How I fund our lifestyle…

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Funding Vanlife

Running my YouTube channel and the writing blogs have progressed from passing interests at the beginning through to what’s now pretty much a full time vocation. This natural progression is something I once could only have dreamed of becoming a reality.

Before I return the blog to my current whereabouts and adventures, I’m taking this opportunity to answer something which pops up almost daily: How I fund this lifestyle.

Beyond The Van - Portugal 2018
Photo credit: The Indie Projects.

Firstly, I haven’t always lived an alternative lifestyle. I’ve got the T-shirts for having had a house, a mortgage, fancy cars and a successful business. My business for twenty years was the repair of computers, laptops, phones and just about any other technology related gadget! The first seventeen years was pitiful and I made barely enough money to pay the bills and eat. However, I did enjoy what I did and that is what mattered to me. It wasn’t until 2013 when I took a massive gamble and landed myself a setup which I’d always wanted – a house and shop all under the same roof. A business on the verge of going bust after 17 years turned into a great success. Relocation and rebranding completely changed the game which resulted in a hugely successful business for the three years that followed.

Photo property of and credit: © Mick John 2015.

This was until I became very ill and was unable to carry on running the business. I tried every means possible to keep everything going but ultimately, the decision had to be made to close the doors for good. Two weeks before closure, the business was bought off me and that allowed me to walk away and concentrate on getting myself well again.Vanlife had always been a dream and at this point I had enough funds to create a beautiful home on wheels from my old Luton van that had sat redundant for the past couple of years. Once converted, the idea of travel was of course born.

Photo credit: Mick John.

Since converting the Luton, I have converted three more vans and after epic adventures in them, I sold them to top up my funds – except for the one that got written off in a crash.

My YouTube channel was initially setup for my parents to follow my travels, as was the blog. Considerable outside interest was quickly gained from my alternative lifestyle, thus my blog and YouTube channel developed into a portal for me to provide inspiration to people showing there are indeed alternative lifestyle options available to them, other than those stated by society.

I love creating my videos and writing for the blog and my plan is to continue this on a full time basis. The motivation gained from the knowledge that you’re helping other people is phenomenal.

Having fully regained my health, there are several ways I intend to build up what I love doing and to create a sustainable living from it. We don’t need a lot of money to live and be happy. Ted and I need to eat, put fuel in the tank and of course maintain the van. Videos and Blogs cost money to produce (equipment, software, internet access, hosting, etc.) and people do appreciate this is the case. Whilst a lot of what I create is out there for free viewing, there are many kind people who greatly appreciate the work that goes into this and there are several ways they can contribute and show appreciation:

Patreon

I have setup a Patreon page where anyone can opt to send anything from a dollar a month upwards. This helps us massively to keep going and continue creating the content you enjoy. In return, my Patreons get a lot of extras, including details of all the beautiful locations I feature in my blog and videos, additional blog posts, extra videos, and more. Check out my Patreon page for all the information.

YouTube

Simply by watching my videos and watching instead of skipping the adverts, YouTube send me a few pennies. Pennies turn into diesel and food. Subscribing to my YouTube channel helps me out nicely too.

Amazon & eBay Links

When I link to products in the blog which I have bought from Amazon or eBay, by clicking those links, if you then buy the item, I get a small commission. I only link to items I genuinely find useful and believe my readers would benefit from.

Amazon Wish List

If you’d like to give something back for the work I put in, you can select something from our Amazon wish list. These are only things we’d like (Ted included!) to help us improve what we’re creating. The item is sent to us directly from Amazon.

PayPal

Again, anyone wishing to contribute can buy us a coffee or Ted a bone directly through PayPal – thankyou@BeyondTheVan.com or by using the donate button on the homepage.

Writing

Writing, proof reading, editing and anything which involves the written English language is something I am able to undertake whilst on the road using my internet connection and laptop. Oh, and my brain.

Video Creation

As my filming and video editing improves, I will look towards offering a service to individuals and small businesses, creating advertisement and promotional videos.

Energy Healing

I am a natural bio-energy healer and can help people and animals with a wide range of illnesses and ailments. Physical and mental health are all things I work with and have an excellent success record. Helping people to recover is something I love being able to do and travelling around enables me to treat people in many different geographical locations.

The next adventure!

Hopefully this blog post has answered some questions which you’ve found of interest! That’s the serious stuff done now – the next post will be back to vans, travel, fun and adventure! This winter I’m in Portugal… plenty of exciting blog posts to come each week! I’m aiming for at least one blog post per week to be online each Sunday at 7pm.

Here’s a video talking more on sustaining our lifestyle…

 

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3 Comments on “How I fund our lifestyle…

  1. How much would it cost for you to build a van for me based on your current configuration. Assuming you have the time available!

    I am also interested in a nomadic lifestyle. I have now been to 113 countries. And want to continue traveling the world.

    Mark Pirie

  2. Hey mate
    Really enjoyed the pilot conversation video.
    I have always had pilots for work and also i take it to Cornwall to paint. Love the independent economical way – but i rough it happily without your wonderful fittings.
    Thomas