Van Life

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love to travel. Any chance I get, I'm usually booking the next cheap flight out of here. I love the immense feeling of freedom I get when spontaneously deciding to go on an adventure. Roaming around in the wild with no responsibilities, meeting new people, learning about new cultures, completely immersing myself in all that life has to offer and seeing as much of this beautiful earth as I possibly can. This summer I packed my little bag and headed off on what turned out to be a 3 month trip. It was a pretty intense one for me to say the least. I travelled my way through a bit of an emotional rollercoaster of ups, downs, crazy and euphoric moments, and of course, I learnt plenty of from it !  

"If we were meant to stay in one place we would have roots instead on feet" ~ Rachel Wolchin

There is honestly nothing quite like the freedom of a road trip. To be able to play your music out loud, drive to wherever takes your fancy and stop whenever you discover a place you like the look of. To be able to stay and sleep there, in your little home on wheels is the most amazing part of it all ! To wake up by the ocean, skate, surf, cook and when your ready, pack up and head off to the next location - It's the best! Although it's not for everyone, there are some parts which make it a little more difficult for some, (showering, no electricity, living in a small vicinity as another person/persons, keeping it tidy, keeping food fresh, parking fines, ect...). I think the main off put for most people would usually be the hygiene side of things. Unless we checked into a camping site, we would go a fair amount of time without having a proper shower or washing our hair, although we spent a lot of time in the sea so hopefully we didn't smell too bad - Its all part of the fun !

So I lived in the van for about 6 weeks, we travelled around Spain and France and I loved every single moment of van life, so much so that now I would happily live and travel in one for the foreseeable future. I then flew down towards the south of Spain, to go visit some family and friends (for those of you who don't know, I grew up partly in England and partly Spain). I ended up unexpectedly catching up with some old friends whom I hadn't seen since I was a kid, which led onto the next adventure. - Another road trip !

This time was not in a van with a bed, it was squished in the two front  seats of a car - completely spontaneous -
just how I like it! It was an amazing experience although slightly uncomfortable, but the thrill of the adventure made it all worth while! We made it our mission do to as much as humanly possible throughout the day and stay up late until our eyes literally couldn't stay open any longer, to completely tire ourselves out, so that by the time we got into the front seats of the car to sleep we were so exhausted that we didn't notice how unbelievably uncomfortable it was - surprisingly it worked pretty well!

    Photography by Lewis Beards.
As much as I enjoy spending time alone, a highlight of every trip would have to be the people I've meet along the way. The people with whom I've shared laughs, tears and stories, a few cold beers, some guitar playing and sing alongs, late night swims underneath the stars and conversations about the philosophies of life. For me, this is what life is about - these are the moments where I stop and smile, to just appreciate being so present and alive. Ive had the pleasure of meeting some extraordinary people, with whom I've shared some truly beautiful moments with - that I will carry with me in my memories for as long as I live. A big lesson I've learnt this year is that I truly believe people come into your life as Teachers in disguise. All people you meet and have the chance to get to know,  have something to teach you. This is what my summer consisted of, a long string of lessons from the people I spent my time with, some were happy, some were sad, not one of them were the same but they were all so real and meaningful. So, Thank you - to all the impactful people I've my met in my life and on my travels, you've helped me grow much wiser.