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Help us build a Home on wheels

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We are the Bowes family - Amber, Wayne, Florence, Theodore and Marmaduke (our dog) and we want to raise/save £5000 to furnish and buy a Camper Van.


Why? 
Our dream is to travel the UK and Europe in a campervan. We want to show our kids that experiences, meeting people and making connection
s, far out weighs the physical things we all have.

Over the next 10 months our plan is to sell our home, all our of our belongings, and move our family into a Campervan. What we want more than anything is freedom. Recently we have both became overwhelmed by the constant noise of our jobs, bills, the mountains of clothes, toys and ornaments, the school runs and appointments etc. Our aim
is to find more meaning in our lives by basically simplifying each part.

In doing so we hope to grow as people and closer as a family. We hope to meet many others who have found them selves in a similar situation. People who no longer want to feel trapped into modern western societies way of ‘life’, and people who would rather live simply to discover new places and experiencing new people and cultures.

How will we spend the money we raise ?

We plan to use the money we raise (along with the money from the sale of our current small van) to buy and furnish our campervan. Due to the fact we have 2 small children and a dog we have quite specific needs. 
-We want each child to have their own permanent bunk, so they can have their own comfy space and privacy. 
-We want the van to be completely solar powered/off grid so we dont have the constant worry of needing an electric hook up each night.

-The van itself needs to seat 4 people
and have enough room to live in full time.

We plan to do all the labour ourselves, so our funds will be spent on things such as timber, insulation, cooker, sink, solar panels, wiring, e
xtractor fans etc

What will we use the money from the sale of the house for?

After the sale of our home there are fees to pay such as estate agents, solicitors and the mortgage company.
After that is paid depending on the value our home sells for we should have enough money to support all 5 of us including food, fuel, gas, campsites, ferrys, insurances and a mobile phone contract for 6 months.

What would this mean to us?

I have personally battled with generalised anxiety disorder for the last 10
years. Being alone for long periods of time and having alot of worry and stress have made my anxiety almost unbearable at times. It frustrates me so much that the 9 to 5 lifestyle we currently live, with a mortgage and 2 kids stops us being together, and being able to be full time supports for each other. I really believe a trip like this could be the time off we have needed for so long to heal mentally and spiritually.

Wayne has spent the last 10 years like alot of people, working himself into the ground. It takes alot of guts to stand up and say 'Im stresse
d out and I don't want to do this anymore', knowing that he brings in the majority of the income and without it we couldn't afford our current lifestyle. So to him it would also mean a well deserved break from full time work and hopefully the realisation that we can live alot more simply and consume a lot less. So that he never has to return to working 6/7 day weeks.

And for our children it would mean being able to flourish out in nature. For their imaginations to grow and experience other cultures. I think that no matter how much they have or where they live, the children are happy if their parents are happy. Homeschooling is something I have though
t about in the past and I believe an experience like this alone would teach my children more about life than any amount of time in a class room.
 
We are also Blogging the whole journey from the sale of our house to the van refurbishment and we hope to set off travelling next year.

We would love you to follow our journey leading up to and during our family exploration!

Here is a link to our Blog !

thebowesfamilylife.blog

Organizer

Amber Clark Bowes
Organizer

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