Field notes · United Kingdom · 51.38°N-ish
A box on wheels,
and no reason to stop.
Notes from the cab. The van is not freedom — it’s a smaller room you carry with you, and it teaches you how little room you need.
Read the first dispatch01 / About this journal
Meet the
reluctant bit.
I’m a UK-based traveller, Scout volunteer and habitual question-asker. I travel by van, but this is not a manual for perfect vanlife.
It is a record of places, people, practical problems and the things I still don’t understand—written from wherever I happened to stop.
More about me and the journal →02 / Dispatches — stories from the road
No. 009
Wouldham, Kent · 26 October 2026No Update, Except All the UpdatesThree quiet weeks, an unwanted visit from Covid, and the discovery that Nomad has changed rather more than I realised.Read dispatch No. 009 →Earlier dispatch · No. 008A Place Not to RushStourhead, Wiltshire →
Start here · The first dispatchThe Voltage of FreedomI bought the van because I was told it would make me free. It made me a mechanic.Read from the beginning →
03 / Thoughts from the Cab
Small questions.
No tidy answers.
Brief observations that do not yet require a full dispatch.
Perhaps you have to live through the soundtrack before you can understand what it meant.
Read the thought →04 / Current journey
Cheddar
Gorge.
The destination and dates are decided. The stopping place and condition of the kitchen are less certain.
Follow from the beginning
29 Oct–1 Nov 2026 · Three nights
05 / Follow the journey
The road continues
elsewhere.
Shorter notes, moving pictures and the bits that happen between dispatches.
06 / Keep the wheels turning
Useful kit.
Honest support.
If these notes have been useful, there are two ways to help: see the equipment that genuinely earns its place in the van, or put a little fuel in the next journey.
07 / Keep travelling
The journey continues
whether you pack or not.
Dispatches arrive irregularly, from places I didn’t intend to stay.
No schedule. No spam. No inspirational quotes over sunsets.
Your address has been added to the passenger list.