The ideal vanlife scenario has you working on the move, enabling you to travel for longer. I’d had visions of Jon dropping me off at a cosy pub, me nursing a local ale and writing features while he went fishing. Or something. The reality was me cross-legged in the passenger seat bashing away at my keyboard while he drove along the M1/M6/M4.

That’s not to say it’s not doable, you just have to find your way. Many vanlifers have created huge social media followings. Some will make money from products created around their new lifestyle. Others will make cash from subtle, and not-so-subtle, sponsorship and product placement opportunities – forget celebrity endorsements, brands are increasingly looking to influential #vanlife accounts to help promote their flasks/toothpaste/crisps. Check out @wheresmyofficenow – an American couple with a huge following who say they like to sprinkle Kettle Chips on their salads…

Of course, finding a flexible job and ditching your home for a life on the road is kind of a big deal, so many compromise. Quirky Campers – a campervan rental company – was set up by Lindsay Berresford, who decided to rent out her converted Mercedes Sprinter, Bella. Today, the site features 36 cool converted campers dotted across the UK. “The number of campervans we list has doubled every year – with us turning away about three-quarters of people who get in touch,” she says. “We have another 450 people who have registered their interest in hiring out their camper via the site.” In the age of the sharing economy, if you can’t permanently live on the road, then owning, and occasionally renting out your van seems to be a lucrative option. And if you want a taste of the vanlife freedom, hiring someone else’s pea-green VW is a great place to start.

I recommend it. And I promise, all the ‘annoying’ logistics become part of the fun. Jon and I, despite some #vanstrife bickering in the first week, got on far better than I ever thought we could. He did the cooking, I did the laundry. He drove, I planned. We fell in tune with each other’s moods and habits, and laughed. A lot.

The setting helped. On a bright blue day, and even on the grey, rainy ones, Britain is truly beautiful. We walked to battered lighthouses, lost our change in arcades and drank flasks of tea on empty pebble beaches. I’m already wondering where we can go next, because being cooped up in the van with Jon really was one of the best trips of my life. I know, pass the (pee) bucket. Yep, we had one. You won’t find that on Instagram…

Below, three more vanlifers offer their best tips for happy camping.

Why van life has become the ultimate way to live