I wanted to sit down and write this while the week is still fresh — not once everything feels “figured out”, but right in the middle of it.

Minette and I arrived in the UK on 20 January, and what followed wasn’t a highlight reel. It was friction, admin, cold weather, stairs, delays, and a lot of moments where things didn’t go according to plan.

London hit us first.

Small flats. No lifts. Five flights of stairs. Suitcases up and down. Trains, buses, crowds. Everyone rushing — eyes on their phones, chasing the next commute. It was loud, fast, and oddly disconnected. It made us very aware of how easy it is to get trapped in motion without direction. We connected at a few events with potential partnerships and building our community and support. We attended the High Level event, where they are seriously considering coming to S.A!

From there we headed to Doncaster, where Minette lived and worked years ago. Slower pace. Cleaner. Friendlier people. Strangers going out of their way to help us. It reminded us that environment matters more than most people realize.

But one thing became very clear, very quickly:

We packed for comfort — not for movement.

Our luggage became an anchor. Every staircase, every train change, every check-in felt heavier than it should have. That’s when the idea of having our own wheels, our own space, our own “home” stopped being a nice-to-have and became essential.

So we committed to buying the van.

That decision alone opened a new chapter of challenges:

Needing a UK address just to purchase
Paying for a registered office service
Sorting insurance with South African licences
Paying a full year upfront (around £4,000)
Putting down a non-refundable deposit
UK Tax on the car and and and...

And then… delays.

Clutch issues.

Gearbox out.

Parts missing.

MOT pending.

All while we had no accommodation secured because we were timing everything around collecting the van.

At the same time, business didn’t pause.

We were running:

Daily Zoom calls
A 3-day online challenge
Paid webinars
Coaching sessions
Client work
Team management

Across a 2-hour time difference, unstable Wi-Fi, and coffee shops that charged £7+ for two cappuccinos.

One day in particular sums this journey up perfectly.

We were presenting a live paid webinar from the backyard of a mechanic’s office, waiting for answers on the van, not knowing where we were sleeping that night. The webinar froze multiple times. The Wi-Fi lagged. Our onboarding team made mistakes that should never have happened.

And yet… 91 people were live

We could smell freedom, as our Van was finally ready, and we drove away at 7pm that night with our van! But, shops were closed, we managed to find a local store, got as many blankets as we could find, and somehow managed to find a relatively "safe" parking spot to overnight! We slept inside an ice-cold, damp van. Terrible, right? No, it was amazing! It was ours, and we loved it!

We chose our hard!

This is the truth most people don’t talk about:

Freedom isn’t about less work.

It’s about better systems under pressure.

Everyone suffers.

Most people just don’t get to choose why.

We’re choosing it.

Cold mornings.

Uncertainty.

Admin headaches.

Building while moving.

Fixing things as they break.

Not because it’s easy — but because it’s ours.

This journey isn’t about travel for us.

It’s about building a life, a business, and a community that isn’t tied to one place — and doing it honestly, without pretending it’s all sunsets and laptops on beaches.

We’re documenting everything — the wins, the costs, the frustration, and the breakthroughs — for those of you who want to build for real, not just dream about it.

More updates coming soon.

This is only the beginning.

– Eugene

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