Renting in London is very, very expensive, so one British couple decided to give it the middle finger, pack up their things and hit the road.
Musician Aaron Gold from London and mental health worker, Laura King from Leeds, met at university before moving back to their respective homes.
The 24-year-olds wanted to move in together, but as renting in the capital is too expensive, they had to come up with an alternative.
Deciding that they wanted something that would allow them to enjoy art and travel, they bought a Renault Master 2009 minibus.
The couple paid £4,000 for the vehicle and bought it on the Facebook Market Place in January 2019.
Since then, Aaron and Laura have travelled around Europe in their cosy little mobile home, covering 7,500 miles across the continent.
They spent just £1,300 on renovations, saving bucket loads by simply upcycling materials.
After six months of renovation, Aaron and Laura were able to move in, paying just £100 a week for the upkeep as they travelled.
At the moment, the couple is back in the UK to save money before they get back out on the road, as they’re unable to earn money while they’re on the move.
Though being a bit of a nomad might be the dream for some, travelling and living in such close proximity to each other has proved tricky at times, says the couple.
But Aaron says because they had lived together during their university years, it was hard to move apart.
He said: ‘We had grown a lot together through university so it was hard and frustrating that we had to live so far apart all of a sudden.
‘It could have been worse though, at least we got to video call each other and every two weeks we hopped on a Megabus to spend time together.
‘After two and a half years at our parents, we were obviously really desperate to live together. With the cost of rent being what it is these days a flat was totally out of the question.’
So, the decision to buy a minibus together seemed like the perfect solution.
‘Both of us have a passion for the arts and for travel, we figured the best way for us to live together at present was to buy a van and travel in it together,’ explained Aaron.
‘A van specifically allows us to call anywhere home, from on top of a mountain to the side of a beach.
‘After a year of saving from our jobs, we bought a Renault Master 2009 with thirty-thousand miles on her for £4,000 from Facebook Market Place.’
Aaron and Laura have travelled through Germany, Spain, Austria and Italy, and have enjoyed every place they visited.
‘This lifestyle is incredibly cheap we spend just £100 a week and that covers our fuel, food, washing and any other random things. You’d be lucky if £100 a week even got you a flat in the UK.
‘Because we are around each other all the time we have to make a real effort to have designated alone time.
‘I think because we spend most of our days outside, it doesn’t affect us too much.’
Their families were a bit worried at first, but are also now on board.
‘At first family and friends were a bit unsure of our plans. They thought it was a little wild. But they came around when they saw our lifestyle in action.
‘They could see all the places we’ve been to and that eased their doubts.
‘There are three misconceptions about van life. Number one, van life is not very difficult; we converted the entire van with no previous experience.
‘Number two, van life is safe as we both struggle with anxiety and have never had any problems with security.
‘Number three, van life doesn’t have to be gross, you can always find showers at gyms, public pools or even on the road.’
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source https://metro.co.uk/2020/01/22/couple-live-in-minibus-and-travel-europe-spending-just-100-a-week-12100003/
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