Simpler Living - Ann Algie

I moved to France from the UK with my husband Tom in 2012.  We wanted to life a simpler life, a life that felt congruent with our beliefs and thoughts about nature and the environment.  We had an overall budget of £45,000.  We left the UK in our 30 year old camper van, bought specially for the occasion, and with a view to possibly needing to live in it for a year or two.  We travelled round France for 3 months before finding our small house and a 1/3 acre of land in Aveyron, south-west France for 33,000 euros.  The house had a roof, but not much else.  We spent the next 10 months turning it into a home while living in our van, learning to speak French and adjusting to a different culture.  We have since bought more land and now have 2 acres in total, about half of this is woodland.  We are currently re-building our very dilapidated barn.  This channel is an honest account of our life here and encouragement for living happily during these challenging times!