A young couple sold their "dream house" and gave up their careers to travel around in a campervan with their dogs.
Victoria MacDonald, 28, and Scott Ross, 32, owned a lovely three-bed house, which even had its own ballroom, but they weren't enjoying their careers.
They sold their detached home, in Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire, Scotland for £146,000, which had formerly belonged to the Colman's mustard dynasty, after buying it for £100,000 in June 2016.
But knowing they weren't planning to have kids in the huge 12-room villa, and feeling increasingly unhappy with their jobs, they began thinking about a change, the Daily Record reports.
Victoria, a former purchasing administrator in the oil and gas industry, had been suffering from depression, and Scott was working in grounds operation at a heliport company before injuring his back in the workplace in June 2016.
In March this year they put their house up for sale and it didn't take long for it to be snapped up for £146,000.
The couple then bought a Citroen Relay 2016 campervan for £13,000 but it needed work doing to it - so they moved into a croft in Muir of Ord, Highlands, for two months.
They installed a proper kitchen and a solar-powered shower - a process which Victoria admitted she found "horrible".
Now they run an online marketing travel company and work remotely from some of the most scenic views in Scotland with their dogs.
They got a puppy, called Colle, who is a border collie/Labrador cross, aged eight months, and their seven-year-old Lab, Callie, also sleeps in the bed with them.
Victoria, from Inverness, has since come off antidepressants after four years, finding the great outdoors makes her high on life, and Scott's back has improved with more exercise.
Victoria said: "It was a cracker of a house, it was historic.
"It had 12 rooms in total, including a double-roomed basement, and an old ballroom.
"It was too big for us though. It was a dream house when we bought it, but we never settled.
"We bought it for £100,000 and sold it for £146,000. We both decided to move on from the house as it was too big.
"We didn't know where we wanted to move to. We came up with the idea of moving into a van and taking our work on the road.
"So that's exactly what we did.
"We put our house on the market in March 2021 and it sold within three days."
Victoria and Scott, who is from Old Meldrum, Aberdeenshire, have been together for a total of seven years.
Around five years ago the pair were signed off from work and launched a blog about their enthusiasm for travel.
Their hobby has since turned into a full time occupation, and they both now work with VisitScotland to promote tourism - and say they have never been happier.
Victoria said: "I was ill with depression, so I left my work, and around that same time, Scott injured his back so required to take leave.
"During our time away from work, we came up with the idea for the website and the blog, and just went for it.
"Our friends were not surprised and our family was the same, no one was massively surprised.
"We haven't done the nine to five life for years now."
The couple have found ditching materialism has given them a new lease of life, and describe their new lifestyle as 'freeing'.
They spent £23,000 on their mobile home which they fitted out with specifications such as a Swedish oven.
Victoria said: "We bought an old van, a Citroen Relay 2016, for £13,000.
"It needed a lot of work done, so we moved into a croft in the Highlands while we worked on it.
"We spend £10,000 on the conversion.
"It was horrible. I've made no secret of the fact I did not enjoy the conversion process.
"It took a couple of weeks planning, but no matter how much you plan for it, you don't find out how much is needed to be done until you're right in the thick of it.
"It has solar panels on the roof, at 320 watts.
"We have a hob, and an Omnia, which is a Swedish oven. We have a fridge, and we built a bit for food storage.
"At the minute we have a solar shower, that you can hang outside and it heats water up through solar energy."
They now spend their time driving around Scotland, visiting new places and writing reviews.
Victoria said: "One of the best things about it is it's so freeing.
"It's amazing how much stuff you do not need. There's something about being so ingrained into nature.
"I wake up every day to an unbelievable view out my window. I was on antidepressants for four years and now I've been off them since we started our new life.
"Scott's back is getting stronger, due to the amount of exercise he is getting every day. The two dogs are loving it as well, although they are constantly knackered since they are outside all the time.
"We have not missed or regretted selling the house since we got on the road."
