We live full-time in a Renault van after quitting jobs – we survive on £34 a day because it’s two-thirds cheaper on road
AN ADVENTUROUS duo have ditched the London life to live full time in their converted campervan and are now heading down under on the cheap.
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.
Ellis explained how from seeing their social media and work-free lifestyle, many assume that they’re extremely wealthy.
He said: “I would just love to tell them that we’re just normal people who decided to commit to something and put everything into it.
“So anyone can do it for sure, you just have to decide to commit to it.”
The childhood friends were reunited during lockdown and started dating after several socially distanced walks.
With enough practice staying inside for the pandemic, they decided purchase a joint campervan.
As soon as they spotted the Renault Trafic in February 2021, now lovingly named Goldie, they new she was the one.
Ellis described Goldie as: “quite charming, you kind of feel like you’re in your grandma’s house.”
After a test trip to Scotland and Ireland, Alex and Ellis took Goldie on her latest journey October 24 last year, two days after the couple got engaged.
The team has already passed through 15 countries, including Russia, Kazakhstan, and India, and will end up covering 28 in total.
According to their Instagram page, they are currently in Uzbekistan and their latest post shows off Goldie in all her glory.
The page has racked up more than 15.k followers on the platform who are keen to follow their online journey, where each country is well-documented.
“One of the most astounding parts of our journey has been the people we met along the way,” said Ellis.
He mentioned how meeting other travellers was great but mingling with the locals was his favourite part of the journey.
“The world is so beautiful but it’s the people which make it.
“Human nature has just blown us away.”