I left my dream life to build a van

In this episode, Laura leaves Cape Town behind and heads back to the Lake District to continue renovating the van she’s been building on and off for the past year!! What started as a dream to leave London and travel Europe in a self-built camper slowly became something else entirely. Between work, travel, money, and unexpectedly building a new life in South Africa, the van kept getting left behind. Back in the Lakes, Laura teams up again with James — engineer, furniture maker, and all-round van build expert — to make more progress on the conversion and learning the skills she once found completely overwhelming. But this episode isn’t just about building a van, it’s about conflicting dreams, living offline and the journey of perusing your passions ❤️ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Switch to Musicbed and start your 14-day free trial here: https://fm.pxf.io/laura-freetrial --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Socials James' website - https://digitalwoodoo.co.uk/ James' instagram - https://www.instagram.com/digitalwoodoo/ My instagram - https://www.instagram.com/lauradoessports/ My Strava - https://strava.app.link/LauraKirkpatrick Links LAURA for Coros Dura Cycling Computer & Watches - https://coros.avln.me/c/cWvbzPOgQBBo LAURA30 for 30 days free bike insurance with LAKA - https://laka.co/gb LAURA20 for 20% of Strava Premium - www.strava.com Chapters 0:00 Living the dream 0:59 Leaving South Africa 1:40 Buying a van 2:44 Stripping the van 3:20 Recruiting some help 3:57 We could've died 5:18 Windows and fan 7:05 It's cold now 8:12 Reasons for delay 8:45 Cutting the bed 10:00 Does the bike fit? 10:23 Big fat functional bed structure 11:45 Sanding & painting, painting & sanding 13:32 The longest hessian segment ever 16:36 Build a place to sh*g 17:35 Reflections on social media 19:44 Caused some chaos 22:39 First mini van adventure #vanbuild #adventure