I took a shower today. That may not seem like a big deal. Or am I turning some of you off just by even broaching the subject? Believe me, I love showers. You could say I am the queen of showers; hot, long and preferably with some beautifully smelling soap. Not so much when we are traveling. Not because I don’t want to bathe in the daily luxury of steam and roses, but if your travel journey is on a tight budget, compromises have to be made. I don’t know why, but didn’t occur to me earlier. The water heater in our RV has after all been working less than…
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Learning about solar power. Rookie mistakes?
For about ten days now, we have had the luxury of borrowing a generator. We prefer to run our life solely on solar power (and some food), so adding a gas guzzling machine to the setup is certainly not a perfect solution. But what peace of mind has it been for me. To be able to reliably have electricity when I need to charge my laptop has changed my world. We went so far as to add the expense of a generator purchase to next month’s budget. If the solar panels are not cutting it, we have to find a solution. Being completely powerless last week did not feel very…
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And then suddenly we were living the Vanlife.
Our last visit to Europe had been more than 3 years. With another little one added to our family, a trip was overdue. After we found a friend willing to keep our black lab for a very long time, we booked tickets. The plan was to spend the Holidays in the Netherlands, and then to take a train down towards Malaga to rent an Airbnb. Do you have any idea how expensive it is to train 5 people through Europe? More expensive than purchasing a vehicle and driving it there. The Berry Bus needed a little TLC. New tires, shocks and some welding plus other things that my hubby…
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Castillo de Tabernas
To be honest, we were supposed to visit Almeria last week. But plans change, especially when you travel with kids. With the Spanish siesta in the back of our minds, we knew we would have to be down there pretty early on in the day if we wanted to visit anything at all. So when kids went to bed late the night before and we did not get the show on the road until well beyond 10, the plan morphed into a visit to Tabernas. I had never heard of Tabernas before, but if you like watching a Western every so often, you may be surprised to know that many…
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Budget
So here we are, in Spain. Slightly discouraged by the rainy winter months while camping in our mini camper van, we opted for some peace and quiet. Dry peace and quiet, because we are renting an Airbnb for a little while. Slowly the fog from ongoing sleep deprivation is starting to lift, and it almost looks like the kids are getting bored. It is such a luxury to have the opportunity to think and talk and to figure out life. One child is playing with the miniature dollhouse, the others are hanging out at the playground in front of the house. I can see the Mediterranean from the kitchen window,…