August 25, 2022

I remember asking Leo after one of the meetings, do you know what you just promised? We can’t escape that now.

I immediately started looking in February. At first, I was looking for a motor home. Because I don’t want to do the round trip with a caravan. And I would also prefer to continue with a motor home when we travel further. A caravan is too limited. Despite the fact that we still have a full solar system, wild camping with a system that you have to set up is not easy nor convenient. And we can’t go to all places with this combination. So off road would be nice too.
Campers have become very popular and are in high demand. In Portugal, viewing a camper can take a long time because of the size of the country and the roads. So 1 day down to for example Porto from the south is not really doable.

And we don’t want a cross bed. We want to sleep lengthwise, just like in our caravan AND in the rooftent. So that we never have to get over someone else when we get out of bed. Those campers are scarce, and mostly newer and therefore almost all above our budget.

And because we rented a house in Portugal for almost 1 year, our bank account has shrunk considerably. Portugal is anything but a cheap country. Almost everyone has that idea. But in the first year we were there, for example, the diesel went from 1.18 to somewhere around 1.50 (in 2021). I don’t remember exactly. And the food is certainly as expensive as in NL. Only vegetables are significantly cheaper. Vegetables are also significantly cheaper because Portugal has a kilo price and the Netherlands have a piece price for many things. That’s why you see everything the same size in the Netherlands. And in Portugal it can be any size or shape. And in the Netherlands we had a low mortgage. And in Portugal we rented expensively.

We started generating passive income through investments, but it doesn’t give us cash immediately. That also meant €15,000 less to spend on a mobile home. And yes, through the Law of Attraction we should be able to easily compensate for that too, or otherwise get an off-road motorhome, there are infite possibilities to get what you want, but all science notwithstanding, I (we) were not able to manifest it.

Incredible amount of hours went into the search for a camper. In vain. Until at some point I started looking at roundrips. Renting a motor home was not an option. It was soooo expensive. And what did we want to see? We were thinking of going to the North Cape. That should be possible in 5-6 weeks.

Anyway
To round trips. That are ready-made. But I can’t really find trips for 5-6 weeks. And sometimes it’s just a route, but what do you see on the way? And to what extent is everything possible with a caravan behind it? The site of ViaTioga.nl did give me a kind of route planner. But my question remained, how is this planned? And is there really something to see there. To what extent do you stay overnight in the same place more than once? It was a huge job! We really don’t want to be on every campsite. Not only do we want peace and privacy, but the cat also needs a bit of nature.

When we left Portugal on 1 April, I thought, I’ll pick up the search when we get back to the Netherlands. And yes, my days back in the Netherlands were spent mainly searching. Until I almost went crazy (see blog about online searching). My parents had been to Scandinavia before and assured us that there was always room on campsites and that you could see a lot along the way. You really didn’t need to make any reservations etc. But paying the toll for bridges and ferries was also such a mystery. I didn’t understand a thing. So much contradiction. I had no idea.

Eventually, after writing the blog, I stopped searching so much. And trusting more that things will work out. Although I had said in the months before we arrived in the Netherlands that I did NOT want to be looking for campsites in the car anymore, I knew there was little else I could do. Or… use the time on the campsite partly for that.

In any case, one thing was clear to me, there is NO FLOW. When I also reacted emotionally I knew that there was a reason, why we should NOT do that holiday to Norway. Because by now we had decided that the nature would be the most spectacular there, so that was what all 4 of us wanted to see the most. But how can you explain that your whole system says that we should NOT go there, but that there is not a single rational reason why we should not go.

Our son got his holiday on 16 July 2022. And I thought we could leave then. Unfortunately, the school had indicated that the holiday was scheduled for Monday 18 July, and although I had received permission from Lidl to take our son for 6 weeks during the summer, he was fully booked for that weekend, as sondearest had indicated that he would be taking his holiday starting on July 18th.

July 18 was the day. After 6 weeks of preparation, improving the caravan, buying things etc. it was time finally time for our holiday (after three years). It is great to have our son with us for such a long time. One of the reasons why I could not bring myself not to go. This is what he wanted. Leo had agreed and I didn’t want to be the partybreaker.

Our first overnight stay was in Germany. In the Netherlands, we had already renewed parts of our cassette of the Thetford toilet, because when we held it upright, pee ran out. Not really what you want (understatement).
Once we arrived in Germany, it turned out that the pee even partly runs beside it and not completely into the cassette. Bloody hell! This should work just fine! What a mess!

Our second night is in South Funen Denmark and from there we go to Copenhagen on day 3. Despite Leo’s attempts, pee keeps running out and so we decide to buy a new cassette in Denmark (day 4). Fortunately, that went completely smoothly. And we were able to collect it from a man who has a webshop for camping items in Scandinavia (a very sympathetic man, looking like a mourner who doesn’t know anything about online, just has a successful webshop and he packs the stuff himself together with an employee. Great! – But this aside – )

Once we arrive in Denmark, I try to phone campsites after discovering our first choice is full. It turns out to be very busy on the campsites in Denmark, according to the staff.

At the first campsite I called, I received some sort of message in Danish that something was wrong, I thought it was because of that number. Even though the number was on the website and I had dialed the right number. When this also happened at other campsites and we went to one of them on the advice of one we visited, we discovered that the problem was not with them but with us. After a lengthy search, it turned out that we had to choose a different provider in order to be able to call in Denmark. And if we want to use the Internet via our Dutch subscription, we also have to choose another provider.
They can’t make it any more fun!

On the second day, when we arrive at an eco campsite right by the sea, it suddenly appears that the caravan is slightly electrified. Yanaica grabbed the caravan and got a slight electric shock. After a lot of searching (me online of course and Leo at the installation) we discover that the problem is in the campsite’s connection. In a happy-go-lucky way they have made several sockets from one connection and those were not grounded at all. Leo exchanges the plug with someone who has a seasonal spot and is not here, so he has an earthed plug and the problem is solved. We reported it to the ecocamp management who confessed that they did not know a lot about it 😉 .

When we bought this caravan, it still had all sorts of things in it. Including 2 folding chairs, not very strong and not really for adults, but Yanaica sits well in them. Gerlof not really because of his length. He loves to lean back in chairs – and soon the frame turns out to bend and is no longer usable. I find a Jysk in Denmark, 15 minutes from the camp site, where we buy new, this time reclining, chairs. The children are happy. And so are we.

This day, we drive into Sweden. Our son would like to visit an IKEA in Sweden and we visit the Bäckebol store in Göthenborg, because the other store is in the middle of moving to a new building and I read negative reviews on Google. We decide to go from there in the direction of Lake Vänem. I had found Trollhättan to be an attraction and without any difficulty, we get there half an hour before the locks open and 300,000 litres per second pass through, creating a churning river. We park nearby including our caravan and expect to drive from there to the campsite. Unfortunately, the campsite we wanted was full. And with a lot of searching we found an alternative.

When we return from the spectacle, we want to continue our way. I walk ahead to see if we can turn the van with caravan (we have quite a large turning circle) around further on. This appears to be the case and Leo arrives. I immediately hear a loud click every time. This sounds very wrong! We check it out immediately. Leo lifts the caravan. The wheel appears to be difficult to turn. We suspect the wheel bearings. In any case, we do not consider driving on. So we go back to the parking place, where nearly everybody has left by now. We park the caravan there and the van opposite. And we install ourselves, put the chairs and table outside. This spot is not a punishment! We stand in the shade, almost all day. There is a river right in front of us, it is not a through road and we are close to everything.

BUT… it is Saturday. And everything is closed. Via the Awake Camper Group, I get help from a Dutchman who lives in Göthenborg and is now collecting his last bits and pieces there to leave Sweden for good. He calls the nearest company. The company we thought we would call on Monday morning. He gets an answer! But discovers that all his staff are on holiday and there are no mechanics there. SHIT! But nice to know that now! Imagine that we had pinned our hopes on that!

He also tries to call the second company. A slightly bigger company. They don’t answer. We are still talking to the Dutchman and he suspects that it could also be the handbrake of our caravan, because we have had the handbreak on for long periods of time, not even aware that that might cause an issue, since you don’t want the caravan to move once it is placed or parked somewhere. Usually for about 5-6 months. According to him this can influence the brake, and since the cap (after you remove the wheel) is also hot, that seems to be the problem. We are not mechanics. We have our doubts. But it does not matter. The caravan company is allowed to solve the problem.

By force of circumstance we have to camp here for two nights. We make the best of it.
We visit the Science museum which is within walking distance (a grey rainy day becomes very nice this way), take a nice walk around the water which is there. It turns out we evenhave a public toilet nearby where, with the right key, we can also tap fresh drinking water! So we can get through these two nights easily.

On Monday we go to the caravan company. They open at 10 o’clock. When we arrive, it appears that they do not have mechanics available either. And we get two addresses. The first one appears to be the company of which we already know that they have no personnel. We drive to the second company. This turns out to be a trailer company. The first day after their holiday and we are on the doorstep 😉 . Luckily he speaks a good word of English, although he doesn’t think so. We have an ALKO chassis and that turns out to be lucky, because all parts are easily available for that. He tells us we can be there with the caravan at 8 o’clock the next day and then they will have a look at it and probably fix it.

So, a third night of wild camping. With the solar battery and the household battery we have managed to stay on for two days, but in the meantime we have to hook up the car to the caravan to be able to cool the fridge. We do this for an hour. Inadequate as it turns out, but it is what it is.
After not having showered or washed our hair for three days, we are all ready for some cleaning. With many detours (at the nearest campsite, we are not allowed to shower, even though we are willing to pay for it), we finally find a free public shower building in a beautiful area . It’s great when countries are prepared for unforeseen circumstances and provide free showers and toilets! The Netherlands can learn something from this 😉 .

The next day, we arrive in time at the trailer company. We see that with the right tools, the cap to check the wheel bearings can be removed very easily. And the mechanic immediately says that it is the wheel bearings. He says he will order them, he will get them today and will call when they are ready. We now decide to go to Lake Väram. We drive through a beautiful area. With fresh blueberries next to the road. A deer across the road. And the cat has a great time at the stop. It was half an hour’s drive. I pick up my phone and see that I have missed a call. I call back. I have very poor reception. I understand something of that we can come back. A double feeling. We have just arrived at a beautiful spot, but we have to go back. On our return it turns out that everything has been repaired. And after paying about 100 euros, we continue our journey.

Yanaica and I would like to go back. The Czech Republic also has beautiful cities, Gerlof will probably like that too. But it’s a long way down again. The men don’t like our thoughts. Our feelings are not based on anything. And so I agree to continue the journey. I have a feeling. I see what is happening. Why do I feel so strange?

Since April 1, arranging prepaid internet for our MIFI has been quite a challenge in all those different countries. Not only does it take time, sometimes it is also very expensive. In one country we could arrange it quickly, in another it was difficult and another very expensive. I heard from a group of awake camperers that Tiecom offers an internet subscription in Spain with validity throughout Europe. €39.90 per month. Quite a bit of money, but all in all it’s nice that we wouldn’t have to do anything anymore. I will start it on the first day of our holiday. 300 GB, so we have more than enough, even for the children.

While we are wild camping at the car park, the internet stops working! Just when we are standing still and can’t do anything ,we need it! After all, we cannot use the wifi of a campsite.

After some emailing to and fro with the company, they reset the SIM which solves the problem. BUT… that takes a few days! [read on 😉 ]

Above the toilet, we have also made a countertop, so that there is plenty of work space. But this is in 2 parts and can be folded up, so that you can also use the toilet easily. After 2 years, the hinges are worn out, rusty and break through. 1 countertop piece cannot be left loose when we drive, so we store it. We don’t know yet how to solve this. I do notice that I like it that, with that half shelf, we can all still use the toilet AND that there is still enough space to put things up. So no matter how we are going to fix this, we are going to come up with another solution than we have now. This can wait until we are back in the Netherlands.

The toilet keeps on bothering us. After a few hitches, the flushing stops completely. The toilet is built-in and difficult to reach. Leo tries, but it is difficult. We decide not to solve this either. We accept that we cannot flush and throw in extra water every now and then. (By the way, at the end of August, at the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf, we learned from a demo about compost toilets that urine combined with water is responsible for the ammonia smell. If there is only urine in it, that will not happen).

We thought we had solved all the problems in Sweden, but when we arrived in Norway, the same thing happened again. In Sweden, however, we have already had to use the second SIM card. The contact with the company is a bit slower this time. Apparently, resetting is no longer possible, because they have already done it once. I get the offer to have new SIM cards sent to me again by Express. But it is clear to me, this is not going to work. Of the 13 days, I have not been able to use a week.

I decide to end this brand new subscription and ask for a refund. Vodafone is clearly making a mistake. Something I am not used to from them. But they have no solution for this.

Unfortunately, this means we have to use our MBs from the Dutch subscription wisely. Too bad! I always share videos and photos in our channel and also in Facebook Stories and Reels I post photos every day. It is what it is though.

We are enjoying Norway immensely, even though things are not going as planned. Our sun turned 18 the previous day and we were not in that spectacular area where all kinds of exciting things can be done (he likes thrillseeking things to do). Because of all the delays and bad luck we have had.

On day 14, we drive through the Hardangervidda. A beautiful and very special area. Never seen anything like it! We would like to stay on a campsite, but they are all full. We keep on driving until we find a suitable campsite.

And then disaster strikes.

It is already 5.15 pm and we are driving on a rather narrow road. We are driving on the inside, with rock walls, oncoming traffic drives along a stone wall. The drivers of the camper vans are not all equally good. And at some point I see it go wrong. The oncoming German driver does not drive close enough to his wall and the husband does not hit the brakes, but drives on slowly AND steers towards the rock wall. The caravan wheel sinks next to the road, into a swampy pool of mud, as it rained a lot that day. I look in the mirror and see that the caravan is against the rock face and that Leo is absolutely not allowed to drive any further:

I shout STOP!

I get angry and disappointed. For years I have been telling Leo that the car has a brake. In Portugal he has caused damage to our van twice already because of this. Completely unnecessary. When there is not enough space you brake. My father taught me afterwards that if you are standing still and the other person collides with you, he is ALWAYS to blame. And then the damage was covered. In our case, the damage is not covered. Because the man continues to drive and we are left to pick up the pieces.

Anyway, getting angry does not help. This has to be solved. We check the damage. We certainly can’t drive on. The rock will hit the outside light and cause irreparable damage, because the outside light will be torn off. We have to find a way to move the caravan to the side before it can move forward again. Driving backwards unfortunately does not work either. This road already goes downhill. And one wheel is next to the road. Our van is not strong enough to pull it out.

After about 10 minutes, a young Norwegian couple stops and tells me about a traffic assistance company. I report online and can even give the location via GPS. Great! Because I would not know how to explain where we are.

But after 15 minutes, still nothing. I decide to call. He has not seen the report yet. But he says he can only help Swedes or Norwegians. He does pass the message on to a company that can come and help. BUT… we will have to pay something like NOK 4000 in advance. I don’t care about that. We can’t solve this ourselves. Leo has an idea. But if we can do it with a salvage company, then hopefully that’s better. Although I don’t know how they can do the job properly either.

It appears to be busy with accidents and we will have to wait for hours is the prediction. SHIT!
As long as we don’t get a call, help is not even on the way. We decide to use the time.

Cars pass us almost constantly in the meantime. And even trucks pass us and drive super slow to make sure they don’t hit us or the wall. Buses pass by. A Norwegian bus driver asks from a closed bus if we are OK. I nod and thank him. Now and then, someone stops. A couple of Dutch and Norwegian cars stop and ask if they can do something. I appreciate their offer, say that I think it’s very sweet, but that help has been called. I wouldn’t know what they could do for us.

Leo’s plan is: jack up the caravan, put stones under the wheel, so the caravan will be straight again and we can drive away. I agree. It sounds plausible.

There is very little space between the rock face and the caravan, but miraculously he manages to place the jack, put a stone under it and raise the wheel. In the meantime, I have figured out that I am going to fill the muddy side with stones, so that it will once again become a hard road on which a tyre can get a good grip. I look for stones and together we fill up the side. Hoping that this will give the caravan some stability and it will not slide back along the road.

Then Leo suggests that I stand against the rock face while he slowly tries to drive away. I immediately get visions of being crushed by the caravan coming up against the rock wall and say that doesn’t seem like a good plan to me. I start driving and he chooses that spot.

At a quieter moment I drive very slowly and pull the caravan out. Leo does give the caravan a push, so it was good that it was there. And then suddenly we can drive on! Less than 2 kilometres further on is the village of Kinsarvik. Fortunately, there appears to be a huge car park there (with the campsite above it that had no space).

Once there, I check the damage inside. NONE!!! I am so incredibly happy! There is some very expensive wallpaper in there. And I haven’t been able to save any leftovers. Fortunately, I don’t need it. Only the outside + roof are damaged.

Shortly before the accident it stopped raining, so we also have no water damage!

Another piece of luck… There are large concrete things on the car park, which Leo can use as sturdy stairs! Pfiew! This makes his job easier.

I’m going to cook, and Leo is going to look at the damage and close up the roof with ducktape (long live strong tape) and sillicone sealant. Meanwhile, the children stay in the bus. There is a lot of hammering on the caravan, which is not a pleasant sound.

At some point, I think that the children should go and ask at the campsite if there really is no place available.

Good luck again! There is a spot. Leo quickly goes there by the van. He pays for one night. And we can drive there after dinner. No hurry.

And that’s how this ‘little incident’ ends.

We don’t talk about it that night. Yanaica and I have known for a long time. Not a hair on our heads thinks about continuing the holiday in Norway. We are not going to ignore the signals any longer. We’re not going to wait until we have no house over our heads. We will not wait until there are wounded or dead people. IT HAS BEEN ENOUGH.

The next morning, still lying in the rooftop tent, I start the conversation with Leo. And fortunately, he now realises that we really can’t go on. I also have no idea whether Sweden is good for us. In any case, Denmark seems good. But since the problems already started in Germany, we don’t know anything for sure.

We can do a lot of kilometres again with all the risks along the way. Or we could drive for one more day and then take the ferry to Denmark.

I manage to find a good ferry service. Although we are not allowed to have a credit card from the bank any more, because we do not have a monthly income. Thanks to our passive income streams, we now have a crypto account at Nexo, where we can also have currency in the account, and through them, we have a credit card.

This allows me to book the trip online already, for the day after tomorrow at 8am. I can also arrange an online breakfast buffet AND find a campsite near the harbour, so that all we have to do in the morning is get ready and drive a few kilometres.

And after that it goes smoothly. In Norway, we come to a narrow stretch at first, but fortunately they now work with traffic lights: Then one side, then the other. And yes, that stretch is kilometres long, and yes, sometimes you have to wait 15 minutes, but you get through those kilometres without a hitch. By the way, we can drive straight on. The first sign that we are on the right road again.

And after these first few kilometres of narrow roads, the rest of the route appears to be perfectly passable. And we arrive in Larvik on time. Although we have to buy two places for our bus and that is a real rip-off, because in terms of the size of the places we could easily have stood on one, it is the last obstacle that I overcome. I have an uncle who has the pronunciation (although in Frisian): Better expensive than unobtainable. And I say that statement regularly 😉 .

The children thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast buffet and the crossing the next day. Our cat a little less though. Then we arrive in Hirtshals and stay for a few days at a camp site near Skagen. Right by the sea, right on thedunes. And although it is a huge campsite, it is very quiet and we can relax again We notice that we feel good here and I literally feel liberated.

After the decision for the crossing was made, I still found the journey to the harbour exciting, but after that, all the tension fell away. Now the ‘danger’ is gone. I literally feel a big difference.

Even after that, little things happen, through which I see, I am fully in touch with my SELF, I feel it well and I may TRUST ME COMPLETELY.

I remember well that in 2004 we were financially strapped. I applied like crazy. And I got a job offer. At a financial institution, at an independent entrepreneur who needed someone extra. A job that I absolutely did NOT want! But there was food to be put on the table. I could not say no, could I?

My body reacted violently, but I really didn’t know whether that was because I found it exciting or because it was resistance. I even drove all the way to a friend in Friesland in total despair. But actually I felt everything. I DON’T WANT THIS.

The line between a healthy tension or resistance is wafer-thin. And it takes practice for me to discover when it is resistance and when I find it exciting, but in the right way.

This was clearly another great exercise.
Which I am not going to ignore.

I may trust more
More in myself
More in the universe
More on the law of vibration
All is well.

And for those who still struggle with this sometimes, I downloaded this video as an MP3 and there have been times that I played it every time in the car, started it in the morning etc. It has caused the biggest shift in my consciousness.

Apparently, despite the fact that my head is no longer filled with work, I have moved away from it. Apparently I needed this lesson in trust again, to get closer to my core. I will remind myself of this: Everything always works out and everything is WELL.