As the streets quieten down at night, Ben Smith manoeuvres his caravan a short distance along the road.
Without a vehicle to tow it, he has improvised, relying on his own strength and ingenuity to move his new home through east Kent.
He lifts the heavy hitch and slots it through the back of a supermarket trolley, pulling the shopping cart and two-wheeler together to the next stop.
The slow and physical work is part of the 30-year-old’s effort to hold on to some stability after years of battling addiction, mental health issues, and housing insecurity.
“Pulling the caravan is making me stronger each day,” he says, with each effort bringing him closer to a life he hopes to build.
The caravan, which he acquired a few months ago, may be modest, but it has given him a space he can call his own.
Repairs remain ongoing, and the interior is basic, yet Ben describes it with pride.
“It is a little home, but it’s a bit of a project. It’s a bit of a do-upper,” he says.
Daily life requires careful management, where Ben relies on his wits to get by, and occasionally accepts help from the public when necessary.
Some passersby have even stopped to help him tow the caravan. But not everyone has shown kindness.
“I have been threatened with violence,” Ben says. “I’ve been told I’d get the s*** beaten out of me and have my caravan set on fire.
“It is just because I live in a caravan.”
Inside, conditions are basic with no electricity supply, and both the bathroom and kitchen sink need repairs.
To help manage his budget, Ben says he “survives on pasta” and keeps only a few possessions – a television, some DVDs and a bike.
During the recent cold snap, keeping warm has been his biggest concern and fuelling a heater is the priority.
He speaks of his past with clarity, reflecting on years spent moving between hostels, temporary accommodation, and periods of rough sleeping.
Originally from Erith, Ben moved to Sittingbourne aged eight and was raised on several Catholic traveller sites.
“I was sleeping rough for a long time from 15 onwards,” he says. “It’s been a hard journey with a lot of horrible people.
“I’ve slept in doorways, tents and car parks.”
He later stayed in hostels, but says they were unsafe and invasive.
“They were full of violence and alcohol,” he says, adding that staff searches made life difficult.
Since then, Ben explains, he has been clean of drugs for ten years.
“Crack, heroin, I have done a lot of things in my life, but I have got off all of it, and I’m trying to get back to my normal self.
“I wouldn’t want people to fall into the same holes that I did, being homeless.”
It was after some of Ben’s friends died and he suffered a serious medical emergency that he decided to turn his life around.
Following his struggles, living in the caravan has provided more than shelter – it has helped stabilise his mental health.
Now, Ben says, he can establish a routine and focus on settling somewhere permanently. Eventually, he hopes to return to work, having previously earned £600 a week at a recycling plant.
“In a year, I would like to be on some private ground, with my caravan and my car, and put some fencing around it.
“I don’t want to keep moving forever,” he says.
