A daring couple try to journey throughout India in a flower-power impressed rickshaw.

Liam Day, 37, and spouse Janine, 40, travelled the UK in a campervan for 2 years earlier than heading to India in December 2021 searching for an journey.

Choosing up the hippy rickshaw for £1,100, the previous gardeners christened their tuk-tuk Pete’after Liam’s “adventurous” veteran grandfather who handed away a month earlier than in Could 2022.

Talking from Hampi, south India, and estimating it can take a full 12 months to finish the nation, Liam mentioned: “It means all the things to do that and honour my grandad on this manner and hold his title alive.

“I pinch myself each day to be right here doing this.

“To journey together with your life companion and spouse for 15 years and do all these superb issues collectively and nonetheless handle to giggle each day might be the perfect factor about all of it.”

Liam first fell in love with travelling after his first 12 months of college, after his brother, Matthew, 20, was hit and killed by a road cleaner whereas strolling again from a Christmas get together in 2005, when Liam was simply 19.

He mentioned: “When my brother died, I went off the rails a little bit bit and I used to be going out and getting drunk on a regular basis.

“Travelling fully modified my life and taught me that life’s so quick and fragile and I wished to do extra with my life.”

It was in his first 12 months of travelling that Liam met Janine in Thailand at a Full Moon Social gathering after each being separated from their mates – they usually have by no means appeared again.

Liam mentioned: “We completely love travelling. We went all over the place.

“We travelled round Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Sri Lanka, India, Malaysia, Indonesia and Malaysia. We’d decide up work on orchards to earn cash after we might and we did rather well.”

Heading again to the UK in 2014, the couple – who’re each vegans – purchased a static caravan for slightly below £20,000 with the cash they constructed from orchard selecting and settled on the coast of Brighton.

They stayed there for the subsequent 5 years whereas working their very own gardening enterprise and on-line vegan web site.

However when the pandemic hit, the couple craved extra.

Liam mentioned: “The lockdowns got here and we felt like caged birds.

“You instantly begin fascinated by travelling and all the things we did and realise that truly – all we wished to do was that.”

The couple discovered a transit van for £9,000 and paid £7,000 for it to be transformed into a house in three weeks – outfitted with a double mattress, chairs and mini kitchen.

Establishing a YouTube account to fund their new way of life, the couple set off in February 2021, to journey the UK, all the time staying on the coast.

“We had been very impulsive and simply knew this was one thing we needed to do,” he mentioned.

“We began off in Glastonbury for every week and it was unbelievable – we liked it a lot.

“Then we went to Scotland to do the North Coast 500 which was an enormous check with the climates however it was superb – the highlands had been stunning.

“The van was very minimal in comparison with what individuals have lately however it was superb.

“We used to make use of public bathrooms in supermarkets or pay to go to leisure centres or gyms for a bathe.”

However after a 12 months and a half of journey, after Liam’s grandfather, Pete, handed away, aged 86, in Could 2022, the couple began to have points with their van.

Going through enormous prices to restore the van, Liam had one other plan.

He mentioned: “I mentioned to Janine, why don’t we go to India?

“She instantly rotated and mentioned: ‘Sure.’ So we did.”

Arriving in India in December final 12 months with nothing however two backpacks – one for his or her garments and one for his or her filming gear – Liam shocked Janine with the hippy rickshaw they might be embarking their journey on.

Liam mentioned: “She couldn’t have been extra shocked – it couldn’t have been any higher.”

After amassing the rickshaw in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, the couple started to go south with the plan to make their method to the highest.

Liam mentioned: “We knew we wished to go south and head north – however the remaining, we’ve made it up as we go alongside!”

Driving has unsurprisingly been a problem.

“You get the sensation persons are not too involved about their life driving in India,” he mentioned.

“You’re driving on the opposite facet of the highway with oncoming site visitors and it may be fairly hair-raising.”

The couple are presently residing off their wage from their YouTube channel, referred to as These Joyful Days, which has 82.4K subscribers, which they put up rigorously crafted movies to a couple occasions every week.

However their every day funds is humble.

“It prices round £7 an evening at a house keep after which round a fiver for meals for us each and fewer than a tenner within the rickshaw for a full day of journey,” Liam mentioned.

Above all the things – they’ve made recollections they are going to always remember.

“One of many first locations we went to was this rural village the place nobody spoke English however we simply had such heat and kindness and this temple down the highway invited us in and gave us a lot meals,” he mentioned.

“We went to at least one competition Mahashivatri which was unbelievable as a result of they consider it’s the darkest day and if you happen to keep awake all evening then good issues will occur to you.

“There have been hundreds and hundreds of individuals and it was very intense however it felt ecstatic.

“I shed a tear as a result of it was so stunning, I simply could not consider that we had been fortunate sufficient to be there at that second.”

You may comply with Janine and Liam’s journey on their channel youtube.com/@ThoseHappyDays

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