It seems a long time ago that ‘Dev’ arrived but in reality it hasn’t been that long. We had been back from the rally just over 6 months and were looking at taking on another drive and a new challenge to a different unknown corner of the world. We knew we wanted a 4×4 but which one? After spending hours & weeks scanning the web we spent a couple of weekends looking at various cars at numerous garages finding none being what we wanted. It was on the way home after being unsuccessful that we decided to pop into our local Land Rover Dealership to see what they had in stock. There, in the showroom, just in front of a map of the world was the car we had been looking for. If only we had looked closer to home to start with!

The preparation could finally start.

Four weeks after collecting Dev from the dealership, John had an ultrasound scan on his leg which dealt the news that  doctors needed to investigate further as they believed he had Sarcoma. We had to pause our plans, well at least until we knew for certain.

Once John’s diagnosis was confirmed and with all plans of a world tour on hold, John spent the next few months fighting the disease and undergoing treatment. Whilst doing so, he was still putting further plans together, determined not to let his life be dictated to by this rare Cancer. John admitted that the possibility of a round the world trip shortly after surgery was unlikely but that shouldn’t stop us from doing something. This is how we decided to spend a few weeks of the Summer 2017 driving around Scandinavia regardless of the medical outcome.

So with some unexpected spare time, John started to research items for Dev in an attempt to make the travelling as easy & as comfortable as possible. The first items on the list were a roof rack, ladder and rock sliders from Prospeed along with their lightbar holding our lighting from Lazer Lamps, a full set of Elite R1000 & R750’s.

In addition to the external fittings, we also had additional power points installed with a leisure battery in the boot. In today’s modern world there is always something needing charging and we didn’t want to have to use campsites or cafe’s to only charge the camera batteries.

Whilst Dev was being fitted out at Prospeed, we arranged for the Howling Moon Roof Tent to be delivered to their premises and fitted by them. Once home, the Foxwing Awning was also fitted as this would give some protection whilst being outside.

We had to admit, Dev looked amazing and ready to get on the roads that lay ahead.

Six months post John’s surgery fight various infections and still with the fear of losing his leg and at the disbelief of his surgeon, we left for our journey around Scandinavia. The journey was a far cry from ‘Minty’ the VW Polo who valiantly got us to Ulan Ude via Central Asia and Mongolia as now we had comfortable seats, a stereo, air-con & a fridge!!

Since Scandinavia, and the arrival of Digit, we have had to rethink the roof tent. There was no realistic way Digit was going to make it up the ladder & neither John or I were going to be strong enough to lift him in and out so we had to sadly let the roof tent go (it has gone to an amazing friend to enjoy). This decision made us rethink our sleeping arrangements for 2020 and after considering tents we came to the conclusion we would purchase an off-roading camping trailer. It would offer us and Digit greater security, we would be able to travel in all weathers (yes, the rain in Scandinavia became hard work) but overall, if John was in pain, he would be able to rest without worrying about finding somewhere where we are allowed to pitch a tent.

As yet we haven’t decided on which off-roading camping trailer to travel with, but stay tuned to our blog to get the latest news on this & other updates we have planned for Dev.