Nice! I've been looking for info on the legalities and practicalities of off-grid/tiny house living in the UK and yours is the first I've seen. Nicely filmed and presented too :)

Never thought of going off grid, always been to sites with play parks and swimming pools for the kids, but after your video, we are thinking of trying it for a weekend. Thanks

Thanks for this information Andrew. We are newish to motorhoming, having been tent campers for years, so the details regarding CL sites is fantastic. Thanks for the tip.

Good info on boondocking. I too like travel trailers vs motorhomes. Cause sometimes...well almost always when u boondock you are not close enough to places that have trails, a grocery store or laundry mat , ect. I have two 90 watt panels and they are great. Have a good day.

Loved your video. One of the best on living off the grid I have seen to date. I will be visiting this video many more times to tweak and improve my own off grid resources. Thank you so much. :)

I've only just discovered your channel and I love it already. Thanks for some great tips.

You're a very inspiring person and I just love your lifestyle. Stay safe and I stay tuned 👌🏼😀

Just for people watching - if you're thinking 'oh damn, I'd really like a TV in there though' then you can just put some more solar A solar panel costs approximately £1/W - new And obviously buying used (if you can find it) will be cheaper You can get 12v TVs and you can calculate the power usage etc pretty easy (just one KwH is the equivalent to running something 1Kw for 1 hour Or 500w for 2 hours etc) You don't need to give up as much as he has, if you are willing to spend some extra money (perhaps if need be on a lithium battery for better performance) then you can keep nearly all the things you'd like

Excellent stuff Andrew, thoroughly enjoyed this one. Very informative.

I Would love To do some travel for couple 2 yeas with the set up like your someone to cheer the moment, special with all the options of a transportations you have ( the car and the motocycle, make so much fun !!! Great choice, good luck ,

Triumph? Silver colour of choice? Very nice! New to the idea of vanlife. Interesting! 👍

Ok. You've pretty much convinced me. I need to do this.

Great tips! I'm thinking about getting a small caravan and I would do mostly off grid camping.

Thanks for this video! I found it really helpful, as I'm planning to move into a motorhome in the new year and want to be as independent as possible.

Hi Andrew, I found you this morning (due to rain so I am staying in the tent :) ) Good tips regarding the gear. I'd mentioned in a previous comment that I am just about to start building a caravan with the intent to tour Europe. Being horse drawn I won't have the benefit of a car to assist with charging, but my electric needs are minimal, laptop, camera and phone (soon to be replaced with 3G tablet, so I'll be even more frugal with my needs.). As far as the other stuff is concerned, I've lived for about 8 yrs without a fridge, so my storage is generally pickling, smoking, curing or fermenting (I'm been fairly nomadic to date, but fortunate enough to be able to take on abandoned farms as on site security, caretaker etc. I'm looking at the fact that I am unable to put down long term roots, so rathr than see it as a failure, I am embracing the enforced lifestyle and become a fully fledged nomad.) But I digress. My cooking is done with a self made rocket stove, it uses far less wood than traditional wood burners (twigs and small branches) it's also far more efficient and my one hot meal a day is generally done to a turn. Water heating I heat up water a couple of times a day and then fill my large thermos. I've also come to enjoy cold coffee and tea :) Heating is going to be my issue as I will be living year round in my caravan, however, Ihave used a wood burning stove before (which doubles as a slow cooker) and with the availability of peat as a fuel out here, I find that closing the damper in the evening I will wake to a stove that is still warm in the morning and will reignite when I put fuel in. I have also recently been making penny, or hobo stoves from old beer cans (simple and easy to do) they run off spirits such as meths, and this week I will be trying one out as a heat source to see how efficient it is. Our lifestyles may be at different ends of the spectrum, but I find your tips both informative and entertaining. I'll shortly be starting my own channel when I start the vardo project, might send you the link if you ask nicely :) Thanks for the vids!

very useful had not thought about the solar panel if portable being stolen if you went out for the day. We had a trailer tent for 10 years before moving up to a caravan last year. We never had anything pinched but times have changed.

Well done that man! Cheers Ian.

Some very good tips there, thank you.

Awesome video! We plan to live off-grid a lot once we hit the road next year. Picked up some good tips here. Thank you!

The fact that I haven't thought of using my truck's gigantic 100 something amp alternator to charge my battery bank when it gets low after a few cloudy days... makes me very upset at myself. Thank you for pointing out something I overlooked, good sir.

Thanks, Andrew, for the practical tips. I made notes of a few things to pick up. I just bought a T@B travel trailer made by Little Guy in the USA.

Very informative mr Ditton..great vid.

Soon to take delivery of a new motor home. Loved the video and whilst I wouldn't want to live this life full time I admire those that do. My one thought is that if you are mortgage and rent free, then living in a motorhome or caravan isn't much cheaper than owning your own home.

Keep up the good work greetings from a panda from poland

Very good video. Full of great advice. Best wishes.

I guess this is now two years old so no guarantee you still use the same gear (even though you do use the same Airstream) but the electricity situation could be improved markedly. You could get over 300 watts out of a single panel these days, and could probably fit 500+ in total up there. And the batteries could be Lithium ferrous, which is also a major improvement and give you literally days of power. But of course, that would set you back a few grand in total.

Really good advice, thanks.

great vid loads of useful info what a great life you lead. slan leat.

I note you using an inverter to charge Canon ... as another little tip, for those batteries (and probably others) you can get USB powered chargers from 7dayshop or (I think) Amazon for about £5. At that price I keep one permanently in my van - which proved useful when I went off to Italy on a photo trip and forgot the regular charger.

Years ago when our children were young we had one leisure battery and ran everything for 2 weeks in summer as we didn't use a tv. The lights weren't led then. You never put the awning light on as this gobbled up juice. We had one large calor with a small one for emergencies. The children were fairly feral but they became inventive for entertainment. I still find hook ups complicated and forget to use the electric.

fabulous information

An interesting video thanks. I'm a caravanner but we always have hookup. My shed at home is very much off grid - up to 350 watts of solar on the roof now but I can't convince my wife we can live without the mains for a weekend. Anyway the point I want to make is this... all those things you have charging up during the day are DC devices. However you are converting your 12 volt DC to 230 volts AC then back down to 5 volts DC again for example. Very inefficient not least because of the multiple conversions, but the modified sine wave of the cheap inverters makes many AC devices less efficient. May I suggest a good Cigarette / accessory socket USB charger for your iPad, phone etc, a DC powered camera battery charger, and you can also get a step-up converter for your mac book. Thanks again for the video.

Thank you for this video. A few questions, if I may - How much does your caravan weigh? I am looking for something that seems roomy but can easily be towed by my Honda Pilot vs having to sell it, buy something else AND also buy the trailer/caravan - that's a lot of buying that I'd like to avoid. Second question: Is it possible to have 2 solar panels on top of the caravan to boost power? Or, perhaps have one mounted and one portable? So far I have not see any that have more than one panel which is why I ask this question. Perhaps the Airstream is not designed for more than one panel or there is no place for extra batteries I do not know. I did not see where your batteries are stored. Again, thank you for sharing. Please tell us where you are in that beautiful countryside where you are staying.

this is what i am doing in 3 weeks. Or so I hoped. I have got to get a caravan and a car that can tow one. I live on the edge lol. I have just done an 8 month stint on a caravan park. I am tired of working for other people, so this is scary. I have 2 dogs to content with also . This is my 3rd year of leaving my old life. Its all a learning process)

Your Airstream is already nicely setup with the fridge, stove and heater that run on gas so my suggestion will be not good for your van but can be of use for other viewers. One way to be off the grid will be to fit in the car an second high amps alternator (250 amps or more) instead of a portable generator. The other option is to have a diesel stove-HWS and heater. They are very economic to run.

This one's my favorite! 👍🏾

@Andrew Ditton, firstly, Merry Christmas! Actually stumbled across your channel yesterday as am subscribed to "the more we explore" who are Airstream owners as you are and love the design and concept not to mention the lifestyle! More intrigued when I saw your options for off-grid power and the Triumph transport set-up as am a biker myself so I happily subscribed. I get with your views on the minimalism concept, it is a journey. Now where do I get an Airstream 532 International................

very informative, thanks.

Couldn't you just put two squirrels in a small treadmill to generate your power?

Inspirational, only found your vlogs as my husband and I were looking at anything related to Swifts new basecamp. We have decided to give up on our Granvia campervan next year and we've been thinking of getting a caravan for years, the basecamp gives us everything that we've felt has been missing from other vans. Anyways would you be willing to share the location of the campsite featured in this video (or are you wanting to keep the spot secret so you can carry on enjoying it!). Thanks for the videos!

looks bliss.

Hi, Andrew: First of all, my wife and I love your channel. Being into both simplicity and camping, you are a welcome kindred spirit. My question doesn't really relate to this particular video, but in it I see you're towing your Airstream with what I believe is a Nissan Navara (I believe it's the equivalent of the Nissan Frontier here in the States). Do you (or did you) find the Navara a capable vehicle for towing the Airstream? I need to find a replacement truck for towing our 2270 KG travel trailer. I currently have a massive diesel 3/4 ton 4x4 truck, but it's pushing 23 years, the body is rusting rapidly, and is overkill for our needs. We do live in the mountains here in North Carolina, and I do wonder if a truck as small as the Navara could handle the ups and downs. Any thoughts? Thanks and keep up the great work!

I use gas and solar panels when I'm off grid in my tent which is great. For WiFi i have a pod for 6 hours continuous use without charging so I can check my emails as I can take it on my boat with me.

Great video - thanks! How do you transport your motorcycle? At first I figured you use the bed of your pickup truck but then I saw on the video you have a cover over it.

How do you find sites like this? We want to be in our T25 a lot this year, but can't afford to spend a lot of money on sites.

Andrew do you work from your Airstream? Do you live in it always and just move around?

Great channel, subscribed!

Cool :) looks the same as my set up ! You can get car chargers for the apple gear, which negates the need for inverters altogether ... All the best ! .....J

So sad this CL has had to close down, can you recommend any others in the Midlands area, as I (we) are new to Caravanning and have been to 2 full service pitches so far, and would like to try off grid for a couple of days as we are at a couple of festivals later on this year which will also be off grid.

I'd like to be a full time tourer in a campervan I could base it near my job .. but without an address how would I manage? For DVLA Police etc Is it possible to get by without a residential address? ..apart from using someone else's address? I know that a P.O.Box is not acceptable with DVLA and some authorities

Excellent thank you

Andrew very nice video, you explained how to gi off grid for up to month... what do do for water, bathroom, and so on?

Why not use more cheap solar lighting to save the Hse batt's ? £ shop / cheap supermarket camping lights with built in solar chargers as background / or table light glow. Also i would have a fold out portable solar panel for times when needed or appropriate as an add on to existing set up. ( sunny days in winter + long cold dark nights etc.) 2 house batt's ? put a 3rd hse batt' in a spare space in the pick up truck charged by the alternator as you drive. as a back up for when your caravan is pitched up for a while. Charge up - as you drive to the shops etc. Also place a flexible solar panel in the pickup windscreen while parked wherever you happen to be on a sunny day. ( i charge many mini / cheap solar lights in my south facing bedroom window sill all yr round just for fun / trial / experiment even those at £1.00 ) OK not a big fix solution but every amp helps, and they are cheap ( or every self powered Lamp helps ) look at camping equipment in the ? Cheap four letter supermarkets we have in every town in UK. you know the ones i mean. ( Lidaldi and the others ) Gadget guru's will fault them and spend 20X the price but why not, buy it, use it , Bin it, buy another. cheap and simple. Also, Why not charge every rechargeable device up as you drive to work / jobs / shopping trips / other road use ? work that car alternator while its under car warranty / replacement warranty ? ( they are £150 - £350 on most cars /vans. ok may be £500 ? so use it every mile you drive. endless electricity if you balance it. Yes it will cost in the end but hey ! unlimited electric if you get the balance right of charge vs useage.

Love your vids, so good to get info that relates to the UK. I have three questions: how do you find sites like this one?, are there things in the UK like the American tribes where people travel in a group? People keep talking about amp hours, what does it mean? Many thanks.

Loving your videos! Being a British Airstreamer in America what do you with black and grey waste when boon docking for four weeks ?

Andrew, can you give details of the CL site in your video?

I have heard other Airstream owners say that the trailer rides so low to the ground that it makes going into the wild and off-grid a challenge to avoid bottoming out. Have you experienced any such problems camping in areas out in the open where there are no other people around? Also, did you install the solar yourself or did the panel come with the caravan when you purchased it?

Hi Andrew - love your videos keep up the great work! The site you are on in this video looks idilic. Where is it?

About the caravan, do you ever leave it there alone? I mean can you drive away with the navara and let the caravan behind for a few hours not being afraid of theft? Can't someone just go there and tow it away? Thanks

I love the idea of living in a caravan full time and not having to pay for a house and stuff like that, the airstream looks very good quality but I honestly don't see the point of spending about 80k euros or more in a caravan like that, plus an 4x4 in this case a beautiful nissan navara. Thats easily more than 100k euros, you could buy a house with that much money

many great tips mate - just one question: how does this work when you need a CPAP machine at nights to sleep?

So you don't live off grid? Like all year round? This is just about summer fun off grid?

is it legal to live in a static caravan I.e. postal address/pension etc..

Kind of late to the party here but great video. Sorry for my limited knowledge here but how do you use the truck alternator to charge the trailer batteries? Some type of direct connection from the truck battery as in jumper cables or something more technical in nature?

Pick up more panels (for about 600W total) and some deep cycle glass pack batteries and you're done.

Interesting video thank you. Is there a website that lists all the off grid sites in the UK? Many thanks

Cliff Booth 😁

Another great video Andrew, do you have more information about your gas conversation, also with solar panels if I had more than 1 100w say 3 100w panels would this power things like the fridge etc in affect to keep gas costs down while off grid. Thanks Adam

👍🏽

Could you just use the generator to charge the leisure batteries? How long would it take and how many times a day would you need to do it?

Hi, if you run out of gas can you disconnect the bottles and take them to a garage and fill up with autogas?

Hello Andrew - do you carry the motorbike in the pick up when towing or in the back of the caravan?

Do you have to pay a cousil tax? Do you have to pay any taxes living off grid in the UK?

There's a really nice caravan park next to RAF Mildenhall, if you'd like to watch the planes. And, there is an AWESOME Indian restaurant in the town of Mildenhall (g.co/kgs/WAAUhA)! I drove past it every day on my way home from work at the base. Enjoy touring your country.

well, you kinda can go off grid but you would need solar panels and 2 filters (just for half a year or so) and a pump. you also need petrol (if you are travelling) and also gas (but you can also bring a grill and some wood)

Noted.

😁👍👏👏👏

watching this dreaming that we were brave enough to do this kinda thing with our toddler in tow . ugh what I would give lol I'm ill with chronic fatigue syndrome and hate the stress of bad neighbours above us in our tiny non sound proofed housing association flat. ... maybe 1 day . I want to homeschool anyway

No mention of fresh and foul water?

how do you carry your cycle around having an air- stream

The UK is a very windy country, kill all the arguments about solar power failings in winter / night / dark. by having a fold out extendable wind turbine set up to back up your solar. solar is fine in Auz / California, Tropical areas. in Britain i would also look to WIND ! wind is constant 24/ 7 / 365 . Windpower is best in UK. i have lots of ideas and ways a good engineer could make it work very cheap and practical. car / vehicle exhaust gas spins the turbo at high rev's . ok a secondary turbo just behind it would spin almost as fast with the draught / spent force of the primary turbo to add a charge to a battery.

Buy a 4x4 or you'll be stuck when the grass is sodden, most pitches are on grass fields, some but not many might have a hard standing area. FWD or RWD family saloons pulling a caravan get stuck surprising easily.