Gary Grant, 47, separated from his wife in 2021 and was living alone in a rental property when he decided to sell everything he owned and buy a converted minibus to live in
Gary Grant, a 47-year-old former GP who felt the stress of his job post-pandemic was “going to kill (him)”, has sold his house and possessions to purchase a campervan and embark on a global adventure. Gary, who separated from his wife in 2021, had been living alone in a rented property.
The couple continue to share parenting responsibilities for their two children, aged six and three. Gary, who became a GP in 2008, found the patient interaction aspect of his work “rewarding”.
However, the pandemic led to long working days dealing with “complicated” medical cases as hospital waiting times “skyrocketed”, leaving him feeling “exhausted” every night.
Gary reached a point where he believed the job stress was “going to kill (him)”. Eventually, he decided “sod this”, left his rental home in Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, sold his belongings and car, and bought a converted minibus, which is now his home.
Over the past four months, Gary has been documenting his travels on TikTok, visiting numerous destinations using the proceeds from his sales. He’s explored Europe with his children and embarked on solo journeys to Qatar, Greece, Turkey, and Bali, among other places.
With another trip planned to the US, Mexico, and Guatemala, Gary says his outlook on life has changed. He feels “liberated” and “free” from the constraints of work and asserts that he will “never” regret his decision.
“I’m fully aware of how midlife crisis this sounds, the deluxe midlife crisis at the elite level, but it has been very, very liberating,” admitted Gary. “It has been about escaping a life that had become incessantly stressful and finding an exit, even if it appears quite radical.
“Shortly, technically, I’ll be homeless and jobless, but that’s not scary because I feel free. Now I’m based wherever my campervan takes me and I’m not going to regret doing this because I’ve had so many incredible, life-changing experiences already.”
Gary confessed that he stumbled into medicine “by accident” in 2008. “It’s always been tough and the NHS has always been on the verge of crisis,” he said.
“The patient contact was rewarding and I think speaking to people like a human being is the important part of being a doctor, I enjoyed that aspect of it.”
Post-Covid-19 pandemic, Gary observed that the GP role became “ridiculously tough” for many across the nation. “The demand is rising at the same time as there are fewer of us in the industry,” he said.
“Hospital waiting times soared post-Covid so we ended up dealing with complex cases that specialists should handle, but we were left to manage them. People’s mental health suffered and trying to assist someone in 10 minutes, it was extremely difficult.”
Consequently, Gary’s workdays extended until he was the last one to leave, often when the cleaner would knock on his door.
“I would get home, totally exhausted, and get up and do it all over again the next day,” he said. “In the morning I would think, ‘right, come on, I can do this’, but by the afternoon I would say to myself ‘the stress of this is going to kill me’.”
In December 2024, Gary was granted some time off work by his GP surgery, which he found to be a liberating experience. Although he praised his GP practice for being “very supportive” and trying to provide him with “tried to offer me the best working environment possible”, the break from work made him feel like “a different human being”.
“Mr Grant is a different person to Dr Grant and the job pressure being removed made me question how I could do things differently,” he reflected.
He decided to leave his job for good on December 6, asking himself: “I thought ‘why am I sitting here stressed out of my brain four or five days a week, doing a job that I no longer like?'” He then declared, “I just thought ‘sod this’.”
Gary then downsized his life significantly, moving out of his rented property, selling his furniture, car, and most of his non-essential possessions, while keeping only personal items such as clothes and photographs. He invested £10,000 in a converted minibus, which serves as his base in the UK.
“It doesn’t even contain a toilet, I’m a 47-year-old man and I use a potty and shower at the gym,” he said.
In January, he whisked his children away in the campervan to explore seven European countries in just seven days, ticking off Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, and France. His solo adventures have taken him as far as Sicily, Norway, Turkey, East Timor in South-East Asia, Qatar, Greece, Slovakia, and even a month-long escape to Bali.
Looking ahead, he’s got his sights set on the US, Mexico and Guatemala. Gary reveals that he’s financing his globetrotting lifestyle with proceeds from selling his belongings and dipping into some savings.
“Whatever job I’ve got, I will hopefully do it digitally or remotely because the freedom of living in the campervan is incredible,” he said.
Gary has been documenting his escapades on TikTok under the alias doctorbinfire, where a clip of him enjoying a cocktail on a Balinese beach racked up over 200,000 views, leaving him astounded. The journey has profoundly altered his outlook on life.
“Being a doctor, you see lots of tragic and sad things and you realise life is short,” he said. “I’m doing something scary and it might not work out, but I’ve realised life is for living and you shouldn’t feel trapped. I’m a much nicer person than I was last year and I feel free, I’ll never regret doing this.”