Doesn’t it seem as though a spirit of violence has been unleashed worldwide over the past couple of years?? I am so sorry this happened to you. Prayers.

Hi folks. I am a van lifer here in the U.S. and traveled across the nation from the East Coast to the West Coast. I have been fortunate to have positive experiences in my travels. There were a couple of places I stopped and planned to stay for the night but my "gut feeling" told me to move on. It's unfortunate there are assholes who want to destroy or steal property that belong to others out of jealousy or just to be mean. I am so sorry this happened to you and I fully understand hoe you feel being violated...especially In such a violent and destructive manner. Thank God you and your pets are safe. Don't let these assholes ruin your lives. Karma will repay them for their ignorance and stupidity. Continue to do what you love.

I'm absolutely disgusted that something like this can happen. We have built a bed that goes across our front seats for our grandchildren. It gave me chills just thinking of the possible outcomes of this despicable act. Glad you were both physically OK. Keep safe ,keep doing what your doing .

I happened to be scrolling KZfaq and saw this video. I'm so sorry you both went through this horrible ordeal. How scary. Some people are just evil. You're both innocent and were out having a great time and using your channel to bring joy to so many people. I'm grateful you both are okay. God Bless you and always keep you safe in Jesus Name Amen. May God also bless the people who helped you.

Rather than letting this make you feel afraid you should feel empowered by it, your worst fear happened and you dealt with it. You dealt with the situation calmly and practically, you didn't collapse into helpless hysterics,got yourselves home and the damage has been fixed. You are strong and capable people and you proved to yourselves that you can deal with a frightening situation and come out intact. There is nothing left to fear now.

It was kinda of dangerous going outside to check out what happened. There could have been someone hiding out ready to attack. So glad your both safe.

Being attacked is horrible and random and senseless. I had a similar experience years ago with my apartment being broken into. Even more upsetting than the items being taken, was the thought of these burglars rummaging through my personal stuff and space. It really shakes your confidence for sure. Thanks for sharing your experience.

I’m 61. When I was in my 50s I was able to retire. I purchased a camper van and solo toured all round the USA through a Summer and an Autumn. I enjoyed my travels, met some very nice people, saw some incredible sights. But I did experience a few uncomfortable and/or disturbing situations. I just decided the risk wasn’t worth it to me so I got rid of my camper. I’m so sorry this has happened to you. Be safe and contented!

I've never seen your channel before but it popped up on my feed. I'm so sorry this happened to you. I hope it won't put you off carrying on with your journeys and exploration. You've helpfully reminded me and others to be cautious always, everywhere. I send you my best wishes.

The same happened to us on our way through France to Calais. We stopped at a service station in the middle of the night and after an hour my wife woke me as she could hear rustling outside. They tried the doors, the lockers and even when we opened the curtains and shouted they were still there waiting for us to get out. I jumped into the drivers seat and pedalled it over the kerbs and away. When it's just the two of you in the middle of the night it is terrifying. We will only stay on proper sites now and never, ever stop over in a car park or service station. Just glad you're all ok and I think you were very brave getting out in the dark to inspect the damage.

My husband and I were considering investing in a camper, but after seeing all these stories over the past year I don’t think we’re quite well enough to take the risk. I’m sorry this happened but glad you weren’t harmed.

This is my first video of yours that came up in my feed. I feel so terrible for what happened to the both of you. If you have loved traveling before this, don't let who ever did this to you take that away from you. Be happy and enjoy each other and make more memories together.

Glad your ok, we never wild camp now, we just can’t sleep anymore. The campsite fees and regulations are well worth it in our opinion.

Sorry to hear about your attack! I live in a little condo and last summer someone threw a big rock through my kitchen window and they did it to others in my area. Plus cars get broken into as well. So it doesn't matter if it's your hone on wheels or a sticks and brick, dumb people are everywhere. Please don't let this stop you from living your dream because I think it was just a random act of violence.

I'm hearing stories like this more and more - and a lot of them are coming from the UK. I don't know if it's just my limited exposure to such things, but I am not hearing nearly as many stories coming from the US. I'm an ex-pat living in California, and it worries me greatly that England seems to be getting more and more violent. I am so sorry this happened to you. It sounded like they were going for a break in and scarpered when they heard you stir.

You're both so homey and lovely, it's like listening to an Aunt and Uncle telling stories of their adventures. I'm sorry this one was a bad experience, safe travels and thanks for the content.

We have been living in our motorhome for almost two years. If we could afford a home we would consider that now. But we can't. In the last two years we have seen a massive increase in van life and off grid camping. We have also seen increased aversion and hostility too by people and councils. I read one councillor calling us a scourge that contribute nothing and pay for nothing! This fuels peoples mis- understandings. We have been, because we are working there, on a camp site since Feb and this month we have off so we are now having nights off grid. We have noticed a much increased hostility to our parking off grid.We do have four cameras fitted but still every park up that we always used before has become less safe. Six, or nine months ago we could guarantee we were the only people parked up, now we vie with two or three others. We have been hassled by locals young and elderly. I understand why locals are getting annoyed in part. There are too many vans looking to park for free. We cannot afford camp sites ordinarily with living in it but this increase in van life and the hatred of it by communities is putting us all at risk. As for comfort insurance you were lucky. They wont even insure us if we park on the road!! So I am glad you got something out of them! They made my blood boil! I am sorry you went through this but I am hearing more and more incidents and it seems we are wanted off the road. They want their freedoms but don't want others to have theirs. You are right to be cautious now. Its not for the faint of heart this life style.

It can be difficult for the younger gen to understand that as we age we can feel less confident at being able to protect ourselves and our environment. I am glad things worked out. Keep safe out there.

If you can, invest in cameras to insert in your van to take surveillance around your van when your parked and sleeping or even if your away from your van for a period of time. I am glad that the two of you are alright and there is nothing you did to cause this. It's the people that live in this world that do not respect nor value people, places, and property! Continue to thrive and be safe! ❤️🤗🥰

This is my first time looking at your channel. I am so sorry this has happened to you. You seem like very wonderful people. The pups 🐶 are just adorable. Please Do Not allow this horrible experience keep you from enjoying yourselves and enjoying the camping experience. You are strong and have dealt with it properly. Stay safe and many prayers 🙏

So sorry you had to go through this. What's scary is that people are buying land to camp on so they can leave city life, yet their storage cabinets, barns, etc. that they set up get broken into. At least you were able to bail and not look back. I can't even fathom why the vandals did this. Seems like anyone who has anything going for them is a potential target.

Just found you all. I see this occurred 3 months ago, happy to hear no one was injured. Some people cannot let other people be happy and are just miserable human beings. Listening to your voice shake, broke my heart. Bless you both. Seems you found some beautiful souls along the way to soften the blow a bit. Good you both have each other as well.

Suran wrap in the future for anyone who needs a quick fix for window. It works. Literally wrap around the windows in circular without cutting all the way down. Keeping the tails on the inside. Tightly wrap. Two ply down. You can still see just distorted a little.

That must gave been terrifying to have that happen, especially late at night! I live in America and this kind of thing happens all the time here. Many people have also vanished or been murdered while camping as well. Stay safe!

So glad you're both safe, all my love all my hopes to you both and stay strong x

What an awful thing to happen to such a lovely couple. I sincerely hope that you both get over it very soon. Don't let them win. Please consider coming to France in Merlin where you'll experience wonderful welcoming Aires de Camping Car in safety.

Thank you for posting. Keep on being awesome 🙌

So sorry about your disruption of your feeling of safety. It goes to show that one is not safe ANYWHERE! I was burglarized in my own home and don’t really feel safe anywhere. All the best to you whatever you decide to do.

Just come across your channel...totally shocked and devastated for you both ...hope your confidence in wild camping restores

How awful totally shocking that people have done this. Really hope you can pick yourselves up when you are ready as i know how much you enjoy your trips. Thinking of you ❤ xx

I’m so glad y’all were not physically hurt!!! Prayers for healing from the fear it left in your hearts.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻❤️

Las Vegas, Nevada here I am so sorry this happened to you! I hope you are able to continue what you love. 🙏🏼

So sorry to hear of your bad experience. Glad you are ok. My Wife and I no longer wild camp as we have heard of other incidents like yours. We try to find cl s and sites near beauty spots and old railway walks. The camper stays on site and we get peace of mind when we return. There is also security at night.We still think the small loss of freedom is a small price to pay for safety.Try to holiday differently and you may find that you like it that way.Enjoy yourselves in future.

Feel really sorry for you both what a horrible thing to go through. I hope you can both get over it and can carry on doing what you love.

So sorry for the difficulties. I am new here and subscribing in order to support you two. Best wishes for feeling better soon.

So sorry you went through that, Lord knows it could have been much worse. Thankfully you are both okay. Stay well.

Having just found your youtube channel, i was very saddened to hear of the problems you had. I wish you both well, and hope that you can continue wild camping eventually. Its so sad what some people do to others. All the best and take good care.

Glad you are well and hope you have many great adventures in the future❤

Stumbled across your site as considering getting a van. Thank you for highlighting this. I’m so sorry to hear this happened to you. Give yourself time to recover and do try to use a quiet CL site just to give you back your confidence. Wishing you many more fun and safe travels 🫶🏻

Hi Folks. Just heard about you from a "Life is too short" video comment. Good to meet you fellow adventurers! So sorry to hear of your attack. We are of a similar age and travel in our campervan in New Zealand. We used to wild camp most nights but had a couple of bad experiences that has changed our park up choices. We have heard dodgy sounding vehicles cruise by us, in the small hours once too often. One night at about 2am we heard gunshots not too far away ..and phoned the police. We now spend most nights in less risky places, like Motorcamps, NZMCA parks and Popular DOC campgrounds. We still do wild camp sometimes.. but it is now more worrying than before. This is so disappointing for us because we love camping wild and getting close to nature in NZ. The sad reality is, that a just a very few immature damaged people spoil this beautiful world for the rest of us. We are not sure if we should take these experiences as a warning and be more cautious.. or be brave and not let a very few limit us so much. We empathize with you and look forward to watching more of your videos! Cheers, Cliff.

I am so shocked at what you have both been through, a very scary moment no doubt. I hope you make the right decision for both of you regarding the future, and I would love to see you continue your travels. There are some evil people out there who try to intimidate us and rule our lives. But life is for living! please make the most of it. Take care. Bazza

Sorry for what happened. Glad you are ok. First clip I see from you, what wonderful people and what a lovely couple you are! Prayers from germany.

Something similar has recently happened to me, not whilst travelling but at home. I disturbed someone breaking into my garage and was hit in the face with a crowbar causing multiple fractures. This will have a lasting effect on my whole family so please be careful if you go outside if this happens to you.

So sorry that happened! It's hard to understand why people do that to others. Glad you both are fine. Hang in there and let us know what happens next.

So sorry this happened to you 😢 That park up is side on to a couple of rough areas. Like you said we always try and get to a park up in daylight as you get a feeling good or bad. If we move on in the dark we tend to go back to places we know. Hope this doesn't put you off. It could have been anyone of us who like to do park ups. Bless all the nice people trying to help though. Bad people balanced with good people 💜x

Oh my word what a thing to happen, main thing is you are all safe and well and back home after what must have been a very testing and tiring journey. I know you will take time to consider your options and hopefully it doesn't affect your ability to find those happy places around the country. Merlin will soon be back to A1 pristine condition. So nice that so many people helped in different ways too. Take time to reflect and take care

Your video popped up on my feed. Am so sorry I cant imagine how scary that was. So happy you got eachother 💓. We are living in strange times and now I will only go to known sites with my family. Dont stop your adventures I think its important now for us to be extra vigilant and practise situational awareness no matter where we are vehicle or not. ❤️

Oh my!!! My husband and I love van traveling and have one coming up. 😢 He has done it longer than me. Your video still gives me pause. I do love your doggies, and I'm so glad they or yourselves did not get hurt!

Sadly a sign of the times and it will only get worse. Devastating for you both, I don’t think wild camping is worth the risk anymore, invest in the lighting etc as you obviously will, and when the shock subsides make a plan. I think long dark nights are for campsites, but only you can decide. Take care xx

I am sorry to hear of your bad experience, I hope it doesnt put you off totally. All the very best to you both.

So very sad this happened to you two. Praying you get past this and can continue to enjoy your blessed lives you two have together.

So sorry to read this , just found you in my feed, we wild camp a lot and have never experienced anything like that must have been so frightening! Glad your safe and well and you keep doing what you love x. Awful scenario glad you were helped at the time, gives us all food for thought !

Sorry you had to experience this. Don’t let it put you off, you have already proven you can overcome challenges life throws at you xx

What a horrible thing to happen. As Daivid said below, wrong place, wrong time and not your fault in any way. These things just take time and hopefully in time this week will be a distant memory in amongst all the other lovely trips. Thank you for being strong enough to share this. Stay strong.

Ellie, Graham, Maya and Luna I'm really sorry that happened to you. I'm so happy that none of you have gotten injured. I hoping you all got home safely, and you will not let that scare you against traveling again. I want to thank you for a lesson learned to be more careful in picking a place and your surroundings as I do want to go fulltime traveling in my van with my cat Kitty and my dog Xena. I wish you all the best with safety and happiness in whatever you decide to do.

My first time watching! So sorry to hear! …omg! This has been a good education for me, as a widow, and contemplating van life! Thank you! Real eye opener, as there are angry, desperate souls rampant, everywhere, more so then ever! Be safe! Love your doggies!

Oh my, I’m so sorry this happened to you. It’s very helpful to talk it out like you’re doing. For now, fix the van, install motion sensors/lights on the outside, and give yourself time to heal. Good luck putting this behind you. Greetings from California, USA.

I’m so sorry this happened. There are some really mean people in our world. Don’t let this discourage you from your adventures.

Hi, I know this is old now and you have got past this, but it came up on my feed today and after watching would like to say what a lovely couple you seem and much respect for not letting this stop you doing what you love. You earned a new subscriber 😊

I hope that you will get to do more travels as I have just disordered your channel with this video. I am glad you are all safe and I hope you will always be safe. Random acts of violence can happen anywhere because of people's decisions to do wrong. Know where you are at and do what you can to be safe. Please don't let these guys win. It may take you a bit to even go on a trip, but I do believe that you should.

So sorry to hear about your incident. There are some mindless people out there, most of their actions come from jealousy. Don’t let these people stop what you love doing. Give it some time. I wish you both well. Barry

This was clearly horrific. You are very blessed to have each other. I drove a 28 foot camper van for a couple years in England and Ireland...sometimes alone with a little dog, and sometimes with my young teenage sons I had to battle fear a lot and in the end I sold it. Am tempted at 65 to buy again but these scary moments really give pause for thought ♡

Glad you're all okay. And never mind the over sharing bits considering the situation you've just experienced. Godspeed on future travels.

Outstanding actions on your painful experience. I've never watched this site before, but I'm with you now. I hope you will continue your ventures.

Has never happened to us in 20years BUT we always stay on sites ....Mostly the 2 majors. I have friends who wild camp and have never had problems but I always felt safe sleeping and leaving the van on a site. This is horrible we all love our vans and seeing them attacked for no reason is very unsettling.

Horrified to see this guys, glad you are all okay. Remember if you get knocked down, it’s nature to get back up again and you will! Give yourself time and take baby steps. You will get back to doing what you love in Merlin. Take care both of you 💕

I feel for you both. You work, save up and buy nice things and things like this happen. I do hope that you both can move forward and put it all behind you

I am very sorry this has happend. Thank you for sharing this video. I wish you safe travels for the future.

Pleased that you’re both safe, this is happening far too often this is why I will never wild camp .

Glad you're okay and no one was hurt other than tthe damage to your van. Thankfully you were relatively close to home. I just saw a video from the other day where another person had their van attacked while he was asleep. The company who his insurance company told him to contact for the repair had to order the replacement window so they fitted with a piece of thick plexiglass which made it safe for them to legally drive and use their camper van because you couldn't tell it wasn't a regular car window. It made me think that it might be wise to have thinner pieces of plexiglass cut to fit each window on the inside of the van which would prevent the glass from breaking or at least keep any glass from getting inside the van if something ever broke the window again. You could attach weather stripping on the edge of each piece of plexiglass to make it secure while in place. I would attach tabs on the bottom edge that would help you remove it when necessary I would add some security cameras around the outside of the van that have the ability to film/let you see with night vision 360 degrees around the van. I have heard of some that are triggered by motion sensors. Another safety tip is to have more lights mounted to the outside of the van similar to the one above the sliding door which you can turn on with the press of a button or are triggered by motion sensors just like the cameras because it will not only scare off the person or people who are trying to break in or damage the van and possibly record what they look like and what their vehicle looked like and even better a license plate number which would help the police track them down. If you don't have a security system on your van I would highly suggest you have one installed asap. All of these things would help you to feel safe again. Many of the vehicle security systems trigger the car horn or another sound to go off whenever it system is triggered. You can also trigger it to go off by pressing a button on your key fob which would also help scare off whoever is trying to break in or damage the van. Other things to think about keeping in the van or with you while out exploring are: A tazzer, an air gun (fog horn) pepper spray and or bear spray. Always park facing the exit for wherever you are parked so that you can drive off immediately if needed because you never know what they might do if confronted. My parents took of us children camping each summer. It didn't matter if you were a newborn (the youngest baby was around 2 months old the first time they went camping. As the years went on eventually there were7 children and a dog in the family van. My parents had a tent trailer that had a queen sized bed on top of the trailer and they had a zip on extension room where the children slept on camping cots that you could stack like bunkbeds and we each had a sleeping bag. The baby slept in a portable crib and the next youngest slept on a cot in the room with our parents to make it easier to care for them if needed during the night. There were 2 large locking storage compartments on each side of the trailer which allowed them to pack everything we would need on our month long camping trips. Dad had reconfigured a boat refrigerator so that it could run off of an extremely large extra battery he added to the family vehicle that charged it while the car was on and it would run the refrigerator for up to a week without the car running. Eventually Dad upgraded to a popup camper trailer that slept 8 and had a fresh water tank, A sink, stove, heater, fan, small dorm size refrigerator and more. The sides on the bottom were metal covered with a fiberglass skin and the top was fiberglass panels that folded in and laid flat underneath the roof when packed up. There were 2 Queen beds that slid out on either end and had supports that got inserted into some slots under the bed and on the end of the trailer. It had many windows that had bug screens to allow fresh air in and kept out any bad weather. Because we camped in bear country we didn't eat or cook any food in the camper. Which was fine because we had a really good setup for cooking and cleaning up by the picnic table and campfire/grill. We had a series of canopies that we setup which kept us dry should it rain or any other bad weather situations. We could easily move from the tent or camper to the picnic table and our camp kitchen without getting wet and muddy which was amazing with the number of people on the various trips. Very different time from now. We created some amazing memories that we still talk about when we get together.

Watching your channel from Oahu, Hawaii. Aloha! Peace and serenity. Your tranquility has been disturbed but you have come through it stronger. We are going to travel across the USA in a few months and your channel has reminded us to be aware.

I hope you give yourself time. It sounds so random. Yes teens for sure. Prayers you get past it, and get back to your favorite way of travel. Love from California.

I live in France and the UK is a different world to me. You could not pay me to take my camping car there, Sorry. Come to France what you save on camp site fees it will pay for the crossing. All the best to you guys. thank you for sharing.

So sorry that you’ve both gone through this, it’s awful. This is why we have not managed to wildcamp yet, I wouldn’t sleep as I’m a worrier at the best of times. Hope it doesn’t put you off doing what you enjoy.

Aww😢 I’m sorry this happened to you! I wish you all the best! 🍀

Your video popped up in my feed. So sorry this happened. I imagine you would have the same feelings that I had when my house was robbed.Only you were present when it happened.You feel so violated and scared. It takes awhile to get over it enough to feel safe again. Blessings and safe travels .

So sorry for you both. Hearing your story made my blood boil. Its great how you both handled a horrible situation. Stay strong and best of luck to you.

I feel so sorry for you both and admire you for being able to keep it together after such an ordeal. It just shows that as human beings you are at the opposite end of the scale compared to the cowardly low lifes who did this to you x

Like many people, this is the first time one of your videos popped up on my feed and I listened with concern about the events that happened and I am sorry all the way from Australia to hear of them. I then went to your very first video on your channel and listened to all of the reasons why you took on this lifestyle and perhaps the best advice I can give you is to re-watch it again yourselves for inspiration about why you chose to do what you have been doing. You must never let them win and you must continue to M.E.R.L.I.N for all of the original reasons you said. Keep seeking the magic. Keep being you.

So sorry this happened to you. Hope now all is better. You cannot help to wonder why someone would do this. Just so happy you two are O.K.

I’m sorry you experienced this. People just have no moral code. Unkindness, theft, selfishness…..it’s so awful. Get an alarm system, you can set off to scare people away. Hugs to you both.

My heart goes out for you both really sad hope you can find away past this we was thinking of doing off grid as we are newbies to motorhomeing certainly makes you think twice just glad you both and dogs are ok

I'm am so sorry you had to go through that. God Bless!

Both of you need to be so kind to yourselves, surround yourself with close friends and family that love you. If necessary seek a good therapist to help you through this terrible ordeal. I can only imagine how difficult this must be. Take care.

My mom used to like the idea of having their cottage be more remote and away from neighbors... However, once she was on her own and aging... she began to realize the downside of being isolated. There is generally some safety in numbers. There will ALWAYS be those who go to the dark side... but clearly there are more good & helpful people out there than bad.

So happy that you're all ok. You might want to set up cameras and motion sensor lights all around the van to help with your security. Blessings always

Indeed. There needs to be more kindness. God bless you both. I am so glad that you are safe. X

Glad you are ok. First time seeing your site. As my husband and I are seniors now we have been thinking about traveling some but the way things are going we are having second thoughts. Terribly sad is it not

Your strength is in each other and you hit the issue head on. So proud of you both and so sorry some absolute idiots tried to spoil your enjoyment of Merlin and wild camping in general. Big hugs to you both. X

We were told about your video and so had to come over and watch. We have now subscribed. We are so sorry to hear of this horrible experience out on the road. I could hear in your voices that this experience has really hit you both to the core. We hope that in time you are able to put this experience behind you. If this is your dream life, as hard as it might seem right now, you must try your best not to let these minority criminals spoil what you are achieving in life. Thinking about you both.

So glad you were both alright. New subscriber here. You both inspire me so much..keep it up and stay safe please. Bless you both❤

So sorry to hear about the attack. How awful. Sending much love ❤❤❤

Sorry to hear what happened guys :(. It’s the very first video I’ve seen of yours and it came with that terrible incident. I hope you two are holding up strong 💪 those who are responsible are nothing more then scum bags making others lives miserable. Stay strong, chin up don’t let these fools get you down, take care - John

If you give up, the thugs have won! It is healing to talk about bad experiences. Take time to recover and then, hit the road. My prayers are with you. Please keep the channel going. You are lovely people.

Sorry you went thru that. It's a beautiful van. Try to be positive pray for inner peace. GOD BLESS

I really feel for you guys. The place this happened is just up the road from me and it is a lovely area. Take time to get over this and don’t make any rash decisions that you may later regret.

I’m glad you’re safe. I would have been afraid to step out of van.

Glad you're both ok. Get some CCTV stickers and put them in clear vision 🌻 don't let them stop you ❤️

So glad you &. Your dogs were o.k!! So scary, So sorry you went through that. Hope your van is ok & repairable. Hope your insurance covers the repairs. Stay safe & safe journey's 🤗♥️😇💜

It broke my heart to hear what these bullies did to you! I wish you the best and please keep us posted about your next travels! Yes…we’re in a war, where kindness and love are lacking feelings in humans! 😢😢😢❤❤