I sold my three-bed house after being diagnosed with cancer – now my husband & I live in a horsebox van
CLOSING the door on our home of 15 years, my husband Mark and I drove away with mixed emotions.
But when we got to our new home overlooking the glorious Devon hills, we felt excited for the next chapter in our lives.
Our new home was far from ordinary – we’d swapped our three-bedroom house and the crippling mortgage that came with it for a horsebox van!
Following my cancer diagnosis, we wanted to make the most of whatever time I had left, travelling the UK in our new home on wheels.
Since getting together in 2001, after meeting through friends, Mark, now 52, and I had worked hard to give ourselves a good life.
I taught horticulture in a local prison, while Mark was a civil servant, so we earned decent wages, but we’d stretched ourselves with the mortgage on our cottage in Tiverton, Devon, and never had any money left over for holidays.
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Instead, we went camping in the UK, as we both loved the outdoors.
Then, in June 2016, I noticed my left nipple was inverted, and after having an ultrasound, mammogram and a biopsy, I was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer.
We were shell-shocked and devastated, but my consultant was so positive, saying: “We’ll beat this.”
My diagnosis made us reassess everything.
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Why were we living on this treadmill when life was so short?
Needing another focus during my treatment, we decided to buy a £5,000 8m-long horsebox, after seeing a converted one online, and throw our energies into creating our ideal holiday home ready for when I’d recovered.
Friends thought we were mad – we had no experience converting anything, but we thought: “How hard can it be?”
I carried on teaching while having chemotherapy every three weeks at Royal Devon And Exeter Hospital.
In our free time, we watched renovation videos on YouTube to help us strip the floor, put in insulation, build a bathroom and kitchen and install a log burner.
Fortunately, I wasn’t sick from the chemotherapy, and as long as I paced myself, I was able to get through the days and help with the renovations.
After the second round of chemotherapy, I lost my hair, and while I wasn’t concerned about my appearance, I did worry it made my cancer obvious to others.
Of course, there were bad days when I felt scared and tearful, but we reminded ourselves that I only had 18 weeks of treatment left to get through.
We ticked each treatment off as we went, and working on the van helped take my mind off things.
In November 2016, I underwent a mastectomy, which I tried to view in a positive way, seeing it as the cancer being cut out of me, rather than losing my breast.
I started radiotherapy in the new year and decided not to have another big operation for breast reconstruction, as I felt my body had been through enough.
Meanwhile, our hard graft continued.
We made a cosy double bed above the kitchen area, put blinds made from coffee sacks on the windows for privacy, installed a water heater and a fridge, and put in a daybed, spending around £6,000 in total.
In April 2017, we held a launch party for our horsebox, with a dinner and raffle to raise money for Breast Cancer Now and Force Cancer Charity, a local charity that had given me lots of support.
We announced we were calling her Boobydo, short for “the boob made us do it”, and everyone cheered.
That summer, we took Boobydo on trips to see friends and to festivals, and in September, we were ecstatic when scans showed I was cancer-free.
It felt like I’d been given a second chance.
I started radiotherapy in the new year and decided not to have another big operation for breast reconstruction, as I felt my body had been through enough
Rachel Stewart
After being burdened with a mortgage and debt for so long, we decided to sell up and turn Boobydo into our permanent home.
We worked out that we could cut our outgoings from more than £2,000 a month to just a few hundred.
We didn’t have any responsibilities, such as children, plus Mark could work remotely, so we could spend our time living life to the full.
To turn Boobydo into a proper home, we decided to upgrade the facilities – a new water heater, shower, gas tank, electrics and more solar panels, getting a bank loan of £5,000 to cover the cost.
Then we put our house on the market and made plans to travel across Europe.
But then in February 2021, we received another blow.
Routine scans showed the cancer was back – and it had spread to my liver, lung, spine and ribs.
Now stage four, it was incurable.
Mark and I were in shock.
My prognosis was just two to five years, though the consultant explained there was a range of chemo options I could try.
At home, I read stories online of people who were still alive after 20 years, which gave me hope.
When Mark asked if I still wanted to sell the house, I said: “Hell, yes.”
I wasn’t going to give up, and I wasn’t going to let cancer define me.
We changed our plans to tour the UK and Ireland instead, allowing me to travel back for chemo every three weeks, and for three-monthly scans.
In January 2022, I took ill-health retirement and, after selling the house and paying off our debts, we were left with £20,000.
Now, every day I open the curtains and think: 'Where shall we go today?' That sense of freedom is magical and we both feel much less stressed
Rachel Stewart
We sold or donated most of our belongings to charity, and put a few things in storage.
At first, it was hard to part with our possessions, but it was also freeing.
We began touring with our Airedale terrier Mabel, and went wild camping, visited friends and attended festivals, making lots of new friends along the way.
When people discovered I had stage four cancer, nobody could believe it.
Now, every day I open the curtains and think: “Where shall we go today?”
That sense of freedom is magical and we both feel much less stressed.
Our day-to-day life isn’t much different from when we lived in a house and we don’t miss the space, as we spend a lot of time outdoors.
Boobydo has everything we need – a bathroom, kitchen, living room and bedroom.
Mark has a dedicated work space in the living room, and when he’s busy, I take Mabel out for a walk, before making jewellery and crafting in the kitchen, or doing online yoga.
Our van is warm, thanks to the wood burner and diesel stove we’ve installed, and Mabel loves cuddling up with us on the sofa when we read or watch films if it’s cold and wet outside.
We had a scare last year when my cancer progressed into the upper area of my spine, but radiotherapy seems to have stabilised it.
I asked my consultant if she thought it was wise for us to be spending our time on the road, and she said she couldn’t think of anything better!
As the chemo doesn’t make me sick, we intend to carry on having adventures in the time I have left, however long that may be.
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You only have one life – it’s just a pity it took a cancer diagnosis to make me realise it.
- Follow Rachel and Mark on Instagram@horseboxcamper.
- Visit Breastcancernow.org and Forcecancercharity.co.uk