Big Dreams & Quiet Ambition (Guest Posts)

8. Swapping the world we once knew for Camper Van Life with Lyndsay Edgington

Guest Post - Big Dreams and Quiet Ambition (#8)

Oct 15, 2023

“You are allowed to change your mind, to change direction, to choose a new path. You are allowed to do what serves you.”

Lyndsay Edgington

Hello!! ✨

Welcome back to another guest post here at

Creatively Conscious

If you’re NEW here Hi - I’m Claire. I’m an Engagement Consultant and Mentor and I live under dark skies in Northumberland with my family.

I started writing here on Substack in April ‘22 and have this and another publication called

Sparkle on Substack

where I teach about sustainable and joyful Substack growth.

I LOVE to build community here. I’ve been so excited to publish this post for you all? Anyone else part of the camper van tribe? 🚐 ✨

This series of guest posts enables me to share the words and lives of folks who are living their dreams, leaning into their quiet ambition.

These posts show us all different paths to consider in this beautiful thing we call life. I always get unsubscribes when I post them but I continue because folks love them; there’s something so brave in the nudge towards hearing YOUR soul whispers…

This month, I am delighted to share the words of a Substack pal

Lyndsay

who I have loved being connected to here on the platform. I asked Lyndsay lots of questions about “van life” before we bought ours this summer!1

She’s a wealth of knowledge and living so soulfully. Lyndsay shares the ups and the downs of her and her husband’s adventures - I think you’ll adore her very open and honest travel journal.

I’ll let Lyndsay introduce herself to you and tell you her story…

Let’s settle in for a wholehearted adventure through words brought to us from somewhere in Europe… Lyndsay will take it from here.

Hello, I’m Lyndsay! I’m originally from Yorkshire in the UK but I moved to Brighton in 2016 with my husband, Sean.

We bought our first home in the autumn of 2018, brought home our beloved lurcher, Jasper, in spring 2019 and married in 2020. Yes, we had a covid wedding!

Fast forward to 2023 however and we’ve sold our house and quit our jobs to travel.

It was during this period of travel that I finally decided to start my lifelong dream of writing and I created my Substack;

Moments with Lyndsay

in January 2023.

Tell us about who you are outside of your work?

I’m lucky to say that I currently don’t work. My husband and I made a decision to leave work and travel so in the summer of 2022 that is exactly what we did! Before we made that decision, I was a project manager working in the corporate world, living the corporate lifestyle.

Let’s just say, I wasn’t living my big dream at the time. I’m also lucky to say I currently have plenty of time to fulfil my hobbies! I have a love of running, reading and exploring.

And writing of course! I also enjoy yoga and hiking, and generally leading an active and healthy lifestyle. Well, something has to balance out my love for food!

How are you currently spending your days?

My husband and I travelled Europe in a camper van for a while and after a brief period in the UK for the summer, we are now travelling in our new 4x4 complete with a roof tent. It’s going to be a different kind of adventure that’s for sure!

It’s completely new to us and whilst we’ve set ourselves up well after living the van lifestyle, I’m sure new experiences and challenges await.

Our next adventure will involve plenty of trips into the mountains (mainly the Alps, Pyrenees and Picos de Europa) followed by a brief stint in southern Spain and onto a big adventure over in Morocco.

What does living the Big Dream mean to you and do you feel like you are?

Big dream living to me is exactly that – dreaming big.

Don’t dream small, don’t limit yourself.

But let’s not forget that everyone’s idea of big is different. I like to think that if your dreams don’t scare you then they aren’t big enough.

One of my dreams is to move to another country, to experience living life outside of England, new cultures and learning a new language.

And we’re already on the path of that dream becoming our reality. It terrifies me at times, the fear of failure very real in my thoughts, but I know if I don’t at least try I will regret it in years to come.
The other big dream that comes alongside that is to create a life that I don’t want a holiday from, to create a life where I don’t work to live, a life with more freedom and balance.

Describe a day in the life...

My day varies so much whilst we are on the road as it heavily depends on where we are and what we’re doing. My day always starts however with a cup of tea and feeding Jasper, our dog. I tend to journal in the morning as that’s the time of the day I get to be by myself – my husband isn’t as much as a morning person!

After that, the day can go in any direction. I might go for a run if we’re in a place I’m able to do that, we might go for a hike or to the beach, or we might ready ourselves for the drive to our next destination.

Much of our days whilst on the road are generally filled with planning, making sure we have enough food, determining if we need to top the water up or do laundry, deciding where to head to next, looking for campsites or places to stay. The logistics of travelling on the road definitely takes up a lot of head space but the rewards make it totally worth it.

✨

Describe a "perfect" Sunday...

A perfect Sunday is slow and simple. A perfect Sunday is whatever you are desiring in that moment, it’s listening to your body, your mind, and giving yourself what you want and need.

A perfect Sunday is the smell of coffee and the taste of tea, fresh pastries and strawberry jam.

A perfect Sunday is absent from the dread of the impending week ahead and instead is filled with hope and wonder for what is to come.

What's a piece of advice you would share with your younger self or for someone who is at the start of thinking about their vision for the future?

Don’t let the thoughts and opinions of others make you small and don’t be ruled by caring too much about what others think.

I’ve been in this trap for most of my life and sometimes I still have one foot in that door although I am getting better at caring less.

Don’t be afraid to stray from the path that society has laid out for you. Don’t be afraid to zig when everyone else is zagging. Live your big dreams no matter how small or big they seem to everyone else.

I didn’t really understand my own values and dreams until I was in my thirties, probably because I was too busy living in a way that I thought I had to live. I thought I knew what I wanted and I was skipping merrily on my way to that version of success.

Then one day I realised what I wanted had changed along with my definition of success.

You are allowed to change your mind, to change direction, to choose a new path. You are allowed to do what serves you.

Here are some links to some of my favourite travel journal pieces, I’d love to connect with you….

Subscribe to Lyndsay

If you feel inspired by this piece you can read more interviews in the series here. Applications are currently closed but will be open for submissions again in January 2024. Happy Sunday to you… hope you have a BEAUTIFUL day ahead! ✨

If you want to know more about our new camper van Mabel head here.