7 months of solo van life in a Hymer motorhome | Van Life UK

[@cliffnewport9284]

You wanted to be more genuine, this video sums you up perfectly in the short time I have met you. Have a great adventure and it will be fun to watch the journey. Good luck and safe travels

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Thank you so much Cliff. I do hope that as I get used to the idea of recording my mug that I'll relax enough to let my personality out 😊 So pleased to have you along for the adventure. Thank you again 🙏

[@jameswilliamson8050]

Great video thanks for posting

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Thank you James 🙏

[@damo8956]

Looks like I'm the first viewer here 👌

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

haha, I'm afraid I have no prizes to provide at this stage. I'll work on it 😊 Thank you for the support 🙏

[@damo8956]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip come on el! No prizes. I'm gonna have to get my mom to have a word with you for this 🤣

[@thenoworriesnomad]

WOW, a great video mate, never ever worry about saying the wrong thing or upsetting anyone, just be yourself and if ppl dont like what you say or do then thats their business to sort out, im lucky that I dont find life stressful and TBH in have never felt or been stressed out anything, my biggest worry in life of running out of milk for my tea, and as for life and the future just cross each bridge/problem as it may or may not arise...when my van is done we will arrange to meet up ok... Van life is the best life

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Thank you so much 🙏
As I say, it's something I need to work on. As a project manager for some 15+ years, planning everything to smallest detail is just how my brain is currently wired. So it will take some conscious effort to change that mindset. But I am working on it 😊 A meetup would be great! What do I call you if you don't mind me asking?

[@thenoworriesnomad]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip I get called all sorts but it’s Mark.. lol

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@thenoworriesnomad 😂 Nice to virtually meet you Mark and I look forward to a face to face meet up at some stage 👍

[@alant2419]

I was quite happy on my own, despite the fact that I ran a singles/social group for 20 years and have had my partner with me for over 15 years

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

It's the prolonged periods that get to me. To be honest, I can't be around people for too long either lol. It's a fine line. But I do start up conversations with most people I encounter because that's part of this road trip, to meet people of various backgrounds etc.
I lived on my own in my house for some 10 years before becoming a vanlifer, so I'm quite used to being on my ace, but when I was a home owner, I'd have mates over most weekends. Not the case when you're in a van unless, like me, you go and park on a friends/family members drive for a few weeks 😂

[@seetosky]

I for one look forward to your posts! You're way too hard on yourself! You have had to deal with some really tough things the past few months, in the middle of a pandemic I might add, so yes, they're serious so you're serious. I've no doubt that your traditional SA sense of humour will assert itself once you're more settled in this new lifestyle, and the weather's warmer! Take care and keep vlogging!

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Thank you 🙏
A sense of humour is typically what gets me through tough times like the last couple of years. As I say, I'm just too concerned about causing offence in my videos but I'm also a firm believer that being offended is a choice.
Also, and something I didn't mention in the video is that it's taken me a while to get comfortable with the whole recording myself thing. I'm now starting to get more accustomed to it and less nervous/petrified when recording them. So hopefully this will start coming through in future videos.
Thank you so much for your support and for following me on this experience 🙏

[@seetosky]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip yes, the recording one's self issue would be a huge hurdle and one that I'm not ready to attempt yet!

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@seetosky all I can say is that it does get easier the more you do. I'm still not totally at ease with it, as I'm sure can be seen in my videos, but I definitely feel a lot better about it than when I started off 😊

[@kliderskope3662]

Hey personally I enjoy your videos. Would be nice if you showed your site and places you visit. It lets us who cannot go there right now get a chance to see things. I am also asthmatic and fully get the implications of that. Especially living alone in a van must add a whole extra level. I’m also at a similar age and physical health. I was complaining about not being able to do what I used to do to my doctor and she said to me that some of the fittest people she knows are in there 50’s and 60’s because they hit that “OMG I’m getting old” thing and went and got all healthy. There hope for us yet!
Looking forward to the new content. Don’t know a thing about photography but hey hoo always learning

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Thank you so much Klider 🙏
I don't consider myself totally unfit, and obviously with asthma comes it's own set of challenges the higher up you go and the thinner the air gets. But as I said in the video, I'm going to give it a bash. My fitness levels are definitely getting better the more I get out and about with the bicycle so who knows, I may well surprise myself 😊
I'll be creating short 'site overview' videos for the sites I visit as I'll be writing blog posts for them also and would like to embed videos into those. They then also become a further resource here on the channel for people to look at should they be looking for a site in a particular county.
Thank you so much for your support and for journey me on this journey 🙏

[@claudiamarlow5265]

7 months now photography is not without challenges and Van Life keeps it Challenging. Perhaps something I try down the road for sure

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

I'm certainly not one for an easy life 😂 Challenges keep you on your toes. Please do let me know if you ever do give vanlife a try, even if not on a fulltime basis.

[@Jamrat68]

Nice post dude ........ They are informative and truthful. Just one question .....which of your friends can I ask to get confirmation of your sense of humour? ; ) .... Also Elton, can you tell us a little about how van insurance works and costs ect.........Thanks and take care china!

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Yussus ou. Now you put me on the spot!
Umm. Leave it with me for a few weeks.
On a separate note, how long do you have to know someone before you call them a friend? Asking for a friend.

[@duncansampson8120]

How the van life treating you mate hope all is well

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

A year on since this video was made and all is well, thank you Duncan 😊 It certainly has it's challenges but I have a goal and I'm not going to give up on that any time soon. Whilst I'm physically capable, I'll continue on this van life adventure.

[@duncansampson8120]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip great glad your all well i was watching and thought you should buy a chinese diesel heater ive just fitted one in my hymer 644 and i think you have a 544 it would save you a lot of money for your heating in the van and use your propane just for cooking hot water etc mate

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@duncansampson8120 I have a 564. As I use campsites a diesel heater isn’t a good choice for me as many campsites won’t allow you to use them due to the noise levels. In my research I’m also not convinced that they are cheaper to run than an lpg boiler. I will look to upgrade my Truma at some point to one that can also be run on electric hookup. Do you mostly wild park?

[@duncansampson8120]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip thats the 1st time i heard that mate there are loads of people fitted them and not one person have ever said they were not allowed to use a diesel heater once reached desered temp it goes to tick over you can hardly hear it mate a trauma heater makes a noise as well mate

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@duncansampson8120 I worked for one of the big UK camping clubs last summer fella, they don't allow them. I believe the other club has the same stance on them. If you wild park, or use private campsites you probably won't have an issue but the two big clubs are basically run by their members and apparently their members don't want the noise of diesel heaters. It would also depend on the installation type. Where the heater is mounted on the outside of the vehicle is the noisiest option obviously. My Truma certainly doesn't make as much noise externally compared to diesel heaters. Its likely that some diesel heaters are quieter than others. I don't have much experience personally with diesel heaters as fir now there is no need for me to change my heating setup.
At the moment I'm actually doing pet sitting which means I'm parked up on people's driveways so I'm pretty much always on EHU. When I start travelling Europe I may reconsider but for now there is no need to change anything 😊

[@parasinthephilippines]

If you look at any "How to be a youtuber" tutorials they all state that you have to have 30% more personality in front of the camera.
Have a look at "Blue Van Man" content.
Hes got the niche quite right.

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Yeah I tend not to copy others. That's not exactly being authentic is it? 😊 I'll keep on keeping on and if people find value in the content, great. If not, I'll have a resource to look through with my grandkids in the future 😊

[@parasinthephilippines]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip Eveyone has a USP
Look at Liam the Terrible right through to the Roaming Radfords all vastly different other than one thing.
You feel they are talking to you and not the camera.

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@parasinthephilippines I’ve been doing video for about 8 months. I’m not a millennial 😊 Taking video selfies doesn’t come naturally to me. But I already feel more comfortable in front of the camera so I’m sure in time I’ll be less robotic 😊

[@parasinthephilippines]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip I've been doing specific video content for BFPO ( British Forces Overseas) for the last 7 years.
It's a little too risqué for youtubes sensitive algorithm.
So go's direct to London and they upload on the forces link.
Considering you tube but honestly can't get on with the censorship.
And! As you said in your video.
I'm not willing to be anyone else but me.
Youd either watch or I'd be chatting to myself.

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@parasinthephilippines lol, which is how I feel in some of my videos. But people like risque. You should give it a go, nothing to lose right?

[@daniellee5413]

Hello :) I'm thinking about buying and living in one of these vans. I'm wondering why you were cold? Was the gas heating system not sufficent? Thanks in advance! :)

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

Hey Daniel. I think you misunderstood or I wasn’t very clear in the video 😊 The van isn’t the issue as far as warmth goes as the Truma combi boiler does a great job in heating the van and the van itself is very well insulated so keeps the heat really well. What I meant by cold was the temperatures outdoors. If you do live in a van you will quickly learn that you cannot spend day after day cooped up in it. So when I was complaining about the cold I was referring to when our and about 😊

[@daniellee5413]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip Thank you so much for getting back to me. I have another question! I was reading that you can't heat the van without also heating the hot water tank. Is that true? Seems like a waste of energy if you don't wanna heat up the hot water?

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@daniellee5413 with the Truma combi boilers that is indeed the case. And whilst it may seem inefficient it's actually not the case. The way the system works is it heats up the water cylinder, a fan then circulates the heat generated from this heating up through the heating vents. To be honest, most of last Winter I didn't even use the heating side of the system. I simply heated the boiler and left the cupboard open a tad and the heat from the water cylinder was sufficient to keep the van at an acceptable level.
I tend to keep the van at around 18 degrees, the same as what I used to keep at my house. if you're used to a higher temperature I'd suggest you start conditioning yourself to accept cooler conditions 😊
I'm not sure which model Hymer you're looking to buy, but my B564 was specifically designed for the Nordic market. It has a Ski locker etc. So it is suitably insulated for far colder climates than we have in the UK 😊

[@daniellee5413]

@@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip Oh Wow. Thank you so much! That's really helpful. Its a 1993 Hymer Mercedes S555. Not sure what the heating system is. But I like the idea of the hot water heating the whole van :) Sounds like it should be reasonabley efficient!

[@GrumpyGitsRoadTrip]

@@daniellee5413 having done some research with diesel heater users I can certainly say that it is far more efficient than diesel heaters are. It's worth checking what heating system the vehicle has and obviously make sure that it works! I'm considering an upgrade to my Truma to one of the newer models which work on both LPG and electric. My unit is the original and no longer in production so spares are scarce to non-existent.
Feel free to ask away if you do decide to join the full-time van life lifestyle 😊