Every day is like Sunday here in the Backwards Van. We wake up whenever we want, usually brought back down to earth by some loud unfamiliar noise like the slamming of a car door inexplicably close by our sleeping heads or the sudden scratch and scrabble of some birds sharp talons scribbling on the steel… Continue reading Cheating at the Fishing Competition (& Other Outrageous Accusations)
One of the most common questions we get in The Backwards Van is about waste, or more specifically, human excretia, and how we deal with said waste when living longterm on the road. Frankly, we were beginning to think this paticular topic is over-thought, over examined and over-discussed (we'd much rather talk travel than toilets… Continue reading Water, Waste and the Mess We Make
"The land of fairy, where nobody gets old and godly and grave, where nobody gets old and crafty and wise, where nobody gets old and bitter of tongue..." Maybe W.B. Yeats was writing about this magical fairy glen, hidden from sight under majestic Knocknarea mountain, where raindrops gather on early holly and the beardy spagnum… Continue reading Sunsets, Slingshots and Surfing in Sligo
Dixie the Fiat Ducato turned 22 in October. We have owned her only 2 years and she has taken us over 40,000 miles, from Dublin to Dundee, Cork to York, from Buttevant to the Butt of Lewis and from Ramsgate right back to our own new front gate in County Mayo, Ireland. We have woken… Continue reading Black, White and Grey On Top
Bed. It must be your favourite place in the world or else we think you've got your priorities all wrong. It definitely is ours and just because we choose to sleep in a van doesn't mean we can't have the same level of comfort we would enjoy from any other bed, with a little planning… Continue reading Sweet Dreams Are Made Of Steel
Back in November, we bought a house. Nothing big or fancy (or mortgage worthy, thankfully) but a cute and warm and quiet spot to use as our base and to rest Dixies weary wheels between travels. The house is basically a manufactured mobile home encased in rendered concrete block, complete with a tow bar, and… Continue reading Neither Here Nor There (Galway in the Mist)
We bid a sad, sudden and sentimental farewell to our fulltime vanlives in mid November after 15 amazing months on the road, recounting the best days and the worst days and the most memorable ones as we drove and laughing and laughing until tears flowed down our faces. Crossing the Musical Bridge at Bellacorick late… Continue reading All Roads Lead to Home
Problems, problems. A 21 year old van is bound to have some. But we've been lucky. 30,000 miles in 15 months might not sound like a lot, especially to someone who commutes long distances or drives for a living. But just for a little comparison, in our vanlife so far we've covered the equivalent of… Continue reading Breaking Down Is Hard To Do
Like most Irish love stories, ours began in a pub. Striking up a conversation about a brand new tattoo still raw on my forearm, it was the usual case of guy meets girl, guy winces at the blood and buys girl a drink regardless. Except it wasn't a creamy, stereotypical pint of Guinness (I'm a… Continue reading Going Home, Going Dry and The Backwards Law
A couple of months ago, I came across a post online seeking a winter caretaker for a small plot of land. The tiny caravan and shed, refered to by the owner as a farm, was completely offgrid (and probably completely lacking the planning permission necessary for its very existence) and conveniently located miles from nowhere,… Continue reading The Backwards Van meets The Sometimes Shed
the backwards van 