Hungry? Run out of bread? Feeling a little... exasperated after spending £95 on the most expensive fuel stop of your life to date? Parked up indefinitely in a tiny town with not a single shop open even if you had any money to spend? We did, and we were, all of those things at once.… Continue reading The Unconventional Oven: Williams Pear-fectly Light & Fruity Soda Bread
Decisions. Admittedly, we at The Backwards Van are not great with them. So if someone else wants to make them for us, a local person, a complete stranger, an online review, a dream I had or even fate itself, that is absolutely fine by us. Somewhere along the winding backroads between Falkirk and the Trossachs… Continue reading Barradise Lost (Island Hopping in the Outer Hebrides)
Usually here in the Backwards Van we are all about taking Dixie out of society to the most remote and rural destinations when we explore any region or country and Scotland is no exception, more time has been spent pouring over maps of the majestic snow-capped mountains, isolated valleys and the rugged Northern coast of… Continue reading Bridges, Dreams and the Weirdest of Scenes (Strange Days in Falkirk)
William does 100% of the driving in Dixie, I have never driven as much as a car nevermind a house and that is most likely the way things will stay. But being co-pilot comes with its own pressures, I'm chief cigarette roller for example, which is a full-time position in itself, I'm the entire navigation… Continue reading By Hook or by Crook! (Whatever will be, will be)
We had been taking it easy for a few days, parked up safely outside number 109 in Dublin to catch our breaths, a couple of administration details needed to be ironed out and no better place to hang around than the house I grew up in. Some bureaucracy in life is unavoidable; modern humans need… Continue reading Laying low in Curracloe (or, Saving Private Dixie)
Achill (pronounced Ack-ill) Island, Irelands biggest island, tethered to the mainland of County Mayo by a single bridge, is almost as westerly as one can get without falling off the country altogether. We drove in from the Mullet Peninsula on Monday afternoon, a lazy, winding route that took us leisurely along the stunning Wild Atlantic… Continue reading Boycotts, Bog Holes and Booleying (or, The Start of the Affair)
We woke at sunrise in a massive and deserted carpark tucked away up high between the Mourne Mountains in County Down, Northern Ireland. Such a great free place to park up, one of our best finds yet, it had stunning views, picnic tables, bins and various signposted routes to follow through the forrest. We walked… Continue reading The Mountains of Mourne (23-01-18)
As W.E. (William & Elizabeth) sit on the 11:30pm ferry from Cairnryan, Scotland to Belfast in Northern Ireland, W.E. are reminiscing on our 3 amazing months wildcamping in Wales, England and Scotland, and have broken it all down for you into numbers: -90 sunrises and sunsets -82 different morning views -5000+ miles -2 minor medical… Continue reading 90 Days Across The Irish Sea
Sometimes things inside Dixie, as in life in general, don't go quite as well as we (William and Elizabeth) had planned. Although we do have a comprehensive checklist (and a still-funny-to-us Ryanair-style cabin crew impression) to complete before we "take off", and extra special care is always taken when expected to be on the road… Continue reading The Outer Trial (And the Inner Tribulations)
It gets dark around here at 4 in the afternoon. Dixie is rambling around the East Midlands of England at the speed of a sedated snail. Sunset has replaced sunrise as the best part of our day due to the sharp drop in temperature, it is almost like autumn turned her back on us overnight,… Continue reading Fenland, and keeping dry under water
the backwards van 