We joined The National Trust (and in the interests of balance English Heritage). For those readers outside the UK these two organisations own and preserve buildings and landscapes of historic and national importance for future generations. They raise funds by charging entrance fees to these sites or entrance is free if you pay to become a member.
This make us officially ‘middle aged’.
But once we had ‘The Van’ membership became much more attractive and has unexpected benefits for #vanlife
There are sites dotted all over the UK, and most of these sites have parking of some sort which is free to members. These often provide convenient rest stops away from the motorway services. They usually have toilets, important for our #vanlife as we try to limit use of the chemiloo as much as we can. And most importantly they have cafes or restaurants which are often excellent quality. We find also when travelling in ‘The Van’ life is taken at a slower pace and we will take an hour to explore and enjoy the site along with a toilet break and bite to eat. If we want to eat in the van this does not attract the attention it might do in a supermarket car park as many other families have brought a picnic of some sort.
All in all membership has been a pleasant surprise and now we think of these sites all over the UK as being our ‘service stations’ without the motorway traffic, noise and awful food.