sick

‘I was sick of paying rent every week – so I sold everything and live out of a van’

Kath Cross and Stuart Hall have been living full-time in their campervan and have travelled over 25,000 miles on their epic adventures

A couple sold all their possessions to buy a campervan and travel the world – for just £30 a day. Kath Cross, 49, and Stuart Hall, 48, have travelled over 25,000 miles on epic adventures through the Sahara desert, Europe and Scotland in their make-shift home.

The pair have been living in their 7.5m Mercedes Sprinter ever since Kath sold all her possessions and stopped paying rent four years ago. To date they have toured over 15 countries – and will have exceeded 20 by the time they get back from their current trip to Montenegro.

The couple work on the road full-time under the name Vanavigation – where they create, write and share travel content. Though their spending plan varies slightly depending on which country they are residing in, the pair say on average they spend around £900 to £1,200 a month – cheaper than Kath’s old house rental in Cardiff.

This means they budget around £30 to £40 a day for their lifestyle – with half spent on fuel. Kath, from Cardiff, said: “It was a choice we made between one life and another – and we don’t regret a second of it.

“When I sold my possessions, it made me realise that you are supposed to own things – not them own you. When you have a mortgage, a car payment, you are owned by society, fixed because you have to stay where you are and pay your bills.

“The more of my stuff I sold the more free I felt – the more I am realising those possessions owned me and pinned me in one place. Life owns you and you are supposed to own it.”

Kath and Stuart bonded over their shared love of nature and the outdoors after meeting in a South Wales walking group back in 2021. They hiked over 105 peaks in the UK during their first year of dating and Kath decided that Stuart was the person she wanted to travel the world with.

She soon after decided to pack up her four-bed rental house and sell all of her possessions back in 2022 when her daughters left home. Stuart and Kath have since travelled over 25,000 miles – including their first trip all the way to the Sahara desert, which Kath described as her “lifelong dream”.

Kath said: “I had an idea that when my kids left home I wanted to drive to the Sahara – it was a dream I’d had for years. Stu already owned the van, and we had been together a few months when we visited Scotland for a month in the campervan. We didn’t kill each other and got on very well.

“So that winter I decided that I was going to downsize my life, my kids had left home, the four-bed rental was too much for me and I just didn’t want it anymore. It was taking every penny that I earned just to keep the rental going – but we knew we could live cheaper on the road.

“A lot of people are scared of the big adventure, but Stu was up for the idea and so we drove to the edge of the Sahara desert and haven’t looked back.”

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The mother-of-two is able to ensure a steady monthly income for the pair after she set up her own business online back in 2012. As a single parent, Kath wanted to ensure she could earn a living while being at home with her children – and her copywriting and freelance work saw her amass 1.6million followers on Facebook in 2014.

Stuart, who works for an agency as a truck driver, works when they visit the UK after trips to help top up their money before their next adventure. Her and Stuart are both work together to produce content for Vanavigation – releasing weekly Youtube episodes, travel guides and insightful blogs across social media on how to travel the world.

Kath said: “Life really is a lot cheaper in the van – you don’t need two wages. We were away for 101 days and our average spend was £1000 a month – this is less than my rent used to be in Cardiff and we lived like kings and queens.”

Despite more than half their budget being on fuel, the pair say they don’t live like they are on holiday – and mostly cook in the van and only pay for a few activities a month. Kath said: “As fuel prices have gone up we have just slowed down!

“We just drive a bit slower and make a few less stops – which means we extend the trip really. When you’re in North Macedonia and paying 130 a litre for diesel, there is no point rushing back to pay whatever horrifying price it is in the UK at the moment.”

The pair are able to live in their fully-equipped campervan which boasts a full working set up including: a shower, toilet, king-size bed, sink, and a fully working kitchen with an oven, gas burner. Stuart, who converted the inside of the van shortly after purchasing it, said: “We can even do a roast dinner.”

So far, the pair have driven 3,000 miles to Denmark and back, 7,000 miles around Spain and Portugal, 2,000 miles to Scotland and 8,000 miles to the Sahara. They are currently in Montenegro, and are just shy of 5,000 miles on their trip which has seen them drive through France, Italy, Albania, Greece, North Macedonia and Kosovo.

Their next stops are Serbia, Bosnia, Croatia, Slovenia and France. Kath and Stu said their Sahara trip has been one of their many highlights – which also include their visit to the Atlas mountains, Kosovo and Denmark.

Stuart, from Southampton, said: “We drove to the edge of the sand dunes and were drinking coffee out of own mugs from home. Then we opened up the curtains and there were 40 camels outside – it was totally surreal. I had only ever been on package holidays before.”

Kath said they also loved their visit to the Atlas mountains because of the scenery and people they met during their trip and volunteering. She said: “There are communities there that have nothing, and they just want to help you.

“We helped a guy stuck in the snow and he wanted to take us to his village, which had 66 houses and a mosque. His family made us food and drinks and the kids in the village came to meet us and it was only a few months after the earthquake. It was so special connecting with the local communities.”

The pair are strong advocates for following your dreams and travelling the world in a mindful and sustainable way. Stuart said: “We choose to step lighter on this earth.

“My big diesel van has much less of a carbon footprint than a three-bed house where people leave the lights on. We don’t buy new stuff, we wear clothes until we can’t wear them anymore and we live light on plastics. We love this life and we learn so much about people.”

Kath said: “You can’t dream yourself into this life, you have to make intentional decisions to get here. You have to let go of other things to get here. We left the rat race – and we’re really glad about it.”

You can follow their adventures here: “https://www.facebook.com/vanavigationuk/

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Coronation Street Jodie’s fate sealed as her sick plan for David is ‘exposed’

Coronation Street’s Murder Week came to a shocking end but the drama isn’t over as fans are convinced Jodie’s parting words for David spell trouble ahead

Coronation Street have revealed that Jodie is not the murder victim in their upcoming whodunnit – but that doesn’t mean she’s safe.

The ITV soap have been leading up to this week with dramatic twists and turns, teasing who might die. On 1 May, the ITV soap aired a dramatic set of scenes, in which Theo Silverton was found dead in an alleyway, Carl Webster flatlined in hospital and Maggie Driscoll was left unconscious on the street. As for Jodie Ramsey – after trying and failing to get brother-in-law David Platt to sleep with her, she’s run away from the cobbles.

Before she fled, Jodie also tried to convince David and his sister Sarah that he came on to her and she rejected him. On her way out, she left a voicemail for David saying again that she turned him down after he came on to her and that he needs to stop trying it on with her.

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Fans are convinced Jodie is trying to set David up and frame him for murder. One wrote: “Jodie is like doing Gone Girl on David.” In Gone Girl, Amy Dunne orchestrates her disappearance and then fakes her own death to set up her husband for muder after finding out he cheated on her.

Another fan echoed this sentiment, saying they they thought Jodie would go “missing”, just like Amy Dunne. They said: “My money’s on Jodie missing and will reappear at some stage to cause havoc.”

Fans are also certain that Theo will not be the only death in the near future. Many have pointed out that Carl and Maggie have both been hurt and could succumb to their injuries in the coming episodes. One said: “What we know after that episode – Theo: Dead? Maggie: Attacked. Carl: Fighting for his life. Jodie: Alive. Megan: AWOL. So could we have multiple deaths here?”

Another agreed: “Might be all 5 of them dead, we dont know where Megan and Jodie are.” Others argued that Jodie seemed to be the only one that won’t die. One fan asked: “I’m guessing Jodie is probably the only one who is still definitely alive then….?”

Over the past week, Corrie have been focusing on one character per episode. Jodie’s episode happened on Wednesday 29 April. During the episode, Jodie was about to leave Weatherfield when she was caught by her niece Lilly.

After Lilly had left, two men arrived at number eight, where they spotted Shona, Jodie’s half-sister and David’s wife, outside. She pretended not to know anything about Jodie. But when they attempted to take hold of her, Jodie shouted after them, and they left. Viewers will recognise the two men who arrived in scenes that aired last week.

Still credited as Bloke 1 and Bloke 2, they had been putting pressure on a little girl called Olivia to get hold of a USB stick that was in Jodie’s possession. She handed it over to Bloke 1 and Bloke 2, and they threatened that they would be back if what they wanted was not on it.

After the ordeal, Shona convinced Jodie to stay, but when Jodie found proof that Shona had known where she was as a child and chose not to make contact, she was furious. She stole Shona’s phone and reacted to a text message from a drunken David and then crawled into his bed, pretending to be Shona, when he came in. He only realised she wasn’t when they started kissing. After her plan failed, she started to leave again, only to be confronted by Lilly, who wanted her to stay.

Coronation Street airs weeknights at 8:30pm on ITV1 and ITV X.

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Jesy Nelson devastated as car with her sick twins’ life-saving hospital equipment is stolen

An image collage containing 2 images, Image 1 shows Twin babies holding hands in a hospital bed with medical equipment in the background, Image 2 shows Jesy Nelson on the 'This Morning' TV show

JESY Nelson’s £100k car packed with her sick twins’ life-saving hospital equipment has been stolen from outside her home.

The former Little Mix star begged fans for help in trying to locate the missing vehicle.

Jesy Nelson’s car was taken overnight Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Her baby twins’ hospital equipment is in the car Credit: Instagram

She wrote on social media: “My car got stolen off of my drive way in the early hours of this morning.

“If anyone sees a black defender Reg plate JJ73SSY please if any of you have seen or know of any information can you dm me or contact the police .

The 34-year-old gave birth to her daughters Story and Ocean in May last year following a high-risk pregnancy.

The girls were later diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 — the most severe form of a rare disease (SMA) affecting muscle strength and movement.

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This causes an individual to lose the ability to walk, eat and breathe.

Jesy added in her post: “I have so much of my girls hospital equipment in that car that’s really needed.”

She shared this message on social media Credit: Instagram/jesynelson

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