How is full time van life in the south of England?
Hi! I'm moving back to the UK soon and I was absolutely stunned by the housing prices when I took a look recently. I haven't lived in the country since 2021 and even then I shared a house in the north of Scotland so my rent and general cost of living was relatively low. Now I'm looking to move to the south of England, ideally somewhere in Kent, and it looks like I'd be spending a minimum of £900-£1000 monthly just in rent and bills, and that's if I stay in a small town with few amenities. I have a dog which complicates things even more.
So, I'm considering full time van life instead of renting. I have a VW T6 in very good shape and little mileage, still empty, so I could invest a bit more in a proper build that includes heating, hot water and a strong electrical setup. It would just be me and my dog so I'm not too worried about space. I would mainly work remotely with some occasional site visits scattered along the south, so van life would suit my work life decently well.
I'm mainly worried about winter. I'd join a gym or something along those lines to have access to a proper bathroom, but I'm still concerned about long cold rainy weeks. I'm also not sure how feasible it is to live in a van full time in the UK as I've mainly stuck to mainland Europe so far since I started traveling with camper vans, so I'm not sure how easy it is to find places to park for a few days or if it's common to be bothered by the police...
If anyone has any experience or advice I'd really appreciate it! I'm trying to figure out my options.
Thanks!