How We Became the Lodge Guys

Last updated on January 19th, 2024 at 07:26 pm

Hello, everyone! We frequently receive a question about how we became known as The Lodge Guys on YouTube.

How did we transition from being Nick and Leigh to becoming ‘those guys that live in a lodge on YouTube‘?

You may have heard us mention that I, Leigh, had a health scare, and that was the catalyst for our journey towards what you see today.

We decided to write a blog post to answer this question and provide further insights along the way. Since this could turn into a lengthy blog post, grab a cup of tea or coffee, and let’s delve into our story

Where it started

Alright, so the health scare came a little later after we had purchased our first lodge, but we’ll touch upon that in a later part of this post.

Our journey towards owning a lodge began in a rather serendipitous manner, as many things tend to do.

It was a day that deviated slightly from the usual routine, back in 2016. On that particular day, I attended the funeral of a close friend of my Mums whom I affectionately called Auntie, despite not being related by blood.

At that time, we were running our own business. I took the morning off, while Nick went to work as usual.

We had been contemplating a weekend getaway for some time and had been discussing our options.

Due to the demands of our business, it was challenging to plan trips abroad, and it had been years since our last vacation.

All we wanted was a short break away to recharge ourselves

While Nick was in the office, he decided to search for potential destinations online.

He stumbled upon the idea of spending a weekend in a caravan along the East Coast of Yorkshire.

He called me while I was attending the wake and shared that he had found a rather nice-looking caravan with three bedrooms.

This meant that we could bring along our niece and invite our friend Sarah (also known as Sazzle) along with her dog. Yes, we certainly packed quite a few people into that caravan!

Given the circumstances of being at a funeral and contemplating the brevity of life, I told him to book it. We needed to escape from work and start finding joy in activities outside of our business.

We packed our weekend bags and embarked on our first getaway in several years. It wasn’t an extravagant trip, but it felt incredibly satisfying to escape the constant thoughts of staff, inventory, spreadsheets, customers, and all the other responsibilities that accompanied running our business.

Being away provided a genuine respite for our minds, allowing us to detach from the usual demands and recharge ourselves. It was precisely what we needed at that time.

I will forever recall the memory of lying on the bed in the caravan, contemplating a thought that crossed my mind: ‘Perhaps this is the perfect solution to our dilemma of being unable to travel abroad. Maybe we should own our own caravan!‘

It was a notion I never anticipated would enter my mind.

When you are younger, caravans are often associated with older individuals (which of course we arent at all 👀)

My parents had owned one about ten years prior, and we had stayed in it on a few occasions.

However, owning a caravan had never been a consideration for us until that very moment

As my mum’s birthday approached, she had planned a weekend getaway in a caravan with my sister as a special treat.

Nick and I decided to join them and use the time to explore various caravan sites in the area, considering the possibility of purchasing one for ourselves.

We had scheduled appointments with a couple of sites, but when we arrived at the current lodge park we reside in, something clicked between us.

We looked at each other and knew we were both thinking something similar, “This is where we can envision ourselves spending our time.”

The feeling was undeniable as we drove down the road, with lodges on the left, fellow lodge owners on the right, surrounded by lush greenery, squirrels, geese (although we now have a distaste for them due to their excessive sh*****g on cars, back then we were unaware of this), and even deer.

The moment we set foot on the site, we were sold. We entered a small lodge (technically a brown caravan, but referred to as a lodge) and instantly fell in love with it.

The first health scare

While we were engaged in conversation with the sales representative, I received a phone call from my sister, delivering news about my mum’s deteriorating health that day.

This marked the initial health scare that set us on our lodge journey.

My Mum had awakened that morning with stomach pains, coinciding with her birthday.

Initially attributing it to the previous night’s pizza, the pain progressively intensified throughout the morning.

While out for a walk with my sister, she had to rest on a bench due to the increasing agony.

Eventually, they decided to call a taxi to return to the caravan, and by this point, my mum was lying in bed, in excruciating pain.

The staff at the site deemed it necessary to contact an ambulance.

I told Nick and the sales representative, and without hesitation, we rushed to be by my mum’s side.

Before we knew it, my Mum was administered gas for the pain and swiftly transported via ambulance to a hospital in Hull.

I accompanied her in the back of the ambulance, while Nick followed closely behind in our car.

As I sat there, relieved that my Mums condition was improving, a realisation struck me: “We need to purchase this brown caravan (or should I say lodge!). Look at what can happen in life at any given moment.”

When I later saw Nick at the hospital, he expressed the same exact sentiment.

If our motto of “Every day is best” had been established back then, we would have undoubtedly uttered those words simultaneously.

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“Everyday is best.”

— Leigh & Nick, The Lodge Guys

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As it turned out, my Mum was diagnosed with appendicitis and required an appendectomy.

Thankfully, the procedure went smoothly, and she recovered well.

Once life had returned to its usual rhythm, we contacted the lodge park and informed them that we would be proceeding with the purchase.

The prospect of having our own holiday home to escape to on weekends filled us with great excitement.

However, little did we realise at that moment that this decision would fundamentally change the trajectory of our lives.

Our first lodge

After my 40th birthday, we finally received the keys to our very first lodge. In the weekends leading up to that moment, we dedicated our time to shopping for accessories, furnishings, and everything we believed would make it truly feel like a home away from home.

Creating a cosy and welcoming ambiance was our goal.

Our routine became leaving the business on Friday afternoons and making our way to the picturesque east coast.

By Friday evening, we would arrive, just in time for a meal at the local pub while the heating worked its magic, warming up the lodge.

Those Friday nights were incredibly cosy and memorable.

We would spend the entire Saturday there, soaking up the peaceful surroundings.

Then, on Sunday afternoon, we would reluctantly return home, preparing ourselves for the Monday morning grind, which typically commenced at 6 a.m.

Our weekends at the lodge quickly became something we cherished, and the thought of Sunday rolling around filled us with a sense of dread.

We didn’t want to pack up and head back home; we longed for the tranquility and escape that the lodge provided.

This routine continued for a few months, and it became our new way of life — weekdays dedicated to the business, weekends devoted to the lodge.

Just a stone’s throw away from our lodge, there was a street lined with larger lodges.

We would stroll down that street on a couple of occasions, gazing at those Lodges and allowing ourselves to daydream about what it would be like to own one of them.

At the time, it remained nothing more than a passing imagination, a fleeting glimpse into a life we believed we would never have.

I distinctly recall looking at the very lodge we now call home and thinking, “That’s the one I want to live in one day.”

So, when I heard that it had been sold, a sense of disappointment washed over me, even though deep down, I knew it had always been just a small dream I held onto.

In September, we finally settled into our first lodge.

We experienced the joy of spending the Christmas season there, complete with a beautifully adorned Christmas tree, as you would expect (Nick loves a well-decorated tree as you know ).

It was during this time that we realised just how much more we were enjoying our lives compared to before.

Time seemed to flow differently within the lodge’s walls, allowing us to savor each moment.

However, as life often presents unexpected challenges, February brought with it a health scare that we occasionally refer to on the vlogs.

The details of that particular incident remain with us, serving as a reminder of the fragile nature of our well-being.

The health scare that altered the course of our lives

It was the week of Valentine’s Day, and after a typical day at the office, we returned home to relax.

We enjoyed a meal together and took the opportunity to hang some new curtains we had recently purchased.

During this time, I began feeling a slight discomfort in my side.

At first, I attributed it to the strain of hanging the curtains or perhaps indigestion.

However, the discomfort persisted throughout the evening, which was unusual for me, as I rarely experienced stomach or digestive issues.

We went to bed as usual, but around 2 a.m., I suddenly woke up, attempting to turn over, and was struck by an excruciating pain in my side.

It was as if I had been stabbed, and the pain was unbearable.

I let out a scream, and Nick, immediately woke up, switching on the light, concerned about what was happening. Looking at him, I said, “This isn’t indigestion.”

Nick called the medical helpline, and they advised us to contact an ambulance.

I found it nearly impossible to move without experiencing bolts of searing pain shooting through my left side.

I couldn’t pinpoint what it could be; it didn’t feel like a heart attack, just an intense pain in my side.

The ambulance arrived, and the paramedics quickly assessed the situation, attaching monitors to my chest.

They assured me that there didn’t appear to be any issue with my heart, but the visible signs of distress prompted them to recommend a hospital visit.

I made an attempt to get out of bed, but the pain was so unbearable that it caused me to scream in agony.

The paramedics had to administer gas to help me navigate the stairs and settle into the ambulance.

I spent what felt like endless hours in the emergency room, waiting for medical attention.

I was placed in a ward enclosed by curtains, and the one thing that remains etched in my memory from that night is Nick’s unwavering presence by my side.

He slept on the hospital floor, steadfast in his support, as we waited for someone to attend to me.

Finally, when a nurse arrived, the pain was so intense that I couldn’t bear to be examined.

It was a challenge for them to touch my abdomen without causing pain.

I have the utmost respect for the National Health Service (NHS) and everyone working within it.

It is an incredible service.

Regrettably, the nurse assigned to me at that moment lacked patience and seemed unimpressed by my cries of pain when touched.

His dismissive response was, “Well, I can’t do anything if you won’t let me examine you,” and he concluded, “To be honest, I think it’s just random pain with nothing wrong.”

I couldn’t believe that this agony was simply dismissed as random pain.

It felt far too severe.

Hours later, I underwent an X-ray, which revealed internal bleeding.

It turned out that a 10cm cyst on my spleen had ruptured.

If you’ve ever experienced issues with your spleen, you know that the pain can be excruciating.

At that moment, all I wanted to do was find that nurse and tell him that his diagnosis of random pain had been incorrect.

However, our paths didn’t cross again.

I remained in the hospital for several days, and the doctor informed me that my spleen would need to be removed, and I would have to take antibiotics for the rest of my life.

As I sat there, hooked up to various drips, I once again realised the preciousness of life and how it can be upended in an instant.

Nick later revealed that while he lay on the hospital floor, he came to the realisation that we had been approaching life in the wrong way.

Our relentless focus on work, dedicating countless hours to building our business, had brought many positives but had also robbed us of valuable time.

One day, when he visited me in the hospital, he declared, “We’re going to get the keys to that larger lodge we’ve been eyeing and go see it as soon as you’re well enough to return.” (the sale on the lodge I always wanted had fallen through so it was available again)

With that declaration, our lives changed once again.

A couple of months later, we made the decision to exchange our initial lodge for the one we currently reside in.

At the time, I was deeply interested in the Law of Attraction, having discovered the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne during a trip to Walmart many years prior.

I came across a story online about a woman who had chosen not to have her spleen removed and instead healed herself through the power of her thoughts.

Given my affinity for this way of thinking, I decided against the spleen removal and focused on cultivating positive thoughts about the healing of my spleen. (A woman had done it already so surely I could too ? 🤔)

Over the subsequent months, there were ups and downs, and at one point, I found myself back in the hospital due to pain.

Nevertheless, I persisted with my decision to give it time and see how things would unfold.

Months later, during my final scan, as I lay on the bed with the scanner moving over my abdomen, I repeated to myself, “My spleen is healthy, my spleen is healthy.”

When the scan was complete, the technician looked at me and said, “I can see nothing abnormal. Everything looks clear and normal.”

Walking out of that room, I turned to Nick in the waiting room and exclaimed, “It has cleared up on its own! Let’s book a holiday!”

And so, for the first time in years, we embarked on a trip abroad to Cyprus.

As I grew older, my belief in the Law of Attraction waned a bit.

I began to view it more as the power of positive thinking and the influence of mindset on our bodies and lives (that’s a topic for another blog post).

Whatever the true explanation may be, it undeniably worked for me.

My spleen had healed, and it served as a profound reminder of the incredible capacity of the mind to shape our well-being.

Okay, let’s continue with the next part of the story:

Our YouTube journey began

The year before we bought our first lodge, we had started a YouTube channel called ToyfunTV.

It was an unexpected hobby that came about from watching toy-opening videos with our niece.

Despite being busy running our business, we were always on the lookout for new opportunities to explore.

We noticed the immense popularity and high view counts that toy channels were receiving on YouTube, and it sparked an idea within us.

We thought, “We could do this too.” With enthusiasm, we set up our own YouTube studio in what used to be our home office when we ran our business from there.

Cameras, lights, a desk, and an array of toys brought the room to life.

Our niece was thrilled as she loved coming to the toy room, hanging out, and pretending she was making her own YouTube videos.

Nick soon grew tired of opening toys and gradually stepped away from the channel.

I continued.

Surprisingly, I found myself enjoying the process of producing videos.

It became a creative outlet and a hobby separate from our business.

Each night, I would retreat to the studio, shutting myself away from the demands of customers and employees, and immerse myself in the joy of video production.

I joined a YouTube network called an MCN (Multi-Channel Network), which allowed me to connect with other YouTubers in the same niche.

It was an opportunity to learn from one another, share experiences, and grow as content creators.

While running our business during the day, I dedicated my evenings to crafting engaging videos for ToyfunTV.

However, once we purchased the second lodge and began spending most of our time there, practical constraints arose.

The lodge did not have the space required for the setup and equipment necessary to run a toy channel.

Despite this, I still yearned to create YouTube videos and sought out alternative options that aligned with our new lifestyle.

One day, the idea sparked in my mind: “Let’s vlog our lives.”

It seemed like the perfect fit for our lodge adventures.

And so, with that idea, The Lodge Guys YouTube channel was born.

It became an avenue for us to document and share our experiences living and exploring life in the lodge.

The transition from ToyfunTV to The Lodge Guys was a natural progression.

It allowed us to continue our passion for creating content while embracing our new lifestyle.

The channel became a platform for us to showcase the beauty of nature, share travel experiences, and provide insights into lodge living.

As time went on, The Lodge Guys channel gained traction and attracted a community of viewers who were interested in our lodge lifestyle, travel tips, and the adventures we embarked on.

We immersed ourselves in the world of vlogging, capturing captivating moments and sharing them with our growing audience.

Looking back, it’s remarkable how our YouTube journey unfolded.

What began as a simple fascination with toy-opening videos transformed into a creative outlet and then evolved into an authentic representation of our lodge lifestyle.

The YouTube platform provided us with an opportunity to connect with like-minded individuals and share our experiences.

Add to that our love of Florida and a real community started building around the channel that we could have never imagined.

As we continue our journey with The Lodge Guys, we remain grateful for the support of our viewers and the incredible community that has formed around our channel.

We look forward to sharing more adventures, insights, and experiences from the lodge and our travels, and we are excited to see what the future holds for our YouTube journey.

We hope you have enjoyed this blog on how we got to where we are today.

We love to read your comments so leave us one in the comments box below.

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