The life we have chosen

Ivan and Jane have chosen to give up their home and their jobs and travel Europe full time in their motorhome Daphne. Over 12 weeks on the road and this blog reviews the journey so far.

Jane and Ivan at the Alvor estuary, Portugal

We love living a nomadic lifestyle and having new places to explore. Camping and the outdoors has always been part of our lives together and we enjoy nature so we are revelling in this new lifestyle and soaking it up with energy and enthusiasm. It’s been wonderful to have so many supporters to help us on our way with words of friendship and encouragement. As we encroach on this new lifestyle we realise it’s not the norm. Most people our age are saving for their pensions, enjoying holidays and working hard. We have chosen this life on the road and have no regrets.

Jane and Daphne

We left the UK in January and spent two weeks heading south to warmer climates. We endured heavy rain, wind and snow and eventually made it to Portugal where the sun always shines (well almost)! Our method of travel is to Coddiwomple, or in other words, head towards a yet unknown destination.  Our first time in Portugal and we were determined to spend our time getting to know it, try and learn the language, understand the culture and see as much as we could.

 Keeping warm en route to Portugal

We soon learnt to slow down, listen and learn. We realised that in order to really see and hear we had to “be” in Portugal. Be ourselves, take our time and enjoy it. Time and money more often than not go together and in some ways this was the same for us. Rent from our UK house gives us an allowance each month and in order for it to last we need to travel less and spend more time in places. Saving money on fuel means we get to know places really well. We spend time exploring areas in much more depth than originally intended. This has become our way of life. We get up early and see the sun rise if we want to, we see as many sunsets as we can. We will never take this life for granted, we are always grateful.

We are so pleased we brought our cycles along

Last nights sunset 💖

We enjoy fresh air, exercise and a wholesome vegetarian diet. We have both lost weight and feel more healthy in mind, body and soul. Our relationship has got better and better and we love spending time together, sharing the adventure: the journey. We talk a lot, we share dreams and ideas. We encourage and support each other. We are conscious of our environment and are careful with water. We use solar whenever possible to recharge Daphne’s batteries and try to leave no trace wherever we camp. Our environmental footprint has significantly decreased. In this climate this feels right and good.

 Ivan at Olhao fresh food market

Locally sourced fresh food (and cake!)

Thank you to everyone following for your friendship and support. It means a lot to us both. After 75 days exploring the beautiful country of Portugal we are now in southern Spain and looking forward to a new country to explore.  We realise life in a small home on wheels is not everyone’s thing. We have chosen this lifestyle. We feel life is not only for breathing, it’s also to experience the things that take your breath away. We recommend it. Life is good 😄.