Hi, we are Nigel and Nicola and in January 2023 we sold our flat in Portrush, Northern Ireland, and moved full time into our VW Transporter Campervan. Since then we have visited over 20 different countries, had one or two break-downs, a few tears, and of course some incredible memories.

In 2026 we hope to spend quite a bit of time in the mountains. As well as our YouTube channel, we also like to write about our experiences to perhaps both inspire others, and also give a more realistic view of two 50-somethings travelling full time in their campervan. Thanks for following along.

Is it possible to travel yourself happy? Let’s find out !

This trip was way back in 2018, before we ended up going full time in the van. Words from Nicola with images from Nigel.

Having survived a bitterly cold month in Scotland in February, followed by a 2-month heatwave in the South of England in the summer, we decided that the perfect time to take the van away for our next trip would be Autumn. Often filled with milder days, and lovely clear nights, it sounded like a great way to spend 3 months and so we planned a tour of the western isles of Scotland, plus a short stint on the mainland.

Having taken the ferry from Dublin to Holyhead we spent a long weekend at the Bird Fair at Rutland Water before we headed up to Scotland, stopping off for a few days in the Peak District and then meeting friends in the Yorkshire Dales. I had set myself a target this year of spotting 100 different bird species in the UK and at this point was at 92. Our friends topped this up by taking us to see a Barn Owl and Little Owl, leaving me just six more to get by the end of the year.

Before starting our tour of the Hebrides, we spent a couple of days on the mainland, which comprised a visit to Caerlaverock Castle at Glen Capple and the National Trust for Scotland Threave Estate, where you can find an Osprey hide. These are both well worth a visit.

The outside walls of Caerlaverock Castle are still largely intact and its location on the edge of a forest, set within beautiful grounds and surrounded by a moat, offers an insight into what life might have been like as part of a medieval stronghold. Threave Estate also boasts a castle, this one dating back to the 14^th century, and in addition includes numerous woodland walks, bird hides and wetlands. Whilst we were there we were lucky enough to spot an Osprey making its annual pilgrimage to Africa, not the local ones - they had left a few days previously - but a neighbouring bird whose flight path happened to cross the Threave Estate. We were incredibly excited to see this, particularly as it had now brought my bird total to 97.

Unfortunately, our excitement was short-lived, as on leaving the estate I tried to get the van around a gated exit, which proved subsequently to be too small as I became entangled with a wooden gatepost. It was distressing to hear the crunches and cries of the van as I disengaged from the offending object, and it was with a heavy heart that we got out to inspect the damage. Our rear wheel arch was now concertinaed and the side panel slightly bowed, and I was distraught at not having paid closer attention to our exit. This affected my enjoyment for the next couple of days but as this was the start of our trip, and there was nothing to be done until we returned home, I vowed to put it out of my mind and focus on the excitement of what we had planned.

Next on the agenda was the Inner Hebrides. We have visited the Isle of Mull a number of times but the anticipation of not knowing what we will find there from a wildlife perspective never diminishes. Well known for its abundance of otters, red deer and eagles (both Golden and White-Tailed), there is something for everyone and we have always been rewarded with great views of these in the past.

This time around it took us a few days to get our first great sighting, in this instance a mother otter with her two pups along with the dog otter of the family who was also resident close by. We were privileged to be able to spend around 4 hours watching the interaction between the mother and her young, and even a short spat where the mother stole a fish from the dog otter – no more than 20 metres away. These otters turned out to be regular visitors to this loch and we were able to return to see them on several occasions.

There are also a pair of white-tailed sea eagles who reside in the same location each year on Mull. We have never yet failed to see them and on our arrival found them sitting majestically in the trees, looking out to sea. Unfortunately, soon after, the weather took a turn for the worse with continuous rain keeping the birds grounded. In addition to this, I had hurt my ankle after a hilly run and so we couldn’t go on any of the walks we had planned. A lot of our time was then spent sitting in the van waiting for a break in the clouds, thanking Netflix for the box sets we had downloaded in advance. We persevered for a few more days but eventually decided our time might be better spent heading onwards to Skye, somewhere we had only previously visited for a day.

To get to Skye we opted to take the Mallaig to Armadale sailing rather than driving the long way round to the bridge. Whilst this is a relatively short crossing, the winds that day made for an interesting journey. I’m not a great sailor at the best of times but for 45 minutes I literally held my breath and tried not to hyperventilate as we rolled from side to side, with water sloshing over the deck and the van bouncing up and down, until we finally made land again. My husband on the other hand found it quite amusing and was able to capture some comical moments, mostly of me looking petrified, which he included in our weekly vlog series we publish on YouTube.

In recent years, Skye has become increasingly popular, with tourists being drawn there by the beautiful landscapes. This is partly the reason we had not visited sooner, concerned that it would be overrun by tourist coaches. Having chosen September to limit this, it was still very busy at all the main sites and we were glad that we were driving a small van, as some of the single track roads would have proved difficult otherwise. The small van also helps when it comes to wild camping, and we found a lovely harbour at Staffin, which rewarded us with a beautiful rainbow one evening, with the remainder of our time tucked away beside beautiful lochs or peaceful lay-bys.

We had originally planned to stay on Skye for a week before heading over to The Other Hebrides, however the weather had other ideas and several days of very heavy rain and storm force winds forced us to stay for longer. In some ways this was good, as it meant that we had plenty of time to visit a number of the main attractions such as The Old Man of Storr, the Quiraing, The Fairy Pools and Fairy Glen.

What wasn’t so good, was that whilst we could get to these places, getting out to see them could be short lived in order to avoid spending subsequent days trying to dry your clothes. One night at 3am we even had to put emergency plans into action to move the van to a more sheltered spot, as it felt as though we were about to be swept or blown into a loch. Whilst this was disappointing, it did mean that we got to visit other places that had not originally been on our list, such as Dunvegan Castle and the Talisker Distillery. Having somewhere indoors to visit is always a good idea in Scotland when the weather gets too much.

Nigel and I work on the road and so having the use of Portree library when the weather was bad was also invaluable, especially as they have a leisure complex in the same building where you can have a hot shower for a nominal fee.

Finally, the weather improved enough for us to venture to Lewis and Harris and we were rewarded with a relatively smooth crossing from Uig to Tarbet. Nigel is a landscape photographer by trade and for the last few years has been itching to get over there, whilst I had only a vague notion of what awaited me. What we found totally blew me away.

The landscape to the south of Tarbet resembles what I can only imagine the moon would look like. It’s quite a desolate area covered in rock formations with a certain rock found there which can only be found, strangely enough, on the moon! Its hilly and barren landscape gives it an almost Jurassic feel, and on a rainy day when the mist envelopes you, you have no idea what you might find round the next corner or over the brow of the hill.

In contrast to this, once you reach the west of Harris it feels as though you have been transported to the Caribbean – just 20 degrees cooler. The turquoise of the sea and the expanse of white sand beaches, which seemingly run for miles, are like nothing I have seen in the UK before. You don’t have to look far to find one where you can be alone and if you just sit and watch the weather pass through, you will often see all 4 seasons pass across the sky, changing the scenery from a tranquil paradise to a raging monster within minutes.

It’s possible to spend days just combing the many beaches, which we ourselves did, but if the weather takes a change for the worse then the Isle of Harris Gin and Whiskey distillery is worth a visit. They are currently maturing their first batch of whiskey and if you are a connoisseur then you may be interested in applying for one of their first bottles. Only 1916 are being produced (the number of residents in Harris at the time of production) and you will get your name on a wall along with free lifetime visits to the distillery.

Wild camping in Harris was very well catered for. One of our favourite spots was down at Hushinish which boasts the relatively new Gateway building. Not only does this have great toilets and showers but there is also a lovely indoor room where you can sit and look out over the bay whilst having a coffee or your dinner. There are also some great walks from here plus the newly created snorkeling trail if you like your sea activities. I hope to do this when we next return to Harris, as I know we will.

In addition to Hushinish, the North Harris trust has set up other dedicated wild camping spots around the island, all in beautiful locations. These are run on a trust basis and you can either pay online or at one of their offices. We paid in the office at the end of our stay, which was perfectly acceptable, which means you don’t have to pay as you go.

After leaving Harris we headed up the main road from Tarbet to Stornoway. This is a very easy journey and only takes about an hour or so. Lewis is a very different landscape to Harris and its open, flat, largely barren vistas when you first arrive can be deceiving. Don’t be disheartened, head a bit further north and you will once again find beautiful beaches. Together with this, the hills emerge and with them the golden eagles. I am a huge raptor fan and have only ever been able to admire these birds miles up in the sky. That is no longer the case, as in the space of less than 24 hours we had 13 golden eagles sightings, and it felt as though you couldn’t turn a corner without seeing one. One of our best sightings was at Great Bernera, where we spent the night at Bosta beach with a golden eagle flying barely 30 feet above our heads. Here you can also find a replica Iron Age house and remnants of an Iron Age village set within the dunes.

Whilst in Lewis we also took some time to visit the Gearrannan Blackhouse Village, the Callanish stones and Dun Carloway Broch and all are worth a bit of time out from the beaches to visit.

If art and crafts is also your thing, there are numerous studios around the island, which are regularly open for viewings. This island seems to attract an unusually large number of talented residents, catering for all tastes from beautiful photographs and paintings to handmade chocolate and glass ornaments. There really is something for everyone – just save your pennies beforehand!

It would be easy to spend weeks on Lewis and Harris and we came to realise very early on that we hadn’t allocated anywhere near enough time to do it justice. We left with the vow that we would be back, and that next time would also explore the other outer Hebrides isles of North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra. Having seen what the islands already had to offer, there can only be more gems to be found further afield.

After leaving Lewis and Harris we travelled back through Skye (this time thankfully via the bridge) and made our way onto the mainland, our next stop being Applecross and Torridon. Having believed that I had already seen the best of the highlands, this new part of the west coast proved me wrong, as before us emerged majestic peaks and dramatic valleys. It can be a little hairy navigating the twists and turns of the pass through the mountains but it is certainly worth it, not only for the stunning scenery but also for the wildlife. We had wonderful sightings of red deer en route. When you see the sheer size of them up close, and hear their guttural roar from close quarters it truly is a humbling experience.

The Torridon area was also very good for wild camping, with pay as you go showers at a local campsite, a community centre which lets you work there for a small donation, and a fantastic café called Jo’s (which is also the General store), selling the most delicious cheese scones.

We were lucky enough to have a few days of sun whilst in this area and getting out to run around the many lochs and trails left me feeling a rare sense of peace and calmness that you often can’t find in everyday life. Some may say it was almost spiritual, but whatever it was, it was something very special and ensured that I will be back one day soon.

We now only had a couple of weeks left and needed to decide whether to head further south on the mainland or make one last quick visit to the Isle of Mull.

Well, it just had to be Mull.

Our wish was granted and just when you think Mull has given you everything, it delivers even more. In the same place we had observed the otter family on our previous trip, the mother appeared - but this time with only one cub. We were concerned by this, especially as she seemed to be making a strange snorting sound whilst passing within feet of Nigel, seemingly not caring that he was there. We continued to watch them and eventually the mother and cub moved further round the coast, whilst we pondered on what may have befallen the other cub. Not long after this however, we heard a pitiful squealing and about 100 metres to our right we saw the other cub. Initially relieved, we then became concerned again as the mother was nowhere to be seen and the cub appeared distressed.

This continued for some time until out of nowhere, the mother and the cub appeared, moving at what only can be described as the speed of Usain Bolt of the otter world, in the direction of the distressed cub. We stood transfixed until before we knew it the family were reunited with lots of jumping and rolling around. It was like watching the best Disney movie ever and with smiles and tears in our eyes we congratulated them and then quietly crept away to leave them to their happy reunion.

I would happily have left Mull there and then but, not to be outdone, we had one last performance by the white tailed sea eagles. Having returned to our otter spotting park up spot, I noticed that two of the eagles had landed on a spit of land nearby. Usually I would continue to watch them from a long distance but this time I decided for once I would try to get a little closer. I headed off a mile down the road and started to make my way onto the beach where they were. Whilst I would never advocate encroaching too much on any wildlife, as it’s important that you do not disrupt their natural behaviour or environment, I judged that 50 feet would be acceptable but anticipated that even this good distance would still make them take flight.

How wrong I was, they watched my approach with nothing more than curiosity and once I sat down, continued with their own agenda, occasionally glancing my way to see what I was up to, but soon ignoring me again. You really get to appreciate their true size up close, probably around the size of a young child, and you can feel the command this gives them in their avian world, where they are the rulers of their kingdom. Eventually, one of the pair took off, leaving to peruse another area, whilst the other stayed a while longer until an otter appeared running just in front of it. Of course, I was ecstatic, an otter and eagle together, what more can a girl ask for, whilst the eagle took offence at this intrusion and took leave of the beach.

I returned to the van that night, sad that our trip was ending, but overwhelming happy that Scotland had once again confirmed why we return repeatedly to this magical place. When the weather then took a turn for the worse again, we decided to cut our time on Mull short by a couple of days and took a slow drive back to Cairnryan for our ferry home.

It was with tears and sadness that we boarded the ferry, knowing that it would be a while before we would return to Scotland again, but the amazing memories that we had from the trip, together with the excitement of knowing what more is to come in the future, will hopefully sustain us until that time.

Once again, thanks so much for allowing us a few moments of your time to read our words. If you have enjoyed this content then feel free to share it amongst your own community.

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And of course if you really enjoyed it then you can help keep us on the road by throwing a few pennies into the tips jar. Once again we make no apologies for using any donations on cake (rather than repairs)

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Thanks for following along, and until next time, take care, and Happy Travels !

Hi, we are Nigel and Nicola and in January 2023 we sold our flat in Portrush, Northern Ireland, and moved full time into our VW Transporter Campervan. Since then we have visited over 20 different countries, had one or two break-downs, a few tears, and of course some incredible memories.

In 2026 we hope to spend quite a bit of time in the mountains. As well as our YouTube channel, we also like to write about our experiences to perhaps both inspire others, and also give a more realistic view of two 50-somethings travelling full time in their campervan while eking out some kind of living. Thanks for following along.

Is it possible to travel yourself happy? Let’s find out !

Hi, I’m Nicola

I’m currently negotiating my way through my 50’s having worked in the corporate world for nearly 30 years. During this time I’ve been trying to figure out what my passion is in life, what it is I’m actually good at and what my purpose is supposed to be.

I’m finally starting to understand that my passion and purpose is actually the 2 things other than my family that rule my life and have always been there – my love of travel and animals.

Whilst initially my travel consisted of traditional summer holidays with friends in places such as Greece, Turkey, Spain, Cyprus etc., spending lazy days on the beach and long nights drinking cocktails, I would also jump at any opportunity to visit friends who had moved abroad. I would usually do this alone and in the days when there were no mobile phones or internet this took some planning and a bit of nerve – this can be hard when you are just out of school and not very street wise! I did however get to see parts of Germany, France and Canada this way and was a great way (no accommodation costs, local knowledge) to see places you may otherwise have never thought to go.

This was my travel format for long time, including when I met Nigel, bought a house and we started planning for a family. I would use all my holiday to go somewhere exotic and then count down the days when I was back at work until I could go again. Things may well have continued this way indefinitely, us having fun on our short breaks but never being quite fulfilled, and then spending 48 weeks a year daydreaming about what might be. But then life threw a spanner in the works; my dad died and we found out that we couldn’t have children, and that was when things changed.

Throughout life trials and tribulations travel has been the one thing where I feel like the real me. When I’m on the road I feel invincible and cannot wait to see what is around the next corner. The emotions you feel when you step off your first long haul flight (and even better if you get upgraded to business class on a flight to Hong Kong on Christmas Eve), when you walk out of a housing estate straight into the magnificent view of the Three Sisters in the Blue Mountains or when in the last 20 minutes of your safari trip in South Africa you finally get to see a leopard. These are the things that bring passion and purpose to my life.

And then one day Nigel asked if I had heard of Vanlife … and the rest, as they say is history :)

Howdy, I’m Nigel

I simply want to see and experience everything … and if I can’t do that, then as much of everything as possible will have to do!!”

Okay the above statement may seem a little corny, but it’s how I’m trying to live my life from this day forward. I loved my corproate job, the people, the challenges and of course the financial rewards. Without kids (as hard as it was to take) it did mean that we pretty much could do what we wanted with very little care from a $$ point of view.

Something was missing though. And each time we went away on a 2-3 week trip I realised, like Nicola said, that I became a totally different person. An adventurous person. I loved that side of us and we always made an agreement on the last day of our trip to attempt to live our lives more adventurously when we got home. Sadly the day to day always got in the way and before long we were back to working, sleeping, eating (repeat) …

For me the loss of a few work colleagues really shook me hard and it was the final push I needed to quit my job (of 15 years) and follow my passion for photography. We had a plan, but of course life likes to sometimes play with our plans and within 6 months of leaving the corproate world we had also left our home in Cambridge (of almost 20 years) to start a new adventure in Northern Ireland.

That was back in 2016, and a few years later we started to ask ourselves if we could live our lives on the road, swapping home life for van life … actually we don’t particular like the whole van life statement as of course it’s just life … perhaps a bit different than most.

Don’t get me wrong, some days are very tough, as we both struggle with our own mental challenges, but we are trying, together, to live a more adventurous life.

So now, about that seeing everything …… next stop …. everywhere

Our Vlogging Manifesto

Once again, thanks so much for allowing us a few moments of your time to read our words. If you have enjoyed this content then feel free to share it amongst your own community.

Share

And of course if you really enjoyed it then you can help keep us on the road by throwing a few pennies into the tips jar. Once again we make no apologies for using any donations on cake (rather than repairs)

Tips Jar

Thanks for following along, and until next time, take care, and Happy Travels !