#vanlife
What a canoe trip taught me about life.
Yesterday we went canoeing. It was a beautiful setting, a gentle two-hour paddle down the Dordogne past stunning cliffs, Chateaux and chocolate box villages, the weather was ideal and the kids were happy – it was a ‘perfect’ day. Libby and I in one canoe, Chris and Stanley in another, paddling away downstream. Then I caught myself. About a half an hour into the trip, I realised what I was doing
A quick nosey around the Tin Can.
We’ve been asked for info on the van. So here is pt.1 where Lottie gives a walkaround of our van, from her point of view. We’re not entirely sure why this Welsh woman seems…
Slipping through the cracks.
We’re a week into our journey. A week since we shut the door on our house, our jobs, our school and headed off in our van. It seems strange to…
We’re on the road!
The fact that this post is even happening owes so much to the generosity of spirit of so many people who helped – even right up to the last minute…literally….
5 days to go – council rant
This is one of the things that I really didn’t picture when we started talking about going travelling, but it’s probably one of the most important things I’ve learnt so…
7 Days to go!
7 days to go until the four of us jump in the Hymer and head off for a year. Today was all about packing 99% of a family home into…
Feel the fear and do it anyway.
It’s 5.29am and I’m awake. Why? Well apart from the fact that Chris is snoring really loudly (REALLY LOUDLY!) I’m awake because I’m anxious. It’s less than two weeks until we set off and whilst part of me is excited to be heading off on an adventure, at the moment I’m more scared than anything. I keep thinking about all the things that could go wrong…
Destinations
The trip so far…
We’ve got a lot of catching up to do on here with where we’ve been, what we’ve done and what we’ve had to fix… As soon as we have a…
“Carcassonne-Land” – My own personal hell.
I was really looking forward to visiting Carcassonne. The history, the bloodshed, the intrigue; all focussed on an amazingly preserved medieval hilltop town, perfect. As our bus crossed Pont Neuf and…
You’ll want to lose yourself in Toulouse
We never intended to come to Toulouse. it was added to our destination list just so that we could visit a camping supplies shop on the outskirts and pick up…
Omaha Beach and the British Cemetery at Bayeux
Its not really possible to comprehend the scale of the loss of life or the sheer number of individual tragedies associated with the D-Day landings until you visit the war cemeteries…
Beynac and the Dordogne
After a night in a truck stop and a couple of days feeling a little ‘hemmed in’ camping near to Sarlat, we were very happy to park up in the amazingly located…
Bayeux – so much more than a tapestry.
Our ferry brought us into Caen and our first planned stop was Bayeux. Home of the world famous tapestry depicting the run up to, and end of, the battle of…
How to visit Stonehenge for free.
Ever since I was a kid Stonehenge has lived in my imagination as a kind of magical place, (in truth that’s probably more about human endeavour and brutality than humming…
First shakedown trip
It was time for our first ‘shakedown’ trip in the new (well new to us) van. January in North Wales, not the classic time to go wild camping in untried…
Europe’s most scenic festival?
We’re booked for the Mandrea festival in July 2016. Set just above Lake Garda in Italy, this has to be one of the most beautifully located festivals in Europe. Just…
Tips and Tricks
Just one reason that old vans, can be REALLY good vans.
Unless you particularly like videos of ridiculously simple roadside fixes or have a 25 year old Mercedes truck with a dodgy indicator stalk….then look away now. Hopefully one day, this…
4 tips for cooking for a family. In a van, without an oven.
Here’s the thing, much as I love Mabel (our van) she lacks that little something …she has no oven (or grill). We did contemplate having one fitted but decided that…
Get that imported motorhome a UK reg!
Well, we’d successfully imported our 25 year old hymer and even managed to get her on the drive (not sure we’d ever manage to get her out through the gate…