Author: hmarriage

Planning our trip

So time is racing towards towards our planned departure date, and there seems to be tons to organise. We’ve spent the last couple of months preparing for our trip. We’ve had lots of tradespeople in doing maintenance work on the house, so that the lovely couple who are staying in our house whilst we are away will hopefully not have any problems with leaking roofs, failed electrics, heating issues etc.

We’ve been researching all the things we need to organise regards the trip – campsite search sites and Apps, toll tags, medical insurance, European health cards, breakdown cover, WiFi options for the van – the list just keeps on growing. Plus we’ve been sourcing tons of camper van stuff for Oscar – a comfortable mattress topper, an external topper, awning options, suitable outdoor clothing, and loads of little extras like kitchen equipment and soft furnishings. My biggest fear is that we won’t be able to fit it all in!

It is certainly going to be a real challenge fitting everything we need into the very small storage space available. I will have to learn to be minimalistic – which, for those of you who know me, will be aware that I am completely the opposite – usually surrounded by stuff!

The only firm planning we have done regards the trip is to have booked the return ferry trip from Denmark to Iceland in May. The ferry only departs once per week, via the Faroe Islands – so we really needed to tie that one down. Apart from that, our route is still quite flexible. We are contemplating setting off for a week around Scotland for a trial run – just to gauge whether we have packed too little / too much, and to sort out any teething problems before we leave the country. But Scotland in January could prove a trial in itself, with freezing temperatures and icy roads. Watch this space!!

 

The Adventure Begins ……

So the mid life crisis has final struck!! Defying all sanity and common sense, Howard and I have made the crazy decision to pack up work for a year and travel around Europe in our lovely new VW camper van ‘Oscar’!! The plan is to set off early in January 2018, and so this ‘Gap Year’ is very much in the planning stages just now. The idea is to try to visit as many countries as possible in Europe before the UK leaves the EU, but we also hope to cover Scandinavia and perhaps Iceland in our year long adventure.

We plan to visit the warmer countries in the cooler weather, and the cooler climates in the summer months. So with that in mind, we will probably start off visiting Spain and Portugal in January and February, moving on down through Italy to Sicily, before heading northwards. We aim to cover Iceland, Sweden and Norway in late spring / summer, before heading down through the Baltic states and Eastern Europe as autumn approaches. Well, that’s our initial thoughts, but it is all pretty fluid just now. Maybe after a week in the van we’ll be ready to murder each other or head home! We’re very much going to play it by ear, and see how the whole trip evolves.

Reactions to our idea have ranged from incredulity, disbelief, stifled laughter, ‘really???’, half-hearted encouragement and very occasional genuine excitement. Very few are envious of our great adventure, and many of my female friends just offer me a pitiful look – ‘a year, in a van … with no loo?’ – definitely not most people’s bag!

However, having reached a stage in our lives when most of our friends are starting to wind down, we have taken the view that you only live once, and that it’s better to grab every opportunity with both hands while we can. You never know what’s around the corner, or when infirmity may set in. So, with considerable trepidation, we have decided to embark on this trip of a lifetime. Time will tell if it’s wise or complete madness, but whatever it turns out to be, our aim is to have fun, visit lots of new and interesting places, and hopefully live to tell the tale!

The adventure begins ……