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I’m taking a break today from my This Overlanding Life series to update you on our fall and winter plans (which I touched upon in a travel update several months ago). Yep, we’re actually going to be on the road again! After almost three months of travel-hiatus – where we hung out in our home-towns, visiting family, friends and hospitals – we’re getting geared-up to hit the road again. (This means repairing, cleaning, and reorganizing our vehicle/home-on-wheels, shopping and ordering lots of stuff on Amazon, and trying to do research on our upcoming travel route.)
This has been the longest break from life in a camper van that either of us has had since we started living this way (with the exception of a few months working in Kampala – but that experience somehow still felt like being on the road, maybe because we were in exotic Uganda). The break has been fun, particularly for me, because I’ve been enjoying some of the luxuries of sedentary living (is that the opposite of nomadism?), like showers and Wifi, a big fridge, and a flat piece of floor to lay my yoga mat upon.
But I also feel like I’ve been out of the nomadic lifestyle for so long now (eighty-six days!) that I’m getting a little too comfortable. I’m losing my urgency to have the open road before me; just Bruno and me, a map, and our little home-on-wheels. The excitement at what lies just around the next bend feels muted. Though Bruno does not share this feeling at all, he’s so busy giving some TLC to our lovely Totoyaya that his own need to be on the road has been pushed aside by all that he wants to get done before we go.
We’ve got our rough plan for the next five months pretty well set. I thought that by sharing it with you today, it might help make it feel more real. It might get the excitement pumping through my veins so that we actually start researching campsites, activities, and must-stop destinations. I mean, we leave in ten days, but it feels as surreal as if we were leaving in ten months!
Ok, here goes:
October: Drive from Southern France through Andorra and into Spain. Possibly do some hiking in the Pyrenees Mountains. Meet up with our overlanding friends, Josu and Ana, near their hometown in Spain’s Basque country. Do a bit more work on Totoyaya with them. Possibly walk a bit of the Camino de Santiago.
November: If it’s not too cold, slowly drive down the coast of Portugal. If it is too cold, race toward the south of Spain. Arrive in Morocco as late in the month as we can stand it.
December: Drive inland toward Tarroudant, visiting whatever strikes our fancy along the way. Just after Christmas, rent a giant home in Tarroudant for a two-week family reunion with Bruno’s family.
January: Ring in the New Year in luxury with family. When we leave the house, drive out into the desert for a bit. Possibly travel with my parents and/or another childhood friend.
February: Spend a couple weeks showing my lovely travel friend, Sahnah, around southern Morocco. Scurry back up to Gibraltar before our three-month visa ends. Arrive back in Europe.
In other words, over the next several months, Wandering Footsteps will be sharing stories and photos about hikes in Spain, coastal drives through the Iberian Peninsula, bush-camping in the Sahara, souqs and food in Morocco, and more. When we’re back on the road, we plan to do a better job of updating our Facebook page and our new Instagram page – so subscribe to those social media pages now and stay-tuned!
Anyway, our travel plan may look very vague to you, but it’s actually a lot more concrete than we’re used to because we have a few meet-ups planned, as well as a house rented. The part that is slightly less concrete than usual is that neither of us quite knows where exactly we’re going to spend time in each of these countries. Bruno hasn’t been to these places in such a long time, and I haven’t done much research yet, so we don’t know if there are any amazing campsites, towns, or parks that we simply must visit while we’re in these places.
That’s where YOU come in! If you’ve been to any of these countries recently – especially as an overlander – and have any tips on beautiful drives, amazing bush camps or wilderness spots, cheap but awesome campsites, or great hikes, please share your experiences in the comment section at the end of the post. We’re needing the travel inspiration right now!
guillaume - Bonjour ,
nous sommes croisés il y a quelques années ds un camping en namibie , je suis en fauteuil rouland.
Si vous passez vers Biarritz faites nous signe ,sinon nous partirons courant novembre vers le maroc .
Au plaisir de vous revoir
guillaume
Brittany - Bonjour Guillaume,
Oui, on se rappelle de vous, et je pense que vous avez recemment envoye un mail a Bruno? Je sais pas s’il vous a repondu… il est en train de faire beaucoup de petits travaux sur le Toyota en ce moment. Nous allons partir lundi pour Andorre, Espagne, et eventuellement le Maroc, et on a des soucis de rouler en France avec la voiture, donc on ne passera pas pres de chez vous. Mais ca sera notre plaisir de vous revoir encore sur le continent africain! On a une page sur ce site “The Road Thus Traveled” qui montre nos points GPS, ca pourrait vous server pour voir si on est proches l’un de l’autre.
Restez on contact et a bientot! 🙂
Kat - May your travels be safe and all of wonder.
Brittany - Thank you Kat for taking the time to wish us well. We really appreciate your wishes, and will do our best to open our eyes each day with the wonder of children! 🙂 We wish the same to you.
Kat - Hi just came upon your website and am excited to follow you. We are from California. We have walked portions of the Camino Francis in Spain and plan to complete it in sections so we can do it slowly. We are not into rushing through it. The whole area that is passes is fantastic. I urge you to do the first section over the Pyrinees from St. Jean Pierre de Porte, as it its beautiful and gives you a good but short experience of the Camino experience.(weather permitting) You can just do a few days and it can be very cost effective. We also took the train North up from Burgos to the coast and saw such dramatic and varying terrain I really think that you would appreciate that. We love all of the areas of Spain we have visited. you will love it.
The website I gave you is the one for our charity The Heart,Mind & Soul Project- http://www.hmsproject.org. We primarily work with schools and support students in the rural village area of Bali. We dream of someday being able to live there part of the year and travel other places on the way there and on our return each time.
Look forward to following you.
Brittany - Hi Kat, thank you SO much for your message! First of all, for taking the time to share useful information on Spain and the Camino, and secondly for sharing your dream and website! We will definitely keep your tips in mind as we plan our trekking – we think we’re going to walk in the Pyrennes in both Andorra and at least one Spanish national park, and we’re hoping to do a bit of the Camino del Norte along the coast, so it sounds like we’ll be doing some of what you suggested!
We wish you all the best as you begin to plan a new location-independent life, hopefully with a part of the year in Bali doing what appears to be some very excellent work. You can do it!!
Please do stay in touch, we’re happy to have you here. 🙂