Saying Goodbye

We’ve packed up our house, all our belongings are in storage, if not sold, and we’ve handed the keys to the estate agent for completion next week. I had to take a few polaroids of our empty space to look back on when living in bricks and mortar is a distant memory. We’ve wasted absolutely no time in moving into the van and heading straight into bonny Scotland. Right now I’m sat with my new £9 ‘desk’ (basic TV folding table from Dunelm) and I’m more content than I ever was sitting at my £300 antique farmhouse desk with my massive iMac computer. It’s been raining on and off, but the sun has reared it’s cheeky head and is flooding through the van window directly in front of me. Pim’s all tuckered out and having a nap on his swivel seat bed, and Steven’s carving a spoon next to me. Shit, if I’d known this was where we’d be on our first day of full time van life then I would have stopped stressing about everything weeks ago.

Before we left, we popped out and stocked up on camera film. I’m so looking forward to being in new places all the time, having new things to photograph. I’m looking forward to having more spare time, learning new skills and making things. I’m looking forward to being free enough to take on any new opportunities that pop up, and not have to say no because I can’t get the time off work.

I loved our little house. Two years ago we were absolutely over the moon to be moving in and starting to work on it. I loved collecting all my vintage homeware and decorating it, but the novelty slowly wore off. There’s so many things I’ve sold recently which I thought I’d keep forever, moving from home to home, but I’ve not thought twice about since they’ve gone out the door.

I’ve just gone back and read a journal post I wrote in January, ‘Living Smaller’, where the doubts about our lifestyle were creeping up on me, and I’m feeling proud that we’ve done something about it. I’d like to go back and slap January Amy on the back and say ‘this year is going to be a shit show but crack on’ because right now all the stress is feeling very much worth it.

 

My new, significantly cheaper desk space

 

A Night in Kielder

I’ll never forgive myself, but I always thought there was nothing to see in Kielder. I can only plead temporary insanity as it’s now one of my all time favourite places to visit in the van. We can park with our rear doors opening up to the trees, so it feels like we’re nestled in the forest. There’s so many different landscapes and places to potter around. It was only our last trip that we discovered these little huts hidden away near the castle, and nothing gets me going like the opportunity to photograph a hut in the woods. In fact, I hadn’t taken my camera with me when I spotted them and had to belt it back to the van before I lost the light. Absolutely sweating and chastising myself for not always having my camera on me like an amateur.

Also, we had a memorable evening as we realised too late that we’d ran out of gas for the stove. Luckily, I’m a keen over-planner and had a handy rocket stove packed away in the back of the van. A few dry twigs later and we had cups of tea and a hot dinner. Honestly, one of the smartest purchases I’ve made, and something every campervan should have packed. The only downside…. the black soot left on the pan and the coffee stovetop literally got everywhere and we had the hands of a coal miner for about a week afterwards.

If you follow along on our van instagram (link at the end of this post), you’ll know that Steven now spends his evenings carving spoons and as always he’s freakishly good at it. This inspired me to start a little Etsy shop to sell things we create on the road. I bought a little loom and have been practicing making wall hanging weaves, and it would be nice to just spend our evenings learning new skills, and hopefully making a little bit of income from them. We’ve already listed a few bits so it’d be nice if you had a look here.

The Hills, The Woods

One of our favourite little spots in Northumberland. We spend the day walking in the woods and on the hills, picking out my Mum’s Rothbury caravan in the distance, and the night tucked away in the woods. Pim looks super depressed because he’s on extra tight lead whenever there’s sheep around. Anything that size and not a dog, he loves them. Sheep, goats, deer just really do it for him. He’ll literally hang off the end of his lead desperate to play with them. Maybe one day when we have a patch of land I’ll buy him a gang of animals to frolic with freely.