THINKING OF STARTING VANLIFE IN THE UK? HERE'S THE HARD TRUTH.

this is not easy during this life living this life in a van is not easy and you really have to think about it before you get into it if you ever do this life don't don't do it like us do not follow us do not do anything like we do it we did have some discussions Steph saying look do you want to give this up I don't want to give it up I really don't um we know it's not forever um but we definitely want to do this for a lot longer um but yeah sometimes we just miss having it's not just me but I do miss having a Bas um and I miss some of those things that you took for granted before so first job is replacing the screws on the kitchen cupboard because they're falling out but we need a slightly bigger screw oh okay so basically our kitchen cupboard is falling off the wall like everything so that's first [Music] up I hate these places never know what we're [Music] doing so we need to decorate the van and we've done nothing with it since we've had it and these actually look really nice to be honest and it looks like they just stick on so we could put them somewhere so basically as per usual we looked at something thought it was a good idea put it back on the shelf and walked away again and said we'll do it in the future and we never will said we think about that and then we should we um should we get a new kitchen for the van yeah K it out with a whole room yeah I really do miss the proper kitchen oh I missed an oven and a proper sink I don't know about you but I'm so Bor of this already oh there we go £950 now get the6 one which is it we need that's 950 so we need one of these what's this that's heavy duty we don't need heavy duty I don't know it should be right do would it yeah so basically we've got a leak coming into the van so the van's leaking a little bit and we've bought some Seer Flex if that's how you say it and it's kind of like a ceiling for Camp fans and motor homes um so we're going to do a little bit on the outside um we just need one of those gun things I'm sure there's a name for it don't ask me and hopefully seal up an area where we think the water's coming in um I'm sure we'll do a completely professional and accurate job why why do we need wood filler because the holes might be too big for the screws in the cupboard the kitchen cupboard we're going to hunt for something slightly bigger than that one yeah yeah okay slightly lower oh God I'm bored already so already we can't get even the basics right we've just got one of those gun things and our Seer Flex doesn't actually fit into it even though it looks like it does which makes me think it does but we're just not doing it right you sure it doesn't fit yeah it doesn't fit okay we're back in home base such fun yeah right is this bigger or what it doesn't look any different to me hang on a minute this be slightly long yeah they look the same size so maybe we're just not putting it in right I don't get it right next stop right what are we doing now Stevie uh we're going to SSB going to SS is exciting Okay so we've been shopping we've been to SS Breeze done what we needed um I don't know why we never learn ultimately we knew it was going to be more expensive in there but we didn't think it would matter for a few bits but oh my God some of the things are just insane um olive oil their cheapest olive oil was £510 for a relative ly for 500 Ms and that was like the what was normally the budget one and I'm sure not long ago that was £375 and there there was about three other people that turned up at the same time and commented on the same thing like oh my God look at the price of that olive oil um unfortunately we use it a lot and we love it so we kind of sucked it up and bought it I understand why things like that are rising I really do and I think olive oil especially is going to get worse we are going to go traveling this week we're not sure where and we're going to make it up as we go along the idea because it's October now we are going to go mushrooming hopefully so with any luck we're going to do a little bit of traveling not too far um but somewhere where there's a forest or a wood what we can that we can go foraging in [Music] basically so we got our bluetti back which we will go into later with more detail but it works doesn't it it seems to so they've definitely repaired it but there is more to say on that as I know some people have been curious so we will film something on that a bit later on but yeah seems pretty charged and now we've got the fun and games of sorting all of this out putting it away and cleaning the van so while Steven is cleaning the outside of the van ready for us to put on that filler stuff that's my technical term I'm going to attempt to put the clothes away which is always fun when you've got bags of different things different clean washing and it all kind of balances on here and you just hope it doesn't fall out and at the bottom here in this snazzy little Christmas Box is all our winter gear so you've got hats we've probably got too many hats in there gloves far too many gloves cuz we barely wear them um above that just odds and SS like jeans uh thick tracksuit bottoms and tops and on the top carrier bags just go basically where we put um bags of like trousers t-shirts shorts into different compartments but it always gets mixed up and there's another one up here which is mostly Steven stuff that kind of just gets rammed in and you just hope for the best I honestly don't know how we cope we're so crap at this ever since day one we've just been a bit shambolic we don't know anything we've learned nothing in two years living in a van on the road I don't think we've learned a damn thing elri as stepen said we've still got to try and fix some electrics we'll go into that later but despite not learning very much and generally being all around useless at this game we've still made it work and what it has done if we've gained anything it's the total appreciation for things we had before and probably took for granted um I know there's the OB obvious stuff like a toilet that flushes and running water all that kind of stuff we do have a sink but yet you know it's not the same um but also what I was thinking recently if we ever find ourselves in a position with a kitchen again I'm going to bake and cook and do things every single day like I never did before just because I'll be so happy to have something like that again and appreciate it um yeah not ready to give this up yet but there are things that you do Miss and I think cooking nice meals is definitely one of them because you kind of have to be a bit practical in a van and I know some people have got ovens we've not got that um some people have got some quite fancy gear that that helps and make some good things and that's brilliant but we we just haven't and we don't really have the room either so yeah it's not the same and I'll prob this will all probably not never happen at all but in my head if we do ever get a kitchen again I swear to God I'm going to learn to bake and bake every single cake I can imagine every day every time I got time every time I got time every time I've got the chance in the meantime let's put our pants away yeah feel like we should just give up and have a drink let's just sack it all off forget the cleaning of the van forget putting clothes away forget anything let's just pour ourselves a drink and sit in whatever bit of sunshine is left today that sounds more fun don't you reckon yeah we'll do that y sounds good to me well we probably won't do that we will do that but let's try and do something first we are due if we're to be good boys which we rarely are um a couple of days of sorting it from head to toe will that happen I don't know there's a drink of our name on it so that may let may be the answer we will see that's just from the back it's just from the back can make a meal out of that terrible terrible muel so the state of our floor is absolutely shocking and to be honest we're trying carefully not actually get that in camera but for the sake of bearing one soul look at the state of that absolutely foul there's our Kettle which by the way needs changing you're going to take this horrible mat out God bless its Soul it's done quite well for us ste's going to give it a bit of a brush got it about two years there's probably untold amounts of onion skin and garlic skin on that human dust human skin skin skin everywhere lovely stuff we love it we don't really but look at it it's just awful we should be ashamed of ourselves yeah pretty Grim let's stop filming shall we so this is where we think the leak's coming in so all of this hang on let me zoom out so all of this is where the onion would go um but there's a leak coming in just behind and we can't really work it out but we think cuz some of these are quite Rusty it might be coming in around the edges so we've wiped it over and Steven's Now using the very technical and efficient toothbrush item of the toothbrush with some washing up Liquid to get into the nooks and crannies and then the idea is we're going to sort of put some sealant around it see this is our life now just random things like standing here with a mug that we previously drunk tea and coffee out of with a toothbrush and washing up Liquid scrubbing the side of our home in the hope of doing some kind of makeshift blue Peter job to stop a leak we don't even know where it's really coming from but at least every day is different I guess and when you do this you realize every single thing you're looking at how badly it needs to clean how badly it needs to wash so we do apologize for that we don't you know we're not completely gross who are we sorry too I don't know I'm just apologizing to a regular View so this is our little electric box um came with a van obviously very oldfashioned but it still works for our Leisure battery uh the 12vt um but the lights have stopped working and we've tried to change the fuse we've manage that but it didn't work um one works in the back but the two here that one just by the vent and the one right above you here they've stopped working um and we've had some problems with this this electric box before so we've just opened it up to see if there's a loose connection that is to say we don't really know what we're doing but we thought it was worth a look okay we're putting it back and just ignoring it for now this is the fun of living in a van things happen you got to figure it out or not figure it out and then if it's beyond your reach which most things are for us we have to sort of go and seek help elsewhere but we have tried to look into this you know we haven't just completely passed it by and it does feel like we just don't know what we're doing maybe I'll just pour us a drink Steven said it's wise so I've got backup you heard it here if you ever do this life don't don't do it like us do not follow us do not do anything like we do it for a van that's pushing 30 years old I yeah has probably had that same system all that time I think we ought to let the professionals have a look cuz that a us this was the stuff we bought to put some sealant on the outside um cuz somebody at work told me about this and then Googling it it seemed to be the main kind of camper van motor home sealant so clex 522 um we ordered it off Amazon it was about I don't know 12 13 quid so hopefully it does the job but that would be assuming we know what we're doing which we absolutely [Music] don't we're going to stay here a couple of nights and we're going to finish what we need to do um but then we're going to go traveling and we're not sure what we're going to do or where we're going to go but we know we're not going to go far because we can't at the moment you know we've got things to do but not just that we we kind of have to watch the pennies a bit at the moment um things this has been a quite expensive month and you know this is not easy doing this life living this life in a van is not easy and you really have to think about it before you get into it um yes it's a cheaper way of living and overall that works out but you will get months that pop up where the bills go through the roof you get unexpected costs and and yeah it's it's hard goinging at times um and you you kind of I don't want to say you have to have nerves of Steel to do this but you really do have to be willing to sacrifice a lot um so at the moment we we faced quite an expensive month now it's not that bad compared to what some people go through we've actually been pretty lucky however you've got money coming in however you're paying for this we work um always make sure you're putting something aside for the these breakdowns and things that can happen because they will happen you know and you will get a shock sometimes uh so you need to make sure you're you're looking after things on that front um we we've been crapped with money haven't we most of our lives but since been in a van we' we've learned to manage it a bit better because you have to so yeah it's it's not as simple as it seems it's not as easy as it seems um but you know we're still enjoying it aren't we we're still still liking the life we're still glad of what it gives us and that's that's time back to ourselves basically but my point is yeah it can be tough it can be really tough doing this and it can be expens more expensive than you think sometimes so yes it's a cheaper way of living but just be prepared that that's not always the case and things can be much more unpredictable uh financially than when you're in a in a a normal home if you like so because our lights don't work because of something with the electrics which we're not sure about even though we had a look we are now messing about with all the the little portable lights we've got most of which don't have batteries we've got tons of batteries most of which are dead this one here that's all we're getting um we did manage to take some batteries out of the blood pressure machine that we've got and put it in this which gives us a little bit of something so we'll sacrifice health for light there we go and we've got thankfully this little popup one which does work but generally it's a bit of a disaster we've got some other big lights but we just haven't got the batteries for them what is our life this is our life you know and that's living in a van I guess especially if you're us two and you don't know what the hell you're doing and you let these things get out of control and suddenly you've got all these problems never mind e the pros at this now right yeah it's just ridiculous everything is so ridiculous sometimes doing this and you wonder what the hell are you doing like you're in a tiny little space scrabbling around for a source of light all these base things that you don't normally have to think about and suddenly we're having to think about it but it's all good the light works at the back in the in the toilet area but obviously that's no not much use when you're at the front so yeah we need to sort this out cuz now we are living in a cave but a quite comfortable cave we'll keep telling ourselves [Music] that you know for all this van is really small I'm still amazed and feel glad for all the little things that are actually packed into it just watching you wash up with a water tap and a sink and the fact we have a water tank where the water comes out of you know cannot be underestimated even though lots of Vans have it I know and ours isn't the best but it's the fact it's so tiny and we've got all that then a cooker and a fridge fridge right behind where Steven standing and a boiler well sort of a boiler is it a boiler oh oh yeah we can have hot water it's a bit of a nightmare though um and just over there a toilet well you know all this but sometimes it just feels just like a little magic box you know with all these things in it that often don't work but mostly they do yeah they all work everything works heating yeah they're heating we've got heating water and when you finish that if you could just start going through all of this as well cleaning that out that' be really really helpful yeah right and maybe over just down the side there whatever you say to actually the fridge needs to in that's pretty awful that's that's proper shocking that is and one other thing we bought yesterday so there was a charity shop next to uh where we went into home base and we needed some new mugs so we've been on the lookout for a while because our tin ones they're not tin what are they made of they look like copper but I don't think they are but the problem with those mugs is they get really hot very very quickly so what we found were these little big old mugs so not little at all they are huge but a decent size so you can get a decent cup of tea or coffee in there and they do fit in our cupboard and they're really nice they're a pound each um got two we got two yeah one each matching you love a big M they look good don't they they look sturdy and honestly there's nothing worse than just like a piddly cup of tea or coffee just what's the point two exactly like the effort to make it you want a decent size did you put the um the tea bags in first yeah with the milk and the milk yeah we're going to get a lot of stick for that I never really thought about it until people started commenting I made it the northern way you mean the opposite yes I know right all right what are you doing Stevie just sitting there you're just sitting there should we just make a video of us just sitting in the van doing nothing and see if people watch it maybe people will maybe they will it's a bit worrying no I'm going into town I'm just mastering up there the motivation really haven't got any so what's the what's the plan just to pick up a kettle yeah we need a new Kettle got to get a new kle and don't forget the winning lottery ticket yeah I probably will forget that Steve's going into town I'm going to sit here do some video stuff this is the fold out solar panel I'm sure we've shown this before yeah but I can't remember if we actually have or not so since we were just talking about using the laptops off grid thought i' Chuck this in as well it's a bit dusty but the great thing thing is we can move it about and we can even throw it on the roof so although we haven't got one on the roof the benefit of this is we can actually move it to where the sun is unfortunately as the sun has disappeared it means the solar is almost non-existent which means the power to the battery isn't going to last very long um so yeah I'm just going to get done what I can and call it call it a day I think right so another thing about our van which I think we've mentioned before is the blinds we've got them everywhere so we've got one there um one down there one at the back of the van um one at the side door there it's open and one at the top so what's that one two three five right we've got sliding blinds and the problem I think they're The Originals yeah so how they've lasted this long I don't know but I highly suspect it's because no one's actually lived in the van until we had it basically certainly the guy who had it before us he just used it for trips away not for actually living in so what's T what's happened over time um the more we've used them the more they've got a little bit torn in places and a little bit stiffer they we found it more and more difficult to put them up um it's especially bad in Winter and after it's rained but to be fair that was always the case from day one cuz obviously you get the condens and it makes the the blinds harder to do up basically but they have got a lot worse one has kind of broke completely and I don't know how we still get it kind of covering the window um and yeah we'd like to replace them but what Steven's done today um we said it a while while ago and we've just tried it was actually spray some WD40 onto the blinds um hoping it'll get into the hinges maybe this is a terrible idea who knows but you know we needed to do something Steven hates these blinds I really like them because they're they're so comp Compact and they they they're obviously built to fit the actual van itself um so they don't take up much room so I'm really reluctant to kind of change them I'd rather get them fixed or replaced in the exact same style if possible I don't know if that's something we can do ourselves or what but well we can't do anything ourselves so we know the answer to that and also when you're living in a very small space your cooker which is in your bedroom and your lounge and everything else gets in a right State really quickly in a house you could just ignore it and go to another room and it was easier to sort out when you did sort it out but here there's no real hiding from it although this drop down cover does actually cover it up so we can technically hide from it and we sometimes do okay so now it's a mad dash because we've just done our exercises we just used the weights we bought I'll show you them later cuz we forgot to film it um but when I was emptying the sink earlier um we were emptying our water tank and it's completely it's started to overflow so the waste tank when it gets full up the water starts coming out the bottom of your van which is now what it's doing it's only dripping but we obviously don't want to be sat here leave and look like we've left a massive puddle you know what I mean it's only sort of dish Water waste but you still don't want to leave it on the ground so we're kind of in a Mad Dash now to get round to the drain and there's a good drainage Point around here um where you can get rid of all that and get rid of it basically right and that's it let's do that then we go mushroom right all right then all right then all right then all right then morning days just going to take you for a Wei and try not to hit that massive giant dog yeah so we sorted everything out we've done what we needed to do actually that's a lie we've not done half the things we needed to do on the agenda today is hopefully to look for some hedgehog mushrooms because they're really easy to identify and we picked them before and cook them up and they're really nice so that's one mushroom you can't really go wrong with so hopefully we can find some of them so yeah yeah that's the plan we're going to go Mushroom in hopefully find some fungus that's edible and doesn't kill us um and maybe find something for dinner even do you think might be nice so if we can find something we can eat um as I say we will only do it if we know 100% for sure that we can um then we can cook it up for lunch or dinner which would be nice so we see at the [Music] woods look at all the bloody stickers on our screen we still haven't taken him [Music] off well so far we're not having much luck are we with this we've been out for half hour we've not seen a single seen anything not a single [Music] [Music] bit [Music] it's not happening is it it's not it's too dry this is not happening it's true dry it should smell damp and rank but it doesn't yeah it should smell it should have that mushroomy smell that you get that Forest mold Le yeah mold that kind of thing um mulchy but it's just there's nothing there I'm I mean we're not experts we don't know what it's meant to smell like or look like and although we looked into this quite a lot last year and got some knowledge it's been a while yeah disappointing Bo but you know we've had a lovely walk and now we've got to head back to the van we've got to go shopping it's getting to that time of year again where we have to get everything done before the darkness Creeps in um we started to notice that especially the last couple of nights didn't we which is probably more obvious because our electrics are out but still you know it's getting to that time again um so we got to get out of this Wood Drive and do some shopping then we've got to find a park up which we always prefer to do when it's light don't we and I'm sure everybody does because it makes sense better get off the road before it start yeah and we don't even know where we're going and we got to try and make din before get start yeah we're going to buy some lights aren we some LED lights we're going to buy some fairy lights or something cuz you know what cuz we're fairies cuz we're fairies yeah I mean let's place it right quick update in case I can't string this video together in a way that makes sense so we for some reason I look really salmon pink on this I don't know why um although I'm always a bit red so we went shopping did all that found a park up before it got dark but now it's starting to get dark and basically because we still haven't sorted our lights out um even though we've got some batteries for some other ones I now need to cook dinner really quickly while I can actually see uh this is living the life guys this is exactly how it is this is the dream of being on the road hopefully we'll sort it out you're right Stevie hi hi right where are we um in a van in a van on a campsite living in a van in battle San why don't you tell us about how we said we was going to just stop filming random things I'm not filming a random thing I had a point to make you threw me off now um I just kind of wanted to say yeah I don't know how we've going to this this might not even come to pass this video um it's load of random stuff as step is quite correct but we had some things in mind and then it just didn't really happen but basically the last few days it's been really difficult like we I've been feeling it I've been feeling how tough this is like living this life and it's really I don't know it's it's not easy and with our lights out other things we've had to deal with just little things that have been bothering me like hitting my head on in the small space and trying to cook and get in the fridge which is like a back breaking exercise in itself um putting the bed up and down and trying to get something losing things all sorts of stuff finding water um today we had a bit of a horrible time because in this area we're kind of like on the Kent Sussex border kind of area it's so difficult to park and there's so many height barriers um so it's really discouraging when when you're doing this um and I don't know I've just had a few things where I've kind of like missed some of the home Comforts and you know what that's okay we've never said this is forever but also it's normal for those things to come uh to to feel those things I think but yeah it's not a breeze it is not a breeze at all but even now I'm still thinking oh my God we still haven't sorted our lights so I'm sitting here with the laptop um I'm just trying to edit current video we're doing and I'm aware that I'm going to run out of light soon so that's going to have to stop and we'll just have to hunker down in the dark with our little lamps with our cider which is fun but you know it's not it's not idea we need to sort that out and yeah I I just just been feeling a bit in a bit of a flunk because of everything um because that's what happens doing this sometimes it really does you sometimes you can feel a bit aimless and you feel like you're just we we you know we go to work and stuff like that but sometimes in between if you haven't got a set plan you're kind of just wandering and sometimes that sometimes that can get to you I don't know I don't know what I'm trying to say I suppose I'm just trying to say that this this comes with so many challenges and it can play on your mind sometimes cuz it's not a comfortable life it's not comfortable at all um every day is you know what you think that you've got so much free time doing this but actually your time is taken up so much by all the things you need to do moving each day water rubbish recycling if you're lucky to find recycling anywhere it's a nightmare um washing cleaning etc etc um yeah so sometimes it's just it just gets a bit much and you you miss the home Comforts of an actual house but then we remember why we did it and what we sa what we gave up in order to do this and would we want to go back yet no I don't think we would would we I don't no no you don't and I don't either but you know it's not that I don't want a house I just don't want to have to work 5 days a week to get it no exactly well once we've seen a bit more of the world and had a bit more time then yeah maybe but that won't be for at least a year in my mind I don't know I don't know because actually we still enjoy doing this we still do I'm not moaning or anything um It's just sometimes some days I'm not moaning some days are just really difficult I'm sorry but when you have to go through like let's just spell it out when you have to get rid of your piss and things like that but it's not fun sometimes okay okay it's not fun trying to do that um you got to empty your your water tank as well you can't just do that anywhere some people might be irresponsible and do that but you you can't we don't do that we try and find a proper place to do it but it's difficult um and it's all difficult but the the the good things doigh the bad or at least they're the good things are just they're high enough they there's enough reward there's enough reward that's it to make it still worthwhile to make those bad things okay but sometimes just a little bit difficult to deal with and that's it that's all I have to say I need to stop talking all right bye all right bye so we've woken up on cob Hill campsite is it yeah we said all this last night um and all right I was going to say it's really lovely here and we had a really nice sleep um there's loads of different fields with different pitches so it's actually really like it's a lot bigger than it seems um it's really cute actually Steve's going to do his exercises I'm going to go for a run and today I'm going to feel a bit more positive because I've been feeling thank God for that feeling a bit not so positive at the moment so I probably got last night's dinner around my face but anyway anyway come in go running all right all right be happy yeah all right okay so I've just taken myself for a run this morning um it's it's not that easy around this campsite but we we found a way um and mostly just to try and lift myself from this kind of downwards mood I've been in at the moment um and finding things very difficult and challenging um and it's just been getting to me the last couple of days so going for a run as I've always said is always the perfect cure for up here basically um I do it solely almost entirely for that reason rather than for physical health although obviously that's a good side effect as well and I don't know I I don't want to sound like I've been being ungrateful you know we are I'm really grateful for everything we've got in this van and what we've worked to achieve to make this happen you know we found our own two feet we've we found jobs to sustain this after giving up our old jobs um and it's always been difficult but but sometimes I think the combination of the lights and us not really knowing how to fix it um the electrics our battery pack problems which we've had um which are now resolved hopefully and then the other things so when you get a couple of things that start bothering you the other things that are day-to-day challenges that might not bother you then start bothering you so everything kind of Pils on top of itself so getting water empty in waste water um empty in your toilet waste etc etc it all it all just starts playing on you and even things like finding Park ups and sleeping comfortably and like waking up in the morning without feeling like you've kind of somebody's waiting outside with a pitchfork you know so yeah I'll be fine it'll all be good um we did have some discussions Stephen saying look do you want to give this up I don't want to give it up I really don't um we know it's not forever um but we definitely want to do this for a lot longer um but yeah sometimes we just miss having it's not just me but I do miss having a base um and I miss some of those things that you took for granted before um and I've always said doing this life will make you appreciate all those things that you did take for granted and that's it I'm going to get showered we're going to pack up leave this very lovely campsite uh the sun's out it's a Saturday a new Day always means new ideas new possibilities new way of thinking um that might fall apart in 30 minutes but yeah for now I'm going to leave it there and we'll see you where we wherever we go [Music] next

Channel: Come Along Dear

Views: 23,970

Keywords: campervan, vanlife, vanlifeuk, gayvanlife, gaytravel, gaytravelcouple, lgbtqtravel, vwcampervan, vwcamper

Id: DHVCegjSnXc

Length: 36min 53sec (2213 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 19 2023