And So, It Begins

So I've been living in my van - a self-converted home on wheels - pretty much full time for a few weeks now. In the year or so that I spent building the van and making it functionally habitable for life on the road, I did what many self-builder and aspiring van-travellers do; watched a tonne of envy-envoking YouTube videos and Blogs.

Now, while these can be very informative and inspirational, I do feel - with the benefit of a little recent experience under my belt - that many of the blogs and channels can be horrendously overly-romanticised, in true social-media fashion, glorifying the lifestyle and focusing only on the picturesque backdrops and filtered photos of beachfront views from open doors, empty winding roads as far as the eye can see, and an accompaniment of "uplifting" hashtags and quotes.

Something I feel is lacking however, certainly understated at least, are blogs and channels which give a realistic, gritty, unpolished, raw outlook at this lifestyle - the trials and tribulations, the compromises, hardships, rainy days and blood, sweat and tears. The sense of freedom certainly isn't without it's fair share of work.

So I thought I'd start my own. There are others out there of course - I follow many of them - but I wanted my own input on that, to share my own experiences. For a couple of reasons; firstly for myself as a form of diary - as mentioned I am very new to this, being less than 2 months in. I'm not a seasoned van-dweller, and I'm learning and adapting to this lifestyle every day, and I'm sure I'll look back on these days in the months to come with a little smirk at how green I was - and I'd like to immortalise my inexperience for future prosperity and self deprecation. Secondly, as a means of keeping my family, friends, people I meet, and interested parties updated on how I unconventionally live and deal with lifes day-to-day tasks. And lastly, for anyone else researching for their own impending journey - if others can learn only one thing from my mistakes, and it can save them from making them themselves, they can thank me later!

So before I jump into the behind-the-scenes view of This #VanLife Thing, I should probably intro myself. I'm Dan, a sub-40 year old beardy Yorkshireman with all the characteristics of a mountain goat, and my ljittle ginger compadré is Sanchez, a 3 year old rescue Podenco from Spain.

I'll be back in a few days to kick-start this with a tour of my van, but for now you can grab a sneak peak over at my Instgram at instagram.com/thisvanlifething

Si thi!

Dan