Meet the former teachers who quit their jobs to travel the world in a 48-year-old campervan with their two rescue cats. Willow Rolfe, 33, and Lee Hodges, 37, changed their lives in 2019, shipping their Volkswagen to the USA and embarking on the trip of a lifetime.
What was originally meant to be a one-year trip has become the couple’s new life – they are now on their fifth year of travelling and don’t plan on giving up any time soon.
Willow, from Birmingham, said: “Our original plan was a sort of ‘gap year’ – we planned to take a year out and travel from August 2019 to September 2020, and then return to our jobs and normal life. We shipped our van across to New York.
READ MORE: Tributes for teenager ‘Tomo’ after stolen bike crash with car
“The plan was to explore two countries – the USA and Canada – but we got through America quicker than expected and we wanted to do more. We decided to extend our trip and headed to Mexico – and of course, when the pandemic struck in March 2020, that’s where we were and that’s where we stayed.
“We’ve now visited 15 countries and had so many incredible experiences – we’ve hiked up active volcanoes in Guatemala, seen thousands of turtles laying their eggs on a beach in Costa Rica, had Colombian police buy us lunch… It’s just been amazing.”
While the pair enjoyed teaching, they decided to quit after realising “waiting for retirement to be able to travel is somewhat backwards”. Lee said: “Why spend arguably the best years of your life working 40 hours or more a week so you can spend the weekend cleaning your house?
“We have never been particularly interested in owning ‘nice’ or expensive things. We would rather have an experience, so we put our time and money into setting that up rather than buying a nice car or expensive holidays.”
In February 2015, the pair bought the remains of a classic 1976 Volkswagen van from Gumtree – without interior, engine or wiring. The restoration became a pet project for Willow, a former motor vehicle lecturer at a Birmingham college, who worked on it with her students.
After three years and multiple test runs, the van – affectionately named Ruby – was ready to hit the road by April 2019. More months were spent prepping their house for rental to secure income during their travels.
By August 2019, they had packed away their belongings, packed Ruby with essentials for a year’s journey, and were all set to venture out. Ruby was taken from Southampton Port to New York on August 16 followed shortly by Lee and Willow, who landed in the USA on August 28.
A former primary school teacher, Lee said: “We travelled around the US for four or five months. Our original plan had been to spend around six months there and then travel up to Canada.
“But the more we thought about it, the less appealing Canada became – we had spoken to Canadians on our travels who warned us we shouldn’t even try it before April because of the cold.
“We had already experienced cold temperatures earlier in our trip in Colorado and knew it was difficult to navigate with Ruby. We knew we needed to leave the US as our visas were due to expire – so instead of heading for Canada, after speaking with our insurance company and getting everything else sorted, we decided to change our plans and head for Mexico.”
After arriving in Mexico in February 2020, they found themselves trapped just a month later with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. Despite the global lockdown restrictions, the couple chose to ride out the storm from their Mexican setting.
Willow said: “I don’t think there was such a thing as a ‘good pandemic’ – but I do feel we had quite a good time, if that’s possible. It was difficult at first – we had to find a place to settle which was tricky when there was so much fear and uncertainty.”
“But after a few months, things started to chill out quite quickly in Mexico and we could continue to travel and explore. Everyone we met there was so nice and welcoming – which was so lovely, especially considering it was the pandemic.”
Since their prolonged stop in Mexico, the travellers have ventured through no less than 13 other countries, ticking off Guatemala, Argentina, El Salvador, and Uruguay among others.
Throughout their epic journey, their two rescue cats – Aimee and Lexi – have been along for every step of the ride. Lee said: “Of course the money side has been tough to manage along the way.
“We do get money from our rental property, but we still have to make sacrifices – there are things we would love to do but can’t because they’re too expensive.
“And Ruby is almost 50-years-old now – she’s on her third engine and gearbox and it’s easier to point out what hasn’t broken at some point along the way.
“So we have to factor in repairs and replacements – luckily living costs are cheaper in Latin America than in the UK and Europe, so although it’s been tough managing the budget, we’ve managed to get by.”
Their adventures are funded through income from two rental properties back in the UK, with an estimated £100,000 spent over five years. Lee said: “We would like to reduce this, over £30,000 is just on maintaining the vehicle.
“We estimate we will travel a further 18 months and our ideal budget is £1,000 per month for everything – something that is definitely possible. We have had some very large expenses, for example shipping across the Darien, which we won’t be paying for again.
“It obviously sounds like a lot, but this is a total for us living, which works out to roughly £27-a-day per person.”
The adventurous couple are in no rush to return to the UK. Their main aim is to get to Ushuaia, often referred to as “the end of the world” due to its location at the very tip of South America.
Willow said: “We’re halfway down South America right now – about 3,000 kilometres from Ushuaia. We want to be there for November – and then after that, we want to continue our travels round South America.
“By next year, we hope to have visited every country in the continent.”
Then they hope to buy a property in South America to turn into a campsite and hub for like-minded wanderers. Lee said: “It would be amazing just to have a base to travel from – we’re pretty excited for that to be honest.”
“Travelling has been amazing but there is some sense of fatigue – once we reach that point, we’ll have been on the road for seven years. The dream is to have that property where we can provide for fellow travellers and meet new people, while also continuing to go on our own travels.”