A family-of-four have ditched their house and belongings for a simpler life, selling everything they owned to buy a van and start 2023 with a once in a lifetime adventure. Couple Natasha and Greg Plant wanted to spend more time with their two sons, and what better way than to pack up, get in a motorhome, and travel the world?
The family were fed up of coming home from their 9-5 jobs and seeing life get ahead of them and so took the plunge to sell their family home of six years, taking advantage of the rise in house prices last year, Wales Online reported.
The family began their journey from Merthyr Tydfil on December 30, making their way to France in their motorhome. Natasha, 33, and Greg, 37, set off with sons Regan, 14, and Ronan, seven, and they haven't looked back since.
The family had been enjoying time away in the motorhome for the previous two years and said it was the main catalyst behind their decision to sell up and live life on the road.
Natasha, a qualified primary school teacher, said: "What we noticed when we were away on the weekends, we started realising it was not the house and stuff that made us happy. We were living in such a minimal way in the motorhome we didn’t miss going home to our house."
Prior to the family purchasing their motorhome they had a caravan in Brecon and at one point Saundersfoot, so have always enjoyed their time away from home. Greg said he felt like having a home and a job just left you wanting more and more when they realised life in their motorhome brought them more joy with less stuff.
Greg, who works in the car industry, added: "We realised we wanted to teach the boys there was more to life than that. And we are learning as we go. And it is just about spending more time together. We haven't got a set plan yet, we are just going with the flow. Obviously, with it being cold this time of year we are heading south next towards Spain."
When the boys were told their parents' plans, both of them were really excited, but seven-year-old Ronan did get wobbly feet about the idea as the completion date for the family's house sale neared in December. However, he now loves his life on the road.
The family will start home schooling in line with the January term, benefiting from Natasha's skills as a primary school teacher, but they said their new lifestyle offered far more opportunity for learning. During their time in Paris, they visited the Notre-Dame cathedral which remains closed following a fire.
Natasha said the boys were asking about what happened to the building so when they got back to the van that evening they started to research it. They found a documentary to watch about the cathedral as a family. Natasha added: "They are learning in a totally new way. We want them to learn from their experiences and know that there isn't just one way of doing things."
They are currently enjoying being tourists in Paris with their van parked up on a site. Dad Greg said it had been so special sharing this time with the boys, enjoying a kickaround outside the motorhome after their days out exploring and playing board games in the evening.
They plan to take their motorhome as far south in Europe as they can, hopefully spending time in both Spain, Portugal and Gibraltar. With the restrictions on tourist visas now the UK has left the European Union, the family will have to return within 90 days but are hopeful they will find somewhere they can call home in the future in the meantime.
Greg said: " The money won't last forever but it is enough to get us started to find somewhere we could settle and work less than if we were in the UK. Natasha added: "We are living much simpler. We are not eating as much junk, we are walking and moving more."
The power of social media has helped them along the way with their plans and they have connected with other families from the UK living life on the road. They urged anyone who was thinking of doing it to give it a go. They are sharing their experience of living on the road on Instagram as @travel.van.fam, you can follow them here.
"We are learning as we are going," they said.
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