A woman whose vacation request was turned down by her boss quit her job and bought a £25,000 motorhome to live and work in while traveling the world. Kate and Steve Kennedy, 30 and 45, fell in love with motorhome holidays after their first road trip saw them embark on a week-long trip from London to Rome.

The couple first bought a £5,000 motorhome and took several vacations during annual leave, but when Kate’s request for a two-week holiday from her event management job was refused on grounds unknowns, it was the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’. Kate and Steve then spent years saving for a luxurious £25,000 trailer that would be complete with everything they needed to live in it full-time, reports Wales Online.

In 2017, the couple quit their jobs and left behind their rental home in Leeds, West Yorkshire, to pursue their dream of traveling the world. Kate used to work as a wedding planner and Steve as a small business owner and now they both live their lives, often starting work at 4am and working their own hours while visiting countries like Turkey, Greece, Italy and Slovenia.

Kate said: “Ever since I was little I hated the idea of ​​working full time and only taking a few weeks out of the year to travel. Being able to travel was a key part of my growth – friends joked that I was always on vacation.

“I knew I wanted more than just a desk job, so when I found myself working between four walls, at a desk, I hated it.”

She recalls the ‘straw that broke the camel’s back’ in February 2017 when her request for annual leave was denied and she knew she was not living the life she wanted.

She added: “But not being able to go on vacation was the tipping point for me. I saw myself working in a boring office until I was 60 – before retiring and spending the last decades of my life seeing everything I wanted to see since I was in my twenties.

“I didn’t want that. I wanted to live my life here and now. From there, I knew I had to take charge of my time and my own life.

“I wanted to start a wedding planning business, work flexible hours and most importantly spend my time traveling.”

Kate and Steve met at a bar in 2011 and six months into their relationship they flew to Rome for their first motorhome road trip.

Back then, they hired the vehicle for just £1 and traveled the distance from Rome to London, seeing sights like Lake Garda, the Stelvio Pass and Lake Annecy along the way. After returning home, they both decided they wanted to buy their own motorhome so they could travel around Europe during their annual vacation.

Steve, founder of Roamer Batteries, said: “We couldn’t wait – we drove straight to Inverness and bought our first motorhome for £5,000. We certainly didn’t play our cards close to our chest or try to haggle – we bought it straight away, and we’ve been on the road ever since.

Steve, who has had his own business since December 2020, was already working flexible hours, but Kate, who was events manager at the time, found her job “stiff, boring” and said she was “constantly to work”. Travel enthusiasts spent their summer and winter holidays in their £5,000 motorhomes for six to eight weeks at a time, paying only for food, entertainment and the “occasional ferry ride”.

When the Covid-19 pandemic hit, the couple decided to hire out their van to staycationers in the UK. They were unable to travel there at all throughout the pandemic until December 2021.

Meanwhile, they bought an upgraded camper van for £25,000 and after renovations the couple estimate their van is now worth around £60,000. The couple are now working entirely remotely from their van, which was completely unheard of before the pandemic hit.

Kate said: “We love living in the van – it’s small so incredibly easy to store, inexpensive to heat and we can go anywhere we want. We tend to go to tiny off-the-grid resorts in places like Kos, Santorini and St Mauritz – and we love our winter snow sports.

“Our van is not just a vehicle to get from place to place – it is our home. We have invested in it like anyone would invest in a home. Our lives are here.

Steve and Kate are currently planning their next trip to North Africa in the van where they hope to visit places like Morocco.

Don’t miss the latest news from across Scotland and beyond – sign up for our daily newsletter here.

READ NEXT: