'I fought in Afghanistan with Prince Harry – now I live on the road in a …
A former soldier who served alongside Prince Harry in Afghanistan has spent GBP45,000 transforming a school minibus into the home of his dreams. Ex-army medic Mark Anthony Dawson, 40, fancied his dream home as an experience equivalent to a "posh snail" and did just that by renovating an old minibus. The 40-year-old bagged himself a 2015 Peugeot Boxer and spent a year renovating the beast of a vehicle into a full-time home, despite having "zero" building experience.
READ MORE: Prince Harry nearly 'out of time' as his 'royal clout' is slipping, says expert Through grit, determination and YouTube tutorials, Mark fashioned out a home as a "way to heal" from his tours of duty, one of which was served alongside the Duke of Sussex.
The old van was transformed after a GBP45k investment from Mark (Image: Media Exposure/@Awakened_nomad)
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Mark, who road-tested his vehicle with a five day trip around Scotland, is now planning a three-month tour of Europe after his home performed "flawlessly". He said: "I feel like a posh snail - going around with my house on my back.
A lot of people take to it because of the cost of living but I am quite fortunate that it hasn't been that. "I am using it as a holistic way to heal (from his experiences during his tours of Afghanistan and Iraq). It's the best therapy that I can afford.
I've been through therapy for years and nothing's stuck. Travelling forces you into self-realisation."
The flashy interior shows off all the modern fittings and gives Mark some quality life on the road (Image: Media Exposure/@Awakened_nomad)
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The Oldham-born soldier had joined the Royal Army Medical Core at 16 and served twice, once in the 2003 invasion of Iraq and again in 2004. Later service for Mark saw him brush shoulders with the Duke of Sussex on a 2008/09 tour of Afghanistan, a tour that left Mark with post-traumatic stress disorder due to the horrific scenes he was called to.
It is not the first time Mark has tried to build up his dream home, with a 2007 Renault Master providing a brief base back in 2018, before being sold in 2020 after his step-father became ill just before the pandemic.
Ex-army medic Mark had served alongside the Duke of Sussex in Afghanistan (Image: Media Exposure/@Awakened_nomad)
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But now he is back on the road and thankful for it, saying: "It gave me the mental space to gradually refocus on myself without modern house living where I felt trapped and depressed. "Instead of sitting at home in the afternoon watching A Place In The Sun, I was living it." When returning home, Mark would do odd jobs and was anything from carpentry to active firearms performances for TV productions and film.
What was once a school bus now has some modern fittings and its own kitchen (Image: Media Exposure/@Awakened_nomad)
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Mark has since opened up on his experiences in active duty too, adding: "I've had huge issues that recently impacted my PTSD and I was excited to get the van finished so I can clear my head and thoughts.
"After nearly being killed several times they (the military) have certainly got their pound of flesh out of me. "Being a medic you see some of the worst things that anyone can see. I still have nightmares.
I found it particularly difficult seeing things that had happened to children."
Mark has since done a trial trip of Scotland and is set to embark on a three-month trip of Europe (Image: Media Exposure/@Awakened_nomad)
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It would appear that Mark is one of many who are hoping to chart a life on the road too, with The Man Van owner Washington Carrato saying people call on a "daily basis" curious about the lifestyle. He said: "Some of them sound really desperate and I would love to help them but I've got to run a business and it's not affordable. "I can see why the lifestyle is appealing for people but I think lots of them underestimate how expensive and time consuming it it turning a commercial vehicle into a home."
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