How We Live - Simple Van Life

We moved out of our house on July 4 – Independence Day – and now live full-time in the van. We had been living in the New Forest, and Cath had been super-stressed; her job wasn’t fun anymore. We’d been doing this van up anyway, and when we worked out how much money we were spending on rent, heating bills and council tax, plus Luna’s nursery, we worked out we were living on a deficit each month. So we decided to move into the van.

We did all the hard graft converting it; we peeled up the floor ply, and underneath it was thick with tar and hair. Cleaning it took me ten litres of white spirit, and I was as high as a kite! We did all the preliminary work and got someone to help us put in cabinets and so on. It was tough work with a two-year-old; I’d be hammering the floor, and she’d be hammering the windscreen!

NO STRAIGHT LINES
The design was inspired by nature; branches and woodlands. We love being outside, and we wanted that to be represented in our van. I didn’t want any straight lines! We wanted it to be beautiful as well as functional. It was going to be our home. It’s not like a lot of converted vans, where they’ll get a pack put in.

We took inspiration from other people’s vans. I’m sure I spent too much time on Instagram looking at other people’s conversions and deciding what I loved and what I didn’t. Cath wanted to create the design on the computer, but I’d get a pencil and paper, and rub things out, make cardboard boxes and move them around. I’m much more old-school!

GETTING CREATIVE
Luna’s bunk bed is above our bed. There’s very little space there, and we designed it so her bed goes over our heads. Diehard van builders told us it was ridiculous, but that’s how we like it. We can turn the front seats round and put a table up. If we’re somewhere that we have time for that we can all eat together or Luna has somewhere to draw. If not, she has space between the back seats. We’ve put down rugs and cushions for her. I’m a big believer in the Montessori approach of books and toys being accessible, and we even keep boxes of toys and books under the bed and do a rotation! That’s how we chose to parent, and I want to make sure we never limit what she can do.

We’re both freelance outdoor instructors, and work mostly in the summer. We spend time in Wales, in Cirencester and Liverpool, and did a • trip down the coast of Wales. We went to Edinburgh to see my family. Last year, we were doing IVF and using a clinic in Bath, so we couldn’t do a trip up to the Orkney islands or Europe!

In the winter it’s colder and wetter and not as much fun, if I’m honest. Suddenly the van seems smaller; in the summer we can have a mat outside and open the doors. Luna takes her toys out and she’s happy. So we’ve spent some time in Cath’s aunty’s caravan in the Lake District to give us a little more space. I like to be realistic about our life; sometimes I have to empty a bucket of poop, or we can’t shower because we haven’t filled the tank with water.

SHAPING OUR HEARTS
It’s important for us that Luna values new experiences over stuff. We want to give her an amazing experience and shape her. People always say she won’t remember this, but we say we’re shaping her heart. I watched her jumping across stones in the Lake District; she knows how to move her body, she’s so strong, she knows how to walk across a river. And she’s learned that just from being exposed to different things.

We found out Cath was pregnant in October, early in the morning, a few days after Luna’s birthday. Cath did the test. We expected it to be negative, but we looked and saw that little blue line! And I was like, “Can you see it too!?” That was an amazing feeling. At times during her pregnancy she’s felt cold, but the van feels like home. We stay somewhere for a couple of days, then we get back in, and I can see Cath relax and go, “Oh, that’s lovely. Home.”

Cath’s needs might change over the next few months. So we’re not really fixed on anything. We might need to rent a house, or be static in the van. And that’s OK. We’re not fixated on living a life of adventure, and she won’t be disappointed if she doesn’t give birth at the peak of a mountain!

However, at the moment long-term we’re thinking of getting a bigger van, a big old beautiful Mercedes Vario and converting it. There are always things you’d do differently; something you might move ten centimetres to the left! Tilly isn’t a bad design, it’s just she’s becoming not the right design for us. So after Cath gives birth, we might start that.”

Follow Jenna and Cath on Instagram @slowlywilding