount Vesuvius

 The plan for a day trip to mount visuvius was simple, wake up in the morning, follow signs to the car park and then walk to the top, simple! The night before, jess had been doing some work so we needed a McDonald's to use the wifi, by the time this was done it was...

Keeping van life reality in check – part two

As this trip is ongoing I thought I would continue to develop my van life reality posts as things happen and who knows by the end of it I might have shattered the Instagram #vanlife perception. So far on the trip we have travelled from the UK to Venice to Sardinia, this does not seem...

Snorkelling with octopus and climbing my first cave in Sardinia

Following on from the last post where we have finally been scuba diving on the Isola die Cavoli near Villasimius, we found some free parking just down the road from the port and proceeded to spend a couple of nights there. It was a lovely location, although we were always on edge, with the fear...

Lake Como

After the minor disaster that was the south coast of France, we were keen to move on and turn a new leaf, so we headed into Italia! We knew the Dolies was the next big destination, but the 7 plus hours driving were a little off putting, so we decided on a slight detour to...

Breaking the van, bodge jobs and the south of France

Now that we have left Chamonix we seem to be on the move a little more, once again this trip will be mobile and we will be travelling to various new places, although where exactly we don't know yet as we are making it up a little, rather than sticking to a rigid itinerary. That...

Keeping van life reality in check!

Before we left on this trip, I obviously did a lot of searching for van and vanlife, related things, as this is what we were setting out to do, and the internet can be full of useful information if you look in the right places. However, it is also filled with a lot of crap,...

Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls! – Trail running in Chamonix

'Fancy a 30 minute jog before lunch?' 'Yeah, best get on with it, as we have been so inactive due to rain over the past few days...' That was a snippet from our conversation this morning, so as you might imagine this post is about a run. A couple of weeks before, I had been...

A Request from a Follower!

As the title says, I have had a request from a follower via email to share more about who I am, how I got here and where I am going. All these things that have not been fully covered in the blog as of yet, and were totally overlooked by me! I hope they don't...

The Down Days – Part Two – IFSC Lead Championship Chamonix

As with the other down days, we strive to keep busy on the days when we are down from climbing or the mountains. Climbing is high stress, especially when you are doing it day in day out, so it is vital to ensure that you have relaxing down days to recuperate and reenergise both body...

Running Down the Down Days

So on here I have posted much about the days when there is lots going on, I have talked about life in the van a little and although there are adventures taking place pretty regularly out here, there are also days where the sun does not shine and life is put on hold, such as...

Teething problems in the vortex!

As with all new enterprises there are always a few teething problems to begin with, although mine is less enterprise and more millennium falcon. I put this thing together with my co pilot Chewie, I mean Jess. So there was no doubt there would be some problems. First off was the waste drainage and jerry...

It’s The Final Countdown!

I have been on many adventures in my life, and some of those I have started to tell you about in this blog. All have had different beginnings, however I find that you always have an idea in your minds eye of what this will look and feel like. For example when I was sixteen...

Death by Insurance!

Woo! Van life! Living the dream! Or so you think… There is so much nonsense, poppycock, hogwash and other nicer ways of saying bullshit that paves the way to such a lifestyle change. Even this cheap lifestyle cannot be lived without a few large expenses and stacks of paperwork! An onwards rant from the earlier...

This Bloody Van, (and other ‘happy’ tales of building a home on wheels!)

The title gives a little insight into how much I have (insert sarcasm here) ‘loved’ building our van into our new home. Jess and me have for years talked of a big trip, and loosely set the date for 2017, and after being inspired by many others we thought the van life/ dirt bag climber...