WHEN Charlotte Bradman took her first step on the property ladder, it was the start of a living nightmare.

A crippling mortgage, a flooded cellar, a temperamental 30-year-old boiler, mounting debts and a constant stream of bills ended up making her ill.

So she made the life-changing decision to live in a campervan.

Now 41-year-old Charlotte has written The Happy Nomad, a memoir about her troubled past and how she found the simpler lifestyle.

She grew up in Keighley, and after buying a house in her early twenties, amassed huge debts. When the house was repossessed it was in negative equity.

With no where to store her possessions, she got rid of them and went initially to live in a caravan.

“Then my relationship broke down and I moved to a flat in Bradford; it was full of mould and the central heating didn’t work. I’d had enough,” she says. “I found another way to live – in the campervan.”

During the pandemic Charlotte worked for the NHS, supporting community nursing teams. Then, following a break-up with her partner and the death of a friend, she started up her van and drove to Cornwall, a place she’d loved as a child. She settled in Falmouth, living in her van by the sea.

Now back in Keighley, Charlotte plans to take her campervan to Bradford Literature Festival. “It will be in Centenary Square, covered in fairy lights!” she says. “I’ll invite people in so to see how I live, comfortably, and what little space we need. I want to inspire people to see what really matters. Working a 50-plus hour week so you can buy more and more stuff isn’t good for anyone. I saw that growing up. Living closer to nature, I’ve realised I don’t need much. I live on a campsite and when I open my door in the morning I see wild deer. You can’t buy that.”

Since living in her van, Charlotte has become a keen open water swimmer and rambler. She says: “When I had a mortgage I was stressed all the time. I hope my book shows you’re not a failure if you can’t afford a mortgage, a fancy car or the 'right' clothes.”

* The Happy Nomad is published by Yellow Kite (Hodder and Stoughton). Charlotte will be at Bradford Literature Festival hub in City Park on Monday, July 1, at 7pm. Visit bradfordlitfest.co.uk