Daily Times

An adventurous couple fed up with the daily grind are now living the dream after quitting their jobs and embarking on a memorable trip.

Aaron Goodfellow, 27, and Sophie Taylor, 24, are travelling around Europe and North Africa in a customised 2003 Ford Transit van that is now a dream home on four wheels.

The pair paid £900 for the knackered work van and £450 to make it road worthy before spending an extra £1,000 to overhaul the interior with a bed and tiny kitchen.

They’ve clocked 2,000 miles so far and have been posting stunning snaps along the way as they lounge in the sun, cook dinner on their small stove and enjoy romantic moments by a campfire.

Aaron, from Southampton, and Sophie, from Wamberal, Australia, met in Switzerland where they worked at a hotel in the exclusive ski resort of Verbier.

Aaron said, “After the season finished in May we had worked hard and saved some money to be able to travel work free for a part of the summer. We were both staying in London for a few days and tossing up on ideas on what to do for the summer. It was whilst playing a card game in a Clapham pub drinking a bottle of red when Sophie just said, ‘Let’s buy a van, convert it and travel through Europe’. I didn’t even think twice, I loved the idea.”

Aaron and Sophie departed from Southampton two weeks ago and took the ferry to Calais, France, with plans to drive along the coast around Europe.

Aaron said, “Even on the Ferry we didn’t know whether to get off and turn left or right as the rough route we wanted to take is the coast line around most of Europe. We ended up taking a road right which was heading along the northern road of France heading west. Simply driving along to coast until we reached the Basque county and then Spain, stopping as we please in stunning towns and cities – sometimes staying out in woods for those peaceful and scenic nights.”

The couple are currently in north Spain with plans to head to Portugal next. From there they want to return to Spain before crossing into Morocco, driving towards the Sahara Desert and returning to Europe to explore countries such as Croatia and Sweden. Aaron said, “Every day is competently different despite living out of the same van, the views in the morning and evenings are stunning.

Published in Daily Times, June 26th, 2017.