Yes, it’s true. From September [2018] I will be travelling solo in a campervan. Destination Europe.
This time last year, I was drafting my resignation letter to leave my 9-5 (or more like 9-8..) job as Head of Company Secretarial for a major multinational energy organisation, and right now I am playing with graphic ideas to put on a campervan I will tour around Europe in… How did this all come about?
Law of Attraction
Well, “be careful what you wish for”, they say. Absolutely. In fact, I’d say “be AWARE of what you THINK of!”.
I am a big advocate of the law of attraction, and I do believe in the power of the energy we emanate from thoughts we put our focus on.
I mention the law of attraction because the campervan adventure was pretty much manifested in this way. From a thought, a vision and an action!
For manifestation to really work , thoughts are not enough. You need to add those extra important ingredients: vision and action, but also very importantly: feelings and belief. The Universe (or whatever you believe in) will then support you and present you with what you actually need, which may not necessarily be as you’d envisaged it exactly!
First Thought
In early January 2018, I was on my travels in Asia, in a beautiful, remote island off the West coast of Thailand.
I have a family WhatsApp group that includes: mum, auntie, sister, 2 brothers, sister-in-law, brother’s girlfriend and my eldest niece. I love it. It’s been active for some time and because I live away from everyone, I report regularly on it, mostly at the expense of my brothers who perhaps don’t really need to know all the details I share. LOL.
My older brother is a genius mechanic since forever and while I was swinging in my hammock with a wandering mind, I messaged him via the family group to ask if he could help me find a campervan to roam around Europe. I didn’t know what I was thinking of doing with it exactly yet, but I loved the idea of continuing my travels in this way, once back in Europe.
The Early Signs
Since then, I continued to feed that idea with more and more energy, through thoughts and discussing it generously with anyone I’d meet along my travels, willing to listen to my day-dreaming.
I had little plans for my return to London after 4 months in Asia, however I knew the office wasn’t one of them. I looked at various options to get my hands on a van, but finances were limited. Hiring or even buying an old model for conversion weren’t the cheapest or easiest of solutions.
I can’t remember who planted this seed in my head, but one day someone mentioned to me that there are companies out there who sometimes look to loan campervans to bloggers. I thought: “blogging? me? Nah…nah..”.
Oh my, the preconceptions I had on bloggers… Whoops!
The Action
A couple of months passed. I was laying on my bed back in my London flat, fully awake at 4am, suffering from the longest jet-lag ever. It lasted almost 2 weeks! That morning, I researched through motorhome and campervan bloggers and found by chance a reference to the wonderful adventures of David and Karen of “The Grey Gappers”, completing an 18-month journey in a motorhome loaned by Elddis.
One of the blogs I read suggested that the same company may be looking for new adventurers. The article was already 6-month old, but that didn’t stop me from making a crazy, half-mindless action. I typed up an open-heart email to the team at Elddis, enquiring on the possibility of travelling in one of their vehicles and share my experience online too!
Manifestation!
I can’t describe the excitement I felt when I received the reply from Elddis within the same week, with a potential proposal that we could discuss. It made me dance like Snoopy!
Moments later the worries and concerns kicked in , and I freaked out…all sorts of fears and logical questions started popping up in my head. But I knew, especially judging from my first reaction, that something was very right about going through with it. I stayed curious and waited to see where this could go.
That was in March. Fast-forward to August, and the van has officially been launched ( ELDDIS ) and I can now share the news publicly, and announce that my solo vanlife experience will be happening FOR REAL!
Previews of my future, temporary, new home-on-wheels !
WOW WOW, huh? Hand-over is agreed for end of September, “accidentally” coinciding with my birthday. What a great celebration plan!
3 comments
Che emozione leggere questo articolo, sei brava! Quando parlo di te a persone che non ti conoscono non sanno se sei più matta o più coraggiosa. Entrambe, dico io! Una forza della natura! In bocca al lupo Sis…..Enjoy every moment! Love you
Francesca!!!! This is beyond AWESOME! I am really looking forward to following your travels in Europe! (And maybe next you can come visit me in Australia, no? 😘). YOU GO GIRL❣️
Wow, and I was imagining an old converted VW :)! Look forward to seeing you on the road! Max