Some very wise advice John and Mandy. I did much the same as you both did, sold up everything, gave my job up and bought a van t travel with my two cats. Putting the glamour aside for one moment a backup plan is so important as I found out, I had a serious road traffic accident in my van and closed the A1 north for a couple of hours on the 8th March! Unbelievably whilst the van was written off I walked away without a scratch and my life intact and my cats probably lost one of their 9 lives but they survived too. But I had lost my home as the van was my home, I did have a plan for such emergencies and never thought I would ever need it. The insurance company paid out, but then Covid lock down happened and I was still homeless as dealers were shut! So I re-evaluated my situation in July, when lock down eased and bought a static caravan in the Yorkshire Dales, spent the summer here (still have my car). Call me crazy but all the above hasn't put me off van life it's made me wiser as the two things which scared me have happened and I still want to live the van life so am now ready to buy another van and restart my journey. Love to Coops. x 😊
Wow, thank goodness you all walked away ok.. it is a different thing altogether to be driving around in your house isn’t it? It does sound like you managed to make something good out of it all in the end 👍🏻 and I’m glad it didn’t scare you away. Thanks for watching, take care 😊❤️
My go to place on a Tuesday morning. Lovely common sense from you both (you get warts and all) with a real sense of enthusiasm and balanced approach. We both appreciate the time you take to make these videos and the information you give. Best wishes from Mal and Dave in Stoke
Many thanks both, perfect timing for us! We met you Mandy at Greg’s fair well last year with the idea of living in a van. We now have built a van and last night was our last nite in our house, tonight will be our first nite in our van or any van! 🙃 Your’s and Greg’s videos have been instrumental and essential in enabling us to do this! So from a newbie, nervous vanlife couple we send you miles of smiles and heartfelt thanks 🙏 😅😀
Oh we remember you guys, we even dragged you to the pub with us 😁❤️ Congratulations on finishing the van and here’s hoping you have a wonderful first night in it tonight
I’m a HGV driver, I’ve been voluntary homeless for about a year and I live in my lorry 5 or 6 days a week and then spend 1 or 2 days at family and friends sofa surfing or stopping in hotels. I really want my own camper van! Your video is really interesting and your perspective on life living in a van is very relatable living in a lorry! Parking, access to amenities, mental health, the places you love to visit and the places you hate to visit. After spending most of my adult life in debt and only just becoming debt free I really do not want a mortgage for a quarter a million pounds for a pokey house. Watching this video has convinced me that van life is the life for me! Thank you for your insight ❤
You guys really did convince me that living in a van was not only possible, but could be exciting. 3 months in I am still happy living in my van, much better than living on the street which was my other option. Not always the best life, but far from the worst. Thanks for the nudge and the help along the way. This is Ian from willow fields btw. Peace and love xXx
Were going fulltime early December, me, Mrs and our 8 yr old daughter. The stress is off the scale at the minute, with trying to sell everything before we leave. We know it's going to be tough in our van, but has to be better than living one day at a time with work and paying rent & bills.
Thanks for brining up the anxiety issue, Mandy. We are extended-time RVers here in the USA and we have quite a few friends who are full-time RVers. The full-timers that we know who tend to move around a lot and really seem to enjoy the lifestyle all seem to have a high tolerance for uncertainty and a willingness to adapt and problem-solve in response to unexpected events. That’s a personality trait, and not one that everyone has. “Know thyself” might be the best advice for where to start when considering this lifestyle.
That’s a very good saying, know your weakness is one I say a lot but then try to overcome it (as I’m a stubborn mule.!) You’re absolutely right though, we know a lot of people who just roll with the punches and enjoy everything whereas there are a lot who are sensitive to all the little things too. Thank for watching Bruce 😁❤️
Great information with a very balanced point of view. What amazed me was you can travel with 3 or more vans and still find parkups. This year in holy island we couldn’t find a place to park without waiting for other vans to leave ! Keep up the good work and enjoy. Richie.
Thanks Richie. We have been really lucky and some parkups have been a close call to fit us all in. I think travelling just outside of season has helped us. 😁👍🏻
Hi John and Mandy only come across your blog a month ago, but now watched about 90% of them. Found them very informative and helpful. Thanks for all the time and effort you both put in.
( bellowing nayber as you park up in the street at 7pm...) *"do you know how council tax I pay!!!!???"* - police called. My 5 years fulltime in a daf truck motorhome gave me some insight into the psyche of the british *NIMBY* and *curtain twitcher* It was from 2008-2013.. Good going guys, your vids have affirmed my good choice by going vanlife, the £ saved enabled me to move to Australia. I wish you both happy trails.
Thank you both, and thank you for being so honest Mandy. My anxiety is off the scale at the moment selling everything and trying to choose a van 🙈. It will be worth it and we can’t wait to join and contribute to the van life community x
❤️ it’s definitely a testing time if you have anxiety, I found I surprised myself a little with the things I didn’t worry about but had a few new surprises too.. hopefully you’ll find a van and be sorted soon 😊👍🏻
Another great video guys. I love your honesty together with some great advice. I rent a one bedroom flat and when the front door is closed all those negative things you mention happen. Fed up with paying almost a £1000 a month out to run the flat. Best I crack on with my minibus conversion 👍
Love you guys! You are obviously such nice people and articulate the advice we needed so well. Invaluable advice answering all our questions an fears about also going full time. Would be great to meet you somewhere random one day!
I have had the van for nearly three years now but just can't jump and sell the house. In my head it was because i am single and assumed I would be lonely but as you say the two of you also have those days together. Great advice given as always. Stay safe
I think that’s why it isn’t for everyone, it’s only been recently that I (Mandy) had the “I want to go home” feeling. There’s nothing wrong with having a house. Thanks for watching Stephen 😁👍🏻
Hi John and Mandy I hope you don't mind this book I'm about to write to you. We get in bed every night in our motorhome and listen to what you've been up to.its amazing how similar we are we find our self's saying oh we've been there. We have done,or do that.we use to go camping in a tent and van and car many times we pumped up the blow up bed in the back of the car and said one day we will have motorhome. We eventually got our Peugeot boxer which was the same layout as your first motorhome. We had our own business and was lucky enough to be able to go away Thursday night till Monday/Tuesday early hours then rush back and go straight to work at 3 in the morning to do our cleaning jobs..By Tuesday night we were saying we will be off again in 2days.life went so fast.but loved it so much we sold the house and business and went travelling full time that was 2007.but before we went off to Europe. in the Motorhome.we went on a 3 weeks holiday to America. Like you we hire and car and went hotel hopping from Orlando to miami.to the keys.then to Atlanta, Alabama, Mississippi, New Orleans Louisiana Texas Arizona New Mexico Nevada las Vegas. We were thinking of leaving the hire car in Las vegas.and fly back to Florida. As that is where the flight was to go back to uk.But it would of cost 3600 dollars.we decided against that .. We drove back stopped everywhere and went to laughlin (Little Vegas) like I said done similar things. amazing time. Each state we went to we sang songs like this is the way to Amarillo great fun motels were cheap and brilliant.some not so good. We got back to Orlando and decided we were not going back so went to every state up to New York it was the best thing ever.3 weeks turned into 3 months.we spent our First Christmas away from family swimming on the beach and our Christmas dinner was beef sandwich and a sneakers bar (marathon) while drove along.. We did come back to UK and then in the motorhome went to France Andora, Spain portugal.then back into Spain,France Italy Croatia. Bosnia Montenegro Albania Greece Turkey Bulgaria
Hi John & Mandy, My better half and I decided after living in the same house for over 27 of our 41 years together that we would quit the rat race and go travelling. We put the house on the market and I started to look at RUclips for some ideas and inspiration. I quickly came upon one of your videos and we both became hooked on your story. Our house is now sold subject to contract; we are emptying all our wardrobes, drawers, the loft etc and are ready to go. We will take early retirement and intend to travel Firstly around the UK and then into Europe, hopefully when travel restrictions are finally lifted. Your videos have helped to confirm that we are making the right choice for us, although it’s fair to say that we will be doing some things a little differently to yourselves. Watching you has inspired us greatly, and if we ever get the chance to meet you in person I will be only too pleased to thank you to your face. Keep up the good work, you’re the best thing on the tele. 👍😀
Oooh that sounds exciting..! Not long to go now then I bet. Glad you like the videos and that they have inspired you to start your adventure. Good luck with it all 😁👍🏻 thank you ❤️
Well balanced views of the pros and cons of full timing. Often think about the expensive view houses and whether you could possibly get bored of that same view every day. Another great video.
Being 'out' so often has given us the opportunity to have some AMAZING experiences that are impossible to have living in a house and only escaping for the odd weekend and holiday, they don't happen very often but you wouldn't catch them sat on a sofa watching TV, or spending most of your spare time maintaining a house. Regarding expectations: there's a bit difference jumping into vanlife after discovering it on Instagram, RUclips, etc than organically discovering it from first camping, then getting a small campervan because it's more comfortable, then a bigger camper, then staying out longer and longer because it's so much fun. Great video :)
Going FT in a month. Got notification that mhome is ready to pick up then. Excited, panicking, roaring to go, anxious all at the same time. Great advice again 👍💙❤️
Informative and honest, well played guys, I’ve said before it’s not for me (full time) maybe later in life I’ll do 6 months etc but I’ll always feel the need to have a base to go back to, a small 1 bed bungalow or something with 1 off road parking space will do, great video 6 weeks and counting until we get the new van and we can get out again!
Exciting about the new van.. those weeks will fly by..! We can see the positives of having a small base too but couldn’t financially stretch at the time. Who knows what the future might bring 😁👍🏻❤️
John & Mandy on Tour it’s been a long 6 months without a van but we sold the moho privately during lockdown and got way more than the dealer px on the new one, we have just started a RUclips channel as a diary and for a bit of fun as well.
As an avid campervaner and not ownig a house possibly looking to live a life in a larger van in the future . I found this very informative . Giving a balanced view to the pros and cons to living this way . 👍
Another great VanChat Tuesday. We bought our Bailey 2017 75-4 in June because of you guy's watching you, Bob and Jenny, Dan and Mazzy among others did it for us. Me and my wife have already done the NC500 spending a month in Scotland also Wales spending three weeks there. We have said buying the van was the best thing we ever did apart from getting married and having children, we just love it hopefully going into Europe soon. Take care both x
We live in a house and have pretty much no clue who our neighbours are but having lived the biker lifestyle since the start of the 80's and having our community of like minded people we can totally see where you are coming from. Bit difficult to live full time on a bike, but I am sure there must be people out there doing it. BTW what tyres are you running? Not full time obviously but wanting to use our van all year round but struggling to find 112 rated AT's
We’ve done a few videos about the tyres but the full details are on our website www.gjot.uk/motorhome if you want to look 😁 I (Mandy) have it on good authority that we have 115 rated AT’s
It really brought it home abt neighbours. We have lived here since 1986 and I only know one or two of my neighbours surnames!!! I feel I know more of you guys, who are full-time tourers and narrowboaters than my neighbours but having long since paid off my mortgage, I do feel having a home to return to is comfort and peace of mind.
If we owned our house outright we might have made slightly different decisions with what to do with it so totally get that. It’s such a shame but life gets in the way sometimes doesn’t it? Thanks for watching 😊❤️
We are planning converting a large van to go to full time. We have a lovely converted small van at the moment and have really enjoyed our time in it so far so we know it's for us. I am seeing the pros and cons doing short breaks plus watching you tubers like yourselves but it really appeals to us and where we see our lives going. Really enjoy watching your vids as we learn so much! 😁👍
Great video guys and great insight. It's not for everyone and the important thing to remember also is everyone's situation is different and I think you cover this well. Full time vanlife can be suitable for so many people in different stages in their lives/situations but you need to know and be able to accept the sacrifices you have to make. And yes Wet/muddy dog is a problem in a house so it is amplified in a van!... We've already found it an issue as weekend warriors and we don't even have a water/mud loving dog.
Thanks Jack 😁 that’s a very good point too, everyone will have times where vanlife is the best thing they can do and times when it’s not - I suppose the flexibility of choosing when is a good thing.. I’m off to clean my muddy carpets now 😂👍🏻
Always look forward to van life Tuesday. Haven’t been a follower for long but always look forward to watching your exploits. What is refreshing in today’s society is your honesty in the way you live your life with all the ups and downs warts an all. We haven’t had a campervan all that long but we often wonder if one day we come across you on the road. If we do we will definitely come and say hello. Keep up with the van life Tuesday we always look forward to it stay safe.
Everyone's situation is different. Finances, wishes and wants. One thing is for sure, there is an awareness today that we as individuals are responsible more than ever for the life that we are living. And many believe there has to be an alternative to the life they presently lead. The huge adoption of the RV/Campervan life, be it full or part time shows that many are giving serious thought to opting for a less rigid and financially oppressive way of life. Our freedoms in many ways, be it by taxes, by costs, by laws or other constraints are being taken from us in countless ways. Enjoy your freedom to roam, it can be extremely liberating. We still retain that choice. Good luck.
From what you have said, I think you have so much control of your lives and where you want to be. Not all roses and rainbows, but a bloody good life 👍.
another great video, the appeal for me watching you guys is that your videos are always just real life so keep doing what you do. Been looking at full time van life for some years, not ready to do it yet but know its where i will be when the time is right. i still get away often in mine and take every experience, good or bad, as a lesson learnt.
A balanced view and so honest!! Not often social media gives that but your blog/vlog is great!! Take care. Continue to enjoy!! Look forward to each and every video. Mandy I totally understand your feelings and I could do the same. It is ok not to be ok at times. I find it is ok to worry but try not to dwell too long. Everything works out in the end. My mantra.....’In a month or year would I be worrying about this? Love to you both. Brenda and Desi. XX
We've just begun our 5 yr plan to sell our house, we are fortunately mortgage free, and business and buy a MoHo and head off into the wild blue yonder in 2028 to explore the UK and Europe. Very excited but a lot of life to live with our boys before that.
Very good and certainly apt for us! Thank you very much 🙏 Our house sale is due to complete within the next few weeks and we’re going full time in our self build Citroen Relay 😁 we don’t do things in halves! Hope to meet you guys at some point in the future to buy you a drink 👍 All the best, James and Lucy
Its my wife and my plan to retire in a few years to live full time in our Bailey Motorhome, we can't wait to travel whenever and wherever we want. Thanks for you comments and honesty
J&M oh and Coop, it’s so refreshing to hear you telling Vanlife as it is. Can’t wait for you to be able to go somewhere hot and sunny 😎. Also looking forward to meeting up, eventually, next year. X
Brilliant views and tips for us thinking of going full time. We met up with Myles and Karen (aka The Motoroamers) last month for lunch and picked their brains for 3 hours about it..!! Invaluable information, thanks to you all for sharing. Safe trip up here in God's Country.
Hi I'm 52 with underline health issues stopping me from working but can drive I have a very small pension I can cash in in 3 years and its enough for 1 really fantastic holiday abroad or use money to buy old van use stuff out of the caravan we have and tour around this lovely country if get tired then can sleep in van and yes will take me probly a year to build it but would be worth it just to get out and about and see this world again once got van all done Love your content very honest and espireing sorry about spelling
Wonderful. We’ve only started watching your channel regularly shortly before lockdown, but it feels like we’re already friends!! Tonight was strange in a good way - we cancelled our NC500 trip due last March, due to lockdown. We’ve wondered if we’ll get up there this year at all. So as you were speaking from Ullapool, it felt like the road was calling us back up there. (We’re not full time van types just weekend warriors). Anyway! We love the videos and love van chat Tues. It’s been great to follow your travels from racing back to uk for lockdown right through to today. 👍
Oh that’s cool, thank you for watching 😁 and that is for your comment ❤️glad you’ve found the reason to get your trip underway, the new lockdown changes are affecting things a little up here though so maybe see how things go a little..
Hi guys I enjoy your honesty.we have only been travelling about in Campervan for past year and a half we don’t live in our van but. we enjoy the freedom and prefer to Wildcamp tho have used campsites on occasion.A stop at Peterhead Prison museum cost £10 each is worth a visit and something different to do and worth it especially if raining takes a few hours to go round it and interesting too. Stay safe.
It is so true what you said about not knowing your neighbours in a house. I have lived on a narrowboat for numerous years and we have the same community spirit. I also have a van so hoping to meet yet more lovely interesting people. Possibly you both, who knows 🦆💕
Mandy what you've said about making friends is nice to hear 🙂 I've come back from 8 years living in NZ leaving a lot of friends behind, back to the UK where my old friends all seem so settled down and with covid making it even harder has meant it feels like I'm lacking in the "friends" department. I'm part time van life at the moment, but hoping that can help meet cool new people 😁
We started by chatting to people on you tube and Instagram and found where to find these elusive lovely vanlifers and the rest was wonderful - is wonderful as we’re still meeting new people all the time. I’m sure you’ll find your feet and some new friends in no time at all - where abouts are you based?
@@johnmandy Thanks, great to hear. I'm based in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham at the moment, so Peak District is where I spend a lot of time 🙂 Plus Snowdonia and Lakes too, I'm a trail/mountain runner so always trying to get out into the hills! Definitely need to get into Scotland after seeing the updates from your trip 🙂🏞️
I really enjoyed this vanchat. Like others I am a regular follower and also follow your closest van life friends. You may recall me asking you have you thought about buying some land as a base. From the videos, I can see you have formed a band of Brothers and Sisters. I served in the forces for 30 years and left and retrained as a mental health nurse. You appeared to be in between those professions. Wanting more out of life, not confirming what others believe is every day life. Meeting like minded friends who you met through the same mind set really, who you would totally trust which is why I say you are in between both professions both need absolute trust. Hence I have come back to land a base with trusted friends. It just gives your trusted friends a base to return to. That one thing I would like if I did vanlife share land I could return to if needed with trusted friends.
That’s the main aim in life I think, see as many places as you can with people you trust and enjoy spending time with. I’m sure the land thing will happen one day when we’ve all finished seeing everything we want to see 😁❤️
Very informative, it’s good for folk to know that it isn’t a bed of roses all the time. You can’t discard/get rid of all things/problems by going full time some things stay the same and move with you. 🚐🚐
@@johnmandy no thank you guys cos of you guys i left cornwall i been in london now for 16 weeks to work and get a van and live in cant wait till i get my van thank you and keep these great videos coming
The biggest worry for anybody living in a van is you can break down anywhere and your vehicle could be off the road for a month well garage sorts it the garage won't allow you to live in your van on the premises so you'll have to find somewhere else to live. More worrying is a road accident where your vehicle could be written off you might just be going down to the shops and your whole life stops because your vehicle is written off by some drunk idiot crashing into you. and you can't live in it anymore you're homeless but all your stuff is in the van and it's been towed away. You always need a few 1000 for emergencies wherever you live.
That is definitely one of the biggest worries about the van (after something happening to us or Cooper of course) it definitely does give some peace of mind having some money to help deal with things like that. 👍🏻
That's happened to me -- I've had my engine completely rebuilt in my campervan. It took about a month; 2 weeks longer than expected so I just rented an AirBnb for that time. But as with any vehicle that you own whether you live in it or use it for work and grocery shopping, you always need to figure out how to pay for repairs.
great vid and told honestly... ..I really enjoy your story ...maybe you should write a book ! everyone feels vulnerable whether you have a house or live in a van its how you cope and you seem to be doing a very good job
I love watching you both and seeing how you both live ..as much as I think what a nice life that must be I put my hands up and admit I couldn't do it ..take care and stay safe ..
Hi . We recently spent 3 weeks touring Devon and Cornwall . Many car parks , even free ones , have added further restrictions banning Motorhomes and Campervans parking from 11pm -8am . We were told it was due to the large influx of such vehicles this year . I predict that as more and more people go full time it will lead to many new rules and restrictions being imposed by the powers that be .
Unfortunately I think you’re right, it should be the opposite mind you, think if all the revenue people camping are bringing in to the local economy, most wouldn’t mind paying a couple of quid to stay the night too.. it’s silly really
Nice insight 👌 always enjoy your blogs thank you both. like your friend I was a lorry driver practically living in my lorry when I at to have nights out.but not the little luxurys you both have. Thank you both. Stay safe 👍
I suppose you really have to remember the freedom, I've just got to work stuck in office till 4. Right now I would kill to be in a van and thinking what should I do today, always remember that, because that is priceless
We're in our 60's and going full time in a few weeks. Not really a choice but sold our house to move to the retirement bungalow we bought a few years ago, but because of Covid we can't get our tenant out. Hoping to travel to Spain in the new year as really don't want to winter in the UK. But as that is also up in the air we'll have to go with the flow. 🤷 Our best laid plans are in shreds lol.
John & Mandy on Tour it is our aim to eventually go to Spain/Portugal etc in the winter when we move into our motorhome shortly, but not until we have spent a year enjoying the delights that the uk has to offer. One thing holding us back a little is the health of my 82year old mother. If we were abroad and she took a turn for the worse we would have to isolate for two weeks before we could visit her, and only then if she wasn’t in hospital so we will have to hope that the world gets to grips with this awful virus sooner rather than later.
Some very wise advice John and Mandy. I did much the same as you both did, sold up everything, gave my job up and bought a van t travel with my two cats. Putting the glamour aside for one moment a backup plan is so important as I found out, I had a serious road traffic accident in my van and closed the A1 north for a couple of hours on the 8th March! Unbelievably whilst the van was written off I walked away without a scratch and my life intact and my cats probably lost one of their 9 lives but they survived too. But I had lost my home as the van was my home, I did have a plan for such emergencies and never thought I would ever need it. The insurance company paid out, but then Covid lock down happened and I was still homeless as dealers were shut! So I re-evaluated my situation in July, when lock down eased and bought a static caravan in the Yorkshire Dales, spent the summer here (still have my car). Call me crazy but all the above hasn't put me off van life it's made me wiser as the two things which scared me have happened and I still want to live the van life so am now ready to buy another van and restart my journey. Love to Coops. x 😊
Wow, thank goodness you all walked away ok.. it is a different thing altogether to be driving around in your house isn’t it? It does sound like you managed to make something good out of it all in the end 👍🏻 and I’m glad it didn’t scare you away. Thanks for watching, take care 😊❤️
Wow your stories are incredible 👏
That’s what I like with you guys open and honest thanks for sharing your thoughts
Thank you 😁
My go to place on a Tuesday morning. Lovely common sense from you both (you get warts and all) with a real sense of enthusiasm and balanced approach. We both appreciate the time you take to make these videos and the information you give.
Best wishes from Mal and Dave in Stoke
Thank you very much Mal and Dave ❤️😁
Many thanks both, perfect timing for us! We met you Mandy at Greg’s fair well last year with the idea of living in a van. We now have built a van and last night was our last nite in our house, tonight will be our first nite in our van or any van! 🙃
Your’s and Greg’s videos have been instrumental and essential in enabling us to do this! So from a newbie, nervous vanlife couple we send you miles of smiles and heartfelt thanks 🙏 😅😀
Oh we remember you guys, we even dragged you to the pub with us 😁❤️
Congratulations on finishing the van and here’s hoping you have a wonderful first night in it tonight
I’m a HGV driver, I’ve been voluntary homeless for about a year and I live in my lorry 5 or 6 days a week and then spend 1 or 2 days at family and friends sofa surfing or stopping in hotels.
I really want my own camper van!
Your video is really interesting and your perspective on life living in a van is very relatable living in a lorry! Parking, access to amenities, mental health, the places you love to visit and the places you hate to visit.
After spending most of my adult life in debt and only just becoming debt free I really do not want a mortgage for a quarter a million pounds for a pokey house.
Watching this video has convinced me that van life is the life for me!
Thank you for your insight ❤
You guys really did convince me that living in a van was not only possible, but could be exciting. 3 months in I am still happy living in my van, much better than living on the street which was my other option. Not always the best life, but far from the worst. Thanks for the nudge and the help along the way. This is Ian from willow fields btw. Peace and love xXx
Aww Ian..! I’m so glad you love living in your van, you’ve done so well building it and making it your own. 😁❤️
Were going fulltime early December, me, Mrs and our 8 yr old daughter. The stress is off the scale at the minute, with trying to sell everything before we leave. We know it's going to be tough in our van, but has to be better than living one day at a time with work and paying rent & bills.
I remember that part well.. fingers crossed you manage to sort everything quickly and get out there 😁 best of luck 👍🏻
@@johnmandy Thank you.. safe travels.
@@bluedale6563 all good..
Thanks for brining up the anxiety issue, Mandy. We are extended-time RVers here in the USA and we have quite a few friends who are full-time RVers. The full-timers that we know who tend to move around a lot and really seem to enjoy the lifestyle all seem to have a high tolerance for uncertainty and a willingness to adapt and problem-solve in response to unexpected events. That’s a personality trait, and not one that everyone has. “Know thyself” might be the best advice for where to start when considering this lifestyle.
That’s a very good saying, know your weakness is one I say a lot but then try to overcome it (as I’m a stubborn mule.!) You’re absolutely right though, we know a lot of people who just roll with the punches and enjoy everything whereas there are a lot who are sensitive to all the little things too. Thank for watching Bruce 😁❤️
Great information with a very balanced point of view.
What amazed me was you can travel with 3 or more vans and still find parkups. This year in holy island we couldn’t find a place to park without waiting for other vans to leave !
Keep up the good work and enjoy. Richie.
Thanks Richie. We have been really lucky and some parkups have been a close call to fit us all in. I think travelling just outside of season has helped us. 😁👍🏻
Hi John and Mandy only come across your blog a month ago, but now watched about 90% of them. Found them very informative and helpful. Thanks for all the time and effort you both put in.
That’s brilliant - thank you very much for watching Mark 😊👍🏻
( bellowing nayber as you park up in the street at 7pm...)
*"do you know how council tax I pay!!!!???"*
- police called.
My 5 years fulltime in a daf truck motorhome gave me some insight into the psyche of the british *NIMBY* and *curtain twitcher*
It was from 2008-2013.. Good going guys, your vids have affirmed my good choice by going vanlife, the £ saved enabled me to move to Australia. I wish you both happy trails.
Brilliant advice & well explained guys....stay safe....thanks for sharing
Thanks Ian 😁👍🏻
Thank you both, and thank you for being so honest Mandy. My anxiety is off the scale at the moment selling everything and trying to choose a van 🙈. It will be worth it and we can’t wait to join and contribute to the van life community x
❤️ it’s definitely a testing time if you have anxiety, I found I surprised myself a little with the things I didn’t worry about but had a few new surprises too.. hopefully you’ll find a van and be sorted soon 😊👍🏻
Another great video guys. I love your honesty together with some great advice. I rent a one bedroom flat and when the front door is closed all those negative things you mention happen. Fed up with paying almost a £1000 a month out to run the flat. Best I crack on with my minibus conversion 👍
Good luck with the conversion Den 😊👍🏻❤️
Love you guys! You are obviously such nice people and articulate the advice we needed so well. Invaluable advice answering all our questions an fears about also going full time. Would be great to meet you somewhere random one day!
I have had the van for nearly three years now but just can't jump and sell the house. In my head it was because i am single and assumed I would be lonely but as you say the two of you also have those days together. Great advice given as always. Stay safe
I think that’s why it isn’t for everyone, it’s only been recently that I (Mandy) had the “I want to go home” feeling. There’s nothing wrong with having a house. Thanks for watching Stephen 😁👍🏻
Well done guys . A fantastic honest appraisal . Sincere and from the heart .
Thank you 👍
Thank you 😁👍🏻
Hi John and Mandy I hope you don't mind this book I'm about to write to you.
We get in bed every night in our motorhome and listen to what you've been up to.its amazing how similar we are we find our self's saying oh we've been there. We have done,or do that.we use to go camping in a tent and van and car many times we pumped up the blow up bed in the back of the car and said one day we will have motorhome. We eventually got our Peugeot boxer which was the same layout as your first motorhome. We had our own business and was lucky enough to be able to go away Thursday night till Monday/Tuesday early hours then rush back and go straight to work at 3 in the morning to do our cleaning jobs..By Tuesday night we were saying we will be off again in 2days.life went so fast.but loved it so much we sold the house and business and went travelling full time that was 2007.but before we went off to Europe. in the Motorhome.we went on a 3 weeks holiday to America. Like you we hire and car and went hotel hopping from Orlando to miami.to the keys.then to Atlanta, Alabama, Mississippi,
New Orleans Louisiana Texas Arizona New Mexico Nevada las Vegas. We were thinking of leaving the hire car in Las vegas.and fly back to Florida. As that is where the flight was to go back to uk.But it would of cost 3600 dollars.we decided against that ..
We drove back stopped everywhere and went to laughlin (Little Vegas) like I said done similar things.
amazing time.
Each state we went to we sang songs like this is the way to Amarillo great fun motels were cheap and brilliant.some not so good.
We got back to Orlando and decided we were not going back so went to every state up to New York it was the best thing ever.3 weeks turned into 3 months.we spent our First Christmas away from family swimming on the beach and our Christmas dinner was beef sandwich and a sneakers bar (marathon) while drove along..
We did come back to UK and then in the motorhome went to France Andora, Spain portugal.then back into Spain,France Italy Croatia. Bosnia Montenegro Albania Greece Turkey Bulgaria
Hi John & Mandy,
My better half and I decided after living in the same house for over 27 of our 41 years together that we would quit the rat race and go travelling. We put the house on the market and I started to look at RUclips for some ideas and inspiration. I quickly came upon one of your videos and we both became hooked on your story.
Our house is now sold subject to contract; we are emptying all our wardrobes, drawers, the loft etc and are ready to go. We will take early retirement and intend to travel Firstly around the UK and then into Europe, hopefully when travel restrictions are finally lifted.
Your videos have helped to confirm that we are making the right choice for us, although it’s fair to say that we will be doing some things a little differently to yourselves.
Watching you has inspired us greatly, and if we ever get the chance to meet you in person I will be only too pleased to thank you to your face. Keep up the good work, you’re the best thing on the tele. 👍😀
Oooh that sounds exciting..! Not long to go now then I bet. Glad you like the videos and that they have inspired you to start your adventure. Good luck with it all 😁👍🏻 thank you ❤️
John & Mandy on Tour thank you for taking the time to reply. You are both such genuine people we feel we can relate to you.
Bloody love you two, thanks for making my decision a lot easier ☺️
Well balanced views of the pros and cons of full timing. Often think about the expensive view houses and whether you could possibly get bored of that same view every day. Another great video.
Thank you 😁👍🏻
This is one of your very best videos.
Thank you 😁
Being 'out' so often has given us the opportunity to have some AMAZING experiences that are impossible to have living in a house and only escaping for the odd weekend and holiday, they don't happen very often but you wouldn't catch them sat on a sofa watching TV, or spending most of your spare time maintaining a house. Regarding expectations: there's a bit difference jumping into vanlife after discovering it on Instagram, RUclips, etc than organically discovering it from first camping, then getting a small campervan because it's more comfortable, then a bigger camper, then staying out longer and longer because it's so much fun. Great video :)
That’s a great point, starting small and growing your experience before making the leap is a good way to do it if you can 😁👍🏻
Going FT in a month. Got notification that mhome is ready to pick up then.
Excited, panicking, roaring to go, anxious all at the same time.
Great advice again 👍💙❤️
Ooh that is exciting and scary and all the things. Good luck when you do 🙌🏻
Thank you 😁❤️
Informative and honest, well played guys, I’ve said before it’s not for me (full time) maybe later in life I’ll do 6 months etc but I’ll always feel the need to have a base to go back to, a small 1 bed bungalow or something with 1 off road parking space will do, great video 6 weeks and counting until we get the new van and we can get out again!
Exciting about the new van.. those weeks will fly by..! We can see the positives of having a small base too but couldn’t financially stretch at the time. Who knows what the future might bring 😁👍🏻❤️
John & Mandy on Tour it’s been a long 6 months without a van but we sold the moho privately during lockdown and got way more than the dealer px on the new one, we have just started a RUclips channel as a diary and for a bit of fun as well.
Brilliant video! Loved your in-depth perspective ❤️
As an avid campervaner and not ownig a house possibly looking to live a life in a larger van in the future . I found this very informative . Giving a balanced view to the pros and cons to living this way . 👍
Thanks Ed 😁👍🏻
Another great VanChat Tuesday.
We bought our Bailey 2017 75-4 in June because of you guy's watching you, Bob and Jenny, Dan and Mazzy among others did it for us.
Me and my wife have already done the NC500 spending a month in Scotland also Wales spending three weeks there.
We have said buying the van was the best thing we ever did apart from getting married and having children, we just love it hopefully going into Europe soon.
Take care both x
That’s brilliant, Scotland abs Wales are amazing. I love that there are loads of channels to help you decide if you’re looking at buying 😁👍🏻
As long term weekend warriors about to go full time, I agree with EVERYTHING in this video! Good work!
Thanks Jack 😁👍🏻
We live in a house and have pretty much no clue who our neighbours are but having lived the biker lifestyle since the start of the 80's and having our community of like minded people we can totally see where you are coming from. Bit difficult to live full time on a bike, but I am sure there must be people out there doing it. BTW what tyres are you running? Not full time obviously but wanting to use our van all year round but struggling to find 112 rated AT's
We’ve done a few videos about the tyres but the full details are on our website www.gjot.uk/motorhome if you want to look 😁 I (Mandy) have it on good authority that we have 115 rated AT’s
It really brought it home abt neighbours. We have lived here since 1986 and I only know one or two of my neighbours surnames!!! I feel I know more of you guys, who are full-time tourers and narrowboaters than my neighbours but having long since paid off my mortgage, I do feel having a home to return to is comfort and peace of mind.
If we owned our house outright we might have made slightly different decisions with what to do with it so totally get that. It’s such a shame but life gets in the way sometimes doesn’t it? Thanks for watching 😊❤️
We are planning converting a large van to go to full time. We have a lovely converted small van at the moment and have really enjoyed our time in it so far so we know it's for us. I am seeing the pros and cons doing short breaks plus watching you tubers like yourselves but it really appeals to us and where we see our lives going. Really enjoy watching your vids as we learn so much! 😁👍
Thank you 😊 good luck with the bigger van conversion, exciting times ahead 😁👍🏻
Great video guys and great insight. It's not for everyone and the important thing to remember also is everyone's situation is different and I think you cover this well. Full time vanlife can be suitable for so many people in different stages in their lives/situations but you need to know and be able to accept the sacrifices you have to make. And yes Wet/muddy dog is a problem in a house so it is amplified in a van!... We've already found it an issue as weekend warriors and we don't even have a water/mud loving dog.
Thanks Jack 😁 that’s a very good point too, everyone will have times where vanlife is the best thing they can do and times when it’s not - I suppose the flexibility of choosing when is a good thing.. I’m off to clean my muddy carpets now 😂👍🏻
Always look forward to van life Tuesday. Haven’t been a follower for long but always look forward to watching your exploits. What is refreshing in today’s society is your honesty in the way you live your life with all the ups and downs warts an all. We haven’t had a campervan all that long but we often wonder if one day we come across you on the road. If we do we will definitely come and say hello. Keep up with the van life Tuesday we always look forward to it stay safe.
Thanks Paul, it’ll be lovely if you do 😁❤️
Everyone's situation is different. Finances, wishes and wants. One thing is for sure, there is an awareness today that we as individuals are responsible more than ever for the life that we are living. And many believe there has to be an alternative to the life they presently lead. The huge adoption of the RV/Campervan
life, be it full or part time shows that many are giving serious thought to opting for a less rigid and financially oppressive way of life. Our freedoms in many ways, be it by taxes, by costs, by laws or other constraints are being taken from us in countless ways. Enjoy your freedom to roam, it can be extremely liberating. We still retain that choice. Good luck.
Perfectly said, thank you 😁
It sometimes feels like we were only put on this planet to pay taxes & bills!
From what you have said, I think you have so much control of your lives and where you want to be. Not all roses and rainbows, but a bloody good life 👍.
It is a good life.. thanks Tony 😁❤️
@@johnmandy I do envy you both, but happy for you 😉💕
One of your best videos to date....
Thank you 😊👍🏻
Just watched this, best guidance I’ve seen so far, I have so many questions before making the big decision of going full time next year!
Great video guys, very informative, many thanks...... Keep safe, Jack.
Lots of great advise as usual stay safe guys 👍🚐👍
Thanks Jeff 😁👍🏻
another great video, the appeal for me watching you guys is that your videos are always just real life so keep doing what you do. Been looking at full time van life for some years, not ready to do it yet but know its where i will be when the time is right. i still get away often in mine and take every experience, good or bad, as a lesson learnt.
Thanks Jamie 😁👍🏻
A balanced view and so honest!! Not often social media gives that but your blog/vlog is great!! Take care. Continue to enjoy!! Look forward to each and every video. Mandy I totally understand your feelings and I could do the same. It is ok not to be ok at times. I find it is ok to worry but try not to dwell too long. Everything works out in the end. My mantra.....’In a month or year would I be worrying about this? Love to you both. Brenda and Desi. XX
Thank you, you’re right and I’m getting better at dealing with it. Take care guys ❤️
Another top blog , love your mind set , you look like nice people, keep your brilliant content coming.
Another great video and information sharing of the reality of van life. 4 months and I'll be doing van life full time.
Thank you and good luck 😁👍🏻
Love watching your adventures and glad for your honesty......it is the UK after all and the sun doesn't always shine !
Thank you 😁 you’re absolutely right 👍🏻
We've just begun our 5 yr plan to sell our house, we are fortunately mortgage free, and business and buy a MoHo and head off into the wild blue yonder in 2028 to explore the UK and Europe. Very excited but a lot of life to live with our boys before that.
Great video, i love people to be honest, dont sugar coat everything. well done
Thank you 😁👍🏻
Great blog guys, honest and informative.
Thanks Elaine 😁
Very good and certainly apt for us! Thank you very much 🙏
Our house sale is due to complete within the next few weeks and we’re going full time in our self build Citroen Relay 😁 we don’t do things in halves! Hope to meet you guys at some point in the future to buy you a drink 👍 All the best, James and Lucy
Best of luck with the house sale 😁👍🏻 hope to see you on the road sometime
Thanks for your honesty and the insight into VanLife.
Its my wife and my plan to retire in a few years to live full time in our Bailey Motorhome, we can't wait to travel whenever and wherever we want. Thanks for you comments and honesty
Thanks for watching 😁❤️
John and Mandy good video again 😀
Thanks Mark 😁👍🏻
Very good information. Thanks x.
Thank you 😁
J&M oh and Coop, it’s so refreshing to hear you telling Vanlife as it is. Can’t wait for you to be able to go somewhere hot and sunny 😎. Also looking forward to meeting up, eventually, next year. X
Thanks Dave, we can’t wait to be somewhere hot and sunny too 😁 we have our 🤞🏻 we can get back to meeting up again next year ❤️
Been watching your videos for a long time now. Always brilliant. Keep up the good work guys
Thanks Martin 😁👍🏻
Brilliant views and tips for us thinking of going full time. We met up with Myles and Karen (aka The Motoroamers) last month for lunch and picked their brains for 3 hours about it..!! Invaluable information, thanks to you all for sharing. Safe trip up here in God's Country.
Thank you 😁
Great down to earth couple thanks for the time you put in to making the vlogs 😁
Just got my new van citron relay very much. Looking forward to building this. I’m going full time. Thank you for your advice
Hi I'm 52 with underline health issues stopping me from working but can drive I have a very small pension I can cash in in 3 years and its enough for 1 really fantastic holiday abroad or use money to buy old van use stuff out of the caravan we have and tour around this lovely country if get tired then can sleep in van and yes will take me probly a year to build it but would be worth it just to get out and about and see this world again once got van all done
Love your content very honest and espireing sorry about spelling
Sounds like a good plan John, thanks for watching 😁👍🏻
Wonderful. We’ve only started watching your channel regularly shortly before lockdown, but it feels like we’re already friends!! Tonight was strange in a good way - we cancelled our NC500 trip due last March, due to lockdown. We’ve wondered if we’ll get up there this year at all. So as you were speaking from Ullapool, it felt like the road was calling us back up there. (We’re not full time van types just weekend warriors). Anyway! We love the videos and love van chat Tues. It’s been great to follow your travels from racing back to uk for lockdown right through to today. 👍
Oh that’s cool, thank you for watching 😁 and that is for your comment ❤️glad you’ve found the reason to get your trip underway, the new lockdown changes are affecting things a little up here though so maybe see how things go a little..
Great video thankyou. You are both are lovely and honest. That why I follow you both and take on your opinions and knowledge cheers
So heartfelt, it is so refreshing that you can tell both sides thank you x
Hi guys I enjoy your honesty.we have only been travelling about in Campervan for past year and a half we don’t live in our van but. we enjoy the freedom and prefer to Wildcamp tho have used campsites on occasion.A stop at Peterhead Prison museum cost £10 each is worth a visit and something different to do and worth it especially if raining takes a few hours to go round it and interesting too. Stay safe.
Hi David, thanks for the park up shout 😁👍🏻
great video. i am thinking about getting a van and converting it and maybe even moving into it in the future.
It is so true what you said about not knowing your neighbours in a house. I have lived on a narrowboat for numerous years and we have the same community spirit. I also have a van so hoping to meet yet more lovely interesting people. Possibly you both, who knows 🦆💕
Mandy what you've said about making friends is nice to hear 🙂 I've come back from 8 years living in NZ leaving a lot of friends behind, back to the UK where my old friends all seem so settled down and with covid making it even harder has meant it feels like I'm lacking in the "friends" department. I'm part time van life at the moment, but hoping that can help meet cool new people 😁
We started by chatting to people on you tube and Instagram and found where to find these elusive lovely vanlifers and the rest was wonderful - is wonderful as we’re still meeting new people all the time. I’m sure you’ll find your feet and some new friends in no time at all - where abouts are you based?
@@johnmandy Thanks, great to hear. I'm based in Sutton Coldfield near Birmingham at the moment, so Peak District is where I spend a lot of time 🙂 Plus Snowdonia and Lakes too, I'm a trail/mountain runner so always trying to get out into the hills! Definitely need to get into Scotland after seeing the updates from your trip 🙂🏞️
As usual, very honest, down to earth stuff 👍 thank you 😊
Thank you 😊❤️
You 2 are the bee's knees at vloging so honest and down to earth keep on doing your vlog's
k
Hi John and Mandy great van chat Tuesday been loving the videos keep up the great work looking forward to seeing the next video video keep safe 😷👍🏻
Thanks Mark 😁
I really enjoyed this vanchat. Like others I am a regular follower and also follow your closest van life friends. You may recall me asking you have you thought about buying some land as a base. From the videos, I can see you have formed a band of Brothers and Sisters. I served in the forces for 30 years and left and retrained as a mental health nurse. You appeared to be in between those professions. Wanting more out of life, not confirming what others believe is every day life. Meeting like minded friends who you met through the same mind set really, who you would totally trust which is why I say you are in between both professions both need absolute trust. Hence I have come back to land a base with trusted friends. It just gives your trusted friends a base to return to. That one thing I would like if I did vanlife share land I could return to if needed with trusted friends.
That’s the main aim in life I think, see as many places as you can with people you trust and enjoy spending time with. I’m sure the land thing will happen one day when we’ve all finished seeing everything we want to see 😁❤️
Thanks for your frank and honest outlook. 😊
Very informative, it’s good for folk to know that it isn’t a bed of roses all the time. You can’t discard/get rid of all things/problems by going full time some things stay the same and move with you. 🚐🚐
Thank you, that is certainly the case we’ve found.. 👍🏻
Top video👍
Thanks John 😁
Very informative thank you!
Good advice. Thank you very much!
You’re welcome, thanks for watching 😊👍🏻
very honest and and informative insight ,thanks as allways :)
Thank you 😁
great video john and mandy you guys rock
Thanks David 😁
@@johnmandy no thank you guys cos of you guys i left cornwall i been in london now for 16 weeks to work and get a van and live in cant wait till i get my van thank you and keep these great videos coming
Great video thank for sharing.We live on a narrow boat and also have a camper van and love the life keep safe both 👍
Thanks Garry 😁
The biggest worry for anybody living in a van is you can break down anywhere and your vehicle could be off the road for a month well garage sorts it the garage won't allow you to live in your van on the premises so you'll have to find somewhere else to live. More worrying is a road accident where your vehicle could be written off you might just be going down to the shops and your whole life stops because your vehicle is written off by some drunk idiot crashing into you. and you can't live in it anymore you're homeless but all your stuff is in the van and it's been towed away. You always need a few 1000 for emergencies wherever you live.
Cheerful and positive start to the day.
That is definitely one of the biggest worries about the van (after something happening to us or Cooper of course) it definitely does give some peace of mind having some money to help deal with things like that. 👍🏻
You'll be fine. Do they do cover for things like that where you could get a hire vehicle until yours is ready?
@@Mike99Nine I think so, it’s like for like cover so it should be that simple 👍🏻
That's happened to me -- I've had my engine completely rebuilt in my campervan. It took about a month; 2 weeks longer than expected so I just rented an AirBnb for that time. But as with any vehicle that you own whether you live in it or use it for work and grocery shopping, you always need to figure out how to pay for repairs.
Very good points well made, we all only get one chance, if you have a dream live it 😀
Thank you 😁
Good to hear your honest review on van life!!! Enjoy Scotland!!! 😊😊
Thank you 😁
Absolutely spot-on what you said well put about van life 👌👍👍
Thank you 😁👍🏻
Great Video, great Insight and a realistic valuable piece of knowledge. It's the advice I needed to do this myself shortly. all the best to you two.
This is a grate video what its like to live in a van full time with out the sugar coating be good to each other all the best.
Thanks Mark 😁👍🏻
Great straightforward balanced video well done guys
Thank you 😁
You guys are spectacular!
Good honest van chat enjoyed it 👍
Thank you 😁
Good vlog john & mandy very interesting I'm a weekender but the summer I would love to go for the whole summer
That sounds like you’d get the best of everything if you could. Thanks 😁
great vid and told honestly... ..I really enjoy your story ...maybe you should write a book ! everyone feels vulnerable whether you have a house or live in a van its how you cope and you seem to be doing a very good job
Thanks Colin 😊❤️
I love watching you both and seeing how you both live ..as much as I think what a nice life that must be I put my hands up and admit I couldn't do it ..take care and stay safe ..
Thanks for watching Pat 😁❤️
@@johnmandy ❤❤
Hi . We recently spent 3 weeks touring Devon and Cornwall . Many car parks , even free ones , have added further restrictions banning Motorhomes and Campervans parking from 11pm -8am . We were told it was due to the large influx of such vehicles this year . I predict that as more and more people go full time it will lead to many new rules and restrictions being imposed by the powers that be .
Unfortunately I think you’re right, it should be the opposite mind you, think if all the revenue people camping are bringing in to the local economy, most wouldn’t mind paying a couple of quid to stay the night too.. it’s silly really
Nice insight 👌 always enjoy your blogs thank you both. like your friend I was a lorry driver practically living in my lorry when I at to have nights out.but not the little luxurys you both have. Thank you both. Stay safe 👍
Thanks Brian 😁👍🏻
Great video as always guys.
Thank you 😊
very fair and well balanced video yet again i love common sense
Thank you 😁👍🏻
I suppose you really have to remember the freedom, I've just got to work stuck in office till 4. Right now I would kill to be in a van and thinking what should I do today, always remember that, because that is priceless
That’s a perspective I used to have, always at work wanting to be in the van. It is priceless. Thank you 😁
We're in our 60's and going full time in a few weeks. Not really a choice but sold our house to move to the retirement bungalow we bought a few years ago, but because of Covid we can't get our tenant out. Hoping to travel to Spain in the new year as really don't want to winter in the UK. But as that is also up in the air we'll have to go with the flow. 🤷 Our best laid plans are in shreds lol.
I agree with Len, if you can go to Spain for winter then go.. we will be as soon as we can 😁👍🏻
John & Mandy on Tour it is our aim to eventually go to Spain/Portugal etc in the winter when we move into our motorhome shortly, but not until we have spent a year enjoying the delights that the uk has to offer. One thing holding us back a little is the health of my 82year old mother. If we were abroad and she took a turn for the worse we would have to isolate for two weeks before we could visit her, and only then if she wasn’t in hospital so we will have to hope that the world gets to grips with this awful virus sooner rather than later.
The only thing really stopping us is Nikki's health issues- ultimately I'm aiming to cut hours so we can have more shorter breaks instead.
That sounds like a good plan. We considered that I change hours before giving up my job entirely 😁👍🏻
Morning guys some really interesting points definitely worth taking on board 👍 a great chat thanks for sharing
Thank you 😁
I was parked there last year on my NC500 journey😁 Another very informative video, thank you 👍
Cracking place isn’t it? Thank you 😁
@@johnmandy it was the end of one of my videos, and the start of another.
Absolutely lovely video. Thank you for this🥰