Things I won't ever take for granted in a house again
Plus exploring underrated Brittany + my 2022 book recs
MUSING
Living in a van is an absolute faff. Unless you’re in a luxury motorhome of which the experience resembles more static home in foreign country exploiting warmer climates — these motorhomes tend to park up for months in a campsite with amenities in close proximity — most of your utilities are capped, limited and require constant monitoring.
For my non van readers, this is a little insight to life on the road and the admin that comes with it, and for my van dwellers, I’m envisioning some #relate nods of agreement and amusement!
Some things that I won’t ever be taking for granted again:
WATER
We have two tanks in the van: one 50L and one 25L. The 50L is our main drinking water tank, the 25L one we call the ‘questionable’ water tank — we use this one for washing dishes and hosing anything down with (wetsuits more than our bodies mainly. Our outdoor shower set up is only appropriate when we’re really out in the sticks). Looking out for your water tank levels truly is a practice of mindful consumption. It does take some retraining of the brain to learn how to use water sparingly… I realised it had kicked in when we were cooking in the van with a friend who was visiting, who naturally didn’t have the same water anxiety having come from a home with an abundant water supply.
Then there’s the case of filling up the tanks. This is one of the main drivers behind when we decide to stay at campsites, and one of the reasons why contrary to popular belief, travelling in a van does require a fair bit of planning and organisation. In order to stay off grid anywhere, you need to have enough water to not have the constant back of your mind worry of ‘when we’re going to run out’ and ‘when we’re going to fill up’ eating into what should be pure enjoyment time of being off grid. Oh the irony of relying ON civilisation to avoid civilisation!
Other water-related things that add to the faff:
Not being sure if the water is drinking water or not and wondering whether to risk it or not asking someone else if they think it’s drinking water and even if they say yes wondering if they’ve got a more resilient stomach than you therefore deciding to play safe and not fill up anddddd lo and behold we’re back to square one.
Hose to tap connector tetris: I wouldn’t have thought about this (in fact I hadn’t thought about any of this – a really annoying thing I’ve learnt about myself is how stereotypically female and reliant I am on Jon/male brains in general – I know this is me also stereotyping males too but how is it that I just never cared/didn’t know about these things?!) I digress. We carry a fair few of different adaptors and connectors to make sure our hose can stick into various taps we find along the way.
HAVING A CONSTANT GAS SUPPLY
In a house you pop into the kitchen, turn your hob knobs on and Bob’s your uncle, dinner is cooking… you might have a gas service from time to time, but otherwise it’s not something you really think about, right? Our set up is pretty straightforward: we have a butane gas bottle that sits in a gas locker, connected to our two hob stove. The faff here is that your cooking flow could be interrupted at any time, as you can’t necessarily tell when your gas bottle is on the verge of running out. God forbid it runs out during the morning coffee kettle boil (yet to happen!) The seamlessness of an easy lifestyle is also impacted by having to turn the bottle on and off for safety reasons very time we move.
DRAINAGE
Apart from dealing with an occasional blocked sink, greywater is another thing that I didn’t know had an actual name, nor did I care to know where it goes/what happens to it. We didn’t get round to installing an underslung grey water tank, so whenever we wash up/brush teeth etc we need to line up a container underneath the van which fills up with a nice concoction of dish washing gunk, tooth paste spit and all that, which we store until we can get rid of it. Some people don’t care and ‘dump’ direct from van to floor which we’ll do occasionally if it’s just water/or if it will dry quickly. Call us prude and British but we don’t think it’s a good image when you have pools of liquid spreading out from under your van in a public place – some people already have formed opinions on ‘vanlifers’ so ya know, it doesn’t hurt to try be respectful.
FLUSHING TOILETS
The biggest faff of all time. Having to monitor how full your wee container is quite frankly the most annoying thing ever. By ‘container’ I mean a 6L bottle that sits in a pretty standard looking composting toilet (we went with Simploo for any van converters out there). Having to screw and unscrew the container lid every time you move is also annoying. As is forgetting to unscrew the lid of the container… and going for a wee anyway… this has happened more than once, and cleaning that up is funny the first time and no longer fun after that. Another inconvenience is when your container is full and A) you need to wee and B) there’s nowhere to get rid of 6L of wee easily. Being a man is a lot easier in such a circumstance.
TRAVEL
Brittany, France, is a place I had associated with people saying they had visited on family holidays as a child, or as a holiday destination for retirees who like history. I am neither child nor retiree, but I’m here to tell you that this region, home of the great Breton striped shirt, is a MUST visit… particularly if you come from the south of the UK (like us), the ferry route from Poole > Cherbourg makes it an easy road trip destination.
We spent the majority of our time in Brittany in the departments (I think this is the French version of a county) of Côtes-d'Armor and Finistére. Finistére derives from the Latin finis terrae meaning ‘end of the earth’ and the further west you go, the more it felt like it, especially as we arrived during shoulder season. Wild, rugged beauty, hidden beaches and coves and oh so quaint teeny shuttered villages dot the countryside. With the turquoise colour of the sea there were times where we felt like we could be in Croatia, with added pine trees.
TOP RECS
CANCALE: This coastal village is actually in the Ille-et-Vilaine department and is worth a visit for its oysters (saving more info on this for another post all about this humble shellfish!)
DINAN: A charming medieval-walled towns with traditional half-timbered houses still standing (albeit very concaved). This is cute cobbled street Edinburgh/Hogwarts-but-France territory. If you’re in a van, there’s a large, free (when we were there!) car park right next to the viaduct which was perfect for walking in on foot.
CROZON: Urgh, the Crozon peninsula was just stunning. It’s where we both really felt the bright eyed and bushy tailed-ness to do with the adventure we had just embarked on. The area has many moods: windswept cliffs and jagged headlands where you’re battling the wind contrasted with heathland and peaceful coves. A section of France’s GR34 long-distance footpath follows the coast of the peninsula and is the best way to appreciate the scenery. We loved:
SURF & BEACH
Plage De Saint Tugen (surf & vans galore – stayed in the car park for a good few days!)
Plage de la baie des Trepasses (surf – vans line the cliff top. Also home to the steepest little port)
HIKES, CLIFFS, VIEWS
Pointe du van
Pointe de Dinan
Pointe du Raz
Cap de la Chèvre (did a lovely 8km circular loop hike here)
Plage de Sainte Anne
Plage de l'île Vierge: voted one of the most beautiful beaches in Europe – for natural protection reasons it’s no longer accessible for a beach day, but the hike above it is worth it.
PROBABLY THE BEST (AND ONLY) PUMP TRACK IN BRITTANY:
Pump track de Plouhinec
PONT AVEN: Delightfully quaint village linked to several generations of painters who came to capture its charm.
QUIBERON: A peninsula connected to mainland France by little more than a bank of sand. It was super quiet when we were there but I’ve been told that in the summer this is where the Parisians come for their dose of the seaside and I can imagine the coastal chic-ness. With kilometres of wild, wild coast this place would be parfait for van life but unfortunately most car parks had height barriers, making it harder to find somewhere to stay overnight.
BUY A BRETON TOP: The ultimate souvenir of Brittany. Unfortunately I had already packed a H&M version and with my forced minimalism and select wardrobe in action, I had to leave the area without.
DRINK CIDRE BRETON ideally in a traditional bolèe (ceramic bowl with handle, basically a mug!) whilst tucking into a Galette Bretonne.
And here’s a Google maps link to save for future planning 🗺️
BOOKS
I feel like if I don’t get my 2022 book round up in before the end of Jan then it’s obsolete and made redundant. 2022 was probably the year where I read the most books since I was a kid (17/15) although I can’t be sure as it’s only in the last three years that I’ve started to set reading challenges and track my books on Goodreads 🤓 Yet another thing my type A personality + Virgo blend has led me to incentivise.
Some of my top reads I’d like to share with fellow bibliophiles:
FICTION:
SORROW AND BLISS, Meg Mason: Oof, cynical, dry and witty but with so much raw emotion. I couldn’t put this down and when I had to, it stayed with me for a while.
LESSONS IN CHEMISTRY, Bonnie Garmus: Unapologetic, inspiring, funny and feminist. I truly fell for the hype around this with no regrets.
THE VANISHING HALF, Brit Bennett: I became a rather boring companion when I was completely absorbed by this one when we were on hols in Cornwall. A tale of identity, family and home through the eyes of twin sisters.
NON FICTION
I’ve always liked the idea of non fiction but my brain has only recently started to allow me to actually enjoy reading it over feeling like I should (although 2 of the 3 here read more like fiction actually)…
CONVERSATIONS ON LOVE, Natasha Lunn: I am a bit obsessed with love in all of its forms and I’d hotly anticipated this for at least a year as I loved Lunn’s CoL newsletters investigating love through tender interviews. Both heartbreaking and heart-overspilling, my book has pretty much every page folded over. This book makes an excellent wedding gift if I do say so myself (I hope the 3 brides I shared it with are in agreement!) Make sure to gift the hardback vesion.
MATING IN CAPTIVITY, Esther Perel: I am OBSESSED with psychotherapist Esther and her work and reflections on human relationships, intimacy, desire and (we go again) love. Everyone needs to consume as much Perel content as poss – she is such a great speaker (and on a lot of podcasts as well as her own). Also reading this book in the tiny van in so close to Jon made me lol every time.
WILD, Cheryl Strayed: WOW, all the feels. What a feat (hiking the Pacific Crest Trail at 22 on your own with no experience or training). I haven’t watched the film and I don’t think I ever will, as this conjured such an image in my head that I don’t want to ruin. No shade to Reese though.
COOL SHIT ALONG THE WAY
Whilst on the subject of books, these public book swap/honesty libraries spotted around France, Spain and Portugal. I just love the community aspect, their own distinct identities and that someone has gone out of their way to make them 🫶
Thanks so much for reading. If you enjoyed my babbling, I’d love if you considered subscribing or sharing with a pal.
Til the next one!
Liv x
Loved this update so much, will forever love the way you write, and how you frame your experiences. Makes me miss you EVEN more, but feel closer to you at the same! Loved your 2022 book round up, as your goodreads no.1 fan. Bring on the next update, cannae wait xxxx
Ahhh. The ole water in the van dilemmas. Also we literally have 4 different gas cooking SYSTEMS because, after 2.5 years on the road, we basically just figured out we’d adapt to what country we’re in and where whatever can is cheapest. It’s stupid. Definitely don’t watch Wild. The book is exactly how that story should be told.