My 2019 goals, Vanlife in Scotland

​Since it’s the beginning of a new year, and hopefully a big year for me personally, I thought I’d share my plans and goals for 2019 with you and let you in on what adventures I have been dreaming about and can finally begin to put into action.

Tiny living has always been my dream. Since I was in my twenties it was always the goal that I’d be tiny living by the time I was 40 and that time is now only a couple of years away. Taylor is now 16, nearly finished her Highers and is in the process of deciding what she wants to do with the rest of her life. Luckily she likes (and is really talented in) art and photography so when she comes with me it'll only help her build her portfolio. I'll admit though that tiny living is not Taylor's idea of her dream life. She loves to travel as much as I do but this is her dream....
She is pretty excited to come with me for a while at least. 

Tiny Living

I’ve been looking at lots of options. I’ve visited wigwams, shepherd huts, considered fancy sheds and even an octagonal wooden hut and while these are a brilliant options for me in a few years down the line when I get bored doing what I’m doing, they aren’t right for me now because I want to travel.

So what have I decided on?

I'm buying a van!

​I’m buying a van, ripping out the inside and starting from scratch. I’m installing insulation, heating, electric, water, a wee kitchen, a toilet and as comfy a bed as I can manage. I'm going to live in it full time travelling around Scotland, while writing and taking (hopefully) beautiful photos. I'm also planning to travelling around the rest of the UK and perhaps further afield eventually. 

So what type of van am I buying?

You probably will not be interested in this so i'll keep it short, but just incase this is something you may like to do, even if it's just for trips away at the weekends these are the kind of things I considered when I was making my mind up.

• Size. I know if I'm going to be in the van full time I'm going to have to be able to stand up so I need a high roof. 
• Length. For the same reasons as above I want as much space as possible so I'm looking for a long wheel base.
• Easy to fix. I need a van which is easy to get parts for, though I don't suppose it'll be easy to get parts in the middle of the nowhere, so I need to give myself the best chance. I need parts that are readily available and easy to fit. 

That's about it! So these are the vans I'm looking at -

Citreon Relay

Iveco Daily

Mercedes Sprinter

Peugeot Boxer

Ha...They all look the same🙈

So now for the exciting bit...... What's it going to look like inside?
I've been searching on Pinterest for what feels like forever, I've been watching YouTube, Googling and rifling through Instagram and have finally decided on something similar, or a combination, of these three.

Instagram @thevaneffect

Instagram @brownandbird

Instagram @the_van_diary

So I'm guessing there will be a few questions, the first, of course, being...

Where will you go to the toilet?
I'm planning on buying a composting toilet that'll fit nicely under a bench. Don't worry, it's completely hygienic and environmentally friendly. 

What about a shower?
I'm not 100% sure on this yet. If I'm in campsites I'll use the showers there. I can join a gym and use those and if I get the right van I could possibly fit one in. 

What about Wifi of you are working online?
First of all I'll buy unlimited data. Then I'll visit coffee shops, McDonalds 😬 and I'm looking at mobile Wifi.

And of course, the question I'm already getting all the time...
How the hell are you going to fit all your stuff into a van?
The truth is I'm a minimilist. Yes one of those 🙄. I don't own a lot of junk and don't want to own a lot of junk. It's not something I talk about and I haven't always been. I lived with a hoarder, and Taylor also loves to collect anything and everything and it always stressed me out. You know the saying 'Cluttered home, cluttered mind'? It's so true. When I was working 4-5 days a week I was coming home and spending hours cleaning and tidying, who has time for that? Not me. Did I want to be wasting my time cleaning? No. I still clean, I just don't have a lot of things to clean so it's easy. It also makes me way more productive when it comes to work. So how will I fit all my things in the van? Easily. 

Minimilism

This is another reason why I've always been interested in tiny living. Living in a big house with more rooms to furnish, clean, paint and supply with heating and electricity is not appealing to me at all. It's not a money thing. It's a time thing. I'd much rather be spending time living my life, doing things I enjoy, doing things that make me happy. Someone once said to me something that has stuck with me ever since, it's a bit depressing but it's true

You won't be lying on your death bed saying "I'm so happy I bought that new sofa"
You'll be saying "I'm so happy I got to spend time with people I love and travel the country, seeing new things, exploring, meeting people"

This is getting deep! I don't need things, I want experiences. I could probably count how many things I own and it would be under 30, maybe 50 since I do love books and stationary (I'll need a add a big book shelf). 

Scotland Bucket List

We have been compiling a list of the things we want to experience and it's getting rather large!

• South West Coastal 300 around Dumfries and Galloway
• Another road trip around the North Coast 500, this time taking it slow
• Outer Hebrides, I want to drive from the very south to the very north and celebrate with some Stornaway black pudding
• Aberdeenshire, it's an area I've not really explored and I want to see all those castles!
• Skye, but not in tourist season and not the usual sites, I want to explore the parts not everyone else visits.
• Arran, because it's my favourite island of them all.

I've also got a few places in the south of England I want to visit, so you know where I'll be when winter really kicks in in Scotland.

• Cornwall
• Bournemouth
• Brighton
• All the way along the south coast

What will I be doing while I'm travelling?

I'll be creating a tonne of lovely blogs and taking loads of gorgeous photos from every corner of the country, I'll be visiting all those places I've been wanting to visit but couldn't squeeze in, or I was on a time limit so couldn't properly explore. I'll not have a time limit and I will be able to stay in an area for as long as I want, and leave when I want to leave. 
As well as my usual blogging for this site I'll also be freelance copywriting for other businesses and looking after the social media accounts for those who are too busy looking after their company to worry about posting on Instagram or sending a tweet. 

I'm also working on another couple of side projects that I'll speak about at a later day but, it's brilliant fun and something I've been wanting to do for a while. 

So now I just need to find a van....​