Wandering Footsteps: Wandering the World One Step at a Time » A travel journal following a family on their overland trip around the world.

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  • Welcome to Wandering Footsteps, the travel journal of a nomadic family on an overland trip around the world. With thirty years of travel experience, a round-the-world trip already under our belt, a newly-converted bus, and a new baby in tow, this journey is bound to be interesting! Join us in our global wanderings - we've saved an extra seat just for you!

    - Brittany, Bruno, and Phoenix

Posted in Europe,Southern EuropeTags:

It’s finally happened: we’re back on the road! Our hiatus was longer than planned, and it has been over three months since we’ve lived in our tiny home-on-wheels. I expected a transition, but I didn’t expect it to be THIS challenging. Would I be able to get used to our nomadic life again? Would I be able to live in a camper van after living in a real house? I’m not so sure…

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  • Rose - Hey! We met in Turkey a while ago, on the camping in Avanos (Cappadocia). We are the two people on bicycles 😉
    We made it to Spain and are currently on the east coast in Jávea, so if you’re planning to come this way let us know!

    Rose & AntonioReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hi Rose and Antonio!

      We were wondering about you not long ago, so we are very happy to hear from you! Great job on making it all the way back to Spain by bicycle – you are an inspiration! 🙂

      Right now we are still in the north of Spain and our plan is to head into Portugal and then Morocco. Next March we will plan to drive up the Mediterranean Coast of Spain… do you think you will still be there at that time? It would be very fun to see you again!

      In any case, please stay in touch as I think our paths are destined to cross again soon!

      Best,

      BBReplyCancel

  • Micheline Grosjean - It’s good to be a witch sometimes…..ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hahah! I had to explain that expression to Bruno, but you are tooooo good at English Mimi!

      Bisous et a tres bientot! On commence notre descente vers le Maroc maintenant…. .yippee!!ReplyCancel

Posted in Location IndependentTags:

In this final edition of This Overlanding Life, we describe a typical day in the life of two long-term overland travelers. It’s no easy feat, for no two days are the same. But typically our days come down to tourism days, driving days, and homemaker days. Read on to understand what the overlanding life is really like.

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  • Dave Braun - I have never taken trips like you, but I have taken a few long trips (8 weeks to visit Guatemala) or 8 (weeks in Peru), etc. I can really identify with your life style. I have always felt pressed for time and would have liked not having a schedule or a fixed date to be somewhere. I wonder how long it would take for me to get bored of meeting new people? I know it would take a long long time.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hi Dave, I just replied to your very interesting email but wanted to say “hi” here too. I always find it incredible when people ask us if we get bored – between the people we meet, the beautiful landscapes we pass, the history we learn, the cultural elements we are exposed to, the food we sample, and the activities we try, there’s definitely no time for boredom! Glad to hear you’d have trouble being bored, too – this is probably an essential personality trait for someone considering the overlanding lifestyle!ReplyCancel

  • Elizabeth - With the lifestyle you are leading, the question of boredom surprises me. I can’t imagine you being bored in your travels and you illustrated well why you and Bruno are not!ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - It surprises me as well, but I suppose I can understand that, for many, after a few weeks of tourism, they might like to return to their regular life or work? Well, certainly not us!! 🙂ReplyCancel

Posted in Location IndependentTags:

Totoyaya is our home-on-wheels (and has been, in Bruno’s case, for SEVENTEEN years!). Join us on a complete tour of our home: its engine and chassis, our solar panels, tires, and diesel tanks, our bed, storage area, and kitchen. Our home might be simple, but we love it and are excited to finally share it with you!

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  • Pete Bersani - Greetings from New Zealand
    I have been looking around your wonderful site over the last couple of weeks feeling very inspired. I lived a gypsy life in my twenties before settling and now in my fifties I’m feeling a strong urge to return to the road. Totoyaya has me very inspired. Your journal and photos are fantastic and through them I’ve got a feel for how well thought out the cabin was. Then I saw it’s demise and I nearly cried😩.
    Can you tell me though, I was unable to see in any photos whether you had internal access between vehicle and cabin. It seems not but I wanted to ask and if you did whether you had any tips on making it work.
    Your new homes looks amazing as well and you’ll love the extra room for the wee one I’m sure. Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope you all stay well.
    PReplyCancel

    • Brittany Caumette - Dear Pete,

      We are so glad you found our blog! Apart from sharing news with friends and smiley our top goal is inspiring others to live their dreams. Super happy that we have been able to inspire you – thank you for letting us know and making my day!

      To answer your question, we were able to pass between the cab and the back through a sliding double window. It involved a bit of yoga skills but it did the trick when we were watching lions and i needed to relieve my bladder! If you look at photos of the bed you will see that window. There was a matching one in the cab because the two parts of the vehicle aren’t connected (better for off-roading). That was also useful when we were in parking lots and wanted to keep windows open without compromising security!

      We cried (a lot) too when Totoyaya was destroyed but we do have a nice and comfy home in Big Blue!

      Best wishes on making your dreams come true! Hope to see you on the road!ReplyCancel

  • MikeNB - So did you guys not end up selling your Toyota? I was checking it out back maybe a year or so when you guys had it listed in NB and ever since I still think about the vehicle. It’s just the perfect vehicle for what I would like for myself. The dependability of a Landcruiser and the ability to go almost anywhere makes it such a cool vehicle!ReplyCancel

    • mikeNB - hh I see you did end up selling it!ReplyCancel

  • Hendrik - Hello
    I just bought an old Land-Cruiser BJ75 like yours, searched for Information about it and stumbled over your amazing blog. I can’t stop reading! Very interesting, lots of informations and just amazing to read about all your expiriences. Thank you very much for sharing. Good luck for the rest of your hopefully amazing trips.
    Regards

    HendrikReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Glad to hear you’re enjoying reading our blog! Too bad you hadn’t found it before – our BJ75 is for sale!! After 18 years around the world, it’s time to upgrade to something bigger. 🙂

      Thanks for saying hi and don’t hesitate to write again if you have any questions or anything.

      Brittany and BrunoReplyCancel

  • scott - Just curious, is this a full time lifestyle for you? Seems that way. I’m wondering how you finance it, do you have money put away or is it something you figure out as you go? I’m planning more or less the latter but could really use some insight from those in the same boat and it seems like just about everyone has a small steady stream of income before they do this.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hi Scott, thanks for checking in with your question. Yes, we are part of the lucky few for whom this is a full-time lifestyle! 🙂

      The post you just read, on our Toyota, is part of a mini-series called This Overlanding Life, of which the first post is about how we finance our lifestyle. Just scroll to the top of the Totoyaya post and click on the link called All Things Financial.

      Best of luck with your own travel plans, Scott! You can do it! 🙂ReplyCancel

  • rcs - Wow that’s amazing…and necessity really is the ‘mother of invention’.
    Methinks another adaptation may be in the future, what thinketh thou?ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Bruno has always been good at what he calls “system D” which means “systeme debrouille” – check that out of Google Translate.

      Yes, there may very well be another adaptation on the cards, but we’re going to leave Wandering Footsteps readers in the dark on that one for a little while yet… 🙂ReplyCancel

Posted in Europe,Western EuropeTags:

I never cease to find it amazing how you can return to a place you’ve visited before and have a totally fresh experience. That’s how it’s been for me in France these past five weeks. Between new people, new places, new twists, and a few budding traditions, our time in France has been as interesting and special as always.

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  • Micheline Grosjean - Voila un article qui me parle de toutes vos rencontres de cet été… de moments de partage, de rires, et de…… nourriture !!!! Et maintenant que tu sais faire des sushis.. je sens que ta vie va changer!!!!! (Haha).prochain objectif : tajine de legumes aux prunauxReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Ca ne serait pas un article sur la France sans la nourriture!! On a refait les sushi la semaine passe et ca s’est super bien passe, les beaux-parents on adore, et je languis deja de les refaire! Tu as raison, notre vie a change – maintenant plus besoin des restaurants sushi!

      Bientot les tagines, on fera ensemble au Maroc, d’accord? xxReplyCancel

  • Line - Je rectifie …ma lecture du soirReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Ca me rend heureuse de te savoir en train de lire mes mots et regarder mes photos. J’ai mis les deux dernieres juste pour toi! 🙂

      Gros bisous de l’espagne!ReplyCancel

  • Line - Super récit, vous êtes ma lecture du soir… Merci pour les photos. Supers souvenirs , de bons moments passés avec vous.ReplyCancel

  • rcs - Your life seems to revolve around eating and seeing new people and places.
    Are you a professional traveller or something?ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Hmm…. maybe? Care to become one? 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Elizabeth - Loved reading about your time in France and seeing photos. Between Canada and France, you really did have a pretty great summer and early fall, n’est-ce-pas?ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - It was a wonderful summer from beginning to end, simply wonderful. Maybe the best?!? I’m a lucky girl. 🙂ReplyCancel

Posted in Location IndependentTags:

This post is all about comparisons: living in a camper van vs. living in a regular home; traveling in a camper van vs. traveling with a backpack, bicycle, or motorbike; and being a camper vanner vs. being an expat. Camper vanning is the right travel and lifestyle for me. Maybe after reading this, you’ll come to the same conclusion?!?

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  • Rcs - Well, hopefully I’ll get a chance to test camper life in January. With my luck I will wake up in the desert and the landscape will have changed because of a sandstorm.
    The fun of camper life.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - I also hope you’ll get to taste-test the camper-van life, after all these years of dreaming! You’ll have to write your own comparison blog entry afterwards, ok?ReplyCancel

  • Elizabeth Sears - Excellent points, Brittany. I love the photos you chose as examples, most I have never before seen.ReplyCancel

    • Brittany - Happy to be able to continue to bring new photos to the blog! It takes time to go through all the old ones we have to find just the right ones, but it’s worth it in the end, don’t you think? 🙂ReplyCancel