A 10 day journey of discovery, Vanlife, Paddleboarding, and finding out who I really am, will loneliness get to me as a solo vanlifer.
The idea.
I owned my camper van for around 3 months before I decided to set off on a much bigger venture, I had stayed out for a weekend and on occasions Fri - Sunday before heading back to the hell that is working and commuting to Leeds.
In this Vanlife UK Vlog I will talk a little about what I have learned.
But 10 days? could I really survive for 10 days? it basically came down to planning, or lack of planning, I knew I wanted to travel down the coastline of Wales stopping at the usual places and tourist hotpots and no matter where I ended up, 5 days in would mark the return journey home.
Planning without planning.
Having looked at some travel books in Waterstones while supping on a rather awesome 'Cortado' their cafe is full of cute student girls, mixed in with the lefty hogs, so it is a place of equal eye candy and the garish pink hair rainbow gang.
I flicked through the books and thought to myself.. "Wouldn't it be better to go and see where the road takes me?" that's more of an adventure, a basic plan without a plan, as I put my cup of Cortado coffee down and browsed the Anime section, my mind was made up, let's do this, I have 10 days holiday left at work and I feel like I need the escape.
The Welsh Boyo.
I have a friend a Welshman, but we won't hold that against him, who I have worked with at various agencies in the creative sector for years, I told him about my trip and he suggested I skip a few areas and visit a few others including Anglesey, so with this valley boy insider information, it was time to get down to GoOutdoors and Decathlon to buy stuff I thought I might need, just in case.
Lots of hydrated pack food
Head Torch
Large water carrier
Lots of batteries for GPS
Self protection device
Magic tree air freshener
Smidge (I am very juicy it seems to insects)
Secure money holder under clothes
Midgey headnet
So the main areas were, Food, Comfort, Logistics and Safety. I had considered slightly but not given too much thought to, personal hygiene and washing clothes, do I take 10 days clothes or take less and find a launderette? Showers, do I come a real wilderness beast man and find a -10 degree waterfall as I rip open coconut husks with my bare hands and teeth? undecided.
I also bought 3 different sizes of dry bags, I use this for everything, from storing camera gear while in my backpack, to storing dirty undies, socks and wet clothes, to storing food, you can also use these as water carriers so they are a great way to keep organised, tide and hydrated should you need more water.
A lesson learned.
In a small van it's easy to lose things, I know that does not seem to make sense, but it's true, put something down, then realize you need to turn the internal power on in the van, plug in some usb lights, oh no! I need to get out of the van to start the engine to then turn it off and press the internal alarm button within 10 seconds... back in van, now where did I put that power key...
Personally I find it frustrating, to the point of windows steaming up and I slam my fist on the now prepared bed and growl like a true deathcore singer knows how, from the depths of hell. Ggrrroooaaarrrrrrrrr god dam it.
Keys Keys Keys.
If you are planning on any kind of trip away, losing your keys is going to hurt, big time. Losing those keys to your prized possession is in all honesty the end of your world. No travel, no shelter, no sleep, no more adventures, no nothing. Putting your keys in your pocket is a no BIG no no for me. When getting in and out of the van, cooking, sorting the bed out, getting things from the roof box (more on that later) it is easy for your keys to fall out, fall down the back of units, get trampled in the mud, you get the idea.
I found a lanyard is perfect (for me) as they are always around my neck, when sleeping on a night I always hang them up in the same place, routine and a place for everything will make your van life experience much more enjoyable, I could imagine with 2 people this is even more important as tempers in a small confined space are inflated more than a rubber doll on a Blackpool Hen/Stag do.
Get To Sleep.
While some people can sleep stood up, in town, at a concert, or in any of the Kama Sutra positions, Andy the BOTG cannot. I can't even sleep on my back, I am a front sleeper who wraps himself up like bug in a rug face down, with duvet up and over my head, evil demons and ghosts are not getting me in a hurry. Even with a mattress topper from Panda I found sleeping really difficult, not the actual comfort side but the mental battle of trying to sleep.
I am safe, I can handle myself, I can get to other people if I need emergency help. The first few times I tried to sleep in the van, well I will be honest I didn't at all, but I did have a slightly dozing off experience then bolting upright fearing the van was rolling down the hill over a cliff vibe, then on another occasion a bolt upright and felt I couldn't breath scenario, no I didn't have the despacca heater on and I wasn't wearing hiking pants 2 times too small for me. The unconscious mind was not ready to let me drift off just yet.
It was probably thinking, what the hell are you doing sleeping in a cold van in the middle of nowhere are you mad? I won't let you sleep ya hear me!I still find it difficult to sleep, it's not the temperature, and me personally I am not afraid of anything, I slept in the deep dark woods at Aysgarth on my own now that was a time to be scared or the time I slept on on the moors at Ilkley moor in the UFO hotspot alone but I still find it very difficult to sleep in the van.
I tried getting drunk, which I don't advise in case you need to leggit leave for any reason, you can't. Staying up late or going to bed early didn't work either so I am still working out what I need to do to get that beauty sleep this eye bagged adventurer needs to do for decent shut eye.
My first stop on my Vanlife adventure was from Leeds > Morfa Bach
This was a camp sight at a beautiful little coastal town, £10 a night which included showers, toilets, water supply and electrics should you want it. There is a great safe feeling knowing your surrounded by other campers who are more than open to having a chat and chewing the cud. I also tried the van screen covers for the first time, you will see more of that and my vanlife uk experience by watching the video listed below, which is part one of my Vanlife UK road trip adventure.
In further videos I talk about loneliness, how it feels to travel so long on your own, how tiring it can but also the benefits to mental health, that freedom and the great outdoors can bring you. I hope you enjoyed this vague blog, there will be more updates and videos for you to enjoy as part of this series.
Drop me a like and comment here or on my Facebook page, or Youtube, I am always open to hearing what others think and if you have any feedback or questions. Stay safe out there, life is an adventure.
Andy is Video creator for Vanlife, MTB Videos, Paddleboarding and Hiking. #VanLifeUK #UKVanAdventures #VanLifeExplore #VanLifeCommunityUK #NomadLifeUK #VanLifeDreams #RoadTripUK #CampervanLife #VanLifeCultureUK #ExploreBritainByVan #allterraintyres #botgadventures #vanlifeuk #vanlifevlog
Andy
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