europe – The Adventures of Elliot the VW

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.

10 fails in 5 weeks

June 10, 2022June 12, 2022Posted in Bus, Italy, travel, VW busTagged buslife, europe, Italy, Kombi, travel, travel fails, travel slow, van life, VWLeave a comment

We’ve been on the road for 5 weeks and lots of things have been super. But real life is more than instagram. Shit happens. Regularly. So here are the fails we have had in our first 5 weeks of van living: (in no particular order of merit)

1. The time the Wolf ran over his own shoes

In an effort to find the perfectly flat parking spot there is always a bit of to-ing and fro-ing. Sadly, on this occasion, one of the to’s involved rolling over the Yeezy’s. Those of you who know sneakers are probably in full cardiac arrest right now. But rest assured, they bounced back.

Learning: check all around the car before you move anything.

2. The time we got rained out

The great deluge of 2022

The Cinque Terre tried to kill us. Twice. This time with a monsoon. Slippery paths and that much rain does not make for a happy me. My mantra became: “I am a pilgrim. I have been through worse than this.” (For more info on my Camino di Santiago, go here.)

Learning: Take a dry pair of shoes if you know it will rain. OR don’t walk on a rainy day, you are not in a hurry.

3. The time we tried to destroy our marquee

Another rain related disaster. Those of you who have a small van understand, you need to have outside space to survive. The marquee is a the first thing we assemble on arrival. It is attached to our van, so it’s expensive and a pain in the ass to replace. So you take SUPER good care of it, right? Sure!

We are in Tropea, Calabria. Again with the monsoon like rains, but in the night. From the dry comfort of bed we hear the rain and are both too lazy to get up and put the marquee down or on an angle. Big mistake. Big. Huge.

When the Wolf gets up in the morning he can hardly open the door because the marque has sunk down under the weight of the water. The water tumour has bent the poles and we are certain that the marquee is destroyed. We totally cashed in 20 lucky chips, because after the boil was lanced, the poles popped right back to normal and the marquee shows no signs of having been so badly treated. PHEW!

Learning: don’t be lazy bastards.

4. The time I got a flat tyre

Bike tour day. We are 9 k from “home” and on a Sunday at lunchtime. In the scorching hot. Yip. I sat in the bar drinking wine while the Wolf rode back to base camp. Hero status “high”.

Learning: take the pump you have in the car with you on bike trips.

5. The time we didn’t check the opening hours

And stayed in the worst camping site ever. And planned the whole week around going to see massive trees. And discovered it was closed. Yeah. Cool

Learning: I think this one needs no explanation.

6. The time we got invaded by flying animals

Like literally 27 million of them. Little bastards. Of course it is a side effect of camping on farms.

Learning: use the mosquito net you have in the car. Unused.

7. The time the camping spot was a dump

I will not sleep in a spot that other people have clearly used as a toilet. Shame on them.

Learning: always have time to get to the next place. Be flexible. Be careful where you shit.

8. The time we had to tow a stranger

The Trooper needed the power of the whole Empire (and his 4 wheel drive) to extract these poor freedom campers from their sandy doom. Another day I was glad we were in him, not Elliot.

Learning: sometimes you are just in the right place at the right time.

9. The time the campground wasn’t open

Boring! Arrive at your pick of places and it isn’t ready for you.

Learning: be flexible. Have a back up plan.

10. The time that technology let us down

If it’s not the navigation system breaking or the chip in ATM card refusing to work, then it’s your computer battery deciding this of a good time to die. Technology can destroy you.

Learning: update everything before you leave an actual house.

What’s your biggest camper fail? What did you learn?

Part 2: Rügen, nudists and witches

February 4, 2020February 4, 2020Posted in Bus, Germany, travel, VW busTagged europe, rügen, Roadtrip, travel, VW

After the disappointment of last weekend, Elliot was banished to the repairers. Upon her re-arrival, we decided to have another crack at at weekend camping. This time we headed towards Rügen. An island pretty famous in Germany for its sunshine and beaches. I was expecting LOTS of tourists – after all it was a long weekend at the start of summer. That was not what I got. What I got:

Nudists. We were in hunt of “Germany’s most natural beach” and when using a campsites driveway to do a u-turn , were politely asked “Do you want to stay here?”. (Everyone wants a VW in their campground.) In the spirit of adventure we agreed – only to discover we had pulled into a partially FKK campground. That means, non Germans, that the campsite had large areas where no clothing was part of the deal. Oops.

A Witches’ Forest. Follow this road up to this castle and there it is. The “road” is someone’s driveway BTW! We parked Elliot on the side of the driveway, mostly inside the forest and followed a very small sign into the forest. And there it was, The Witches’ Forest. Phenomenal. The trees here were definitely magic!

Something like Stonehenge, but with no-one there. Again, drive down someone’s driveway in the middle of nothing, park in a field, and there, completely unkempt, is a cemetary of ancient and massive proportions. Epic.

Seaside Camper parking. Elliot was born for this! The beach was not crowded or touristy and the parking places were EPIC. Nicely marked out, at the beach, good toilets, at the beach, friendly staff, at the beach. Elliot makes a splash everywhere she goes, but especially at a Camper parking. At the beach.

We are happy to report an Elliot drama free weekend. HOORAY!

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.