I escaped the miserable UK rental market to spend just £650-a-month living in a converted Ford Transit van with my dog
FED up with sky-high rents and an endless game of house hopscotch, a young Brit has embraced van life, living off just £650 a month with her dog.
Fashion photographer Nicole Keefe, 27, had lived in 18 homes by 2023, leaving her feeling “trapped” and “miserable”, and losing hope that she would ever get on the property ladder.
Having been frequently moved as a child, this trend continued into her adulthood due to “things not going right” with partners.
But she has now hit the road with her beagle-petit griffon Vendeen Mix, Linda McCartney, named in honour of her idol the designer, in a converted Ford Transit.
Having joined a growing number of young people embracing van life, she feels she has become her “favourite version of herself.”
Newcastle-born Nicole now lives off less than £650 a month- less than she has ever spent on rent, and can even afford a gym membership, having before felt she couldn’t even “afford a social life.”
According to Right Move, the majority of properties sold in Washington, Durham, last year were terraced properties going for an average of £126,930- far out of her price range.
Following the writing off of her old car and following others on social media who had embraced the nomadic van life, she moved into the vehicle in September 2023.
She snapped up the van for just £8.5k on Facebook Marketplace, she has kitted it out with her signature leopard print flair and even added an air fryer to the bed, kitchen, sink and solar panels.
She told PA Real Life: “It was all very minimalist …. I kept the base the same. There’s a kitchen area, sink, bed, solar panels, and I added in a fridge, gas camping hob and air fryer and got a new mattress.
“I made it a bit more me, adding in some leopard print and just decorating it over time.”
For the first nine months, she continued her 9-5 fashion photography job, parking near the office in a car park and whizzing off around the country on the weekends with her pooch at her side.
The turning point came when she landed a cleaning gig at a Dorset campsite via a nomad Facebook Group, and from there, she built her freelance social media career, snapping pics and managing social media for businesses, gaining thousands of followers.
She was offered the cleaning gig, an hour after a virtual interview and immediately quit her 9-5 job and sped off to Dorset.
Nicole spent three months working there with her pooch, exploring the South Coast on her days off.
While she found the freedom “really lovely”, at first she struggled with limited human interaction, as she “hated her own company.”
But gradually she got used to going to coffee shops on her own, and “enjoying being alone.”
The companionship of her furry friend, Linda, is key, and she makes a point of FaceTiming her family, friends and long-distance partner.
She said: “When I was moving home, I used to all the time, and it would always take McCartney a month or two to get settled.
“He would cry and bark if he were left alone in the house, but he got used to the van in two days, and I think he loves his routine.”
Having swapped the cleaning job for a barista job in Winchester, she has now managed to become a full-time content creator for businesses.
Her social media presence is ballooning with her TikTok account @thevanclub hitting 4.5k and her Instagram followers reaching 1.8k.
This has allowed her complete nomadic freedom and so far, she has travelled up and down the country, ping ponging from Snowdonia to Cornwall, popping by Warwickshire, exploring Scotland and travelling throughout the North East.
She said: “Since then I’ve gone wherever I want to go – it’s quite a weird thing to adjust to because I don’t have anywhere I need to be unless I’ve got a photography job.”Long-term, she plans to continue her motoring adventure for four years, and even if she eventually buys a house, will continue to whizz around the country on the weekends.