3 Reasons we ended up driving to Russia in a van.

I wanted to start with a blog post that would tick that obligatory 'about us' box (the first post is always the hardest right?!); but I didn't want feel as though I was writing a bio on dating site...

So here it is - 3 reasons we ended up driving to Russia in a van:

1. We love to travel.

This seems like a fairly obvious one to start with.. although Alice and I are different kinds of travellers. I (Katie) am a nature explorer. Put me at the bottom of a mountain or on a cliff above the sea and its hard to keep up with me. Alice frequently has to remind me that it is not a race and that nature isn't going anywhere... (which is done so by her shouting 'SLOW DOWN' at me as I excitedly clamber ahead like my life depends on it!). Alice on the other hand has an extensive repertoire of travel stories that she aquired somewhere between living in active war zones, doing research in remote african villages and hitchhiking USA.

Although we might be different kinds of travellers, one thing that we always do when travelling together, is we make our new surroundings home. Whether it's a one hour flight to Copenhagen and a night in a hostel, or a nine hour flight to stay with our friend in India, we spend that time exactly how we would in the UK - first stop? The supermarket. Thats why Stevie (our ford transit van) is such a perfect way to travel; we have our home with us wherever we go.

I think lots of people travel to make their world bigger.. to expand what their life experience. For us, i think travelling makes our world smaller; because no matter where we go in the world, people are just living their lives being people... Trying to find a way to charge their phone, thinking about whats for dinner, petting their dogs - just like we are.

2. We needed a break.

Alice has this great philosophy that every once in a while, you need a life break. Not just a two week holiday in the Costa Del Sol; but a real break for your mind to recuperate and recharge. Over the past two years, both of our lives have been permeated with high levels of stress. Alice was working in the emergency services based in one of the poorest boroughs in London (I think that speaks for itself - she's wonderful). Meanwhile, I was trying to finish my Master's degree at a prestigious university (and absolutely losing my shit); which might not have been a little less pressure if I hadn't been working 30 hours a week as a supervisor to financially support myself. Needless to say, the prospect of taking 9 months off to drive Stevie to Russia and back was looking relatively favourable...

3. The universe was onboard with our idea.

Referring back to Alice's philosophy I mentioned above, it just so happened to be the perfect juncture to take that break. My Master's degree finished in the October of 2017, and as I have yet to have a 'proper adult job' at the ripe age of 25, it seemed logical that I would put off going into the big wide career world a little longer. Alice was able to take a career break from her job and when she did so in June of last year, Stevie (our transit conversion named after Stevie Nicks) was found 2 weeks later. The van conversion was Alice's new full-time job (more on that in a future post) and by November 2017, we were all ready to leave for Russia.

I'm not entirely sure of the direction this blog will take... but come with me as we recharge our brains and live on the road.

Katie.