Siobhan Daniels, a former BBC journalist, made a radical decision when she swapped her flat in Kent for a campervan three years ago. Abandoning most of her possessions in favor of a simpler life, for three years, she has never had the slightest regret.
Her change in lifestyle is, for Siobhan, a real plus. Now she travels across the UK volunteering and soaking up the joys of the countryside with her craft dubbed ‘Dora the Explorer’.
embrace freedom
Her career Siobhan had developed it on the BBC East. A mother of one, the journalist opted for an unconventional retirement after spending several years struggling with her mental health as she hit her 50s. Telling the Mirror newspaper that she had “found freedom” traveling the country, she enjoys impromptu encounters, making new friends and saying goodbye to bills.
A lack of meaning
“I felt anxious, in tears and angry at the world,” Siobhan recalled. Lost in her work as a journalist and producer in which she no longer finds meaning, she affirms that she was simply pretending to live. For Sammy’s mum, 32, giving up a conventional life for a life on the road was impossible until her daughter was old enough. But after going through a dark period in his fifties, the click finally happened.
A series of dramas
During this period, Siohban successively lost her mother and her older sister. She then felt compelled to embark on a major transformation of her daily life and turned to the road, starting this new adventure at 60 years old. She also starts a blog offering advice to women seeking to change their lives, even late in life. Siohban also spends some of his time volunteering on a farm in Dorset, shoveling mud, pushing wheelbarrows.
A thirst for adventure
On her Instagram account where she shares her adventures, Siohban insists that it is never too late to realize her dreams. She hopes, through her publications, to inspire other women to follow her example. Well-equipped, his motorhome includes a shower, a hob and a fridge-freezer. Siohban has also set up its own gin bar. Since her departure, the adventurer has landed in the most beautiful regions such as the Yorkshire Dales and Loch Morlich in the Highlands. Feeling “so blessed” to have met incredible friends along the way, Siohban added that they have enriched her life and ignited her thirst for adventure. Adventures that she also recounts in a book, Retirement Rebel, detailing her journey and encouraging others to also be tempted by the experience of the great outdoors.
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