Chris and Sam Hoare have always had a “burning desire to travel the world” but, having been together since they were 14, have settled into married life with full-time jobs. But during the lockdown, they realized that we take our freedom for granted, which inspired them to quit their jobs and start a new life in a caravan, living “off the grid” and traveling the world. Along with their cocker spaniel, Fletcher, Sam and Chris have converted an old minibus into their new home and have spent the last seven months living on the road and exploring Europe. The couple have no regrets and are “loving every second of it”. Read more: Plymouth student aims to tread where no one has gone before Before their new freedom, Chris, 29, worked as a mechanical engineer with his dad and was a full-time firefighter for Tavistock. Sam, also 29, was a beauty and massage therapist who ran the business she started when she was 18. Chris grew up in Tavistock and met Sam, who lived in Plymouth, at school when he was just 14. The couple married at 23 and bought a house together in Plymouth. They say one of the hardest decisions they made on this journey was to leave their careers with Sam leaving hundreds of clients and Chris walking away from the family business. Sam and Chris have been together since they were 14 after meeting at school (Image: Sam Hoar) However, Chris and Sam have no regrets and still pinch themselves that this is their life now. They said they still can’t shake the feeling that they will need to return to “real life” soon. In recent months, Chris and Sam have traveled to France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy. The couple is even documenting their adventures on their Instagram and YouTube channels so people can follow along on their journey. “Nowadays, not many people are in real time, we live in such a fast world,” said Sam. “We fell in love with the simple life.” The converted mini-van is now home to Sam and Chris (Image: Sam Hoar) “We just had this desire to live on the road and travel. We went to New Zealand in 2018 and hired a camper out there and I remember thinking I would never be the camping type, I was very nervous about hiring a camper but we just fell in love with the freedom you had. “The fact that you had everything you needed in this vehicle and you could literally go anywhere you wanted, we just fell in love with it.” Chris and Sam spent many weekends and evenings after work restoring their van once they got it. While Chris was handy with the construction side of things, using skills from his previous job and YouTube videos to help, Sam was particularly excited about the interior. The caravan is suitable with lots of storage space, living room and shelf, bathroom, comfortable bed and even a roof terrace to enjoy the view. Sam and Chris spent evenings and weekends converting the truck (Image: Sam Hoar) Sam continued: “It was a really difficult decision for both of us to take the plunge and leave our careers, especially for Chris as it was a family business and he could have taken it over one day… I’ve never met someone who love their work so much. He’s never had this dread of work in his entire life.” Sam explained that they could have been “set for life”, but he wanted to collect more stories. Now they realize that memories and experiences are much better than material things. “We rent out our house which means we have a little residual income from it, we also do a bit of online work with an online travel agency. We are both very career oriented, we love to work, we almost found it hard to sink into the slower pace of life full time because we are used to working so hard and making a lot of money. “We found the transition a bit strange. We love videography and photography, so we want to explore online avenues like YouTube.” Sam said that being parked under the French Alps on the sundeck with a cup of tea overlooking this view is her favorite memory so far (Image: Sam Hoar) Chris and Sam recently returned to the UK and are planning to travel here next with places like Scotland and the Lake District on their bucket list. They’ll be heading back to ‘somewhere warm’ in Europe for the winter, however, as their caravan is equipped with everything they need to live off the grid for days at a time. The adventurous couple hasn’t looked back since making the life-changing decision. Sam said: “We went down to the French Alps and found this great park-up overlooking Mt Blanc, just parked under that mountain on our roof top sun deck with a cup of tea overlooking that view.” With memories like that, who can blame them? Read next: The beautician builds her own salon brick by brick Plymouth girl, 11, has her own business selling stones and crystals Grandpa makes an epic journey to take granddaughter to the prom in a classic car Plymouth artist Mrs Murals hopes to educate through her paintings Plymouth’s ‘eco-friendly’ florist delivers bouquets on new electric bike Want more of the news you love? Sign up for our personalized newsletters here.
