Whoever I am it's everywhere
I am quite taken with the notion of travelling light. In a past life, my then other half and I would pack a back pack each, chuck a tent in the back of the car and drive away for a day or two to hang out and walk around in the great outdoors. Our thinking was to lighten the load so that our minds would be freed to take in new impressions.
When I came to the Netherlands it was with a couple of suitcases and my bicycle. I refrained from bringing too many trinkets to remind me of Australia as I had a host of new experiences in store, a language and endless cultural norms to absorb. Now that I am somewhat acclimatised, I'm ready to explore Europe on a broader level. I have a couple of frames of reference, two homes as a basis of comparison!
However, when you decide to travel in a van-come-house, you then have the luxury of making it more ... home-y. The DVD player and attendant films can join in on the fun, as can the laptop (great for keeping in touch). Mobile phone, ipod, crochet kit and photography bits and pieces can be stowed in all sort of compartments. Refrigerated food and beverages also hitch a ride, as well as music with (almost) surround sound. Books to your heart's content plus a little mobile kitchen can be trundled along. Yes, maps and travel guides accompany too, but with wifi, internet and the GPS navigation system, these paper tools are merely back up. And wonderfully we're nowhere near the gross weight limit of 3000kg!
Scroll down and take a look at our little house for the next 10 weeks or so (yes ... we're almost 2 weeks behind the intended departure date!). We hope it will serve us well - somewhere in between travelling light, lifting the load from our minds and yet still letting us enjoy some of the comforts of home. It has taken a good month or more to prepare us for departure, and we're fine-tuning the last details - still.
One more thing; as we all know, it's not how long you go away, or how far you go, or where you end up; it is indeed the manner in which you do it. Wistfully I admit we haven't always been zen during preparation time. We had forgotten for moments here and there that no matter where we go, or for how long, we are coming along as well! What nonsense is this illusion that people possess "travelling personalities" - ones that are 100% happy, cheerful and relaxed! Or that by going on holiday people will metamorphose appropriately. (We sometimes also mistakenly believe that these characters activate themselves from the moment we leave the house or worse, when we arrive at our destination!)
I say, "accept me as I am. Now. I can predict I might be impatient but also patient, stubborn but also understanding, interrupting but also a courteous listener for the duration of this trip. I know we will both be kind to each other at times but that at others we will falter; we will ebb and flow in our intentions. Because we are human. And we have to be forgiving - to each other and to ourselves.
So, don't forget sweetheart, while we travel to all these faraway places, we will bring our true selves on this journey too. We promised almost two years ago that we would take each other - as we are -for richer, poorer, in sickness and in health. And now, home - and away.
The view
from the head of the "bed" - you can see the fridge (blue box) and the mobile airco stashed away under its cupboard. The concertina arm is our portable DVD holder - fashioned from an old shaving mirror!
A pic of
some of the junk, I mean carefully selected items we're going to cram under the bed. The bed actually flips up so you can sit on the edge of the bed and have a back to lean on (it pops up 90 degrees about where the blue fridge stops)
The view from where I sit (as I climb into the van. I made the curtains. Keeps curious passers by none the wiser.
Some of the "ingenious" storage space we put into the van. Good old Ikea!
Jan and Gerrie helped us rig up the bikes on the back of the camper; you need to be mobile on a mobile trip!
When our camper was at the mechanic; I thought, it can't be that heavy if it can go up in the air like that!
Eindhoven, July 2009
When I came to the Netherlands it was with a couple of suitcases and my bicycle. I refrained from bringing too many trinkets to remind me of Australia as I had a host of new experiences in store, a language and endless cultural norms to absorb. Now that I am somewhat acclimatised, I'm ready to explore Europe on a broader level. I have a couple of frames of reference, two homes as a basis of comparison!
However, when you decide to travel in a van-come-house, you then have the luxury of making it more ... home-y. The DVD player and attendant films can join in on the fun, as can the laptop (great for keeping in touch). Mobile phone, ipod, crochet kit and photography bits and pieces can be stowed in all sort of compartments. Refrigerated food and beverages also hitch a ride, as well as music with (almost) surround sound. Books to your heart's content plus a little mobile kitchen can be trundled along. Yes, maps and travel guides accompany too, but with wifi, internet and the GPS navigation system, these paper tools are merely back up. And wonderfully we're nowhere near the gross weight limit of 3000kg!
Scroll down and take a look at our little house for the next 10 weeks or so (yes ... we're almost 2 weeks behind the intended departure date!). We hope it will serve us well - somewhere in between travelling light, lifting the load from our minds and yet still letting us enjoy some of the comforts of home. It has taken a good month or more to prepare us for departure, and we're fine-tuning the last details - still.
One more thing; as we all know, it's not how long you go away, or how far you go, or where you end up; it is indeed the manner in which you do it. Wistfully I admit we haven't always been zen during preparation time. We had forgotten for moments here and there that no matter where we go, or for how long, we are coming along as well! What nonsense is this illusion that people possess "travelling personalities" - ones that are 100% happy, cheerful and relaxed! Or that by going on holiday people will metamorphose appropriately. (We sometimes also mistakenly believe that these characters activate themselves from the moment we leave the house or worse, when we arrive at our destination!)
I say, "accept me as I am. Now. I can predict I might be impatient but also patient, stubborn but also understanding, interrupting but also a courteous listener for the duration of this trip. I know we will both be kind to each other at times but that at others we will falter; we will ebb and flow in our intentions. Because we are human. And we have to be forgiving - to each other and to ourselves.
So, don't forget sweetheart, while we travel to all these faraway places, we will bring our true selves on this journey too. We promised almost two years ago that we would take each other - as we are -for richer, poorer, in sickness and in health. And now, home - and away.
The view
from the head of the "bed" - you can see the fridge (blue box) and the mobile airco stashed away under its cupboard. The concertina arm is our portable DVD holder - fashioned from an old shaving mirror!A pic of
some of the junk, I mean carefully selected items we're going to cram under the bed. The bed actually flips up so you can sit on the edge of the bed and have a back to lean on (it pops up 90 degrees about where the blue fridge stops)
The view from where I sit (as I climb into the van. I made the curtains. Keeps curious passers by none the wiser.
Some of the "ingenious" storage space we put into the van. Good old Ikea!
Jan and Gerrie helped us rig up the bikes on the back of the camper; you need to be mobile on a mobile trip!
When our camper was at the mechanic; I thought, it can't be that heavy if it can go up in the air like that!Eindhoven, July 2009
posted by Chasing Paradise at 5:36 PM
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