Vanlife

So, I live in a van. My life has been interesting and varied. I’ve seen a lot, sometimes by choice but often not-so. Just when you think something is going the way you thought it would things can very suddenly change. All too often that’s happened to me and this, with other life experiences thrown into the mix, has led me to arrive at the conclusion that life is short. Memento Mori - remember, you will die. That’s not a bad motto to live by and although it’s certainly high up on the list, it’s not top. Up in pole position on my list is this: -

Either find a way or make one.

I had this tattooed on my left arm some years ago and have lived by it ever since. It’s an interesting ethos in that it implies that force must be used when in fact it must not. If something is worth having or doing we must find a way to do so peacefully and without imposition or inconvenience caused to others. For this reason it’s fitting that number two on my list is Þetta Reddast (thetta reddest). It’s Icelandic and although it doesn’t directly have a sensible translation it basically means that everything is going to work out OK. Whatever happens, everything will be fine in the end. Let’s go backwards.

In 1999, at 14 years old, I was gifted my first camera. It was a Nikon F40. It didn’t have a screen on the back, and you had to load it with film and wait to find out whether the settings were correct when the lab sent the photos back to you in the mail. It was a strange time in comparison but I’m glad I learnt that way because it put far more emphasis on calculating exposure from aperture and shutter speed, along with the fixed ISO of the film roll, with no immediate feedback and a distinct lack of the ‘instant gratification’ we experience in our daily lives.

The patience and education taught were on a whole different level. I slowly learned about photography and I enjoyed it, but that’s where it stayed for quite some time. Meanwhile I was going through some standard ‘coming of age’ stuff - school exams, youth organisations, sports, girls, cars, the usual stuff. Once I was spat out of the back end of this it was time to crack on with life, and that’s precisely what I did.

I dabbled in various industries, starting with sports and moving into the bar industry. Flair bar tending, being a chef, getting sacked from and estate agents (called Foxtons, because I refused to lie and therefore didn’t sell any properties), and eventually meeting someone and getting married, thinking it was going to be forever. I moved my entire self to South Africa and lived there for 8 months before being forced to come back to the UK due to lack of work. When I got back I began a career which spanned 14 years, during which time these undesirable life experiences happened. The marriage continued but only for a short time because unfortunately she couldn’t be away from family as it was having a huge negative impact on her mental health, so she had to move back home to South Africa and the marriage was over.

I’d still been playing with my camera throughout, but it’s at this point that I really, properly picked it up. I was in absolute awe of the creations of the photographers I’d seen in National Geographic and made every effort to learn how to do what they do. Little did I know that one day they’d be buying images from me. Learning ‘how to camera’ became important, but equally so was the thirst for travel that hit me in the face. I’d been on family holidays, but exploring South Africa gave me the travel bug and I had to satisfy it. I learned how to find cheap flights and trendy destinations before Skyscanner and Instagram were a big thing and I began to roam, starting with city trips in Europe.

The pace picked up, as did my tenacity. I soon went from never having driven in a foreign country to racking up thousands of miles in ice and snow, over mountains and through tunnels, whilst totally immersed in foreign languages and cultures. On top of all that, I was on the opposite side of the road!

I absolutely fell in love with seeing new places and using my camera to show them the way I see them. Another little mantra was cropping up: - lend me your eyes and I’ll show you what I see. I established my presence on social media as a photographer and gained traction with my blog, which slowly but surely grew to the point that I was writing for others, which grew further to a point where I personally was becoming subject of interviews and podcasts.

Skip forwards over all that growth and I’m now at a point that I’ve been weighing up for years. The career needed to step aside to let the passion become the new career. It took about a quarter of a million air miles and 90 trips to 48 countries on 6 continents, but I finally felt ready. That point was April this year.

For a long time I’d been interested in the idea of converting a van specifically for my needs as a travel photographer and following the turmoil of the past 18 months, with Covid causing the cancellation of 6 of my planned trips and a life like I’d never known in terms of a society on the brink of collapse and life turned completely upside down and backwards, I made a choice. On that note, quickly, it may have been toilet paper and hand sanitiser on the surface, but underneath it was a whole lot more.

Anyway, the choice was to take a leap and just do it. Memento Mori was back at the forefront of the motto situation. I took £5,000 of my hard earned cash and made that my budget for a van to base my build on. I scoured the internet endlessly for weeks trying to find the perfect van, taking all their characteristics and weaknesses into consideration. It took a while and some hard work but I found an ex-Network Rail crew van, which I knew must have been looked after with regular maintenance and had likely not carried a lot of weight. Here’s how it looked at the start: -

A white crew van, very plain looking, and a perfect blank canvas

Three up front and four in the back, and a dividing wall separating the stowage compartment

The van had minimal rust, lots of miles but no engine issues, and it was ready for me to convert into my home. This van will serve as a moving base from which I can explore, write and shoot. It’s been nearly five months since I picked it up on Valentine’s Day 2021 and considering I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing, it’s come together quite nicely!

The exterior is complete aside from the graphics, but that’s a story for another day (including a name reveal!)

The interior is shaping up and isn’t far from being complete. I cannot wait to hit the road this winter, but for now it’s all about bedding in and doing test runs to make sure al my plans come together to make practical sense - there’s a good chance I’ve forgotten something important so I need to check things out in the real world!

All those things that made ‘Memento Mori’ such a prominent phrase were soon overturned by ‘Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam’ - either find a way or make one. My goal is to build a life that I don’t need to take a vacation from. If we wait until we’re ready we’ll be waiting for the rest of our lives. At the end of my life I guarantee I won’t be thinking about the times I played it safe. The last thing I want is to look back and realise that I wasted years of my life because I was too afraid to step out of my comfort zone. Memento Mori. This is my life. It’s complicated only by over analysis. Life is simple and life is short. Live every day like it’s your last, and ‘once in a lifetime’ as often as you can.

This is absolutely not what would be described as “conventional”, but I don’t care. I have goals. Goals aren’t something to keep in our head, goals are dreams we convert to plans and take action to fulfil. Dreams don’t work unless we do. Making a big decision in life is scary, but you know what’s even scarier? Regret. The secret is not to focus our energy on changing the past but to focus on building the new. And here’s the big secret - the meaning of life. It’s a question that’s been on the minds of the deepest thinkers for thousands of years, but I have the answer right here. The meaning of life is to give your life meaning.

Thank you for indulging me in my peculiar explanation of why I’m doing what I’m doing and why I live in a van, for now at least.

Coming up will be a full tour, as well as detailed expenses and a breakdown of exactly what I’ve got going on in here.

For now I bid you adeiu and I’ll be back soon with more vanlife adventures, life stories, and travel photography wisdom.

Much love

Dave