The Autumn Equinox celebrates the second time of the year in the Northern Hemisphere, when the days and nights reach equal length, and we slowly move into the darker half of the year.

This festival also marks the astronomical start of Autumn. I think this season ahead is perhaps my favourite of the year, especially this early part when the colours in nature are truly stunning and life indoors starts to become warm and cosy. And what better way to capture the essence of the season ahead, than with the beautiful photographs from @Parkingonthewildside and hearing how they spend their autumnal days in their van.

By spending so much time in nature, I am sure that you notice the subtle changes of the seasons more than most of us. What signs of autumn are you seeing on your travels at the moment?

We’re currently travelling through the Alps in the north of Italy and there are autumn Crocuses springing up absolutely everywhere, covering the meadows with a sea of pink. Each day the sun is setting earlier and earlier and the rosehips are slowly ripening. We have been watching the sweet chestnuts on the trees waiting for them to start dropping. Once they begin falling to the forest floor, we'll forage them for some delicious meals.

Do you often travel in your van during autumn? If so, where are your favourite places to visit at this time of year?

We have lived in our van for the last 3 autumns, the first we spent in Tuscany and Sardinia where we foraged pine nuts and prickly pears as it was still above 15 c there. Last autumn we travelled through the Scottish Highlands where we were mesmerised by the colours: red leaves, orange bracken, yellow larch trees, green pines, distant blue mountains and pinky purple skies. But our favourite place in Autumn would have to be the Alps, where we are now because the roads here take you so deeply into the heart of the wild. It’s all so accessible, we could park our van on top of a mountain above the clouds or nestle it into a mossy pine forest. It's also a few degrees warmer here which makes all the difference when living in a little metal box!

In general, what are your favourite things about this season?

We both have different favourite things about Autumn. For Laura, it’s afternoons spent collecting conkers. Seeing that shiny shiny wood as they pop out of their spikey shells just brings me joy. It's a tradition I've done every year ever since my granparents used to take me and my cousins conker hunting when we were little. Once gathered, I dot them into little corners of the home as it seems to detract the spiders.

For Aaron, its greeting all those cosy items of clothing that you haven't seen since early spring, and kind of forgot you had. I especially love wrapping up in my vintage sheepskin jacket which is a handmedown from my Grandpa.

How does your van life change for you during colder months compared to spring and summer?

As the weather gets cooler, vanlife becomes cosier and moodier. Each morning the windows have a little more mist over them, each passing week another blanket joins the pile on the bed. We're hoping over the winter to install a tiny little wood burning stove to help keep the van warm and to manage the winter condensation on the windows.

I am a strong believer that noticing the changing seasons is one way we can feel more emotionally connected to the natural world around us. What benefits have you noticed by creating a life that allows you to spend so much time in nature, witnessing these seasonal moments?

For us the main benefit of living a life immersed in nature is that it's easier to resurface from a bad headspace because you’re grounded. You're reminded that your stresses and problems are so small and temporary compared to the magnitude of the mountains and the age of the old trees.
You’re always there to witness the moments of wonder that remind you that the complications of modern civilisation need to be kept in perspective. The world keeps spinning and nature keeps going about its simple ways.
A squirrel gathering food, a shooting star, looking up close at the intricate designs of a crickets armour. All of these things bring us out of our invasive thoughts and back to reality.

And a question I like to ask everyone I interview, which recipes or potions will you be making in the kitchen ( or in your case over the stove) this Autumn?

This autumn we’re excited to cook up some freshly foraged sweet chestnuts, maybe accompanied by a wholesome minestrone soup. We'll also be swapping out cereal at breakfast time for hot bowls of porridge tinted red, pink and purple with foraged berries like wild blueberries, cranberries and blackberries.

You can follow Laura and Aaron’s vanlife adventures on their instagram