A travel-loving woman splashed out £40,000 on a luxury campervan complete with a portable stripper pole.
Keri, from Harrogate, North Yorkshire and husband Ricky Bailey dreamed of touring mainland Europe for many years – and finally decided to make their dream a reality by buying a campervan to live and work remotely from.
The trend for “van life” travelling where people hop from country to country while living in their vehicle has become more and more popular over the last few years. However, while the is a dream for some, it soon became a nightmare for Keri.
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The 31-year-old “lives and breathes” pole dancing and “dreaded” the thought of not being able to take part in her cheeky hobby. So she hatched a clever plan.
Keri decided to convert their Citroen Relay L3H2 into a portable studio – by having a 8ft pole attached to the back of it. The pole dancing fanatic can then easily fold away the pole kit as they move.
The pole instructor can now spin to her heart’s content while on the road with 33-year-old business executive husband Ricky They’ve also taken their two dogs Tilly and Rupert on the road with them.
Since then, the couple have made plenty of videos and photos showing super-strong Keri dancing on the pole with spectacular sun-drenched backdrops – from the magnificent French riviera to Northern Italy. Other photos show brave Keri wearing bobble hat and woolly socks while pole-dancing in the Yorkshire Dales as the temperature hit a freezing minus one.
The couple have already used their van to make their way around France, visiting Saint Tropez, Nice, and Champagne favourite Reims, as well as northern Italy.
They now plan to venture further afield in beautiful Italy this spring. However, Keri now plans to offer classes on the road, meaning she can pursue her passion and make some money even when travelling.
Keri commented: “I live and breathe pole dancing, it’s a way of life. I only really take a day off to rest my body so whenever we talk about going travelling I dread not being able to do it for weeks at a time.
“I love the pole so much and doing it against breath-taking scenery in the Alps was amazing. Doing it in the open air feels really liberating too, it did attract a few funny looks though.
“Travelling in the van doesn’t feel like a holiday, it feels like we’re living abroad. And now I can combine my two passions, travelling and pole.”
The couple discussed ditching the UK for sunny France “for years” before they took the plunge, making their way to the roads of mainland Europe. Covid inspired them to adopt a “live now” mindset.
Keri said: “We talked on and off for years about having a property in France – a van would give us an opportunity to see things in a local way.
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“The van gave us the sense of freedom and when we talked about what we would want to do when we retire it was always travel. This made that ‘retirement’ dream a possibility.
“So we can work and take the dogs with us. It was definitely a ‘let’s live now’ mindset. We only got the van at the end of last year and couldn’t wait to go on our first trip.
“We want to go around Italy, Norway, Denmark, we’d love to go to more remote parts of Scotland and even Cornwall. Ricky’s really keen on a big trip, he wants us to make our way over to Greece.”
The portable pole, fixed by Vanlife Conversion UK, means she can teach wherever she is in the world whether that’s one-to-one classes or online instruction.
Keri said: “Anyone can become strong, anyone can become flexible, if they have the right support around them. I will always stand up for our community. Pole comes from strippers and that is a huge part of what we celebrate. Without celebrating them, you’re hiding away a huge part of what pole is about.”
