Do you ever wish you could escape the daily grind of London life and just set off on the adventure of a lifetime instead?

That is exactly what one Kingston couple have decided to do—with a pair of French bulldogs in tow.

Next month Shaun Traynor, 33, and his wife Holly, 29, will swap the hours of commuting and monotony of work for travelling around Europe in a VW camper van with their dogs Louis and Beau.

The couple have rented out their flat in Beresford Road and quit their jobs. Mr Traynor was a health club manager and his wife an administrator at Kingston Grammar School.

Their only plans are to first make their way through Scandinavia before driving down the continent to spend Christmas in Spain with Mr Traynor’s aunt.

Mr Traynor said: “We are not rich or privileged, we have just worked hard and were growing increasingly tired of long working days, stressful London commutes and a life of being together yet so far apart because of work.

“I think the quote that has really stuck with us is, ‘We travel not to escape life, but to experience it’.”

The couple met on a work trip in Marbella eight years ago. At the time Mr Traynor was living in Manchester and they kept up a long-distance relationship for a year before settling in Kingston six years ago.

They spent two years saving some £20,000 for the trip.

Mr Traynor said: “We will live simple lives. We are hoping to go for at least a year.

“It’s a pretty small van so we know there might be some struggles in the first few weeks but when we are out there we might decide we love it. Maybe we’ll end up as new age hippies.”

To record their journey across the continent the couple have set up a blog and Instagram account, in which their dogs will star.

Mr Traynor said: “We don’t really have any solid plans as such but we have organised the trip around the boys a bit.

“We’re starting in Scandinavia because it’ll be too hot for them in other parts in the summer.

“We’ll be blogging our travels. Hopefully we will inspire someone else.”