Our story so far…
We are a family of 3 - Dom, Missy and Rosie. Along with our dog Juan and our cats Leo and Morph, we’ve been living in our self converted sprinter campervan since June 2019. We left the UK to travel Europe but only managed to see France, Spain and Portugal before the pandemic put a spanner in the works!
In 2021 we decided to buy a plot of land in Central Portugal so we would have somewhere safe to go should travel become unfeasable again. We fell in love with a wild hillside in the Castelo Branco district and it called us to put down some roots. Wild Lands is becoming a slice of Off Grid heaven, as we install rainwater catchment systems, start to grow food and create places to rest and enjoy the complete immersion in nature.
Missy
Head chef, vegetable grower, and chief organiser of Wild Lands. Age 41.
Missy worked in retail from age 16-23, as a dancer until 27, and then became self employed running events which she continues to do remotely.
Missy is vegan and loves to cook, she’s looking forward to getting an awesome outdoor kitchen built on Wild Lands.
She also enjoys meditating, reading about permaculture and plants (and a bit of Terry Pratchett), painting (badly), and birdwatching.
Dom
Woodworker extrordinaire! Captain of the Sub and tropical plant grower. Age 54.
Dom also worked in retail from 18-30 as a store and regional manager. He was then a professional musician in a band for 8 years before running events with Missy. He currently runs our YouTube channel and Facebook group.
Dom enjoys drone flying, video editing, DJing, and guinness drinking!
Rosie
Artist, gamer, entrepreneur, nature lover and cook. Age 13.
Rosie has been home educated since she was 6, and unschooled for most of that time.
She loves wild swimming, campfires and eating out.
Rosie ran an online business selling her own resin jewelry from age 11-12, and now plans to sell crafts at local markets.
Juan
Juan is 8, we rehomed him from a life as a Spanish stray in 2015.
He’s a bit crazy, full of energy, very loving and tactile. He loves to watch wildlife - birds, ants, fish, anything that moves.
He has a pidgin Spanish accent with a bit of a speech impediment. We aren’t sure why…
Morph
Morph is 11, he was an unwanted farm kitten originally and he talks like a bruiser.
Hes a BIG boy, and is often remarked upon as being larger than Garfield…
He enjoys sitting outside having a sniff, sitting on a lap by the fire, and eating all the biscuits.
Leo
Leo is 3, he was a Blue Cross kitten from a rescued pregnant cat. He is Rosie’s cat!
Leo enjoys birdwatching from the dashboard of our van, big games chasing string around, and chewing plastic.
He has a squeaky voice, much like his miow.
Wild Lands
A wild hillside in the Castelo Branco district
Wild Lands is 3 acres and completely off grid - no phone, water or electricity connection. It’s a 10 minute drive on dirt road to get to the nearest tarmac road. Neighbouring land is farmed, mainly for olives and grapes, and there are a few other off grid families living nearby within walking distance.
We viewed the property in August ‘21, the third of seven we visited in total. It was love at first sight, honestly. All of us were wearing entirely the wrong clothes to view this overgrown land of thistles and boulders - shorts and sandals aren’t ideal! We were shown quickly down to the bottom of the hill where there was a dry streambed and a well in a large area full of bright green bracken. The well had water in, and was surrounded by brambles and other plants.
Walking back up the land we were shown multiple terraces up one side, a small ruin with a collapsed roof, an ancient olive grove in need of serious pruning and lots of boulders, pines and oak trees.
We asked if we could stay in our van overnight at the entrance to the property, which was allowed, and we used that evening to watch and listen. Crickets, cicadas, ants, the clear night sky FULL of stars, no sound but birdsong in the morning… we imagined what we might be able to do with the land, where we could park the van and grow food and sit to enjoy the view…
We viewed four more properties in the following week, because we didn’t want to think that we’d rushed in when there may have been something more practical or suitable out there. However, Wild Lands had already claimed our hearts, and each property was just a disappointment when compared with Wild Lands’ charms.
We put in an offer of 13,000E, although it was on the market for 17,500E. We expected to wait for weeks, but the owner came back within days saying we could have it for 14k, and a week later we had signed the deeds!
We paid solicitor fees, land registry and taxes on top, so all in we got our slice of heaven for 16,212E. Our solicitor was Liliana Solipa, and we highly recommend her.
Now we are working on creating a balance here between having what we need to live - shelter, rainwater storage, food growing areas etc - and allowing Wild Lands to still be wild.
The best way to follow our efforts is to subscribe to our YouTube channel, we film a mixture of everyday life and how-to videos as we learn how to live off grid.
Those Weirdos
When we began our Vanlife journey we called ourselves Those Weirdos.
Everyone we told thought we were crazy to want to live in a tiny van with 4 pets, giving up a nice comfy house… So we became Those Weirdos living in a van, travelling around Europe!
We converted the ex-DHL van ourselves, Dom doing his excellent woodwork and Missy learning how to wire 12V electrics. We made a few videos about it, but weren’t very good at filming or editing then! You can see those on YouTube HERE
We travelled from June 2019-August 2021, with two 6 month stints in lockdown in the UK, on Dom’s mum’s driveway. We had an amazing time travelling - met so many great people, saw awesome places, swam and ate and walked and experienced so much.
Camping by a river in Wales, in our first month of vanlife.
A campfire by the beach at Quarteira, Portugal with new friends.
Visiting Fountains Abbey in Yorkshire.
A magical walk in nature in the French countryside.
Inside The Sub, our little campervan home.
Driving to Camp Quirky in 2019 with our beloved Bogie.
We were featured in the media a few times too!
On the radio
Missy was interviewed on Women’s Hour on BBC Radio 4 in April 2021.
Watch a video clip on iplayer or listen to the whole show: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m000v3pr (we're on the last 12 minutes)
On TV
We were on Million Pound Motorhomes on Channel 5 in October 2021. We filmed for an exhausting two days but only make it on screen for a few minutes! You can watch the episode HERE on My5.
We were interviewed live on Channel 4's Steph's Packed Lunch in May 2021.
Watch the whole clip plus our 'behind the scenes' stuff here:
In print
VanLifers: Beautiful Conversions for Life on the Road. History Press Ltd.
“ A celebration of some of the most creative van and vehicle conversions on the road, alongside their very inventive owners”
The book showcases 18 couples/families, of which we are one!
Check it out, or buy it, from the (affiliate) link here:
Elle Magazine, Hungary
Private Motor Club Magazine
