Woman who lived in 18 houses and had ‘miserable’ job cuts bills to £670 | Personal Finance | Finance

A photographer who lived in 18 different properties before experiencing a “breakdown” over her “miserable” 9-5 job has fled the UK rental market to live in a converted van with her dog, with overheads totalling just £670 a month. Nicole Keefe, 28, from Newcastle, was perpetually relocating as a youngster “due to situations out of (her) control”, and revealed the concept of van life had “always” captivated her.

Nevertheless, she pursued a more traditional path, attending university between 2016 and 2020 before working as a photographer, believing she would “never” be able to purchase her own property. In September 2023, she suffered a “breakdown” after “hating” her job, and merely 12 hours afterwards, her car was written off.

She purchased a converted Ford Transit on Facebook Marketplace for approximately £8,500 several weeks later and departed her rented accommodation with her beagle-petit griffon Vendeen cross McCartney. Nicole stationed herself near work throughout the week and dedicated weekends to discovering the UK, before leaving her job roughly nine months later to accept a campsite position in Dorset. Since then, Nicole has become freelance as a photographer, content creator for businesses and social media manager, journeying across the country with McCartney by her side, from Scotland to North Wales.

Nicole said: “People question how I can afford this way of life – I always think: ‘I’m sleeping on the side of the road, showering in public showers, using a compostable toilet and you want to know how I can afford this when you have a house, car’ – it’s quite funny really!

“People online have called me a benefit scrounger and lazy, even though I’ve never claimed benefits a day in my life… I certainly haven’t used them to fund my lifestyle. I just think misconceptions are all over the place, it’s just a different way of living.”

Having lived in 18 different homes throughout her life, Nicole moved frequently as a child and relocated numerous times following relationship breakdowns in adulthood. Despite van life always featuring on her “radar”, she ultimately found herself “following a typical path” — completing a fashion degree at Coventry University between 2016 and 2020, before taking up a full-time photography role at a fashion studio in Washington, Tyne and Wear. After three years in the position, Nicole continued to struggle with rental costs and felt she would “almost never” be in a position to own a property.

She added: “I hated my job and I had a bit of a breakdown one night just ruminating on how I couldn’t find a way out of this cycle. I was not in a good place mentally at the time one bit and just couldn’t see how to get out of this overall situation.”

Less than 12 hours afterwards, someone collided with the rear of her vehicle and wrote it off. Several weeks later, in September 2023, she purchased a converted Ford Transit through Facebook Marketplace for approximately £8,500. She quickly decided to make it her permanent home to cut rental costs and set about renovating it.

“There’s a kitchen area, sink, bed, solar panels and I added in a fridge, gas camping hob and air fryer and got a new mattress,” Nicole explained. “I made it a bit more me by adding in some leopard print and just decorating it over time.”

While maintaining her 9-5 employment, she resided in the van, parking in a local car park and exploring different parts of the UK at weekends. She continued this lifestyle for nine months alongside her dog, McCartney, while the majority of her family believed she was “a bit nuts”.

In June 2024, she landed a campsite cleaning position in Dorset and handed in her notice. She remained there for three months, utilising her weekends to discover the south coast. Initially, she found the limited social contact challenging, as she “hated (her) own company”, but progressively grew more comfortable and her mental wellbeing flourished.

Nicole said: “I have no idea what life would’ve been like if that crash hadn’t happened, but I don’t even want to know. It put me on the path for the best years of our lives.”

She subsequently secured employment at a Winchester coffee shop while developing her freelance portfolio, transitioning to full-time work as a photographer, social media manager and content creator for businesses in December 2024. In a typical month, she said she spends around £250 on van repayments, £30 on a gym membership to use the shower facilities, £60 on a phone contract with unlimited data, £30 on vehicle tax and £150 on food.

She noted that her fuel expenditure has increased substantially over the past year – a full tank, which previously cost around £100, now sets her back closer to £150. Since September 2023, her social media presence has expanded – operating under the handle @TheVanClub_, she has amassed more than 7,500 followers on TikTok and 4,800 on Instagram.

Nicole described herself as being “constantly on the move”, typically remaining in roughly the same location for approximately a month at a time. Her favourite experiences thus far have included exploring the south coast and South Wales.

“If I have some work in the south I need to physically be there for, I’ll travel around that area for a week or so prior,” she explained. “Then once I’m done I’ll slowly just migrate to wherever seems good. It’s more slow travelling these days, just taking more time to enjoy areas rather than going, ‘OK, Wales this week, Scotland next.'”

She passes “most nights” in car parks and roadside locations, feeling “very safe”. However, in March this year, her van broke down after the engine nearly exploded due to a broken oil seal. The repairs set her back £2,000, and Nicole was forced to stay in hotels while her van was out of action. One of her favourite aspects of van life is that every day “can be wildly different”, from taking a dip in the sea to venturing through mountain terrain.

Nevertheless, she prefers to stick to a daily routine, watching the sunrise, enjoying a morning coffee and taking her dog for a walk. Reflecting on her journey, she admitted she does not “miss anything about conventional housing”.

“It’s not for me,” Nicole explained. “Sure there are conveniences, and plumbing and central heating is great, but it’s just not a worthy trade-off for me. Now when I do visit friends and family, a house just feels so big and almost unnecessary, which probably sounds so ridiculous.”

She also feels she has grown far more “capable of making things work out”.

She said: “My younger self absolutely adores me, she thinks I’m the best person ever. I don’t think she would believe our life now unless she saw it for herself.”

Looking to the future, she cannot imagine abandoning van life any time soon.

“There has never once been a moment in these two-and-a-half years where I’ve thought ‘I can’t do this anymore’…” Nicole explained. “There’s never anywhere I’d rather be.”