A 9 to 5 job? Couple travels the world in renovated van while working remotely

By Samuel Wightwick via SWNS

A young couple spent nearly £10K ($12,588) renovating a van so they could work remotely whilst travelling the world.

Meera Bhardwaj-Patel, 25, and Will Brown, 24, graduated university in 2021 and 2022 respectively, but neither were interested in a traditional 9-5 job.

Instead, they decided to gather all of their savings to buy a van, which they would renovate and then use to travel around Europe.

The couple spent just over a year renovating the Mercedes Sprinter and set off on their travels in August.

So far they have managed to visit 10 countries whilst working remotely - Will works part-time as an electrical engineer and Meera volunteers as a mental health support worker.

Meera, from Bristol, always wanted to do a van conversion since becoming addicted to watching videos on YouTube.

She said: "We were both keen to go travelling after university but the idea to convert a van was mine.

"During lockdown I would literally sit with my flatmate every evening and binge watch YouTube videos of van conversions.

"I loved the idea of living an alternative lifestyle that allowed me to pursue my career goals while also giving me the ability to see the world at the same time.

"I even showed Will van conversion videos and joking about converting one on our first date. He must have thought I was crazy!"

Meera and Will bought a van for £7k and turned it into a fully functional home on wheels.

They added a whole new off-grid electrical system, a shower, lots of storage space and a solar panel to generate electricity.

Meera said: "We had no construction skills and limited money and lots went wrong along the way.

"The conversion itself was a tough but rewarding experience.

"Now that we’re finished, we can live cheaply and travel wherever we like and have made some amazing memories so far.

"We have a van which we can rent or sell in the future to get a head start on whatever we choose to do next."

The money they have both saved from previous work, plus Will's current income is enough to sustain the couple on their travels.

They have your everyday expenses like food and toiletries, but the thing that eats up the most of their funds is fuel.

Meera explained: "In the winter we do tend to have to stop at campsites about once a week to recharge our batteries which costs a fair bit.

"In summer this isn’t the case as our solar panel draws enough energy for us to work and live quite comfortably."

The couple have managed to visit places like Norway, Sweden, Amsterdam and Germany, and would love to ship the van over to places like Canada and Morocco in the future.

They are now heading to Spain, to hopefully catch some sunnier weather.

As if renovating a van to live in wasn't challenging enough, Meera and Will also decided to adopt a cat to take along on their travels.

They adopted Lola, which they lead and bag trained in order for her to be able to be kept as safe as possible.

Meera said: "We had been looking into adopting a cat for a while - even before starting the van - we both love cats and loved the idea of having a little companion to take on our travels.

"We knew it would be quite hard work but we were both prepared to spend the time training her and making sure that she was safe and happy in the van.

"She’s allowed to roam freely in most places and she has a tracker on her collar just in case.

"We got her a pet travel certificate to get her over to France and then from there we could register her with the local vet to get her European passport.

"She's technically a French cat now.

Their life sounds idyllic but Meera acknowledges that there are definitely some negatives to "van life."

She said: "Like with everything there are definitely negatives.

"While there are some amazing highs, it can feel quite draining moving around constantly and not really having a permanent "safe space."

"Sometimes, we spend hours driving around in the dark trying to find an appropriate place to park.

"We’ve also had things like the back door not closing due to the cold and our headlamps constantly needing replacing, which are generally small things but can get quite exhausting when they all happen at once!

"That being said, we love our tiny home and, for us, the positives far outweigh any negatives."