We are 2 humans and an Iveco. Emma, Louise and Patchouli (AKA Little Miss Chewy). We travel the country looking for adventures and good stories to write about that will inform and inspire others to get outdoors. Meet the team below and find out more!
Emma has travelled more in the UK than abroad. Favourite locations so far are Wales and Cornwall. She has also travelled to France, Belgium, Spain, Austria (skiing trip) and Florida USA . She loves to write and has had several other publications over the years. Hobbies include writing, nature, animals and walking. FUN FACT – You will never see a blog post about her enjoying being on a bridge!
Louise is a seasoned traveller with destinations on her list including Hawaii, America, Canada, Spain, Canary Islands, Gibraltar, Egypt, Turkey and Greece. Louise is an incredible cook and moving from a house kitchen to a van kitchen has been a transition! The food is still incredible! FUN FACT – You will NEVER see Louise eat a Cockle!
Patchouli
Little Miss Chewy is our current van. Halen was a VW T5, she was OK for festivals and short breaks but she wasn’t large enough longterm.
We found Patchouli, a 16 year old 2.8 Iveco Daily, on a facebook group. After a 600 mile round trip to get her we brought her home. She was purchased in January 2019, from Hull.
In the last 3 months we have had a split relay charger and inverter fitted to the leisure battery. Some welding needed to be done underneath her that was an advisory on a past mot. The oil, fuel and air filters changed (in fact, the mechanic called us to say that there wasn’t even an air filter fitted in her!). We had to have a new set of door locks door locks added – who checks door locks when buying a vehicle’? Her previous owner took the drivers door lock and rear door locks off and we didn’t realise until we got home with her and went to lock the van!
Several bolts had either sheered off or rotted so we replaced the wind mirror and read door hinge. We put a ladder on the rear door. A pre MOT check showed normal wear and tear for an older vehicle but nothing too bad. USB sockets were fitted in the cab and we ditched microwave as the previous owner had put a couple of screws through the side panel. We didn’t think that was very safe to have swapped to a 2 ring gas hob for now.
FUN FACT – Patchouli is a sentient being and will decide if she wants to let you in on a particular day, If today isn’t your day you have to clean her and then try again tomorrow! Be nice to the van! Also – she doesn’t bend in the middle going around corners.
I am sure our meet the team page will be growing over time so do check back for updates.
VanLifeDiary 