The bus has been redesigned, repeatedly. I even started work on putting that redesign into action too. A rarity for me to actually start a plan that I’ve spent months agonising over the tiniest details to try and make it perfect. But it’s cool! Way better use of space, I even made my lights work via Alexa too. Now I’ve disappeared down a rabbit hole of how to make bus automation a good way of helping to cure myself of anxiety and depression.

It sounds silly, but honestly, to wake up in the morning and have hot water ready to go so I can just jump in the shower? Game changing. Life changing. An alarm clock that turns my lights on and plays my favourite Spotify playlist? I’ve wanted that for years and never figured out a way to do it until now.

It makes life easier. It takes those hurdles that feel way too tall to jump and gives me a spring board before them. I’ve only got the lights & Spotify playlist working at the moment, but I’m so fucking excited about having hot water & an air heater that come on 40mins before my alarm clock goes off. I would literally be able to climb out of bed, straight into a shower and have a coffee ready to go by the time I get out the shower.

I know, I know. If I lived in a normal house then I’d be able to have that every day. But a normal house makes me so unbelievably sad. I love the freedom of being on the road. I love the adventure even when I’m finding it hard. I’d rather find it hard out on the road than hard in a house.

Anyway. I feel like I should do a full on life-update, but there’s absolutely no-one subscribed to this blog so maybe thats not necessary. Or maybe it is, just for posterity.

In a nutshell:

• blew up my adventure 4x4 on Xmas day, spent the rest of the holidays in Wales with a hire car. Definitely fun, but I miss the 4x4. Don’t expect I’ll have her back and working until early next year.

• Started refitting the bus

• Continued with therapy

• Not had a good start to the year with work, but it’ll pick up (I hope).

• Took the bus abroad! Had a two week excursion down to Austria for work. Hilarious, nerve-wracking, enlightening. I am way less anxious about taking this thing distances.

• Emptied all my worldly possessions into a shed. I own WAY too much stuff.

• Started building my dream bus. She’s fucking lovely.

I think thats about it really. Have some photos. But first…

So I’m at the campsite next to the Railway that I wanted to go to. Had a funny day leading up to this moment though -

1. Needed cash. Left my wallet at a friends down south. Hmmmm. Spar does cash back. Find a Spar on google maps that I can actually possibly park somewhere near. Go to Spar. Park. Walk 10mins to it. Can’t get cash back on Apple Pay. Balls. Okay.

2. Call the campsite. They have space for me! And hard-standing! Sweet! Read a review on Google on it after speaking to them… It doesn’t look great. Sounds like it’s a farm thats now an industrial estate with a batty landlady. But I’m self-contained, have my own shower, toilet…. As long as they’ve got a hookup so I can charge batteries, a bin so I can have a proper tidy-out and get rid of some stuff, 4G so I can mindlessly watch some YouTube, Water so I can fill the tank, and a waste water dump spot so I can empty the grey waste tank…. That’s really all I need! Plus it gives me somewhere to park so I can go over to the railway and watch the fireworks. Maybe even get the drone up. Could even take some photographs. Surely the campsite can’t be bad enough to put me off all those plus-points? And let’s face it, I’d rather be on an farm-yard industrial site with permission to use electric & bins than be on a pristine campsite with a load of snobby people judging the bus.

3. Right. Let’s head to the campsite. Chuck the route into google maps, avoid the Sheffield low emission zone. Start driving. 10 mins in, hit a roundabout where every exit is into the low emission zone. Balls mk2. Back out I go. I’m not paying £50 to enter it. Just on principle. 40mins later, reach the shopping mall!

4. Right, so I wonder if I go and try to open a bank account with someone I’ve never been with, they’ll let me transfer money to it and withdraw it without having any ID or a bank card yet. Go ask a very nice lady at RBS. That’s a no then. Balls mk3.

5. Five guys time. Rethink this through. If I can’t get cash out to pay for a campsite tonight then I’m going to have to switch my batteries off (otherwise they’re going to get damaged) and head straight back to my friends place to get some electricity and my bank cards. That’s 5 hrs away. Eurgh.

6. Nationwide. I have a bank account with them that they refused to close. Maybe that will be a good option? Go into the branch in the shopping mall. Lovely bloke explains that absolutely yes, thats something that any other branch would be able to help with, but that particular branch is the only one in the entire UK that doesn’t have a manned desk. Just machines and the ability to open new accounts. Balls. MK4. Nearest branch is Rotherham, and he says they’ll have no issues handing me cash as long as I can pass the security questions!

7. I’m headed to Rotherham! Park up at the tescos. Wander over to the branch. Have a chat with a nice bloke who laughs his arse off at the day I’ve had so far, hands me £100 in cash and wishes me a better end to my day than I’ve had so far! Booyah!

8. TO QUORN! Jump onto the M1, it’s absolutely hammering it down. Don’t care, I’m on my way to electricity and a batty landlady. What more could I want?!

9. Arrive at the campsite, meet the batty landlady. She’s lovely, calls me charming a few times, we have a very very funny chat. She’s 90. Doesn’t look it, thats for sure. That would explain the batty part then. And I find out towards the end of our interactions that the “don’t mention the Germans” review on google wasn’t a reference to Faulty Towers…

10. Plug in to the hookup, chuck the water heater on, get through the last weeks worth of washing up, drink half a bottle of wine (I’m sure I’ll be whinging about that tomorrow), watch a bunch of YouTube of some big overloading rigs…

11. Write this Substack post whilst watching more YouTube… Think tomorrow I’m going to redesign the bus. Again. It could be so much more functional & interesting…

Night.

So, I made a plan last night. It’s due to rain all day today and by about 8/9pm I’m going to be totally out of power (if I have a shower this morning, which I want to). So I need a campsite. I know of a perfectly situated site that’s opposite a steam railway that has a big bonfire event on Friday night - so that’s going to be where I aim for. Stay for 2 nights, maybe three so I get to ride on trains on the Saturday then make my way back down south on Sunday morning. I’ve been in the Peak District the past few days, I feel like I’ve wasted being it really, haven’t done a single walk, haven’t done any photography. Did fly my drone but didn’t capture anything worth having really. C’est la vie. There will be other times. If anything it’s given me a few days of reminding myself that A) I really don’t like drinking, it’s so bad for me. And B) The van is huge, but I can squeeze it down most of the unlikely spots I come across. I would like to install a reversing camera though, that would definitely help with spinning it round in tight spaces.

I’m not really sure why I’m still in bed writing this. Well. It is still miserable outside, really quite dark and moody. And cold. I haven’t put the heater on yet, it’s probably about 9-10 degree’s in the van. But I’m incredibly warm under the duvet and I don’t want to get up! Maybe I’ll put the hot water on to heat and the diesel heater on to heat the van up, have a shower and then see what I’m feeling like from there.

Off & away I guess!

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