5 things we learnt from living in our van for 3 months

January 11, 2023January 11, 2023Posted in Bus, Bus life, France, Italy, travel, VW busTagged Bulli, Bus, Bus life, europe, France, Italy, Kombi, sicily, slow travel, travel, van life, VWLeave a comment

Spring/Summer 2022 we took a 14 week road trip through Italy and France in our 2014 VW bus “The Trooper”. Needless to say, you learn a lot about each other, yourself and the world living in such a small space. Here are our Top 5 learnings:

Never base your travels around other people’s plans

They will inevitably let you down and leave you feeling disappointed and angry. It’s not always their fault – life happens. People get sick. Relationships fail. People change their minds.

Our learning: If we happen to be there at the same time, cool. If not…then not.

Work really interrupts the flow

On our 3-month road trip, I was determined to keep working. I wanted to ensure my students didn’t fall behind and that I had work to come back to. Frankly, it was a pain in the ass. Around Saturday, we had to start planning for Tuesday/workday/washing day. We had to look for a campsite with strong Wi-Fi, a washing machine and that we could stay in for at least 2 nights. We came to the conclusion that if we were travelling longer, it wouldn’t be so bad, but 3 months wasn’t long enough to stay still for 2 days a week.

Our learning: Take the holidays.

Stay away from other traveller’s “Best of…” lists

We read a lot of “Best Beaches in Sicily” type lists and without fail I HATED every beach they reported on. The beaches were apparently everyone’s favourite places. I mean EVERYONE in Sicily was there. I despise endless Lidos with beach chairs. I despise lying next to groups of people playing loud music through a shitty system. I despise having to climb over people to get into the water.

Our learning: Use the “Off the beaten track” type blogs.

Mondello beach, Sicily. No way can this be “The best beach in Sicily”!

Less is more

In the start of this trip, we tried to do and see everything. This is exhausting. It causes unnecessary and unwanted drama. Take it easy. The world will not end if you don’t see EVERYTHING. And as our friend Luis says, “Save something for next time”.

Our learning: Slow the fuck down.

Not everything is open when you want it to be

At least know when the thing you want to see is open! We wanted to see some big trees in Calabria. We travelled on the worst roads I have seen in Europe and stayed in a disaster camping spot. Guess what? The national park was closed the day we had planned to go. There was not another day spare (see point 2). So, no big trees.

Our learning: Do some research.

Part 3: Gelato, leaks and road side shenanigans

April 2, 2020April 2, 2020Posted in Bus, Germany, Italy, travel, Uncategorized, VW busTagged Bulli, camping, dei frati, gelato, Italy, Kombi, travel, VWLeave a comment

Is there anything better than a family summer road trip holiday in Italy?

Yes.

If you were thinking gelato, SUP’s and pizza, you would be half right. The other half might take some explaining.

We left Munich and headed over the mountains to Lago di Garda. Here we lived our gelato, pizza, cheese fantasy, swum all day and had a jolly fine time. We even got to visit the vineyard of our favourite rosè wine, Dei Frati. The cellar was so impressive that Elliot was relegated to the second best looking thing in the vicinity.

From here in on, things turned to custard. Lumpy, undercooked custard.

We headed to the tourist mecca of Cinque Terra and proceeded to spend all day searching for a camping spot.

Note to self: It pays to research when there are festivals in towns. OOPS. However, it wasn’t all bad: We eventually found a spot, the fireworks were incredible and the gelato was…well gelato – never short of a miracle.

Note to you all: you can not back this trailer. Everytime we turned around in a tight Italian spot, it had to be removed and replaced. This does not make for happy campers.

The next day, we pretended we were mountain goats in 35 degree heat with no supplies. This was immediately followed by a long period of no one talking to me. DOUBLE OOPS.

Then, it rained. And rained. And rained. Without end. For days. And Elliot leaked. Like a colander. In a swift turn of events, the teenagers were happy to be in the tent and the adults were the grumpy ones.

So much mud. So few smiles. Time to leave. On our way out of the quagmire, I even got to drive.

Note to self: 80 kms an hour is the speed limit for the trailer. OOPS. Keeping up with traffic was not the right thing to do.

Our next stop was the quintessential Italian town: fair Verona. Mouth droppingly gorgeous. And of course a boob to rub. Sorry, Ju.

On our way back to Munich, the disaster happened. Elliot decided she had had enough of this tour and quit. On the motorway. On a hill. With no hard shoulder. With a convoy of trucks screaming up behind us. Not her finest hour. Many harsh words were spoken. OOPS. OOPS. OOPS.

Note to you all: there is no evidence of a connection to the velocity I was travelling a few days prior.

We managed to get her to restart and we limped to a gas station. From here the lovely people at ADAC saved our bacon. They organised a tow-truck, a local garage and a car with a tow bar for the trailer and someone to drive that car to us from Germany.

A note to the mechanic: We know you told ADAC that our car was too old to be fixed anyway. TOO OLD. This is a 1974 VW T2 Westfalia Camper Van, in her original colour. You are an idiot. Sei un idiota. So, to you I say, “Back the hell away from Elliot. You have NO idea what you are dealing with here!”

So for now, Elliot is at the hospital. And that is a saga in itself. I’ll tell you about that later.

Peace, love and VW
Angela

PSA: ELLIOT NOW HAS HER OWN INSTAGRAM

Instagram.com/the_adventures_of_elliot

Introductions

February 4, 2020February 5, 2020Posted in Bus, Germany, travel, VW busTagged Aircooled, Bulli, Bus, car, Kombi, restoration, T2, VWLeave a comment

Introducing

The Adventures of Elliot

The adventures, misadventures and full restoration of a 1974 aircooled VW T2 camper.

When we bought the bus, we couldn’t decide on the gender, so we settled on a name that covers the options!

And Elliot?

Well, Angela’s nickname is Little Dragon, and Elliot is the name of the Dragon in the movie Pete’s Dragon. So that is how Elliot was born.

We hope you enjoy Elliot’s story.

Part 1: The time nothing went as planned

June 13, 2019February 4, 2020Posted in Bus, Germany, travel, VW busTagged Baltic Sea, Bulli, europe, VW1 Comment

Have you meet Elliot?

Isn’t she cute? Yes, she. We bought her last year. I am in love.

Elliot has been in the workshop since December, waiting for the mechanical overhaul she badly needed before we can use her for long camping trips. I was so impatient for summer and technical inspections! We finally picked her up a couple of weeks ago and got ready to do a camping trip at the Baltic Sea. Where there is BEACH! IN GERMANY!!

We headed towards Usedom. Wolfgang noticed that she doesn’t seem to have much power, but we know that she has a bit more to do on the motor thingy thing before she is perfect. So we don’t worry too much. After and hour we stop at a camping shop to grab a few things and…well she isn’t happy.

Elliot’s front left tyre is so hot you could cook an egg on it.

The photo that would go here is Elliot up on a lift at the closest VW mechanics. But I was too busy being sad to take it.

Of course the mechanic knows nothing about cars this old. So we get her down from the lift and try to devise a plan. After an hour of road side deliberating and google research (same reason for no photo), we decide it is not worth the risk and turn back to Berlin.

So, we repack our clothes into another car, book a hotel and go anyway. Not quite the maiden voyage we were hoping for. But there was a beach. And sand sculptures with boobs. And Terracotta Warriors. And picnics.

Just not an Elliot.