At our six month point in the trip I wrote a short review of that time to sum up what we had been up to. So I thought I’d do the same for the second! Each of the things on here have more in depth individual posts, that go into more detail, however this will... Continue Reading →
Every adventure has to end at some point, it’s usually a mixed bag of emotions and ours was no different. We finished our last week city hopping and visiting friends in the Netherlands, Belgium and France, each of which has their own post. By the time we were at the ferry port I was looking... Continue Reading →
We arrived in Amsterdam and managed to get a spot at the Vliegenbos caravan park, our first official night on a campsite in over 11 months on the road, not bad! We were keen to take advantage of the facilities, however we were keener still to get out into Amsterdam and tick off a few... Continue Reading →
The day after our ski touring adventure in Chamonix, we set off in the direction of home, and decided that we would pop into the Bourgogne region, as there was a bit of climbing there that we could get done before dropping Colin off at Paris Airport. We pulled into Saffres that has a basic... Continue Reading →
I have not written a diary style blog post for a while now, mainly as there has been very little to write about, and rather than write a post for the sake of it, I thought it best to wait until something worthwhile happened! We headed north after Las Fallas, in the general direction of... Continue Reading →
This is the most common question we have been asked when we meet friends, each time it is asked, we mumble for a while between ourselves as we try to break down ten months of continuous travel, adventure and van life. It’s too difficult to pick one experience that has outdone the others, as... Continue Reading →
Many years ago, I looked into flights to Valencia with a plan to visit during the Las Fallas festival weekend, as it turned out my ideals were scuppered by super high prices of flights and accommodation. At the time I was travelling a fair bit in between work and this was right up my street,... Continue Reading →
We finished our time in El Escorial, just on the outskirts of Madrid in a hail of rain. The day before we had managed to squeeze in one last boulder session at La Silla De Felipe II, in between rain showers. We climbed for a maximum of an hour before rain stopped play and we... Continue Reading →
Let's start with a little moan, the bloody weather! I mean what the hell? I'm in Spain, and it's starting to feel like I'm still in England! Anyway moan over! We left Portugal in horrendous rain, and in two days we made it to a small town just on the outskirts of Madrid, called El... Continue Reading →
When we arrived in Portugal, we had plans to spend a couple of weeks there following the coast up to Lisbon, climbing as we went. As things turned out we only managed a couple of days on rock and for the rest, rain stopped play. We had a long drive from a service stop just... Continue Reading →
I have often sat at home watching other people's travels through social media, often with a huge fear of missing out on all the great adventures that are going on around me! Often it's work or other commitments holding me back, however I'm now happy to say I have been living a great adventure on... Continue Reading →
This area first arrived on my radar when looking for sports climbing in the area. One of the online forums mentioned this El Helechal and it's great bouldering potential. All I could find in the form of topo’s was higher graded routes, most of which were out of my grades, however I still thought a... Continue Reading →
This is a tiny post more for information rather than telling a story of what I have done, although I'm sure there will be a little in there! We parked at the Aire that is located at the top of the town (36.445959, -5.278203), where we camped, it is quite comfortable and has water, waste and... Continue Reading →
We have had another week or so of play in El Chorro, and to be honest it's a week more than we expected when we first arrived. On our first week we only managed to climb a few single pitch routes due to a lack of a guidebook, and most of these were in poor... Continue Reading →
So it's the end of our first week in El Chorro, and the heavens have opened, leaving me with some time to write up a blog post of what we have been up to so far. In all honesty this first week has been a little up and down. First of all we drove close... Continue Reading →
Whilst we were travelling towards El Chorro, I placed a thread on the UKC forum asking wether there was any descent places to go walking or scrambling near El Chorro, as I fancied the option if there was a chance between climbs. As luck would have it I chose an Aire in a town called... Continue Reading →
As is becoming the usual on this trip, occasionally I accumulate enough things that go wrong and defy the perfect #vanlife perception that I'm able to write a blog post on it. I will also make sure the post has pictures of our van in only the best settings, as who takes a picture of... Continue Reading →
After what was a great day out on Toix the day before, we were to have a trying day on Mascarat. We woke up to an overcast day, and decided that a trip into Calpe for some supplies would give us time to gauge what the weather was doing. After this little jaunt the weather... Continue Reading →
The adventures in Costa Blanca just continue to come. Following on from our success on Parle, a sea cliff/cave climb, that tested our ability to the max, we thought we’d head north and take on another time and again recommended climb, Sonjannika at Morro Falgui. I initially found out about this route when searching for... Continue Reading →
We have been in Costa Blanca for the better part of two weeks and have so far had an absolute blast! My previous two posts have already highlighted some of the fantastic adventures that we have experienced here, such as the Bernia ridge, various quality single pitch crags, climbing on Toix on Christmas Day and... Continue Reading →
There have been some highlights on this trip for me and this day is another to go on that list. I'm not sure why, but this ridge has been on my wantlist for a while, I can't even remember where I first read about it, although at some point it crossed my path and ever... Continue Reading →
I am a little behind on posts, not that I have lost my enthusiasm for writing them, it's just that I have not been up to much, and therefore do not have much to write about. As with the previous post, all is not well in the van. I'm not going to dwell on it... Continue Reading →
So far this trip has been amazing, time and again I have experienced and written in this blog just how good of a time I am having. However just recently the trip has took a dip in form. Nothing major has happened, and that's part of the problem… we have had a couple of weeks... Continue Reading →
After leaving Croatia due to cold weather, we thought we would entertain even colder climates in Slovenia, and see how both the van and us would fair. On crossing the border we headed straight for Bled, and stopped at a service station for the night. In Croatia we had already given into the cold at... Continue Reading →
It feels like half the time, which can only be a good thing! When we set out we planned on a years trip and so far it is all going to plan. Of course there have been a few problems on the way ( no one mention getting stuck and wedging the van under a... Continue Reading →
Just as we passed the halfway point of the trip, I had a thought about these van life reality posts and how I may not have much to say from here on in, as it all becomes the same old problems, just in a different light. However that evening was the night of the creep... Continue Reading →
Another fine day, another fine climb, and another horrid descent. This is a simple way to sum up our second multipitch route in Croatia. We started later than planned, although we were pretty sure we could get up and down in the time left. This route was called Stargate and was further along the face... Continue Reading →
I have already reviewed my first week in Croatia, and although it has not gone to plan as far as the climbing/weather is concerned, we have still made the best of the time we have had here. The same has to be said of our second week we have been hampered by bad weather and... Continue Reading →
How did I end up here? A series of decisions and processes have ended up with me living in a van, travelling, climbing and having the best time of my life, for the most part. Outside of the most part is covered in these ‘reality posts’, however I wrote that these would cover the good,... Continue Reading →
We drove into Croatia at night after a long day of freeloading wifi and power at the Bled tourist office, as jess has work, its only fair to say how good the office is and the information we received from the staff was above and beyond all other tourism offices we have use on this... Continue Reading →
As my journey through living full time in a van continues, I thought I would continue to shed light on the lesser advertised realities of my #vanlife experiences. This post just runs through the latest things that have gone wrong and anything that opposes the general perfect Instagram vision of living in a van. Rude... Continue Reading →
After a couple of tough days on the Col dei Bos, we decided that we would continue with a third day, this time on the Via Ferrata Michielli Strobel on Punta Fiames. This is close to where we have parked and seems to have a smaller approach time, as Jess does not like long approach... Continue Reading →
Finally we have made it back to the mountains, oh how much I have missed being here! It sounds weird to have been travelling, climbing and diving across Italy and Sardinia, and the whole time I felt like there was something missing, and I've not realised it was this, hills, mountains, towering rock faces, amazing... Continue Reading →
The plan for a day trip to mount visuvius was simple, wake up in the morning, follow signs to the car park and then walk to the top, simple! The night before, jess had been doing some work so we needed a McDonald's to use the wifi, by the time this was done it was... Continue Reading →
As this trip is ongoing I thought I would continue to develop my van life reality posts as things happen and who knows by the end of it I might have shattered the Instagram #vanlife perception. So far on the trip we have travelled from the UK to Venice to Sardinia, this does not seem... Continue Reading →
Following on from the last post where we have finally been scuba diving on the Isola die Cavoli near Villasimius, we found some free parking just down the road from the port and proceeded to spend a couple of nights there. It was a lovely location, although we were always on edge, with the fear... Continue Reading →
After the minor disaster that was the south coast of France, we were keen to move on and turn a new leaf, so we headed into Italia! We knew the Dolies was the next big destination, but the 7 plus hours driving were a little off putting, so we decided on a slight detour to... Continue Reading →
Now that we have left Chamonix we seem to be on the move a little more, once again this trip will be mobile and we will be travelling to various new places, although where exactly we don't know yet as we are making it up a little, rather than sticking to a rigid itinerary. That... Continue Reading →
Before we left on this trip, I obviously did a lot of searching for van and vanlife, related things, as this is what we were setting out to do, and the internet can be full of useful information if you look in the right places. However, it is also filled with a lot of crap,... Continue Reading →
'Fancy a 30 minute jog before lunch?' 'Yeah, best get on with it, as we have been so inactive due to rain over the past few days...' That was a snippet from our conversation this morning, so as you might imagine this post is about a run. A couple of weeks before, I had been... Continue Reading →
As the title says, I have had a request from a follower via email to share more about who I am, how I got here and where I am going. All these things that have not been fully covered in the blog as of yet, and were totally overlooked by me! I hope they don't... Continue Reading →
So on here I have posted much about the days when there is lots going on, I have talked about life in the van a little and although there are adventures taking place pretty regularly out here, there are also days where the sun does not shine and life is put on hold, such as... Continue Reading →
As with all new enterprises there are always a few teething problems to begin with, although mine is less enterprise and more millennium falcon. I put this thing together with my co pilot Chewie, I mean Jess. So there was no doubt there would be some problems. First off was the waste drainage and jerry... Continue Reading →
I have been on many adventures in my life, and some of those I have started to tell you about in this blog. All have had different beginnings, however I find that you always have an idea in your minds eye of what this will look and feel like. For example when I was sixteen... Continue Reading →
Woo! Van life! Living the dream! Or so you think… There is so much nonsense, poppycock, hogwash and other nicer ways of saying bullshit that paves the way to such a lifestyle change. Even this cheap lifestyle cannot be lived without a few large expenses and stacks of paperwork! An onwards rant from the earlier... Continue Reading →
The title gives a little insight into how much I have (insert sarcasm here) ‘loved’ building our van into our new home. Jess and me have for years talked of a big trip, and loosely set the date for 2017, and after being inspired by many others we thought the van life/ dirt bag climber... Continue Reading →
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