Leaving four walls - Week following 17th October 2014 (Nathanial)

Oh my GOD!!!!!!!! Did I say simple??????? Jesus Christ, in all my life..........that should have been an easier start. 

Over the past 12 months I have been finishing work each evening and working weekends to convert 'The Van', this has been to the detriment of the boys and Beth..............and my mental health. I have been so obsessed in getting this project done so we can go travelling around Europe and escape the rat race that I've blinkered everything else.

Stress is something that I thought didn't really affect me, but leading up to finishing my job and getting two properties ready to rent out, storing our stuff and completing the van, I ended up being ill on three different occasions within my last two months. The last time started with the hangover from my works leaving do, which turned into a chest infection and a mouth full of ulcers that floored me for nearly a fortnight. I was ‘Bob Fleming’ from the Fast Show, it was pretty disgusting.

Even now the van still isn’t finished and we ended up leaving the house with ply wood and 2”x1” and even some celotex in the van to finish bits off whilst still on the move, as well as having a dozen rubbish bags and other stuff which we had to stop at the tip to drop off before we could even get to the first campsite. It hasn’t been the start I’ve been dreaming of for the past year.

The first part of our journey.................................to the tip!!!!!!!!

We are now on our first campsite and although our pitch looks like a pikey family has moved on it, I can feel a sense of calmness slowly come over me and a kind of fuzzy haze leave my head. In between fits of coughing phlegm up (sorry) I have had a few lovely moments of just standing back and watching the boys play (fight). .

I managed to get a few things done to the van but now we have to wait for the log book to be delivered from the DVLA before we can set off. We sent it off to change the van into a motorhome; this is a bit frustrating as we were hoping it would arrive at least a week back.

The logbook finally arrives but Beth has gone and cracked her bloody tooth, now we have to wait for her to have this removed before we can leave!!!! Arghh.

As long as I have my lego, I don't mind where I live

Rooster at Sandford on his laptop, just for a change

We go to another camp site; this is more a field really with what looks like a few full timers on. We got speaking to one friendly chap, Steve, who has been very informative on routes to take and campsites to use over the winter through Europe; he seems well travelled and enjoys a good chat.

A few days on this site and Beth gets a cancellation from the dentist and has the offending tooth removed, thank God. We can now get going once and for all. We just top up with water and get ready to go, as we do, another camper comes over for a chat, a very nice chap who gives us lots of useful tips on how to dispose of the loo cassette contents whilst we are wild camping. An odd conversation to have with a stranger I thought, but never the less, useful info to have. Basically, buy a shovel, and you can guess the rest.

He informs us that he and ‘the missus’ started travelling with the thought of only doing it for a few months and actually lasted for 13 years! I found this very impressive.

We had a nice little chat and then said our farewells but as we were getting in the van he said “have you got your piece of wood?” I couldn’t just leave this comment so asked what I needed ‘a piece of wood’ for; apparently we need a piece of wood to hit any potential muggers with, he advised us not to use a metal bar because “you might kill em”!!! And then he walked off.

Now I don’t mind advice from others with more knowledge than me, but really?