Bex Elliott, 31, and Henry Gayler, 29, had always talked about living in a van but when they fell pregnant with Ronnie, now three, they knew they had to go for it.
The pair didn’t want to retire in 20 years time with “nothing to show for it” so bought a van for £11k and spent £15k renovating it.
They have now been on the road for 11 months – travelling around Europe – and believe they save around £800-a-month and £9.6k a year on rent and bills.
They say their son Ronnie is thriving living in nature and he decides his bed times and what he wants to learn.
Bex, a former university lecturer, originally from High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, said: “He’s learning without me forcing knowledge.
“When he wants to read and write he will.
“He shouldn’t be in four walls playing with plastic toys.
“We live in a world where everything is deigned is to make you consume everything.
“It’s bright colours – I don’t think it’s been designed for children.”
Bex and Henry had always felt they wanted a different lifestyle.
Bex said: “We always talked about living in a van.
“We didn’t feel like society was accepting of us.
“We didn’t want to have to work full time to then retire in 20 years with nothing to show for it.
“We realised how much society puts these limitations on you.
“You have to get a job, mortgage, get married.
“We wanted an alternative lifestyle.”
When Bex fell pregnant with Ronnie it only spurred the couple on more to achieve their dream.
She said: “If we didn’t do it now we were never going to do it.”
Henry – who works part-time for a consultancy firm – also lost his dad, Paul Gayler, 58, to cancer last year.
Bex said: “A month after he retired he was diagnosed with terminal cancer.
“Four years of his retirement was dealing with cancer.”
The couple bought a van in 2021 for £11k and spent £15k renovating it.
They finally set off in September 2023 and spent the first three months travelling around the UK but said it was “horrific”.
Bex said: “It was just so wet. Everything was expensive.”
The family left for Europe in January 2024 and went skiing in France before travelling around Spain, Morocco, Italy, Albania and now Montenegro.
Now they get to be in nature every single day.
Bex said: “We’re quite free souls.
“My biggest thing is being in nature.
“I have got over-stimulated with society. Life a lot slower.”
Bex has also noticed a difference in Ronnie.
She said: “The biggest turn off in UK nursery is they don’t teach risk.
“He’s now learning in a real environment.
“It’s allowing him to learn about the world in the world.
“He can risk access – he knows what he can and can’t do.
“His physical abilities are off the charts.
“In the UK it’s on if you can read and write – and maths.
“It should be about emotional needs, physical control and communication.
“He talks to absolutely everybody.
“He’s very polite.
“We wake up when we want. He decides when he wants to go to bed.”
Henry works three days a week remotely and then the family get a full four days of quality time.
They’ll often find a spot to go on lots of walks and get outside.
Bex said: “Me and Henry used to be quite hot-headed.
“As parents we’ve got to control our emotions a lot more.
“We’re a lot calmer as people – a lot more rational.”
The couple say they save around £800-a-month on average – as they were spending £1,300 to rent a two bed house with a “tiny” garden in the UK.
Bex said: “I think it is a cheaper lifestyle.
“It fluctuates but we save about £800-a-month.”
The family hope to buy land in a few years time in Portugal and create an eco- community.
Bex said: “There are sacrifices but you don’t get anywhere if you don’t take the plunge.
“Kids are the reason you should be living.
“Everyone is so overworked.
“When I go home I just felt immediately stressed.”