As I write this blog I am sat in a camping field in the Lake District, in the sun, after a long hike along the river this morning. One of our Early Retirement goals that we set only last week was to get the weekly blog out regularly and on time, however we have had 3 nights away in Borrowdale with absolutely NO phone signal – so we have failed already! But it has been bliss not having any digital distractions and we have thoroughly enjoyed hiking, wild swimming and chilling out around a fire in the evening.
Nelson gets a little TLC ready for our summer travels
After last weekends impromptu escape to the Lakes wild camping, we had to hot foot it back to the Dales early Tuesday morning as Nelson was booked into have some work done on the gas BBQ point and electric hook-up. Luckily the company could fit us in at short notice and they also did a bit of a health check on the gas and electrical systems. There are some small jobs that we will need to get done over the summer, not bad after almost 6 years of constant travel adventures. We then had to head down to Cheshire as he was booked in to have an oil pressure sensor changed after his successful MOT last week.
First night of entertaining
After having Luke and Charlotte staying last weekend, we had our first evening of entertaining on Tuesday. We invited the neighbours from both sides round for a BBQ, it was such a lovely evening getting to know them better after all these months. We also invited Sheila, who we bought the cottage from, round for cake and tea so she could have a look at what we had done with the cottage. It is so nice to have the time and a house that is habitable to be able to have people round and look forward to many occasions like this over the coming years.
Double escape to the Lakes
After getting back into the hills and completing a few Wainwright’s at the beginning of the week, we decided we would return for the bank holiday weekend. We were supposed to be at a College reunion in Leeds on Saturday that got postponed, which left us with an open weekend. With such an amazing weather forecast and knowing of a campsite that you don’t need to make bookings for, we packed up and set off again. We have had 4 days of sunshine and completed another 3 Wainwright’s. We are now over half way through the challenge on 111/214. The Lakes were extremely busy, but an advantage of hiking the Wainwrights is that we were on some of the less well known peaks and saw only a handful of people all weekend on the hills. The campsite, on the other hand, was absolutely rammed! We took full advantage of the hot sunny weather and managed to find a few pools for a wild swim.
An active week
A goal we set ourselves now all the renovations are out of the way to be more active. When we lived in Cheshire we were both members of a CrossFit gym and Richard particularly, trained regularly. Now, the countryside is our playground and we want to use it more. The weather has helped and we have had a very active week hiking both locally and in the Lakes. Being obsessed with Stats, in the last 10 days we have walked over 76km and gained 3781m of elevation which is almost half an Everest! It feels amazing to be in the mountains and exercise, the mental health benefits are just as important as the physical and we feel thoroughly recharged again. However, I think our legs need a day or two of rest now!
Early retirement goals update
Last week, we set ourselves some Early Retirement goals now that all the renovations are complete and our time is our own. Up until this point we have loved our retirement and time together, but have struggled to settle into any kind of routine. There has been a constant stream of different trades people in the house which has been quite tying and expensive!
So far, not too bad.
1. Keep to a £120 per week budget for food, petrol and other expenses (not bills) – we spent £155, however within that we had £54 campsite fees and 5 nights away in the Lakes. We also catered for 7 at our BBQ and travelled to Cheshire which didn’t help the budget1
2. Be active and get out into the countryside hiking and biking – we smashed that target!
3. Plan and eat healthy meals within our budget – we had a great week, no food wasted, no extra trips to Booths and the COOP, and lots of fruit and nice evening meals.
4. To get away in the van more and make the most of our retirement freedom – this was so easy when the weather has been so good. It has also fired up the travel bugs in us again, after all this is one of the main reasons why we retired.
5. To get the weekly blog out on time – failed again as we had no phone reception in the back and beyond.
6. To upload 2 weekly YouTube Vlogs – We have done all the filming and editing, which we enjoy when we are out hiking. The biggest problem we will find is the uploading when we are travelling with sketchy Wi-Fi.
7. To read more for pleasure (Jackie) – this is something I have struggled with since lockdown and the turbulent year we went through. I went to our local book exchange in the village and have read one and half books this week! (It helps when there is absolutely no phone reception!)
8. Maintain friendships and build new ones – This is an important goal for us having moved away from all our friends and family. It has been a really social week with both family and our new neighbours.
A weekend of coincidences and YouTube fame!
After nearly 10 months of filming YouTube videos, it was quite surreal that someone on the campsite recognised us! It felt quite strange that a total stranger knew all about our cottage and van travels. They were a lovely couple though and we spent a nice evening chatting round a campfire.
An even bigger mind-blowing moment came when we were chatting to another couple who were South African and we realised we were both at the same primary school in Johannesburg in the 1970’s! Just WOW!
Finding the hidden places...
We had a lovely day out mid week exploring our local area. The weather was stunning, so we made up a quick picnic, packed the car and headed off for the day. We had a lovely day out exploring the more northern Dales, particularly Wensleydale. We hit the tourist hotspots of Hawes and Aysgarth Fall, as well as finding the quite places a bit off the beaten track. We had our first wild swim of the season at West Burton pools- we agree with the local swimmers that described it as "bracing"- it was bl***dy freezing but fun at the same time.
Wanderlust Magazine fame
We were so proud to have one of our photos featured in Wanderlust magazine- one of our favourite travel magazines and prime motivators for our ongoing travels and adventures. They approached us after finding one of our images from Arizona on Instagram and we jumped at the chance to see our image in print in such a lovely magazine.
So another super busy week in our early retirement! I am not sure how we ever found the time to work.
have a great week
Jackie and Richard x
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