Europe Van Fun with Mia Has Started

It’s happened! We are living in a van for a week now already. I have no idea when the time passed, but I know that I love it and Mia does as well. We established a kind of routine already. I wake up pretty early, Mia and Tomasz refuse to do so. I make a nice cup of coffee and go for a walk or work, depends on where we are. A big advantage of Tomasz going with us – I can go further away from the van than 10m. When they finally wake up, we have a breakfast which I usually make (surprise, surprise) and we turn off the gas bottle to drive a bit. Mia sits next to me and she loves it like crazy. Tomasz sits on a back, next to the table, because he works 9am-6pm. Yes, it works! I had a big problem visualising it, because how is it possible anyway. Well, it is 🙂 All you need is a good internet connection, which we have thanks to a new “no roaming charges” policy. It means that we have a lot of GBs and believe me or not, so far reception was almost everywhere.

After a breakfast our routine ends, as whenever I see a nice spot, I stop. It all creates a crazy route, which sometimes involves going back. I have no plan, no route anymore, and I wouldn’t change it. I was supposed to go straight from Warsaw to Portugal, but I stopped in so many places, that after a week I still didn’t get there.

As this is the first post, here are some basic information that we’re asked about quite often.

VAN AND PACKING

While searching for a van there were two musts. One was a kitchen area where I can easily cook even when Mia sleeps. We have a kitchen on the back of our van, which is super comfy.

Second one was a toilet and preferably shower. Tomasz joined us for a month, but for many parts of our journey there will be only me and Mia. In New Zealand I had some super funny situations when Mia was sleeping and I was under pressure. This time there won’t be any problems.

I got super excited about a sleeping shelf above the cabin. I had no idea if we’ll be able to sleep there, but it turns out that it works perfectly even for three of us. In the end, I have a whole space for myself in the morning, I just have to slide a curtain and it’s like I’m the only one over there. At least till they smell food.

I did not make many changes to the van, as I did not want to lose too much time. There were a few cosmetic changes like the cover of the cushions and curtains.

Packing wasn’t a big issue for me, even though that we are planning on traveling for 4 months. I took minimum, like clothes, just a few books I wanted to read, toys for Mia, plates, cutlery, good pots and pans and that’s pretty much it. Whatever else I need, I can get on the road. For our travel in New Zealand I took only one backpack for me and Mia and we had all we needed. Thanks to a minimal packing, we have a lot of space in the van.

We also installed a solar battery, so we can charge our computers wherever we are and wherever sun is.

TRAVELING IN AN OLD VAN

I did not have much of a choice in this area, as I did not even consider paying a lot of money for a new camper van. Mine is a proud 22 year old. It’s too young for old school and too old for fancy. I’m perfectly comfortable in the middle.

What I did straight after buying my new home on wheels was to give it to a workshop where they fixed everything needed to be fixed and checked it as it should be checked. I got new tires and I was sure that I can go thousands of kilometres without any problems. Well… this is an old car, so in Luxembourg we almost lost the exhaust pipe, oops. We found a workshop within 15 minutes distance, 1 hour later we were back on the road. This is an old car, so things like it will happen from time to time, but it’s not really a problem.

Other issues and not really issues. As long as you are flexible and you realise that your car is old, you will love it with everything included.

ROUTE

I do not plan much, I usually do it while traveling. I talk with people, ask for tips, read blogs, look on Instagram. I do not make plans, because I want to feel free with changing my mind. I was supposed to start this trip with Scandinavia, but meantime I felt like hot and sun. This is how I almost ended up in Portugal. Almost, because I still didn’t get there. So far we stopped in:

Wartburg – we got there at 7am when everything was closed, even gates to the castle. What we did experience was an amazing fog and gorgeous light. When they finally open the front gate, we were the first ones over there. I felt like a princess.

Burg Eltz – stunning castle. Just look at the picture, does it even look like it’s real! To get there you have to walk for about 15 minutes through a forest, which makes the whole experience even cooler.

Ferrieres Catinais – we wanted to get a nice baguette so we left a highway and stopped over here. It’s a beautiful little town with a very friendly people. We ended up buying half of a bakery as they had cakes as well, we got a lot of cheese and fruits and then we had a coffee in a local pub. What an experience!

Dune of Pilat – Tomasz told me that there are these dunes in France. And that was a reason enough to go there. It is magnificent how creative nature is. Mia treated it as a huge sandbox, I got back early in the morning to experience it without hundreds of tourists, which I highly recommend. We also drove to Place de la Pointe from where you have a perfect view on the dunes and a big not crowded beach.

Hossegor – small town in France with a very nice vibe. I stopped for flat white at Waxed and I didn’t want to leave. Then we took Tomasz for a lunch break to and Le Mango Tree and I had the best access bowl possible and delicious avocado toast (I mean it!). It is a tiny place with just a few tables outside, but they have a beautiful view, the sweetest people working there and the best food. If you’re in the area, definitely go there!

San Sebastian – they say that it’s the happiest city in the world, for sure it made me happy. We got there in the evening just in time for magnificent bite in Sirimiri Gastroleku and a glass of a cold beer. We kept walking around the town filled with a very friendly people. In the morning I did a similar tour, but the city was completely empty. I liked both versions. Actually, I like San Sebastian so much, that I’d like to move here for a couple of months.

Bilbo – have you heard of The Guggenheim building? It is an impressive piece of architecture. It took me 2 hours to walk there with Mia, mostly carrying her, but it was worth it. I can also definitely recommend Cafe Bar Bilbao, where we had magnificent bite as well.

Buelna – beautiful beaches and views, it felt like Scotland. We stopped there just because I saw it from a highway and I am happy we did.

La Paloma has a very nice Marina Restaurant and this is the reason we went there. We ate too much, but I couldn’t stop ordering. If you’re there, order octopus – it’s so soft and delicate, that I did not want to believe it’s an octopus, but tentacles and other features proofed it.

Cathedral Beach – stunning beach, you have to see it, but definitely super early in the morning, like 5-6 am, so you’re not surrounded by hundreds of people. Yep, the word has spread and many people want to see it.

Isla de Arousa an island connected with the mainland by a bridge. It is pretty cool just because this small detail. It looks like tourists do not get there that much, locals are very friendly and beaches beautiful. We spent a night over there and experienced a beautiful sunset.

EVERYDAY LIFE

I definitely have to start with “I LOVE IT!” I love each moment and each place. I even like taking very fast showers with a very little water in my camper. I definitely like to combine 3 ingredients and create something delicious. We had rice with veggies, crepes with mushrooms, some more crepes with hummus and cheese (we like crepes over here) and even one pot pasta already (I just got a message that I cannot cook pasta like this, but since I wasn’t aware that there are some restrictions in this area I ate it with a pleasure). I’ll post the recipes in next posts 🙂