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Bradley Williams “completely hated” his first job after graduating from school.
The 28-year-old mentioned the workplace atmosphere wasn’t for him — and he stop in three months.
Williams’ girlfriend, Cazzy Magennis, had simply completed her diploma on the College of Exeter, the place they met. Whereas their buddies had been beginning their careers in London, Williams and Magennis had been unfazed by the social pressures to settle into company jobs.
As a substitute, they determined to backpack to South America, they instructed CNBC.
An unbelievable 4 months adopted — they camped in a single day within the Amazon rainforest, went paragliding in Bolivia, surfed in Peru and noticed the Iguazu Falls in Argentina — which they chronicled on a weblog referred to as Dream Big Travel Far.
Cazzy Magennis on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
However their cash shortly ran out, Williams mentioned.
The couple began doing freelance copywriting to make ends meet, which raked in between $1,000 and $1,500 monthly every, Magennis mentioned. It was sufficient to permit them to backpack comfortably via Southeast Asia for 18 months, she mentioned.
They continued to weblog, sharing journey ideas, itineraries and pattern packing lists with their viewers. Finally, they stopped copywriting and devoted all their time to the weblog.
Now, the positioning attracts a mean of 250,000 month-to-month guests and is on observe to earn six figures in annual income quickly, she mentioned.
“It is a numbers recreation. You need to be getting 1000’s of individuals studying your content material earlier than you truly begin to make any cash,” Williams mentioned in a YouTube video about how they earn money whereas touring.
Their predominant income streams from their journey weblog are promoting and affiliate internet marketing, Williams mentioned within the video. They obtain a fee when readers e-book excursions or lodges by way of hyperlinks on their weblog, he mentioned.
“It is develop into too huge for us to handle on our personal,” Magennis instructed CNBC, including that seven contributing writers assist handle the weblog.
The couple additionally has a YouTube channel, however within the video Magennis mentioned the couple do not make a lot cash from it.
“We now have made … $382.85, so take from that what you’ll,” she mentioned on the video with amusing.
When Covid hit
When Covid hit and journey got here to a halt, the weblog — their solely supply of earnings — took a success.
“Earnings type of simply went off a cliff,” Williams mentioned. “Every little thing type of dried up.”
The couple returned to freelance writing to make ends meet, he mentioned.
“The benefit of having our enterprise as a weblog is that there are no huge conventional bills, like lease,” Williams mentioned.
To save cash, the couple spent a number of months residing with their households in Northern Eire and England.
Throughout a four-month stint with Williams’ mother and father, they launched into a brand new venture — changing a van to reside in as soon as borders reopened.
A custom-built van
The couple wanted a van that they might use to drive world wide, in keeping with their weblog.
To design it, they turned to on-line recommendation. “We took inspiration from the various dozens of van excursions we watched on YouTube,” Magennis mentioned.
Bradley Williams and Cazzy Magennis mentioned they spent three and a half months renovating their campervan.
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
The van, which they named Helen, has lots of the utilities of an everyday house.
It homes two beds and a seating space for 4 individuals, plus a bathe, rest room and kitchen space. A 480-watt photo voltaic panel on the rooftop powers the electrical energy.
The kitchen space within the couple’s campervan.
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
“Most nights we prepare dinner within the van,” Magennis mentioned. “We now have an oven in right here, so we will prepare dinner every thing that you’d in a home.”
The route
A map on the couple’s weblog reveals the couple’s deliberate driving route. After they spoke to CNBC, they had been in the US.
Williams and Magennis’ route for 2021-2023 is proven alongside the inexperienced traces, with the crimson arrows noting the course they intend to observe
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
To traverse oceans, the couple fly and ship their van throughout nations.
The couple modified course and are actually avoiding Russia in 2024.
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
The couple wished to journey via Russia however the battle thwarted their plans, Magennis mentioned.
In one other change, they now plan to ship their van from South America to Australia, the place they may journey earlier than exploring Asia.
Lastly, they may end the route in Europe, the place they started, she mentioned.
Greatest and worst elements of van life
One of the best elements about residing in a van is that it encourages a minimalistic life-style, Williams mentioned.
“You’ll be able to’t have ten pairs of sneakers and 7 coats — you will understand that you do not really need that a lot,” he mentioned.
They love that their house strikes with them, he mentioned.
“We may be parked up on the fringe of a cliff in the midst of nowhere, however as soon as we shut the doorways and put the heater on … it is a actually cozy area to be in,” Williams mentioned.
However van life has its downsides too, he mentioned.
“In the event you’re by yourself and you are not very sociable, it may possibly develop into fairly lonely,” he mentioned.
“Generally Instagram paints this image of van life … like each evening you will be by this superb seashore with the solar setting … however a whole lot of occasions it will be howling rain outdoors,” he mentioned. “Or your van breaks down and it’s important to get repairs finished.”
Bradley Williams and Cazzy Magennis outdoors their campervan.
Supply: Bradley Williams, Cazzy Magennis
The couple estimate that they spend not more than $2,000 yearly on van upkeep.
Risks lurk on the highway as properly. They’ve had their vlogging tools, projector and clothes stolen whereas the van was being shipped from the U.Ok. to Canada, he mentioned.
Somebody tried to interrupt into their van at midnight, he mentioned. Luckily, the intruder scurried away when Williams got here out of the automobile, he mentioned.
They encourage individuals eager about van life to attempt it out first earlier than committing to it full time. “It actually is not for everyone,” Williams mentioned, including that some individuals might really feel claustrophobic.
“We all know we adore it as a result of we did a number of different van journeys beforehand,” he mentioned.
His high tip? Rent a van first, then “simply give it a go.”
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