A COUPLE sold everything they own to travel the UK in a motorhome – with their dogs in tow.
Stuart Scattergood, 36, and his husband, Andrew, 57, gave up their home and the pub they ran, got rid of their cars, furniture and over 17 bags of clothes.
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They bought a £10,000 motorhome and have been on the road for the last two years – with their pooches, a 15-year-old Shih Tzu called Pixie, Soda, a 15-year-old Labrador collie cross and Luna, a six-year-old Shih Tzu Chihuahua cross.
The two ran the Belle Vue Pub near Scarborough, North Yorkshire, for four years before Andrew jokingly suggested they should buy a motorhome.
But his joke soon became a reality and both decided they’d done enough with the boozer – turning it from “not being very good” to award-winning.
The couple – who rented the pub from a landlord – handed in their six-month notice and began looking for a new transportable home.
They sold all of their belongings – including chairs, tables, sofas, white goods and some of their Doctor Who collectibles – to afford their new motorhome.
Stuart and Andrew even cashed in on their two cars – a Mercedes and a Range Rover – getting back £4,000 for the pair.
They also donated 17 bags of clothes to charity to free up some much-needed space in their motorhome.
After raising close to £10k they bought their new RV in February 2023 and hit the road with their three dogs – hoping their savings would allow them to travel up and down the UK for the next two years.
But 15 months on, the pair have been all over the UK from John O’Groats to Lands End and are currently under budget, hoping to live out their nomadic lifestyle for a further two years.
Stuart said: “It’s a cheaper way of living and the freedom it gives us is brilliant.
“It was a really nerve-wracking move.
“We were secure in the pub but it became too mundane and too samey.
“We couldn’t take it any further than what we’d done and we needed to do something different and financially paying for someone else’s mortgage didn’t make sense.
“It’s nice to have the dogs along on the adventure.
“Andrew has a Labrador cross collie and she often knocks me flying when she’s bouncing around the motorhome, but going out with them is brilliant and they get to see different places.”
Andrew added: “We started in February 2023 and we’re still doing it and we’re still happy.
“We’ve been all over the UK apart from East Anglia and we’ve loved it.
“It’s just about exploring places in the UK that we’ve never been to and places we didn’t know existed.
“We can live off-grid for weeks as we’re not reliant on anything really.
“Water can be the only struggle sometimes but our outgoing costs are just fuel and food shopping.
“We can see the comparison in food prices across the country. We don’t have any council tax, rent or bills and it’s just a bottle of gas every week.”
Couple Who Quit Jobs To Live In Campervan For Just £34 A Day
Ilford couple Ellis Gerry and Alexandra Katie, both 27, abandoned their East London borough for a life on the road last year.
The thrifty pair set their sights 30,000 miles away, on Australia, and bought the second-hand campervan for £3,000.
Alex told PA Real life: “We wanted to save enough money so that we wouldn’t have to work along the way.”
Ellis added: “We’re very strict with our budget, so we have £34 per day between us and that is for everything: food, petrol, admission fees.”
The respective geography teacher and learning assistant spent three years stringently saving up, and now claim they are set get all the way to Australia without earning a single penny.
Alex expect this will take around 27 months and the pair are already successfully nine months into the trip, approximately 9,500 miles so far.
With their strict daily budget of £34, Alex and Ellis estimated they’re spending a third of the average living cost in London.
Feeling the cost of living crisis squeeze they wanted to try out a new nomadic way of life and have no regrets with their decision.
They daring duo said they ‘really love the lifestyle’ despite it not being particularly luxurious.
For their travels, they have forgone a proper shower, toilet , and running water.
Thanks to their solar panel and public water sources, apart from food, fuel, and car insurance, they claim they don’t have any outgoing bills.
Stuart and Andrew have no set plan when deciding where they stay for the night, but have used their free time to attend motorhome festivals.
Stuart said: “If it’s summer and we know we have to be somewhere then we might be travelling every day.
“We have our morning plan and see where we can park up and camp.
“Sometimes we’re stuck in lay-bys in the middle of nowhere so it’s not always sunshine and rainbows.”
Andrew added: “If we like it, we’ll stay a while and if we don’t like it, we’ll move on.
“Next week we have the Slumber on the Humber van life festival and the week after that we’re on holiday with parents.
“Then we’re heading back up to Skegness in September, before the NEC motorhome show in October.”
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The couple bought an older vehicle with a plan of doing a mini-renovation on it.
Stuart said: “We had to get the whole van welded again and we knew there were going to be issues with an older vehicle.
“Andrew refitted the bathroom so it’s been re-panelled and we’ve turned the sitting room into a bedroom with a mattress – just bringing it up to modern day.
“We’ve got solar panels, batteries and LED lighting so it’s a bit more efficient too.”
Stuart and Andrew have been documenting their journey on social media, in the hopes they can raise some extra funds.
Stuart said: “We joke with everyone and say when the savings run out we have to go back to work.
“We’re just on the cusp of the channel being monetised on YouTube.
“Our first original plan was for two years travelling with the van – but we’ve actually done a lot better than we thought financially so we’re hoping to get another two years out of it and it depends on how well social media works and seeing if we can find some other forms of income.”
Both chose locations in Scotland for their favourite locations they’ve visited.
Andrew said: “Mine is Skye – it’s absolutely stunning.”
Whereas Stuart prefers the entire west coast of Scotland.
List Of Places They’ve Visited So Far
Penzance
Mullion
Haven Perran Sands
Jamaica Inn
Teignmouth
Stonehenge
Cheddar Gorge
Weston-Super-Mare
Bristol
Abingdon
Newport
Barry Island
Margam
Swansea
Newton
Cors Caron National Nature Reserve
Porthmadog
Caernarfon
Prestatyn
Ironbridge
Kenilworth
Leicester
Mansfield
Peak District
Newington
Southport
Eastrington Ponds Nature Reserve
Skegness
Holyhead
Scarborough
Haven Thornwick
Ravenscar
Penrith
Berwick-Upon-Tweed
Carlisle
Dumfries
Stranraer
Ballantrae
Girvan
Ayr
Kelburn Castle
Loch Lomond
Crianlarich
Lanark
Falkirk
Linlithglow
Edinburgh
North Berwick
Kirkcaldy
Blairgowrie
Balmoral
Grantown-on-Spey
Loch Ness
Fort Augustus
Glenshiel
Alness
Embo
Brora
Halkirk
Reiss Sands
Skye