Lee Bodell, 47, from Birkenhead, has left the UK with his partner Aimee Bedford, 39, and their two younger daughters, funding their European adventure by working just 10 hours a week selling solar panels on eBay. The venture brings in between £500 and £1,000 every week.
From HGV driver to remote seller
Lee, who described himself as a "workaholic", had not taken a single sick day in eight years and was working 50-hour weeks as an HGV driver until the pandemic forced him to stay at home on furlough for 10 weeks. That experience transformed his outlook on life and prompted him to hand in his notice.
The dad-of-four and his partner sold their house and all their possessions in July this year, before flying to Paris in September. Together with their daughters Matilda-May, 10, and Mila, nine, the family have already visited seven countries in three weeks, using £1,800 first-class rail passes valid for 60 days of continuous travel.
Plans to settle overseas
By November, when the tickets run out, they intend to visit as many European countries as possible before jetting off to Thailand for Christmas and New Year. The family hope to eventually settle somewhere overseas, but plan to "see where life" takes them.
Lee said: "What first triggered it off was during covid I was placed on furlough and was off work for 10 weeks. I was always a workaholic and never missed a day off work in eight years being sick and I was constantly doing overtime."
"Spending 10 weeks at home with the family completely changed my mind set on life and I thought 'I want to do this full-time'. I started thinking about ideas and online businesses and stuff like that. I've built it up over the past few years."
"It's mostly buying and selling on eBay and Amazon and I have my own Shopify store. It should give us enough income to keep us travelling and even settle down somewhere in the future."
Testing the waters and selling up
In May last year, the couple tested whether running Lee's business from abroad was viable by renting a villa in Cyprus for 10 days. After returning home, they placed their four-bedroom property on the market, which sold in July for £330,000, netting them £140,000 in equity.
Aimee, who previously worked as a family support worker at a primary school, said: "We set a couple of grand aside from the house sale and Lee's wages top that up, with some saving as well."
"The money that was made from selling our belongings and cars has gone towards the trip. We've invested the rest of the house money and hope to earn off that as well. We were spending with a mortgage, bills, days out, running the house and cars with four children around £3,000 to £4,000 a month."
"Obviously we've been travelling for one month and to get set up it's 100% cheaper to be doing what we're doing at the moment. We knew it would be more expensive in Europe and at the end of it when we get to Southeast Asia we will easily be living on £2,000 per month all in."
Life on the road
The family have since travelled through the Netherlands, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium and Italy. Aimee said: "We'd reached the point where we really felt like we just existing rather than living. We had jobs and the kids were attending school all day long and we were lucky if we had two hours with them at the end of the day. We wanted more time to experience life together."
Daughters Matilda-May and Mila have been withdrawn from school and, despite being "initially sad" to leave behind family and friends, are adapting to their nomadic lifestyle. Aimee said: "I think we're deliberately choosing to give them these experiences, and I think we want them to learn through travel rather than just recreating school at the kitchen table if you like."
"They do enjoy learning but we're not shoving it in their faces as it's very early days. I think personally I'd be ok with them not attending school for at least two years. But that can change and we're led by them. If they want to learn more and there are other subjects they are interested in, we will make it happen, but that will be online."
She added: "It's definitely sparked curiosity and they're forever asking questions so as long as that continues, we'll be happy."
The family base themselves away from tourist hotspots and city centres to keep expenditure down. Aimee said: "We do have to make decisions about money like not eating out every night. It's about being mindful and the things we want to splurge on are experiences. Travelling on a gondola in Venice cost a fortune but we'll eat in for two days because of that. We're living life and taking the hit."
The couple's eldest two children Billy, 18, and Lyla, 17, remained at home with family but have since flown out with Aimee's sister Katie, 37, to mark Aimee's 39th birthday in Italy. The pair hope to eventually put down roots outside the UK, though they are yet to decide on a destination. Having shared their choice to leave the UK on social media, the couple hope to "inspire" other families to take the plunge themselves. Aimee said: "We'll see where life takes us. The beauty of being able to travel is we might find somewhere and it might be our forever home."
