Story 30 | Mobile Homeowner

Jamie (@thevanwithnoplan)

Jamie is a 26 year old from Leeds, England who chose to live out of his van to escape his career path and monotonous life. 

His adventure to a reformed life started just after he finished university, where he was renting a house and working a job he dreamed of for many years. "Everything was pretty perfect on paper, but the reality that it could easily be my life for the next 40 years was terrifying." The more Jamie thought about it, the more he felt trapped until one day - he stumbled on YouTube videos of people traveling and living in vans. He felt a reformed path was more doable option and something worth pursuing.

To kick off his pursuit, Jamie began searching for options for a home on wheels - tall enough for him to stand in, cheap to buy and cheap to run. After some research he narrowed it down a LDV Convoy, which he found through an ad on Facebook and took a gamble on. From there he built it out and hasn't looked back since. 

He originally started traveling through England, Wales and Scotland as a warm up, but was offered a great job for a year so he delayed any extensive travel. His urge to "escape" and do a massive trip somewhat dissipated but he is happy with the life he is living - exploring the British isles. If he gets bored then he will move on and continue his Europe road trip. 

Jamie feels a new sense of lightness from his minimal footprint of possessions and loves the freedom to go where-ever he wants. He recognizes he has learned so much about himself in the last couple of years living but also  has learned a lot about the world & society as a whole. He feels that more people would be happier if they re-thought how much they needed, and then adjusted their work load to fit that. He values his freedom and happiness over pretty much everything else, so he has prioritized his life that way. 

For more on Jamie and his travels follow him on instagram @thevanwithoutaplan