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A year's trip around Europe in a bus!

"He knows not where he's going, for the ocean will decide, it's not the destination, it's the glory of the ride."  - Edward Monkton 

Many years ago I gave my dad a birthday card with this short poem on it. Perhaps the words lingered in my memory, because a long time later I took them to heart and acted on them. Back in 2018 my partner and I abandoned our relatively standard, provincial, heading towards middle age lifestyle, in favour of going travelling. We packed up our entire lives, along with the dog in to a converted bus and set off on an adventure, with no fixed destination, just a loose plan to travel around Europe indefinitely and see where we ended up.

 

Fast forward fourteen months and we find ourselves owning a small farm in central Portugal, harvesting vines, olives and a plethora of other home-grown delicious fruits. If someone told me before we set off this is where I'd be and what I'd be doing, it's unlikely I'd have believed them; Portugal? A farm? Neither of these had ever been on my agenda - and that's the beauty of travelling, you never know where you'll end up or what you might be doing at any given time. 

Casting off the chains of modern living was amazingly cathartic. I got rid of 99% of my belongings and once we left, didn't miss any of them. We saved a fortune by cutting out rent and direct debits and began living hand to mouth; within six months we were able to buy a little slice of paradise in Portugal for the amount you'd pay for a parking space in southern England where we previously lived! 


During our trip we had some fantastic experiences. We worked for the grape picking season at Chateau Gruaud-Larose in Bordeaux, a 200 acre vineyard, dating back to 1725. It was great fun, back-breaking and of course fuelled by wine. We then followed the west coast of France down to San Sebastián in Spain, highlights of which included fully exploring the oyster region in the Arcachon Bay and enjoying the immense beaches and waves further along towards Hossagor where the World Surfing Championship took place last year. 

 
On the recommendations of a stranger we met dog walking, we detoured into Portugal on a whim and quickly fell in love with it. We travelled through the centre of the country down to the Algarve where we spent Christmas. Not wishing to sit on our laurels we decided to start the New Year elsewhere and headed East towards Spain. We motored along the Costa del Sol and the Costa Tropical, relishing the warmth and peacefulness that came with being there out of season.

With family members to call in on we had a comfortable few weeks residing in a house, a novel experience after five months on wheels, and made the most of creature comforts like a bath and electricity! Soon enough we got itchy feet though and found ourselves wanting to return to Portugal to further explore the area we first fell in love with, and headed back up across country arriving at Penamacor, our current location.

We fully intend to do more travelling, as there are many places we still want to explore, but for now we are loving renovating an old house and tending to our 'quinta' (the name for a small Portuguese farm).

Our trip has not been without its scary moments - break downs, tyre blowouts and navigating around hairpin bends across a mountain range in a twenty-five year old bus is no fun! Nina, our naughty hound has given us the slip on numerous occasions, but thankfully we've always found her, or she's found her way back to us; the language barrier posed a real challenge buying a property abroad, not least with all the legal jargon to decipher; and of course there are moments when you simply miss your friends and family, so I'm grateful that with today's technology keeping in touch is easier than ever. 

 
All in all, the pros far outweigh the cons and since embarking on our adventure our lives have been enriched with fresh experiences, new friends, life lessons and fond memories. We stepped out of our comfort zone, into the unknown, and feel better for it. We are fitter, healthier, more mindful and appreciative of what each day has to offer. I’d say to anyone considering taking off and travelling, ‘do it!’

In the words of Saint Augustine .... "The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page". 

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