Look, I know what you’re thinking. 9 days?! Is that it?! Well, that’s all the holiday I have left to take, so yeah, that’s it, unfortunately. But, by God, I’m going to make it the best 9 days possible. I hope.
Year after year I (Ashley) have been booking a week off work for my birthday in September. Honestly couldn’t tell you the last time I worked on my birthday, and long may that continue. I’d like to see the manager with the BALLS tell me I can’t have it. No sir, pass me that P45 and fire up your hiring process pal! This year was no different. Come the week around the 12th of September and I’m a free man. The world is my oyster. For a short while anyway.
SO THE PLAN! Sorry for shouting. My original idea was Dover-Calais and do an 11-12 hour drive to Bidart, down in the beautiful Basque Country of France. It’s my favourite place on the planet. A campsite named La Pavillion Royal. It’s situated right on the coast. Literally, there is a gate that leads right onto the beach. I used to go there every year as a kid for 6 weeks in the summer. We had the same friends who would also return there and it was fucking awesome. In my adult years, I have only been once with a group of friends, but trying to get down there proves to be more difficult recently. Adulting sucks. After logically thinking about it, this was not going to work. Mainly because we would lose 4 days travelling there, kind of. So this plan went in the drawer for now, hopefully resurfacing next year!
Plan numero dos. Getting ready with some language changes there. This new plan is more achievable and a lot more travelling, in a sense. Keeping my original ferry crossing of Dover to Calais, we will then venture on East. My first stop will be a total gamble and my first experience of how to “wing it” in Europe, starting with Belgium. More specifically I’m aiming for Gent. I’m going to try one of the “Motorhome stops” I have read about online. After scouring through Park4Night this seemed doable as long as we get to the park up early. I am kinda placing my bets on it being quiet as it will be September time, but we’ll soon see.
Following on from a very nervous first night I’m going Northwards up to the beautiful and naughty city of, you guessed it, Amsterdam. This time I’m not winging it. This time I will be booking a campsite as close as I can to the city. My thinking is that I can spend 3 nights here, one across my birthday, so I can go out and celebrate. Party night in Dam? Oh, go on then. Going to museums and tourist attractions most of the time is something I’ve been dying to do with a partner for years, so this will be amazing.
Next on the to-do, South. Through Germany as far as we can get, but in my head, it’s “wine country” just near Frankfurt. Apparently, there are miles and miles of hill roads through beautiful green country with plenty of places offering overnight parking. Perfect. Park4Night confirms plenty of options along the trail so this one I am not so nervous about “winging it”, fingers crossed.
After stopping just for the night I’ll roll on further south down to somewhere I have always wanted to go. It’s a place I want to spend a month exploring, let alone 2 days or whatever it ends up being. We are hitting Switzerland, or more specifically Lauterbrunnen. If you haven’t seen what this looks like, go and google it now. The quiet and remote town is situated in between two colossal mountain ranges with possibly one of the most picturesque waterfalls I have ever seen. This one will be beautiful to experience. Google Maps doesn’t show too much in the forms of entertainment or things to do, but by god that doesn’t matter to me if it lives up to its beautiful expectations.
2 nights are planned at a campsite in Lauterbrunnen (there isn’t a lot of choice here) before the journey slowly comes to its conclusion. Heading a more depressing climb back North I’ll aim to stop in the vicinity of Reims. Aiming for more country and rural vibes than the city, trying to find a lovely little aire to spend the night. Should be fine I hope. I think by now my enthusiasm will be very low as the thought of going home has hit. Still, if I can find a nice little spot to sleep easy, that’ll do.
The final day will be a long and gruelling one where I’ll leave mid-France heading straight for Calais. From there I get the Ferry back to Dover and then more driving back to Swansea. This day is probably going to suck something special, but it’s the price you pay for planning a long as trip in 10 or 11 days.
Is this doable? Probably? Is Diesel going to kill me? Definitely
As I sit here writing this on a sweaty weekday night, tools spread across the bedroom floor, and multiple tabs open for various purchases that we need (or want) for the van. I’ve started to wonder – why did we choose this? Why did we choose to spend our savings on a van before a house? Why not a car? Why this? Why that? Well, come with me (or in this case “us” as a couple) as we discuss the Why, What, Where, How, and everything in between.
Why did we choose to get into Vanlife?
The idea came to us early in our relationship after talking about how we’d both like to travel. We discussed numerous different avenues to go down to achieve this but then it hit me. Buy a van. After pitching the idea to friends and family, everyone seemed to agree with the plan, thank god. The plan was – Get a Van and get over to Europe, working from the van if we can whilst seeing as much as we can. If others could do it, why couldn’t we?
“Yeah, but why a van?” we hear you ask. Well, we did discuss the possibility of just flying a plane here and there, but that to me isn’t “travelling travelling”. Those would have been just mere holidays. We find that you are constricted to where ever it is you have landed, restricted to a certain city or beach or the like. Having something more mobile to sleep in and move in was something which just appealed more to us. I (Ashley) grew up travelling through France every summer in a caravan, so it’s always been something I’ve been accustomed to, but this time I chose to veer away from a Caravan and go for a big nice Mercedes Sprinter. Gulp.
Why a Sprinter?
There are probably a million reasons why someone picks a van over a motorhome. Why someone picks a VW over a transit? Why some people might paint their vans green or red? But it all boils down to one thing. Personal preference. We did the research, and we watched the videos. We stalked lots of people’s pages, hell we even read a book! And the Mercedes Sprinter LWB was the Van for us. This was mainly due to the size of the beast. We wanted a fixed bed, a fixed shower area, a cooker, a sink, seating area. The works. As much as we’d rip someone’s arm off for a T4, we just don’t think there would be much space left once a double bed was put in. We explored the idea of the larger Transits as well as the Crafter but settled on the Sprinter. This was due mainly to how many we had come across on YouTube videos and such. There were plenty of tutorials and heaps of information on them. We also heard their engines run forever so fingers crossed on that one, either that or someone lied!
DIY or Pre-built?
Here was another tough one. Did we want to slave away for months on end, maybe years, trying to achieve our dream van, saving ourselves some cash and picking up new skills along the way? On the other hand, did we want to save up a butt load of money which would have also taken months and months, probably years, to pay someone to do it for us? By which time life would have been passing us by? We went with the former. If we had the money I probably would have paid a professional to bring our visions to life. Seriously though, we’re glad we didn’t have the money. In the year we’ve been working on this van we have enjoyed every second of it. We’ve learnt an abundance of new skills and even surprised ourselves at our determination to achieve something we want *taps each other on the back*. We are constantly making new memories in the van and we’re only about 25% through the conversion. So there’s no rush to finish it which makes it all a bit more enjoyable. (But by god, we cannot wait till it is done!)
Adventure is out there!
As we previously mentioned we’ve been on this journey now for almost a year and it’s been incredible. Having this van and stepping into vanlife has opened so many doors in terms of adventuring. We can rock up and go wherever we want, whenever we want. We’ve been to numerous places across the UK. We’ve hit up a couple of fantastic festivals and also met some incredible people. We definitely made the right decision in venturing into vanlife. It has made us see life differently. We are more spiritual and calmer. We feel more at one with nature. We have come to realise that materialistic things are not of any great importance. The real joys of life come from living. Exploring new places, conversing with new strangers, and trying exciting new things. We could have probably taught ourselves these things without the van, but until you experience your first night in the van, you won’t understand. There’s a real sense of awakening when you sit there looking out at the beautiful view, the sun going down and not a care or worry in the world. You feel there is more to life than the mundane 9 to 5, wishing for more. Well, that’s how it affected us anyway.
You should do it too! If you want.
Now don’t shoot the messenger. We’re not saying you should up and spend your life savings on a van and go live in the wild. It’s not always fun and games, and it doesn’t automatically give you that summer bod, beach bum, filtered life either. As great as everyone makes it look on Instagram it’s only as good as you make it. Which evidentially is kinda the rule for life in general, right? For us, it was “Are we going to sit here miserable with our 9-5s or are we going to do something about it?” And boy are we on our way. This van is giving us the freedom, or more freedom to do as we please. It opened up our eyes to a life of adventure and exploration. It ignited a fire within us to push towards a travelling lifestyle. It may work for you, but it may not work for you. Rent one out for a week and see how it feels. But if we’ve learnt anything in this life it’s “If you don’t try, how will you know.”
It’s been a whole, long and dismal week since we sat in the blistering sunshine of Shrewsbury, surrounded by music, tie-dye, and hippie pants, living our best lives. Oh boy, how we wish we were back there. Join me in my review of Vanlife Festival 2023, in the eyes of a newbie Vanlifer who’s mid-converting.
Throwback to last year’s festival. This is where our ambition for attending the festival began. We heard about the festival the day before it happened and missed out on tickets, boo! We followed all the pages and heard all the stories of that weekend and we had never been so jealous and bummed about missing out! It sounded like the nicest, most chilled-out, community-based gathering and we wanted in. Keeping an eye on the posts and progress throughout the year and buying tickets as soon as they were released we were raring to go. Well, kinda…
After a frantic 2-3 weeks of power blasting through our Van conversion to get it to a usable state we were ready. We had a bed, that’s all that really mattered (and a few extras that really helped out, thank you Dad’s second-hand solar panels!) The time had come to set off on a beautiful Thursday in June. With the sun beating down on the van we hit the road. A 3.5-hour journey from the coasts of South Wales we were bouncing with excitement.
After some lovely ABS malfunctions jeopardizing our adventure, we finally made it to the front gates. A large queue of vehicles all sat patiently waiting to enter and set up camp. Initially, there seemed like a lot of stressed staff trying to organize the chaos of so many Vans so early on. I believe they were overwhelmed with the number of early birds that had arrived on Thursday, but honestly, the staff were incredible. Each and every volunteer had a smile on their face and would apologize for the delay. We had no complaints whatsoever waiting to enter and compared to numerous other Festivals, this was easily the best-planned entry. A side note to shame all those who turned up before gates opened after it was stated so many times to NOT do that. The festival and “Best pitches” weren’t going anywhere. Take a step back and relax and turn up after the gates are open, you’ll have a more pleasant entry.
Happily handing over our £15 extra nights fee (which is cheaper than any campsite or festival almost anywhere so I don’t understand the people who complained about this? Weird.) We were directed to our spot. We were plopped into general camping towards the back of the festival. At first, the space between the vans seemed a little tight for some and I can see why a few people had their concerns but after the dust had settled there seemed to be plenty of room for everyone. You weren’t skin to skin and had plenty of room for awnings and chairs and such. Again, a lot of moaners couldn’t get their 5 acres of space so made their thoughts obviously known. They also brought up the “Length of the grass” which honestly is laughable! I’m not sure what kind of Kardashian-level campsite they were expecting from a show-ground field, but they were clearly not happy about this. They had their tape measures out and deemed the grass to be too long! Honestly man it was too funny. I know some people enjoy their clean, facilitated campsites but if you are booking a FESTIVAL, which is in a FIELD, you cannot expect perfection, and complaining about it on social media is absolutely wild. The entitlement of some is incredible. In a community where we wild camp, celebrate the nature of things, and having the bare necessities there seemed to be an awful lot of complaining. (Look at me, complaining about the complainers lol how we’ve come full circle). I believe some people need to take a step back and breathe. There is more to life than the length of grass. Pour yourself a wine Karen, and just appreciate being able to relax and unwind in the sun in your van.
For us personally, we had no issues whatsoever on this first day. We remembered that the festival was open a day early. Not everything was set up and ready as it did not officially start until the Friday and this was totally okay, and I think some people forgot that. We had been given a chance to arrive and set up prior to the Festivities beginning. You could have given most of us an empty field with nothing in there and we’d have been happy! The organizers were quick to sort out any issues the minority had and that is also rare!
Friday – show me what you got! It was filling up now. Friday morning began with a bundle of anticipation. Eager to explore all the stalls, and food vendors, see other people’s vans and most importantly make new friends. We got dressed and skipped on over to explore. But first, a lovely morning row on the River Severn. Now this is how you do a morning right. Using the “hire a canoe” we got in our little boat and paddled along the river. What a beautiful, peaceful, relaxing journey we had. We played some calming music, took in the scenes, and even petted some cows. We could not have started the day any better than this. Absolutely fantastic!
After our magical morning, we headed back towards the hustle and bustle and started by exploring the Field of Dreams where a number of Vans showed off their builds and creations. My personal favourite was the Radagast Van. Absolutely incredible creativity and imagination with a truly fantastic skill to pull off such an amazing build. I can only dream of making something so amazing. There were a number of Vans that really were incredible. Tiny homes on wheels to huge RVs and horse boxes. There was every style, every idea, and every size you could imagine. I would love to sit inside the mind of some people and see how their creative brain works to pull off some jaw-dropping builds.
Taking lots of mental notes of ingenious ideas we ventured towards the stalls, in which there were lots. It was like a van lifers shopping dream. Having everything you could possibly want or need for your van. You had numerous clothing stalls, bright with colour and style. Gadgets and gizmo stores. Decoration stores. Conversion stalls. New wheels? Sure you can get them. New fancy electrical system? Got you covered. Anything you needed for anything Van related, you had. I really don’t think anything was missing! My only suggestion for stalls would be maybe 1 or 2 different food stalls offering something slightly different (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, etc) and a Slushy stand. In the hot weather, I think a slush stand would have gone down a treat with kids and adults alike. But alas, there were no issues with the amount on offer already and every aspect was covered and plentiful. We spent way more than we ever intended on all that was on offer and had a great time doing it!
Entertainment – Fantastic. Now we didn’t manage to see as many acts and bands as we would have liked but what we did see was just perfect for the festival. From some chilled acoustic sets from some brilliant artists to party-pumping reggae and a whole evening of pure 90s throwback there was something for everyone. The atmosphere was perfect and it really provided the vibe you’d expect from a Van Festival. My personal favourites were the acoustic stages for the ultimate chill-out session and more notably the open mic! I don’t think I have ever been to a festival that gives people a chance to show what they really have! This opportunity could be the shot someone needs to achieve their dreams and get noticed doing something they love, and to me was fantastic and I hope it’s something that remains a feature year on year. Other Festivals take note!
Now for an honourable mention to the staff and especially the man in charge Damo. All weekend the staff and volunteers were on hand, clad with smiles and helpful personalities. But Damo was next level. After levelling up the festival by a country mile and only having done this for its second year it was amazing. He was always present and visible around the site. He took any complaint on the chin and aimed to fix it no matter how big or small, all whilst keeping a smile on his face and having enough time to talk to anyone he passed. I personally did not speak to him as I have crushing social anxiety and am incredibly introverted until I settle, but if I did I would have said the same thing that everyone else had been saying to him, “What a fantastic job. What a fantastic Festival. What a fantastic weekend!” You really will not see many other festivals of that size where the person in charge is running around to please every single person. Cannot speak highly enough of that.
The weekend ensued with lots of laughter and fun and a whole lot of sun! Overall Vanlife Festival 2023 was a roaring success. We saw no problems or trouble or anything remotely negative all weekend. We met some amazing people and enjoyed every second of it. The only downside was we had to leave! I would highly recommend going next year for anyone who wants to experience an amazingly friendly and welcoming environment surrounded by a fantastic community all there for a good time. Hell, it was even dead silent after 11. Yes, there were small groups still chatting the night away around a fire but it did not disturb anyone else and they had the best nights! Everyone was respectful of each other. The facilities were the best I have ever come across at a festival. I never had to queue for the bog once! My only other recommendation would be a super chillout area for past curfew. Somewhere people can bring a chair, have a fire and enjoy the night into the early hours away from the sleeping campers. Nothing too extravagant, just a spot away from others.
Since the beginning of January, we’ve come a long way in the van. In terms of conversion anyway, kinda, maybe? Well to me it feels like a long way. Not as far as I’d hoped but we’re making ground all the same. Judge for yourselves, my guys.
Do you know what they don’t tell you at the beginning of a van conversion? How much F**king cleaning there is! And how much it costs to get different things to clean different bits. There is a lack of tutorials on what to do and what to buy and best things blah blah so going into this blind cost me an unnecessary amount of money and a HUGE load of time. I’m talking like 3/4 weeks where I would get home after work and slave away for the hour and a half I had before it was dark. My weekends consisted of cleaning and I don’t think I had a day off for a good month, maybe 2? After plenty of elbow grease, metal scrunchies, and blue roll. The van was FINALLY stripped and cleaned. The walls were bare and white. All bits of rust were wiped down, treated with a cleaner then blasted with some Hammerite. God was I happy to see the back of this stage.
From then, things slowed down slightly. I bought some bits ready to insulate in the future and minor bits I could do now. So I have managed to fully insulate and tidy the front cab and it came out pretty beautifully if I do say so myself. Considering I had to shape and cut things in a tiny space it honestly looks pretty good. With some added RGB strips and a mat from Vanmats.co.uk, I am incredibly pleased with it. We did run into a snag where the cab was flooding because water was pooling near the wheel arch. After hours of searching the web and asking in forums, nobody seems to know WHERE the water was getting in from and nobody had a real solution. So we had to go with most people’s simple solution of “Drill a hole under where the water is pooling.” As it turns out that is actually probably the only fix and the water only drains onto the wheel so no harm no foul.
Once I was happy with the cab it was time to bite the bullet and attempt to fit the window. AHHHHH. Now, up until now I was pretty confident and pleased with how everything was coming along, but this? This scared me. Cutting a big hole in the side of your van is a very daunting idea. But with the help of my Dad (who am I kidding, he did most of it). We gut that fish and left a gaping cavity in the side of the van. Promptly, we got the window up and into the space. Easy enough. Nailed it. Or so I thought… Leaks. Not sure how in the hell a huge gap produced at the top of the window after we really dumped a load of sealant/glue around the whole thing? Balls. I suggested putting sealant at the gap from the outside. My dad thought it better to seal the trimmed edge from the inside. I could see a problem with this but a lot of back and forth ended with doing it his way. As per. After a whole week and STILL having leaks. Turns out I was right. The water was still entering from the outside and pooling between the outer and inner sealant. A bit of trickery, sealing the outside and the problem had now been solved! Thank god. I do have good ideas sometimes… Oh and I also sound deadened the van so that’s another thing ticked off, no point going in-depth on that because it wasn’t very exciting tbh.
Since then though it’s been very very slow. The next step is to fit a shelf above the seats, then fit the other external parts then, and finally, insulate. This is all taking longer than anticipated due to time and the fact that we took a lovely week away to Lanzarote for Bethan’s birthday. We had an amazing time for our first holiday away and it was definitely needed. The winter sunshine re-energized us both to the max, but it also made us realise that we need to get out there, see the world and explore. Work-life is not for us (I wish that could be a thing). ANYWAY – the point being, not only did we lose time but it also made us pretty skint. So I’m hoping that when payday hits the end of March we will be able to afford the insulation and get that DONE. As soon as that’s done the van is once again useable! Hooray! Adventures can continue and we can have random weekends away wherever we want.
My plan was to make this blog post short but alas I sort of got carried away with myself there so following this I will be jotting up another post relatively soon as I want to create a post “Why Vanlife?” I will talk about why we’re doing this, what it means to us, what we want from it, etc. So a much more in-depth post to our thinking behind this whole lifestyle shift! That post will then be a sort of benchmark post where we will ask interviewees similar questions to find out their why. So it’s all fascinating so keep your eyes peeled.
OHHH and we might have our first podcast guest featuring in April so you definitely want to tune in for that one!
I’m back! It’s been a hot second since the last post. I did start two other posts which were going to discuss the plan of converting the Van and also a post about how we found Camper Calling! Safe to say those never saw the light of day due to work-life being stressful and not finding the right motivation to complete the posts. BUT it’s a new year, Happy 2023! So as New Years go we all begin with resolutions and goals of what we’d like to accomplish in our new future. It’s pretty crazy how one day to another can bring so much change and positivity? Imagine being able to take that mentality into every day? I’m going to teach myself, somehow, how to do this. Anyway – here’s a little round-up of what we did in brief and what we’re going to be doing! (I’ll try and keep it short).
Back to August 2022. On a last-minute whim, we booked tickets to attend the “Camper Calling” festival. No idea what this festival was going to entail but the line-up looked cool and it said it was for Vans and families – that’ll do! Booking time off the day before and shooting off north towards Birmingham. A tight little drive through a few lanes to get there but easy enough. As we arrived through the gates at the top of a hill we could see the vast size of this festival that was filled with campers and vans, tents, VWs plenty, and everything in between. We got a nice little spot on the brow of a hill that overlooked a beautiful countryside view free from any other vans, pretty lucky to be fair. The weekend itself was Vantastic (get it, but no that was a brand there that has some dope clothes and if you like your Vans you should check their website!) the bands were better than expected with a shout-out to Heather Small, Elvana, and Newton Faulkner to name a few. The food was delicious, and pricey but still. There was plenty of awesome things to buy from small stores and loads for the kids to do (if you had any). The only grievance, some parents need to unwind and let their “Karen” side chill. You cant run everything hun, like controlling queues for toilets at a festival, it ain’t gonna happen, relax. Oh and people ignoring signs about where you can and can’t take furniture in the arena? You’re not exempt or special and if I dance over and crush your child in a pram, thats on you. Sorry, not sorry. Overall though amazing weekend and can’t wait to get back there in 2023 (tickets already secured).
September featured our final outting in the Van. Venturing to North Wales for a week over my (Ash’s) birthday. Staying in a picturesque campsite near Llanbedr we enjoyed the last of the summer sunshine. The campsite was incredible. We pitched up right next to a beautiful river that passed through the site. There was an adorable little shop that had your necessities and also offered a firepit for your night time fun and games. It was seriously the most beautiful and peaceful sites I have ever been too and I would 100% go back. I can’t seem to find a link but its called “Nantcol Waterfalls Campsite”. As the name suggest there’s a very nice waterfall walk on site. Highly recommend. The trip also features trips past Snowdon and climbing up past Llyn Idwal. Unforunately not the best weather for this but we made the most of it. We also took a little trip to Conwy which is the cutest town which stands within castle walls which holds a lot of Welsh medieval history. But alas, this would be the last of our Van trips for the foreseeable due to the fact that, even at the beginning of September, we were freezing at night. The tempratures plummeted and we were struck with the realisation that you do in fact need to have you van at LEAST insulated now. Wept it was cold.
Besides those trips our adventures have been local and more “days-out”. We hit up Pen-Y-Fan once, sat and had some coffee along Mumbles beaches, just some simple out-goings. The van has otherwise been sat out in the rain and cold, looking sad and unused. UNTIL NOW!
So this is where it’s getting real! December 29th I suddenly had my burst of motivation. “Let’s do it, let’s get started!” Off I went and started unscrewing everything and taking everything apart. (Until we got stuck and some screws will honestly not budge, until tomorrow that is, hopefully). We’ve started taking off all the trim on the outside and ordered new clips and getting everything prepared to put back together. Once everything is off the van its time for the big deep clean, which is going to take a while thats for sure. There is some rust to take care of and SOOOOO much dust it’s crazy. We’re not looking forward to it at all but it’s got to be done to make sure we get everything perfect and avoid complications further down the line. But so far so good (besides these BASTARD screws that are stuck).
Once the van is clean and prepped we will be sharpishly insulate the Van. In an ideal world I would have everything done in the week but I do not possess the Funds to try and do everything in one go. So insulation first and having the walls and floor put back in. This way if we haven’t fully completed the Van by the summer (that’s wishful thinking anyway) at least we can stick the mattress back in and the Van is usable again, and that’s most important due to the fact we’re going to need it for Camper Calling. We have the plan in place for now and it’s going steady. Hopefully, we can keep this motivation but with work beginning again in the next few days I’m slightly worried of losing it, but we’ll see.
Totally forgot – we have a window and vent for the Van. It’s not in yet, not until its cleaned, but thats another thing to be excited about going in soon.
There you have it though. The round up of 2022 and the plan for the start of 2023. It’s going to be an excited and tiresome and expensive and busy time ahead but thats all part of the fun right? We will hopefully be doing the Podcast again soon so keep an eye out for that and will be alot more active on here and other socials!
Trying to stay in the swing of things I am going to attempt to keep a healthy relationship with this blog by updating it at least once every two weeks. (AT LEAST, I HOPE, WHO KNOWS?!?!?) So even though the last post was done not that long ago, I need to keep it updated on our on-goings before I forget. So here’s a little run-through of the other adventures we’ve been on.
After the high we got from the first trip we were eager for another. Our second trip was originally supposed to be our first trip but we all know how that ended up. (Damn Van being broken and shit!!) Well anyway, off we trotted our way down to Pembroke for the weekend, eventually. This time slightly more prepared than the last. I say eventually because due to a ridiculous Hospital snafu we were pushed 4 hours later than originally planned. Not the best start to our relaxing weekend let me tell you. On-the-spot meditation was taking place during those wait times. Escaping the hell hole we drove towards Barry to once again steal more camping equipment from the parents. Most importantly, a toilet. A very handy thing to have lying around was the portable toilet, and after learning the hard way the first time, this was definitely a welcome addition to the van.
Gathering a few extra bits we headed to Pembrokeshire. Booking a spot in a farm field near Broad Haven. We checked in – and spoke to the owner on the phone who told us if nobody was at the Van to pay in the morning. Seemed fair enough. So back off we went to St David’s, Whitesands beach. We had another lovely evening on the beach before heading back to the farm field for another nice night’s sleep. We woke up really early to make the most of the day and headed towards the Blue Lagoon up near Abereiddy. Please don’t judge me for this part now, but we didn’t pay for our stay. I know, boooooo!! But we do feel incredibly guilty for not paying. It’s just nobody was once again at the van to pay. We didn’t have any cash on us (which we have not learned to keep on us) so we couldn’t leave anything at their Van for payment. So I’m sorry to those farmers for using your land without paying!
Full of guilt we hit the Blue Lagoon. Underwhelming. It was another one of those “Instagram Spots” that really did not live up to the hype. The ground was slate and rock. The water was nowhere near as blue as the edits people made, and incredibly busy. If you’re in a big Van I’d probably avoid heading down as the roads were tights and the car park even tighter. We gave up and went back to White Sands for a day of sunbathing, food, and surfing. The surf was a bit flat but it was nice to get a few short rides in. Overall a nice experience but we would probably book a better campsite nearer the beach for a nice view.
The drive home gave us guidance towards something that was on our minds for weeks and weeks on end and then finally, it hit us. Anyone who has owned a van, or most vehicles for that matter, usually gives their metal compadre a name. Now this is something that didn’t come to us straight away, and again we couldn’t rush it, but then we pinged. Lilith. Yep, Lilith is the name of our Van. Lilith derives from the ancient Babylonian texts but over the years has been used and explained in many different representations. To us, Lilith is an icon, symbol, and representation of a dark goddess and feminine identity, feminine sexuality, and liberation. While she is portrayed as a dark goddess she has many benefits of being a deity to worship and study as she improves many things about your life such as Healing Sexual trauma reclaiming personal power and many other woman empowerment aspects. Lilith is a strong deity and thus a fitting name for our Van. Lilith is also Bethan’s new and first deity and she can’t wait to start working with her.
Since then we have had a few days out in the Van towards Brecon for a nice woodland walk. We hit Mumbles for an evening by the sea to unwind and relax. Most recently we stayed in Fontygary for the night with my parents who were in their Campervan. This was a nice evening to catch up and spend time with the family. This week we will be heading for a long family camping trip near Brecon with Bethan’s Family so that will be a lot of fun.
Things are steadily progressing and the plans for the van are coming together. Trial and error is the key here and we are really taking our time to figure out what we want, instead of rushing and wasting money. We’ve bought a few nice additions to the van that will be going up this week such as Tapestry and lights to make it feel a little more home-y. It’s all very exciting.
In the next post, I will be talking about the plan for the Van. What our ideas are, layouts, colours, etc? So keep an eye out for that one and then a round-up of our time away with Bethan’s Family.
If you are following this blog (yes, you). Then you’ll have noticed it’s been a hot second since the last post. What a period we have had too. So bare with me here – there’s a bit to dive into and here I’m going to discuss our first outing!
Let’s take you back to July 9th. The day after the terrible evening in which the Van arrived and returned. Distraught, my weekend was ruined. The plans I had dissolving in front of my eyes. This was until late Saturday evening, around 6pm. The mighty White beauty had arrived! Praise the Lord there was still hope. Without hesitation, we gathered what minimal things we needed and got in the Van. Like a bat out of hell (RIP Meatloaf), we sped off towards Barry to gather some things we could steal from Ashley’s parent’s house. Arriving at 19:30 we managed to get hold of a mattress, bedding, and surfboards from mi casa. A quick trip to Asda procured us a water container, food, bbq, alcohol, and most importantly, fairy lights. We were set.
It was 9pm. It was too late to make it to Pembroke like originally planned, but Ashley had a backup idea: Southerndown beach. He did in fact, “Know a Spot”. The drive back towards Southerndown was a glorious ride, racing the orange sunset to their destination. We arrived with about 30 minutes of daylight left. We got a spot at the top car park where the doors opened up to the beautiful sea view. Grabbing the BBQs and food we jogged down towards the beach to set up a cute ass sunset date. Complete with beer, burgers, and banging songs it was easily one of the most romantic dates we’ve ever been on. Topping the night off with a moonlight slow dance to “Ma belle Evangeline” from the film “Princess and the Frog”. Love was well and truly in the air.
The romantic evening did not stop there. There was still one more surprise left in store for us that nature had to offer. Returning to the van, we set up the fairy lights which were absolutely perfect – See here – https://amzn.to/3d0VFf9 – and opened up the back door (not that one, get your head out of the gutter) As you’ll see below we were presented the most beautiful and most relaxing view anyone could ask for on a first Van outing. The moon, almost full, shone down onto the calm sea leaving a trail all the way to the Van. The sky was completely clear and every star was visible. The pictures speak for themselves here but it was one of the most relaxing views we have ever encountered and will live on in our memory forever. After enjoying the view and each other’s company a little while longer we decided to hit the sack and get some sleep.
As far as first sleeps go, this wasn’t half bad. The mattress was comfy and we had plenty of covers to keep us warm. We were a little on edge, to begin with, due to the fact there was a sign stating “No overnight stay” so our anxiety was a little high but luckily enough we were left undisturbed all night. The Van did get a little cold outside of the blanket which made for a hot, condensation, filled sleep but it wasn’t too problematic. The only issue we had was a few noisy neighbours in the form of seagulls who decided to stomp on the van roof once or twice, little shits. All in all, it was a good night’s sleep and a lot easier than we thought it was going to be considering all we had was a mattress and duvet.
We awoke early the following morning to quickly jump up and pay for parking. We had successfully stayed overnight at this car park without any issue, hooray! Getting up from bed we moved towards the door and opened up to the blinding daylight. Our eyes took a few seconds to adjust and then the beautiful view hit us. What a way to wake up. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the weather was warm. The sea was blue and calm and everything felt right in the world. It was easily one of the most amazing ways to wake up, honestly. This elated feeling was soon over as we had run into our first problem. Toilet. It was 8am and the public toilets were yet to open and wouldn’t be open for another hour or two and Bethan had to pee. Oh dear. We quickly jumped in the front seat and headed for a shop for a bucket. Yep, my idea was a bucket. Safe to say we did not get a bucket, thank god. We luckily came across a McDonald’s and grabbed breakfast and Bethan was able to pee. Disaster averted.
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the sunshine on the beach. Using the second bbq for some sausage sandwiches and just really enjoying having the Van. It was really convenient to take time away from the beach to relax in the Van and have a Nap. Or for us to hide from the sun to avoid becoming a lobster.
We headed home in the evening and jumped straight into our comfy bed. We took the time to reflect on how the weekend had gone and how amazing it was. We made the most of a bad situation, to begin with, and really made it the most romantic weekend we have ever experienced. We learned a lot in terms of the Van as well. We knew we had to get some form of toilet. We needed dishes and cutlery, something proper to cook on, and so on. This paved the way to the beginning of our van journey and it was off to the best start possible. Now to find £6-8k to complete the conversion. Any helpers?
The time has finally come. After months of scouring every possible second hand car selling website. Visiting a number of garages. Missing out on some fantastic deals and waving off perfect vans that had underlying mechanical issues, we’ve done it. We’ve secured our Van.
There are definitely pros and cons to the Van we have bought but that was going to be an issue to anything we picked up and in the second hand game you have to roll those dice sometimes and cross your fingers, praying everything works out. This is no exception but we feel like we’ve made the right choice for all our wants and needs. It also makes my mother feel better too which we’ll get into now.
The van in question is Mercedes Sprinter. The classic, instagrams favourite, the golden child of Van Conversions. Well in recent times anyway. Nothing will ever top the classic VW campers, and one day I wold still kill to get one of the golden oldies for myself. But yes, we went for the Sprinter. Long wheel base, obviously for that extra space, but not all the way up to the EXT edition. We found this little gem at a garage in Bridgend. The salesman is a very calm and down to earth guy who does not put any pressure on you what so ever. He lets you crack on and do what you need to do without pestering you like a wasp. I guess in the salesman world that would be seen as not good enough but I can’t imagine I’m the only person who wants to just be given the space to judge and look for myself? I’ll come to you sir if I have any questions. This was at Rhys Huish Commercials and we would recommend them to anyone local looking for a second hand van. The condition of the vans are in tip top condition. They offer a warranty on all van purchases and do not let a single one leave the shop until an MOT is completed, advisories taken care of and that the vehicle has undergone a full service. So we felt relatively safe with out purchase.
Our Van itself. As on old DPD delivery van it was in near perfect condition. The cab was clean and had barely any marks or scratches. The dashboard features a reversing camera, fully digital radio, and plenty of leg room. The chairs were comfy and looked in good condition minus the drivers seat that some of the stitching had come loose, but that was neither here nor there as I have plans replace the seats. The back of the vans was as you’d expect from a used van. Bumps and scrapes where heavy and annoying parcels have once sat and moved around. That being said, it was nowhere near as bad as I had seen in other vans and honestly with a big dust and clean you would honestly class it as unused. The exterior was in great condition. There was no evidence of rust, no major scrapes and only minor bumps and dents that are easily fixed. It was missing a side reflector and the wing mirror was broken but the garage assured us that these were on order and would be replaced before leaving the grounds.
After some more painful money spending on tax and insurance. I was ready for this giant beast to arrive. Friday 8th of July. I sat at the window like a kid trying to catch a glimpse of Santa on Christmas Eve, waiting for the large white package to turn that corner onto the street. Like a flash of lightning it appeared. I’d have rolled out the red carpet if I could. Being my first big adult purchase this was a big deal for me. Something that was fully 100% mine. (when I say I, it is Ashley talking, just in case you missed the first blog.) Everything felt like it was going in slow motion. Signing the documents, paying the cash, handing over the keys. It all went on way too long but then suddenly I was stood there, keys in hand, mouth a gape, actually petrified of doing anything. I was scared to even unlock the damn thing let alone drive it.
I jumped into the front seat. Eager to fire this thing up but also terrified. Click. Hmm… let me try that again. Click. Nothing. Holy shit no way! It doesn’t work?! I started to panic. Called the guy and he swiftly came back and came to the same conclusion. Start-up motor was not connected. My god, why now? So many weekend plans just went tumbling down. What now?!
The Van got taken away and I had all fingers crossed for it to he back with me as soon as possible. It better be back on the Saturday or I will be very upset. My whole weekend was planned on this van and now it was gone. Hopefully it won’t be a big job and everything is okay. Here is praying. My baby was gone for now, but hopefully, back stronger! #passthepod
Well here it is folks – the final (???) Jurassic World/Park film. It’s been a long time coming for this final chapter of the series, which has spanned nearly 30 years. (No kidding, in 1993 the original was released!) The six films in total (I pray to God we don’t go down the Fast and Furious route of 10 or more) have enchanted us all for years, bringing Dinosaurs to life in a breathtaking and also terrifying way. The scene of the Velociraptors in the kitchen has haunted me for decades. While in recent times, the Raptors haven’t been a problem. Times have changed. The villains have changed. Let’s dive in here and see if that’s a good thing or not.
The Characters
Jumping on the bandwagon, Jurassic World brought back the original cast in one last hoorah for the series. As a fan of the films, this was nice to see. Anyone who loves films loves when original cast members or cross-overs happen. (cough Spiderman cough) It’s becoming ever so popular within the industry now that it might be overdoing it. I believe in a year or so this will bring more of an eye-roll than any form of excitement with fans sitting wishing the film was left as it was years prior (Matrix, I’m looking dead into your soul here.) For Jurassic World, this brought the excitement back to me for sure. Seeing Sam Neil, Jeff Goldblum, and Laura Dern back on the screen was obviously nostalgic but the times have clearly changed. I’m not sure who is to blame here, the writers or the actors but it was slightly painful at times with some of the dialogue and the way they were given.
Ellie (Laura Dern) was way too chipper and excited for my liking considering going through the trauma of the very first Jurassic Park and refusing to take any part in the action in the third Jurassic Park, so this came off a little strange to me. Sam Neil in my opinion was near perfect and reprised his role well. Jeff Goldblum I feel doesn’t act anymore, it’s just Jeff Goldblum.
I was surprised they didn’t bring back Tim (Joseph Mazzello) and Lex (Ariana Richards) back at all, they could have possibly been the pilot instead of DeWanda Wises’ character. Nothing against Wise, she was great in her role but to me a slightly pointless throw-away character with no ties to anyone or anything, just my thoughts.
Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard still brought their characters to life but with each film they were slightly more… irksome. I can’t put my finger on it but maybe it’s the arrogance that their characters portray? I’m not sure, but something makes me very unsettled.
The villain of the story played by Campbell Scott was a very strange one. I’m not quite sure what approach they were going for with this one, but compared to the previous “bad guys” we’ve had this was left short and I did not feel like the villain was at all troublesome or someone to be afraid of. The twist with his second-hand man, Mamoudou Athie, was easily foreseen. The character was played well but way too obvious. With awkward body language and dialogue, it was easy to see where the film was headed. This needed to have a scarier character who then shocked you unlike what we had here.
The real star of the film and easily the best actor was young Isabella Sermon. Reprising her role as Maise Lockwood she gave a really great performance. A few bits of dialogue again (damn these scriptwriters) not coming across the way it was probably intended but she was the only character I thought was actually afraid of the dinosaurs, which is what the whole point of the film is meant to be about, but I’ll touch on that later.
A quick mention to Dichen Lachman. Well played and scary character. Gone and forgotten as quick as she was on screen. Slightly pointless character in the end which was a shame but I digress.
The Story
Before heading into this film I had my own idea of how this film should have played out and that was to be basically Planet of The Apes. The Dinosaurs are running amok through the world and causing absolute carnage and bloody chaos. Not saying they started to talk or anything but they were slowly regaining their place as the rulers of planet earth. In my mind, a better story.
Unfortunately, my dark and scary tale wasn’t to be and we were pulled into a more pleasant world where humans and Dinosaurs co-existed, somehow? Far be it from me to know how the ecological system would handle such a transformation but a peaceful transition and “oh well” attitude is not what I picture. We are given a brief insight into the world today since the events of Fallen Kingdom and the world seems to be coping. Black Markets of dino-sales rule the underworld but that was going to be evident given the previous film but I could not shake the feeling the world was happy and carefree in their newfound situation. Life just went on. This annoyed me straight from the off. The obvious bad guys were instantly recognisable with their best take on a certain big brand with the fruit logo, you know the one. We get flashes of what the story will entail with news reports of the missing Maisie Lockwood, Velociraptor (Blue) and a Locust problem…? Excuse me, I thought this was a Dinosaur film? A few giant locusts swarms later and we have re-introduced our old beloved characters, Yay!… Who have a problem that the food is going to be going extinct as a repercussion of these locusts – Boo! This is where I instantly knew this wasn’t going to be the movie I so desperately wanted it to be.
The story progresses along two story lines with Chris Pratt playing happy families with Maisie Lockwood, Claire and Blue. Maisie is the grumpy teenager who is breaking free of her prison. (We’ve all been through Covid lockdowns we know how that feels) Blue has had a baby and is also playing happy families. Knowing that there are people looking for Maisie and Blue it is easy to see where the story was headed. Sure enough Maisie and the baby raptor are scooped up by thugs and off they are shipped to the company Biosyn. Owen (Pratt) promises Blue to get the baby back. That ladies and gents is the last time we see our beloved Velociraptor until the end. They have clearly gone on a long awaited holiday because we all know that raising a child is difficult. This really irked me as Velociraptor have been the main characters through all of Jurassic Park films, and now? Nothing. Nada. Goodbye.
Down the other story line Ellie has recruited her old pal Alan Grant to investigate the giant locusts. They quickly discover a tie with the big bad corporation, Biosyn. (Obvious multi-verse meet up happening later, who would have thought?) Arriving, they discover their other long lost pal Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum) is on the inside with evidence that BioSyn are in fact evil and must be stopped. Who knew?!
The movie continues in a relatively fun action filled way but more like a James Bond film, rather than Jurassic Park. Well the car chase did feature some genetically engineered Raptors but that scene was quick and over sharpish. I couldn’t shake the feeling of a typical action film though and not a dinosaur film.
The cast eventually meet up, find out the truth about Maisie Lockwood and that Biosyn were in fact trying to take over the worlds food market using these locusts. We get brief glimpses of some other dinosaurs through a few minor chases but for me it just felt like it had lost all magic and horror. The real enemy wasn’t the dinosaurs at all during this film and that didn’t sit right with me. Jurassic Park has always been edge of your seat scary and intense and this one just didn’t cut it. Even if you take a look at the previous title that had you afraid of the Dinosaur. This was all about a companies attempt at manipulation on the world, featuring a few dinos. Hell it even copy and pasted the script from the first Jurassic World where the T-Rex and other dinosaur teamed up to take down a bigger dinosaur. This was more of an eye roll than “woah!!” Moment which wasn’t surprising at this segment of the film. The whole main cast survive (minus the Villain of course) who went out in an original film related death. Annnnnnnnd Yawn.
Final Opinions and thoughts
This movie was a huge let down for someone like me who has grown up being afraid of the Jurassic Park films. As an adult you obviously know that the dinosaurs are not real but you want to be immersed into the story that makes you believe they could be and you can still be very much afraid of them. During the film i think i counted about 3, maybe 4 human casualties? Which is wild in itself. I’m not sure if the franchise has become too family friendly to incorporate too many deaths but this was something that really frustrated me as it made the dinosaurs less fearsome. As a stand-alone action film this could have been a fun film to enjoy but i believe it was all very lax and lazy writing. The dialogue could have done with a little bit of polishing and less cringe but that seems to be a big problem with any of these sell-out multiverse films. In my honest opinion I would rate the movie a 6/10 purely on some of the action scenes. As a Jurassic Park film, this doesn’t deserve more than a 3/10. It pains me to admit it but that’s where I leave my review. Hopefully the franchise is left in peace to remain an exhibit like the creatures they are based on.
On a gloriously sunny day in the middle of May, we started our 5-hour car journey towards Nottingham, or more specifically Clumber Park. I touched on this slightly in our first, introduction post but here I will dive deeper into our first getaway together. You’ll discover our adventure and hear our opinions on the lodge, national park, and surrounding areas that we experienced.
Originally we were planning to have a week away somewhere abroad. Hot sunny beaches and cocktails were the idea. But due to passport issues, we have put that idea on hold. Our next thought was a nice getaway to a lodge that came fully equipped with a hot tub and beautiful scenery. Lord alive did we get a shock when we started researching some places. The price of this kind of holiday was insane. This was possibly due to COVID and taking advantage of the fact that people cannot go abroad as much right now. Good for the business, bad for us consumers. I had all but given up on the hunt for something affordable but nice, that was until one little tweet of mine caught the attention of a follower who suggested Clumber Park. Okay okay, now this was more like it. A cabin at a national park, near Sherwood Forest, fully equipped with kitchen, showers, bedrooms, lounge and most importantly a hot tub. 4 nights, £250. Patience had paid off. £250 is a fantastic bargain for this kind of getaway. We booked that shit right away and then we were ready to go!
The time had come for this little time off work and we couldn’t be more excited. We had a little pre-holiday in London, which involved lots of food, dancing, and shopping, but now it was time to fully relax. The long grueling journey from South Wales was a daunting one at first. 5 hours up towards Nottingham. Luckily the weather was kind, the traffic was smooth and the journey to our surprise flew by. A good start to be sure.
Upon arrival, we were first challenged with a large queue of people arriving at the same time. Clumber Park check-in is at 4pm and at 4pm sharp people arrived to fully take the whole of their relaxing holiday and dive head first into their hot tub. Some people weren’t too happy with the queues but I mean what do you expect. Take a chill bro, holidays not going anywhere. We eventually got our key and wandered to our Cabin.
The park itself was beautiful. A large green landscape surrounded by large forest trees. Cabins evenly spread out across the land connected by small stone roads. Colourful plants and water features were spotted around the place and in the glorious sunshine, it was a sight to behold. After taking in the park and its cute personality we arrived at our Cabin. Number 39 was our home for the next 4 nights. Before entering we could see the hot tub bubbling and warming away ready for us to take a dip ourselves. It was covered on 3 sides by a fence for some privacy and unless someone was about to enter your cabin you were pretty well covered. We found our cabin to be best situated for privacy compared to others that we could easily see from our place. We we’re lucky.
The cabin itself was absolutely beautiful. A modern interior build, complete with kitchen, lounge, diner, bedrooms, and bathrooms. The place was spotless. Dishes, cups, oven, and fridge are all as if brand new. Carpets vacuumed, Sofas brushed. Everything was as if it was straight out of the packaging. The kitchen sat in the corner of the main room and came equipped with an oven, 4 burner hobs, two-tier fridge freezers, a sink with a drying rack, and plenty of cupboard space. The only issue I had was there wasn’t much countertop space left to actually prepare food with. Besides that, you had everything you needed. The floor for this part was laminate wood and looked very tidy. A dining table sat near the kitchen that could easily be pulled out and used whenever necessary to which we had a lovely candle-lit steak dinner, Cooked by Ashley and it was delicious. The rest of that main room was the lounge area. The carpet was grey and fluffy, and very comfy to walk on. A coffee table sat at the center of the room between a generously large tv and large comfortable grey sofas. An electric fireplace sat under the TV that we took full advantage of at night to really relax and feel the ambiance. The walls were all white on one side and a wooden finish on the side of the TV and fireplace. It really brought out the personality of the cabin.
The bedrooms were just as nice. Our cabin came with two bedrooms, one master with a king-size bed, the other with two single beds. Both rooms were small and had enough space for the beds and a wardrobe each. A small desk was the only addition to the master bedroom for someone to do their makeup, perfect for Bethan. The master bedroom has an en-suite with a shower whilst the second bathroom was almost completely identical. Both walk-in showers with fully glass doors and enough room for two. Again everything was completely spotless. After our inspection, we were ready to relax with big smiles on our faces.
Our first evening was spent fully zen in the hot tub with some gin and strawberries and a night under the stars. Perfect. The following morning we ventured on a lovely bike ride to Clumber National park. A 10-15 minute ride along a flat road. The bikes we rented from our park itself, were £15 each all day. There were plenty of routes available to ride on. Some were very long and would be an all-day journey but we had no intention of using that much energy. It was a gloriously sunny day as we arrived at the National Park. Immediately you arrive at a courtyard where you will find a quaint little shop full of trinkets and homemade items, guides, and novelty items. A little museum of the area itself and a cafe. We enjoyed a baked potato and drinks which were reasonably priced. Following our fill, we wandered around the park and along the river. Visiting the church that is open to explore and taking in the nature surrounding. We spent a few hours sitting painting the incredibly pleasant scenery. The evening was spent similarly all week where we soaked in the hot tub and enjoyed each other’s company.
The rest of the week we stayed very still and really took the time to unwind from the stress of work and home life. Reading, writing, art, watching tv. It was very much needed. We did visit a pub down the road called “The Millhouse” that we highly recommend visiting as the food was out of this world. We suggest the ribs and wings as a starter and then the burgers to follow, both beef and chicken.
Our week came to an end and at 10am sharp it was time to venture on home, with a detour through Nottingham to visit “Ye Ol Salvation” the most haunted pub in the UK. Our week was a perfect getaway to begin our life of adventures as a new couple. The cabin and surrounding area were absolutely gorgeous and the cleanliness was to a very top standard. Our only negative would be the actual cafe onsite. We bought a pizza expecting a nice homemade rustic pizza but it was in fact a stuffed crust Chicago Town pizza but at the cost of £18. We weren’t best pleased. Other than that little hiccup the place was very charming. The park itself was charming and delightful and honestly, we recommend anyone looking for a hot tub getaway to visit here. £250 is the best price you will find anywhere in the UK.
We will definitely be returning in the future and would rate Clumber Park lodged a positive 8/10.
