Week two began with finding out that the underneath of our mattress was damp, so we had to prop the mattress up for the day so it could dry out. This is far from ideal when the space you live in is only about 5 metres by 2 metres and you’ve just lost half of that as now the bed isn’t accessible for the day, but we managed. I got the kids out for the morning, and then Jon went out for a bit in the afternoon which left less of us needing space. We fixed the damp, and realised that plywood might not have been the best option for the bed, maybe we should of gone for slats.
Towards the end of the day, after the bed had aired out, we took a drive up to Silverdale shore and parked up to make pancakes. All I could see out of the front window was this gorgeous pink sky, and we made a run for it. It was worth it.
The whole shore was covered in snow, it felt like we were in the Arctic or somewhere. And the sun set was stunning. That night I realised I had chilblains, so the next morning the essential oils came out and I made an oil for massaging into my feet. Almond oil carrier with lavender and black pepper oils. It worked a treat, and it was gone within 2 days.
We took a stroll down the canal and had a gander at the boats. At the minute, we are using the showers along the canal. We weren’t able to fit a shower into our van as we needed crew seats for the kids, so there wasn’t room for a shower. Our first plan was to use the gym (we hang about our home town a lot) but with lockdown they are currently closed, so back up plan it is. They’re not the best showers but it’s hot water so it’ll do. It’s pretty obvious we aren’t the high maintenance type, living in a van and all, so crappy showers don’t fase us. When the weather starts warming up we are planning to have a shower that we can attach to the back doors with a curtain across for outdoor showering.
We got new curtains for the back door this week and I love them. We’ve tried a few different things in an attempt to dress the back door area and we couldn’t find anything that we like, but these curtains from dunelm are perfect. Its the small things!
Monday has become washing day. Halle‘s enjoying getting involved with the daily tasks of van life. We used the washing machine and dryer at Morrisons again this week, it cost £12 to do a big wash and dry it all (last week it only cost £8 as we had less washing). It may sound a lot, when you could do it for less at home, but it would cost us £1000 a month to have a house to put our own washing machine in so it’s a small price to pay in comparison.
I’m struggling to find France‘s a decent pair of thermal gloves and socks, her hands and feet are always so cold. Being in the van we spend a lot of time outdoors. We spent a lot of time in nature anyway but now we have to go outside to find space, if the energy is getting too much in the van, or if the kids are climbing the walls, its shoes on and everyone out of the door. I really need to find her a good pair of gloves and socks/shoes, if anyone has any recommendations please let me know.
This week we were lucky enough to get a couple of hours off from the kids and it was heavenly. We are really enjoying van life with two small kids, we have always spent all our time with the kids anyway (even in the house they wanted to sit on top of us constantly), but there really is nowhere at all to escape to in the van so to get a break was great. We took Boe out for a walk in the forest, meditated and actually got to have a conversation without being interrupted. It was nice!
The second half of the week was pretty bad weather. It rained none stop. And as we all know it’s not the easiest trying to entertain two kids in the rain, when everything is closed up. Being in a van doesn’t really help the situation but i must say our kids have adapted well. We spent lots of time colouring, learning to read and playing on the iPad (which I actually hate but Jon says I need to relax about it because it’s not all bad and our kids spend so much time outside, so I’m trying to be balanced, which I don’t find easy).
This table has really come in handy. We originally planned for a pull out table built under the main bed but we just didn’t put it in. So on our first outings in the van we soon realised we needed some table solution before the cushions got ruined by the kids eating and colouring on them. We ordered this fold down table and it’s great. It folds down into two parts that fit perfectly next to the crew seats. Week two had a few struggles but we’re finding this mindful way of living so refreshing. While it’s unpredictable and pretty inconvenient, when you compare it to life in a house, it really does pull you right back into the moment.
This week was topped off with a first luxury shower at a family members house and I must say it felt nice. Living in a van definitely makes you appreciate the conveniences and luxuries we can sometimes take for granted when they are there all the time, like showers, a proper toilet, a washing machine, hot water. But for me they are worthy sacrifices to make for the simple life.
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