{"id":38397,"date":"2020-07-02T09:37:34","date_gmt":"2020-07-02T08:37:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/?p=38397"},"modified":"2021-06-14T12:55:06","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T11:55:06","slug":"guest-blogger-kat-the-wandering-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ourtour.co.uk\/home\/guest-blogger-kat-the-wandering-bird\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blogger – Kat, the Wandering Bird"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While we’re back home, we thought we’d bring you a guest post from a fellow motorhome blogger who is back out there travelling. Kat, who is better known by her blog name Wandering Bird<\/a>, waited out the lockdown in France, and is now straight back on the road producing more informative blog posts and YouTube videos about life in a motorhome. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In November of last year, Kat asked us to complete a list of questions about motorhome life for her fantastic blog, which is jammed full of useful information about all things motorhome. We did our best to reply and you can read our ramblings on the Wandering Bird blog<\/a>. She has kindly returned the favour for us, giving us an insight into what makes her tick and why she loves her life on the road! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over to you Kat…. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Hi, I\u2019m Kat. Together with my husband and our cocker spaniel, Mac, we travel Europe in our motorhome. I quit my job in 2018 so that we could travel for longer, so now we spend 8-10 months of the year on the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting started with motorhoming<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t something we set out to do. When we bought a motorhome, we had NO intention of travelling long or full-time in it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But we loved it. We loved the lifestyle, the adventure, the simplicity and how little it cost! We spent one summer homeschooling our teenage daughter whilst travelling around the UK and Europe and it was fantastic. It inspired us to come home, downsize our lives, live a little cheaper and find a way to travel more!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"wandering<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our early introduction to living a bit differently<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

When we were younger, we\u2019d decided to buy a boat to live on instead of a house (mainly because we couldn\u2019t afford a house!) We\u2019ve always been a little \u2018outside-the-box\u2019. Since then, we lived on boats for over 15 years, slowly doing them up with the little money we had, and then selling them to buy another (slightly bigger!) wreck.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We also worked our way up to decent positions in our jobs- so we were able to have a little more money to spend on fun things. This was when we bought motorbikes\u2026 and then decided to buy a motorhome to take them around Europe with us so we can get to places quicker (and in a little more comfort!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Changing our lives<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

But we never EVER thought about living in the motorhome. Three weeks was the most we ever spent in it and we\u2019d only been to Europe once. It was on that trip that we found ourselves at the top of a mountain in the Swiss Alps- staring up in awe at the Milky Way. The actual Milky Way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was then that we realised how many incredible things the world held that we\u2019d never had the time or ability to see for ourselves- and travelling in a motorhome could help with that. If only we could find a way to not be tied to one place in the UK while we worked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, while I worked- Mr WB could do most of his work from anywhere as long as he had internet! It was my job that kept us in one place and tied down- it was almost impossible to get leave from my work in the summer, so it was very restrictive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, we decided to change our lives. For real- instead of just talking about it. In simple terms, we needed to downsize until we could live on my husband\u2019s income. This was surprisingly easy to do. It turns out, we were wasting a LOT of money without even thinking about it. It\u2019s terrifying how easy it is to fall into the trap of \u2018stuff\u2019- and buying things on Amazon. Amazon is dangerous!!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By being more conscious about what we were spending our money on, and getting rid of as many \u2018extras\u2019 as we could, we got to a point where we didn\u2019t need my income at all within about 3 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving my job<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Initially, I was only asking for a sabbatical from work – a gap year – but we managed so well without my income and my employers were being difficult about whether I could have the year off or not, that I just decided to leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was one of the most terrifying decisions I\u2019ve ever made – you can\u2019t just walk back into Air Traffic. There\u2019s a LOT of training and rules\/ regulations to learn, and being out of the game for even a few months can make it really hard to come back. I knew that if I left there was very little chance of me ever getting my licence back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So it was a huge decision. Everyone thought I was nuts – including my friends and family. It\u2019s just not normal to walk away from a secure, well-paying job which offers decent time off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I wasn\u2019t happy – after 14 years I\u2019d got as high as I wanted to get up the ladder without going into management. And I was restless – I didn\u2019t want to do this for the next 30 years. There was so much more of the world to explore!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leaving left some mixed emotions – elation at the freedom and sheer terror at the balance in my bank account not moving each month (or, at least, only moving downwards!) But after a couple of years, it\u2019s become normal. We live fairly frugally and definitely within our means – and we\u2019re so much more conscious of our spending and waste than we ever were in our \u2018old\u2019 life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our Motorhome<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

We currently have a Swift 685 motorhome. It\u2019s our third attempt at the \u2018perfect\u2019 vehicle for us- and we may have managed it! We love that it\u2019s under 7m and we love the rear lounge. We\u2019ve also decided to make the bed up each night instead of using the drop down- it\u2019s better for the dog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still tow two motorbikes- both Triumph Scramblers. We love them for exploring. Our dog comes on the back of the bike with us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Some of our favourite places<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Some of our favourite places so far have been Norway (despite the fact that it rained for 3 weeks!), Croatia and the Italian Dolomites. We heard about them from someone else on the road and we are so grateful we detoured- they were spectacular!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

We also love exploring France and spend a lot of time there. And the UK. We enjoy seeing more of our home country (and it\u2019s nice being able to understand the language!!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Life on the road<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Life on the road has its ups and downs. Sadly, the chores that you hated in a house are still there in a motorhome- you still have to do the washing up, cleaning, and pick up your husband\u2019s socks! But at least the cleaning doesn\u2019t take as long!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the positive side, we are so much closer as a couple now. We talk more, share ideas, dream bigger. Things feel more possible than they did when we were stuck in one place. We\u2019ve learnt to communicate better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019ve also got (a little!) better at not rushing. Permanently travelling can be exhausting, and we needed to learn to chill and just let things take their course. We also need to schedule in rest days every 2-3 days, instead of trying to see everything non-stop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We still have the boat in the UK- our daughter currently lives on it. It\u2019s nice going back to it every now and then- one thing we miss whilst travelling is the familiarity of one place. Sometimes it\u2019s nice to just go to the local supermarket and know where everything is! And it\u2019s lovely to return home and see family and friends- being away so much can make it hard on loved ones. Although they do enjoy the gifts we bring back! :)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our future plans<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Our goal is to build up our finances until my husband can retire. It\u2019s not easy, although our website and ebooks provide some very helpful additional income. But we still pay into a pension, so he\u2019ll be able to draw down on that within a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having said that, he loves to work – he wouldn\u2019t be happy retired. So it\u2019s a nice balance being able to travel and work from the road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I also found that I got bored very quickly when I left work. My brain was used to being \u2018on the go\u2019 all the time. I\u2019m grateful I discovered blogging and websites – it\u2019s been a fantastic way for me to feel like I\u2019m contributing to the family. That\u2019s something I learnt about myself- I need to feel useful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our future plans have been changed a little by COVID, but we hope to visit Spain, Portugal and Norway (again!) in the near future. We didn\u2019t have Mac with us when we went up there last time and I know he\u2019ll love being able to run around the mountains like a crazy dog!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Wandering<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Advice for others<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For anyone considering changing their lives, you won\u2019t find anything but encouragement from us! We think more people should be brave enough to live a little crazy. Our main tips would be:<\/p>\n\n\n\n