A couple has explained how a holiday with a dying friend soon turned into buying an old minibus and living off-grid in rural Portugal. After their pal Sarah Townsend died of cancer, plumber Badger Scott, wife beautician Kayla and their three children decided to use their old banger to head to Europe, the Mirror reports.
The Oxfordshire couple went on a journey that saw them travel across 10 European countries until they reached a clearing in some woodland near a river in Portugal, and decided to settle there and live a life off grid. The family are self-sufficient, using solar energy and water from three springs, while also growing their own food.
They are all still living in their converted minibus while they construct a roundhouse and wooden barn on the site.
“As soon as we came here, we knew it was right,” says Kayla, 34. “We’re surrounded by trees and grassy terraces and we can see right across the valley where there is the most beautiful river. It feels so fresh and energising. It’s like we have our own slice of paradise.”
Badger, 35, adds: “The goal is to live a slow, simple, off-grid life. Our experience has been life-changing.” The couple were teenage sweethearts who grew up near Oxford and shared a sense of adventure.
Kayla says: “As soon as we were 18 we went to Australia and lived there for a year. Then I fell pregnant and wanted to come home.”
Their home back in Oxfordshire was a three-bedroom rented house, but they were spending £3,000 a month on recent and bills, which left them on the breadline. Their friend Sarah, 37, soon fell ill with bowel cancer.
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So Badger and Kayla bought the £5,000 bus previously used to transport OAPs on days out, so they could take her, partner Nick and their two children on camping holidays. Kayla says: “We bought the bus while Sarah was poorly.
"When she died in October 2020, it pushed us to go and do the things we kept saying we wanted to do. She was a big part in that decision to go out there and make memories.”
Badger adds: “We were saving for a house, but when we lost Sarah we wanted to make something positive out of what happened – to do the things we wanted.”
So they invested 14 months of time and £16,000 of savings converting the banger into a home on wheels –complete with a wood burner, kitchen, four beds and an outdoor shower and compost toilet. And four days before Christmas 2021, the couple and Wilfred, 10, Betsy, seven, and Trixie, four, set off for Spain.
Kayla says: “It was absolute chaos. We sold everything we owned – our car and sofas – to add to our fund and just kept some trinkets and memories.
“We were all so excited but it was so scary. We’d been in a lovely house in Oxfordshire then suddenly we were on a beach in southern Spain with no plan. Then, we found ourselves in the south of Spain on Christmas Day.
“Luckily, Santa had been very prepared and there is a chimney on the wood burner for him to come down, so the kids got all their presents.”
In the first three months, they travelled from Spain to France, Portugal, Italy and Slovenia. They spent another three months travelling to Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and Bosnia, followed by another three going to Italy, back to Spain and on to Portugal - home schooling their children along the way.
They then returned to England last August for three weeks to renew their visas before heading to Portugal in September with plans to find a place to settle. Not only has life away from the UK been vastly more exciting, it has also been far cheaper, according to Kayla, who says they have spent just €200 to €400 (£180 to £350) a week on food and petrol, while Badger generates an income by doing online admin for his old firm.
“It’s definitely taken some adjusting, with working out how to cook with three children climbing everywhere, but it’s been so exciting,” says Kayla. “Homeschooling was great because we just followed the English curriculum. Some days the kids would learn on the road and sightsee, or do homework on the beach.”
The family went wild camping along the coast, combined with occasional campsite stays. “We had lots of campfires and we were always paddleboarding,” says Kayla.
“The kids were always trying new experiences and swimming and snorkelling in the sea. They have all gained so much confidence while travelling and have a good understanding of different cultures and people.”
And some of their experiences have been beyond their wildest dreams. “One of my favourite memories was going to the hot springs in Albania,” says Kayla. “They were so beautiful and the water was bath temperature.
“You could see the snow-capped mountains in the distance and people wild-camping everywhere with their children. It was the most incredible experience.”
The family have even adopted pets along the way – an abandoned cat they found in Croatia and a labrador pup in Portugal.
But travelling has not been without its challenges – like the bus overheating on a steep hill in Italy and various close calls being spotted using the compost toilet and shower outdoors! Now they’re ready to put roots down for a while, stumbling across a woodland not far from Porto at the end of September.
They bought five acres of land for €50,000 (£45,000) with the savings they had left.
Now the children are at local schools and they are still all living in the minibus while Badger builds a roundhouse, with a living area and bedrooms, and wooden barn on the site. An old stone house nearby is a future project.
Badger says: “Roundhouses are really efficient buildings where the air circulates and keeps warm. Kayla has started a polytunnel and a massive vegetable patch to grow everything, and the children have all been helping. We are building the dream from the ground up."
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