Jen, 37, and Sim Benson, 32, quit work to live in a tent and travel with their young children

Inspiration for our wild year came shortly after the arrival of our second child, Hugo. Sim was working full-time for the cycling charity Sustrans and I was at home looking after the baby and our three-year-old daughter, Eva, and writing for some income when I could.

But we desperately wanted to be treasuring these precious years rather than being apart and missing them. We couldn’t afford to give up Sim’s job and keep renting our house – so we gave up the house, bought a bell tent and a wood-burner and in November 2014 set off to explore wild and beautiful Britain together. We had a tiny budget, living off the income from our writing and sometimes swapping manual labour for a campsite pitch.

Since then we’ve spent every day together. Our family bond is stronger and happier. We’ve explored so much of wild Britain together too.

Having a solar shower – basically a black bag with holes in it, hanging from a tree – each day was definitely a refreshing experience. The winter storms and endless rain were a real challenge: one night, gales snapped both main poles in our canvas home.

The highlights were Dartmoor, which is like home to us and where we often camped wild, and the Lake District, where we spent a glorious couple of months, exploring the mountains with the kids on our backs and swimming in remote tarns. We spent much of the winter right by the sea in the South Hams, minutes from the coast path, discovering secret sandy beaches and rocky, pool-filled coves. The kids loved it all – there was so much freedom to simply play.

Now the year’s over it’s great to reflect on our amazing adventure. Whatever happens next it’s a shared experience we’ll treasure forever. We’re moving back into a house, but we’re definitely not going back to “normal”. We’ll be focusing on living sustainably: ditching the car and adventuring from our doorstep. We’ll also be heading back into the wilds, but with a much smaller tent…