We save £9.6k-a-year travelling Europe in a van with our toddler - He can risk assess and decide his bed times

A couple save £9.6k-a-year after escaping the UK to live and travel in a campervan - with their toddler.

Bex Elliott, 31, and Henry Gayler, 29, had always talked about living in a van but when they fell pregnant with Ronnie, now three, they knew they had to go for it.

The pair didn't want to retire in 20 years with "nothing to show for it" so bought a van for £11k and spent £15k renovating it. The family left for Europe in January 2024 and went skiing in France before travelling around Spain, Morocco, Italy, Albania and now Montenegro.

They have now been on the road for 11 months and - as they were spending £1,300 to rent a two bed house with a "tiny" garden in the UK - believe they save around £800-a-month and £9.6k a year on rent and bills.

Henry works three days a week remotely and then the family gets a full four days of quality time. They'll often find a spot to go on lots of walks and get outside. They say their son Ronnie is thriving living in nature and he decides his bed times and what he wants to learn.

Bex, a former university lecturer, originally from High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, said: "He's learning without me forcing knowledge. When he wants to read and write he will. He shouldn't be in four walls playing with plastic toys.

"The biggest turn off in UK nurseries is they don't teach risk. He's now learning in a real environment. It's allowing him to learn about the world, in the world. He can risk assess - he knows what he can and can't do.

“There are sacrifices but you don't get anywhere if you don't take the plunge. Kids are the reason you should be living.”