We’ve Lived In A Van For 100 Days Today

CHILLING OUT IN MORGAN’S BAY

Doing something for an extended period of time has never really been my thing.  I fail at all those internet challenges there are out there.  You know what I’m talking about right?  Like trying to write consistently for 30 days on a different topic or taking pictures for 10 days in a row with my DSLR.  I start with gusto but then lose focus along the way because, well, life man.  It’s busy.

But I’ve just realised that we have lived in a van for 100 days today.  That’s pretty huge.  From laughing in Seth’s face when he first pounced the idea on me, to thinking we could never pull it off, to doing it and now loving it.  It’s amazing what can change in 100 days.

Including my ability to document things.  As it turns out, I have actually managed to do a daily post on Instagram/Facebook each and every day of our adventure.  Granted the pictures aren’t always your typical Instagram pictures, but real life isn’t like that is it?  Especially not life in a van.  That’s for sure.

BREAKING DOWN IN COFFEE BAY

In the last hundred days we have…

• Reduced our living space from 140m2 to 7,5m2
• Driven more than 4000km
• Spent more than 80 hours in a car driving (that’s nearly three straight days of our lives)
• Changed our living space 33 times (that’s a new location every 3 days)
• Passed through 4 different provinces and 2 countries
• Visited 41 different cities, towns and villages
  • THESE ARE THE ONES THAT HAVE BLOG POSTS SO FAR
  • Stillbaai
  • Mossel Bay
  • Glentana
  • Oudtshoorn
  • Plettenberg Bay
  • Jeffrey’s Bay
  • Port Elizabeth
  • Addo Elephant Park
  • Riebeek East
  • Hogsback
  • East London
• Experienced our van breaking down five times
• Had 5 rounds of a tummy bug
• Been interviewed by a local news paper (South Coast Sun – article here)
• Spent R853835394875 on petrol (I joke but I doubt I’m far off)
• Cried over lack of internet, work stress, missing our home life and family more times than I’d care to admit

LISTENING TO THE COWS GO CRAZY IN MACLEAR

So how has it been?  Like really, really…

The first question I’m asked by people that know us is, “How has it really been?”.  Like yes, the daily posts give us an idea, but when you combine all the last 100 days together, would you do it again?  Do you hate it?  Do you want to go home?  Do you love it so much you’ll never be able to live a normal life again?

It’s a tough one.  I mean I can answer the first part easily.  We love life on the road.  The things I thought would grate my cheese don’t really bug me.  Like living in a small space and living with less.  I enjoy it for the most part.  Obvs there are days where I want to have a bit of quiet or wear something different for a change, but I felt like that in our 3 bedroomed home.  So some things don’t really change no matter where you live.

But on the part about living normally when we get back.  That’s more difficult to answer.  I am seriously enjoying having less in terms of everything.  Like we have our 5 plates, 5 mugs, a pot and a pan.  A little cubby of clothing for each of us.  It’s crazy to think that when we go back we’ll probably end up doubling or even tripling that.  But it makes sense because then we’ll have people over and stuff, where we can’t do that now.  Ugh I don’t know hey.  Maybe we’ll downscale or maybe we’ll move back into our home grateful for our space and use it more wisely.

We’re only 100 days in, who knows what the next 265 hold for us?

ROLLING HILLS AND OPEN SPACES

Follow along with us on:

• INSTAGRAM –

  • @cindyalfino – Here you will find a daily wrap up of exactly what we got up to on that day, where we were, what we did, the pro’s and con’s of life on the road. Oh, and stories, lots of stories.
  • @moderndaddiy – Seth, my funnier half, often posts stories that are worth watching.
  • @alfreenos – For those more “Instagram” worthy images that are less about real life on the road and more about pretty pictures of things that we have seen.

• FACEBOOK –

  • If you don’t have Instagram then this is the place to catch up with the daily posts and even watch the stories.  As well as see latest blog posts as they come out

• YOUTUBE –

  • Seth works really hard on putting out awesome vlog style videos on the places that we have been, things we have done and life on the road.  It’s really worth checking them out if that’s your vibe.

• NEWSLETTER –

  • You can also subscribe to the newsletter which only goes out once in a blue moon when I get a chance to write it.  It’s not just one of those spammy ones that only contains links of blog posts, I always include something personal about what’s happening right now that would probably not appear anywhere else.