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Hattersley couple living the dream after double cancer diagnosis

A couple from Hattersley are ‘living the dream’ in the Canadian wilderness after trading in their 9 to 5 jobs for life on the road.

Katie Marshall, 36, has been travelling the world for the past five years with her fiancée, Nicola, ticking off 36 countries so far.

After Katie was diagnosed with skin and breast cancer three months apart in 2018 they decided to quit their office jobs and set off into the great unknown, blogging and documenting their travels.

From dog sledding in the Arctic Circle, to dodging lava from the erupting Fuego Volcano in Guatemala, the pair have shared their lives with readers of their blog: www.roundtheworldmagazine.com.

Their current adventure sees them living out of a van in the Canadian wilderness. Situated in British Columbia, around an hour’s drive from civilisation, they survive ‘off-grid’ with a solar panel to charge phones, a propane stove and a non flushing toilet.

Writing from their home on wheels on Canadian Crown Land, Katie explained: “What seemed like the impossible goal of becoming a digital nomad came as a reality so suddenly. 

“We worked very hard building the website in our spare time for around three years and it wasn’t until we were staying at a backpackers’ hostel in Stockholm that our dream became a reality. 

“When I was told over the phone that I had skin cancer back in 2018, I was standing in Stockholm Central Station. That very same night, our website was featured on Travel and Leisure and this was the pivotal moment where the magazine gained a strong online presence. 

“The universe works in wonderful ways!

“Ever since then, we get to document lively travel experiences, sample vegan restaurants and cafes and stay in some great accommodations around the world. We have a loyal audience of over 35,000 visitors a month and almost two million impressions on Google.

“The lifestyle is fun, it’s scary, it’s risky and it’s exciting. We wouldn’t be here without courage, persistence, hard work and patience.”

The couple landed at Vancouver airport on the same day that the Canadian border closed to international visitors due to coronavirus restrictions. The change in policy left them in a difficult position. “We had plans to drive our camper down to Oregon and California (USA) and suddenly found ourselves stuck in Canada,” said Katie.

“Our travel insurance couldn’t help us, our families and friends back home were concerned for us but they know that travel is in our hearts and that we’d make this work however we could. 

“Nicola found herself a job working in an essential service so we could source an income to survive. The Covid laws within Canada are somewhat different to England. There was never an official ‘lockdown’ here as there were fewer provincial cases in BC but all advisories were the same. 

“We ended up falling in love with a small mountain town in British Columbia an hour north of Vancouver. The real name of the town is Skwxwú7mesh, but it’s simplified in English as ‘Squamish’. 

“The town is visually stunning and it is a very affluent and desirable area to live. Subsequently it’s expensive to rent - one bed rentals can be in excess of £1,500 a month. 

“Luckily, we found a nearby non-profit campground on what Canadian’s call ‘Crown Land’ (ironically defined as ‘land belonging to the British Crown’.)

“The campground staff were very understanding to our situation and allowed us to set up there with our camper van and all distancing and protective protocols were in place.

“Six months later, we’re still there! During this time, we have not had internet access nor electricity or running water. All we have is land, forest and ‘pit toilets’ which do not flush.

“We have learned to forage, build campfires, play the guitar, the ukulele, harmonica, hula hooping and poi. 

“We built an outdoor kitchen powered by propane and protected by tarp, we have learned about zero waste and sustainable ways of living and we had to build an outdoor shower as all gyms and recreation centres were closed. We now bathe, drink and wash our dishes using boiled glacial water from the sacred Mamquam river.

“When life gave us lemons, we made more than lemonade!”

Despite being confined to the inside of a van during bad weather, the pair have made it a home to be proud of, with a wood burning stove, a double bed that converts into a sofa and traditional scented cedar wood covering the walls. 

Katie remarked: “When it heats up, it smells like a sauna and it’s fitting for the Canadian climate.”

With no access to running water the pair say that it has made them appreciate the simple things in life, including warm showers! 

Katie said: “Van life is one of those terms that excites everyone. Having your home and all of your possessions on wheels is truly a blessing. We never forget anything when we leave the campground because it’s always with us. 

“We can get changed whenever we want, and we do so often because the weather out here is very unpredictable.

“We have solar panels and an inverter that is charged by the engine so we have enough electricity to power up laptops, phones and our Bose speaker. 

“We’ve opened our back doors onto fluffy meadows, giant forests and remote beaches overlooking the Pacific Ocean. 

“We enjoy cosy movie nights with some local cedar wood toasting in the wood burning stove as well as board games, writing a memoir and dancing out the back with our poi.

“It’s important to remember that van life can be very challenging. With no running water, no internet, no toilet or shower, a weak supply of electricity and no washing machine, we’re often relying on local business being open and during Covid, this has been challenging.

“The whole experience has taught us appreciation of the simplest things such as warm showers, running water and clean linen.”

Katie’s cancer diagnosis was the event that spurred the couple into travelling full-time, and she explained how one phone call changed everything: “We had plans to start our second leave of absence in Reykjavik, Iceland for New Year 2017/2018 with some friends and I was trying on clothes for the trip when I spotted a very dark mole on my right flank. 

“I went to see the GP right away and he advised me to cancel the flight out to Iceland as the mole looked suspicious. I had a biopsy and went ahead with the rest of our travel plan while we waited for the result and we flew to Stockholm, Sweden.

“I got the results over the phone while standing in Stockholm Central Train Station. It was early stage malignant melanoma and I had to fly home for surgery. 

“I got the all clear right after surgery as it was a very early stage melanoma and we went ahead with our plan to fly to Los Angeles. We did an epic 4,000-mile road trip from LA to New Orleans and we were there for their famous Mardi Gras celebration. 

“On the way back, we went to Albuquerque to do the Breaking Bad RV tour and visited most major towns within Arizona, Texas and New Mexico and eventually back to Los Angeles.

“From there, we went to the world’s largest all female LGBTQIA+ music festival, The Dinah Shore Weekend, in Palm Springs and it was there, in the shower after a pool party, that I found a lump on my breast. 

“I got checked out by a doctor in Beverly Hills who advised me that it could be a tumour and to go back in two weeks if it hadn’t disappeared. 

“Three weeks later, I’m back home in the UK and being diagnosed with breast cancer at 34 years of age. I had surgery two days later and I refused chemotherapy, instead opting for a natural course of treatment. 

“I went back to America for a couple of months following surgery along with Iceland, Paris and Spain. It took a long while for the doctors to test my tumour and provide results of other scans and I also had a bone biopsy after a lesion appeared on an MRI scan. I came back home to have radiotherapy for a month at the Christie in Manchester.

“Ever since the trauma of being twice diagnosed with cancer, three months apart, I struggled with anxiety and insomnia for around a year. I opted for a wellness path over conventional treatment and I had somewhat of a spiritual awakening after finding yoga, meditation and herbal medicine which allowed me to eventually travel again.

“I now see the trauma of the whole experience as a steer into living a free life on the road for the rest of my days.”

Of course, you can take the girl out of Tameside, but you can never take Tameside out of the girl. Katie freely admits that she still misses plenty about her home, saying: “We really miss the dry British humour out here. We’ve spent a long time in other countries and there really is no humour quite like it, it is very much respected and appreciated out here too, we’re always cracking jokes and sharing stories of how it is in Northern England. 

“We also miss how easy it is to have parcels delivered and how well stocked it is there in all types of stores. It’s very hard to get a parcel delivered out here, it took eight weeks for a package to get here from my mum (which contained British tea bags among other UK delicacies).

“The health care system is also very difficult and expensive out here.We miss real British tea and things we used to take for granted like gravy and crumpets, they just don’t exist out here.”

You can keep up to date with the pair’s adventures by visiting www.roundtheworldmagazine.com and following them on Instagram.

 

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