Today marks 100 days since we boarded the ferry at Harwich bound for the Hook of Holland… and our adventure into Europe! Since then we have driven 2,527 miles, across Holland, Belgium, France and Spain. We’ve stayed in 27 different places, including two vineyards, a campsite masquerading as a botanical garden and a housing estate on the outskirts of Belgium. We’ve filled up 9 times, with 412 litres of fuel. And I’ve lost track of how many baguettes we have consumed!
However, the real story is behind these numbers, where our family of five has learnt over the last 100 days what it means to live in a space 9m x 2.3m and start to live a different way. We’ve had to become tidier and more organised, more considerate of how to move past one another and where to find our own space amongst what is sometimes noisy chaos. We’ve had to discover what all the buttons and switches do in our motorhome (and we’re still not done!), how to reverse and park her, and where not to drive her. We’ve also had to learn our own rhythms of travelling and resting.
I think its safe to say that this journey isn’t quite what any of us expected it to be. It isn’t a calendar of ‘instagramable snaps’. It isn’t a case of hopping from one beautiful vista to another. There are the days of laundry, shopping and general life to also do. There are some frustrating moments (like pulling the curtain rail out of the ceiling one bedtime or knocking the water pipe off on a ridiculously high speed bump), and some hard moments like when a two hour journey to Paris turned into a five hour one through fog, ending in rush hour traffic through the city in the dark. There are those moments when we have longed for someone to tell us where to drive to, and those where we would just have liked to go for a coffee with a best friend and have some space!
There have also been some very surprising moments too. I expected to feel overwhelmed and in need of my own space as a result of being 24/7 with our 3 girls, and indeed with Andy! This hasn’t been the case though and I have found what can only be described as a new level of patience that I definitely didn’t have living back in the UK! I think the freedom of not having to rush, and few deadlines to meet has lifted a pressure I didn’t realise I felt.
There are also the days when I climb into bed at the end of the day and my heart is simply filled to the brim with a joyful happiness – often brought about by the most unexpected things, but all rooted into spending time with one another in a way we never have before.
It’s been beautiful to watch everyone blossom in new ways. Our eldest daughter is discovering a passion (and talent) for drawing, our middle poppet seeks out the beautiful sunsets (and sunrises!), and smallest girl who is so near to being 4 has found a voice, regularly making up joyful, tuneful songs! They are all like sponges absorbing and understanding this new world around us, and embracing whatever country we are in by making an effort to speak the language. They have each developed more confidence, sharing our story with the many adults who ask them about this adventure; some they may just have a short chat with, others (like our 80 year old neighbours in Camping Playa Tropicana) became friends!
Andy and I have started a game that we like to play in the evenings over a glass of wine (no, not every night!), reminiscing our journey and plucking out places and moments that meet various categories of ‘what is…?’. Here are a few of our answers to give a snapshot of the past 100 days:
What’s the worst driving moment?
Up to last week it was driving in zero-visibility freezing fog to Paris, however after getting lost in the rabbit warren of narrow one-way streets in the small Spanish town of La Herradura last week brought me to tears this is now joint top!
What’s the best museum we have visited?
We all loved the Palais du Pape, and the augmented reality tablets really helped bring it to life. Although this is quickly followed by the World War One Museum at Perrone in France and the immersive role-play activities of Roman life at the Pont du Gard museum.
What’s the best thing we have eaten out?
Traditional paella served after a church service at El Faro in Valencia.
What’s the best food bought in a supermarket?
Probably the Speculoos spread, although everyone is loving the curry ketchup found in Lidl!
What’s the best sunrise we have seen?
Definitely standing on Alcossebre beach as a family on Christmas morning watching the sun come up. There was something so peaceful and special about the moment, I think we will always all remember it.
What’s the funniest moment?
Probably something Bella said!
What’s the most joy-filled moment?
Unquantifiable. Seeing wonder and delight on each other’s faces as we discover something amazing in the world around us, or in each other’s character; like seeing a sunrise, an unspoilt mountain vista, a beluga whale at the Oceanarium or talking with someone in their language, and not our own.
What’s the best pizza we’ve eaten?
Hmmn, currently a toss-up between Camping de Paris, with it’s traditional, crisp base, baked in a wood-fired oven; and the pizza on Charlotte’s birthday – it must have been the ingredients… it was a simple cheese pizza and absolutely delicious.
What’s the best play park we’ve been to?
The girls unanimously voted for the Gulliver park in Valencia. They loved spending hours scrabbling over the giant-sized play zone, with huge slides and climbing ropes, they were especially happy that we could join in too!
What’s the item we could not have done without?
Definitely our Garmin sat-nav, closely followed by our bright orange plug which fits any sink, enabling us to wash up anywhere!
What’s the most random place we have visited?
Probably the abandoned gold-mine in Rodalquilar, Spain. It’s just there… open to the public, very open in fact… so open that you can clamber all over the remaining buildings (if you so desired), walking up staircases with no handrails – if fact it was clear that no Health and Safety regulations exist here at all! It is the sort of place that some evil villain lures James Bond to, to meet his doom – it was actually very cool and the views from the top quite breathtaking!
What’s the favourite place we have eaten breakfast? Probably around table with our friends Marinus, Evelina and their family in Brussels. They welcomed us in to their home, and served us a happy breakfast, which included stollen (one of my favourite things!)
What’s the best thing we have done since being on the road?
Our eldest would definitely say ice skating! Since being introduced to this new ‘sport’ on her birthday in Paris, she has been keen to go as many times as possible! The girls also all loved the Dolphin show at the Valencia Oceanarium.
100 days have passed and much has changed for us already – but it feels like our journey is still only just beginning…
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