Our New Home And Travel Plans For 2019
Last year in December I wrote a post about our new home “Just in time for Christmas”, about downsizing from our large family home.
Since our big downsizing, we have been happily adjusting to our new neighborhood, as well as getting used to life in a more compact home. It surprised us at how fast we adapted and in fact thrived in our new place, adapting easily to the more cozy rooms and realizing that our petit home is indeed the perfect size for us at this new stage of our lives.
Our townhouse is so easy to look after, ensuring a much shorter list of domestic chores. A communal garden that is blissfully looked after by a gardener is something that has suited us so much better and it has been a joy living in the city center with all the amenities nearby; lovely sandy beaches all within walking distance of where we live. We feel that it is safe to lock up our home whenever we need to travel for long periods of time; our neighbors are very friendly and they keep an eye on things whilst we are away, which is very reassuring.
We have also sold our two cars and bought just one smaller car to share. In fact our car is rarely used and stays parked in our drive most of the time since we live so central it is easy to walk everywhere. Brian has also waved goodbye to his beloved motorbikes, a Harley and a BMW, which were just taking up all the space in our tiny garage and costing us money. He felt that he was not riding them enough to justify their upkeep.
Retirement has also suited us very well indeed, we don’t miss our jobs, not even a little bit. We still often pinch ourselves thinking how lucky we are to be in this a position of total freedom enjoying life on our own terms. At our age, we can’t take time for granted any longer. the time to make things happen is now.
So what is this about a “new home”?
The “new home” I am talking about here is a new proposition altogether, one that will give us the freedom of the open road, the flexibility of changing our travel plans on a whim, with no need to book hotels, flights or research the best transport routes anywhere. A home on wheels.
Meet our motorhome:
Tiny living at a whole new level
Although we have talked about our dream of traveling around Europe and even further afield in a motorhome many times for the past few years, we were unsure of when it would be the best time to take the plunge. On a recent visit to a large motorhome showroom near us, we spotted the above seven-meter Burstner van and loved it immediately. Originally our plan was to buy a second-hand van, but we changed our minds when we realized the many benefits of having a brand new van, in particular, one that was being sold at a very good end-of-season discount price.
Our new motorhome will be ready to be collected on the 4th of January and we have been busy thinking and organizing all the logistics of fitting things like solar panels, extra leisure batteries, wi-fi, gas system, and all the items that it will make the van feel like a home and make us self-sufficient on the road.
There is also a question of deciding where to store the van when we are not using it since our townhouse drive is far too small for it. We have now found a place that is very near our home, it is safe and not too expensive.
Travel plans for 2019
Traveling around the UK and Europe is the obvious choice for us in the foreseeable future. A huge and diverse continent that we barely know, even though it is almost at our doorstep. Time has come for us to remedy that, our newly acquired home on wheels will give us the flexibility we want to explore this vast continent at our own pace.
Taking our home with us it should make it easier to travel into the heart of places, making authentic connections with the natural world, other cultures, finding out about local markets, festivals and enjoy meeting other like-minded people. Seeking new horizons, unique experiences, the pure joy of total freedom from everyday routines and chores.
After some trial runs near home we will be crossing the pond into France and possibly heading South towards Spain and Portugal for the rest of the winter, like snowbirds looking for the warmth of milder climates. I hope we find it. Later on, when summer arrives in Europe we will be heading North into Scandinavia and particularly Norway for some fresher weather and to experience the midnight sun.
We are not yet sure how long this first tour of Europe is going to last, but perhaps that is the whole point of having your home with you? A home on wheels gives fluidity and freedom to move without a need for firm plans.
What will the challenges of life in a van be like?
Any reasons to worry? Will we find our groove? I am sure there will be many exciting times ahead as well as many challenges; we are almost total newbies and have not done any real motorhome traveling before ( except for driving a small van around Iceland for 9 days a few years ago, which we loved), but we are up for this new chapter and any challenges that come our way.
I am an extrovert who thrives on meeting people, I love waking up every day in a new place with the promise of something new and exciting. Brian is an introvert who enjoys the company of others in smaller doses. He finds his equilibrium more easily when able to have some time to himself and stay still for a little while. He gets most excited by wilderness and natural beauty, me by bustling cities and history. But we overlap enough to be confident that we can both find enough of what we really enjoy on our travels. We both believe that life on the road traveling around Europe in our motorhome will give us a mixture of both worlds and satisfy mine as well as his personality and desires.
But only time will tell how each of us will experience this new life ahead and this new concept of what “a home on wheels” means.
We are both super excited about this new adventure, new landscapes, experiences, the tastes of new culinary delights, the people that we will meet. Also, we know that traveling by motorhome might not be the only type of travel we are planning to do in 2019 since we are keen to keep open-minded and change plans whenever we feel like it. Stay tuned to find out how we get on.
Thank you all for reading my ramblings here on this little blog and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all great times ahead for 2019. I hope the “New Year” finds you in good health, surrounded by good friends and family, living or working towards living your dreams to the maximum.
Enjoy each and every day, take time to think about what you really want and make it happen.
I leave you with two favorite quotes…
“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.”
“Every morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters most.”
Best Wishes for a Healthy and Happy 2019.
What a joy to read thid blog post, expeciespe the first few paragraphs about living retirement.Your bliss comes through. Congratulations on your home on wheels and widhing you many wonderful adventures. I hope you made it to Valencia , it would be awesome to meet you in person. Happy New Year to you both☺️!!!
Kemkem, thank you so much for your support and friendship. We definitely want to be heading over towards Spain in February/March 2019. Valencia will be on our list for sure. Meeting up with you and Frederico would be fantastic:) Happy New Year to you both 🙂
Congratulations on all these changes. The future looks so exciting. Can’t wait to hear more.
Peggy, thank you so much. Our travel plans are quite ambitious considering we don’t know anything about motorhoming…it will be a steep learning curve for us. Enjoy new adventures in 2019 and let’s keep having fun 🙂
Gilda, what a bold experiment to be taking on in the new year. Please figure out the wi-fi right away so that you can keep us in the loop. I have never traveled this way, but am very curious about the process, as well as the culture you will encounter along the way. RV’ers seem to be a congenial bunch of folks. Congratulations and best wishes for a wonderful experience. Next time, show us the inside please. Happy New Year!
Suzzane, new experiments are what keeps us alive and quicking 🙂 It is with some trepidation and excitement that we point our new set of wheels towards Europe. Only time will tell how we are going to get on with it. Good wi-fi is a must, I intend to document it all…the good, the bad and the ugly. I will be giving a tour of the inside soon 🙂 Have a fabulous 2019 and thanks for your friendship 🙂
Hey Gilda .. lovely to hear all about your new lives .. we have also taken some time out to find adventure and are currently in Peru .. shortly to go into the Amazon on then move on to Bolivia .. we are making it up as we go along so not sure where after then .. we’ve sold our house and our home is now a van that we return to in May!
Wishing you many more happy exciting adventures for 2019 .. have fun xxx
Barbz, we loved our 3 weeks in Peru, unfortunately, we didn’t go into the amazon forest…perhaps next time :). I hope you are enjoying the rest of your South America adventure. Thanks for your good wishes and visiting the blog. A healthy and happy 2019 for you 🙂
Gilda, it is always good to read your tales and watch you as you go after your dreams! I will be both with my fingers crossed and my bags packed for the odd escapade to meet you along the way. Enjoy your home away from home and keep us posted. 😜😘
Sister, we will keep that spare bed ready for you my darling 🙂 Perhaps we will do a sister’s road trip very soon? Thanks for your support and love as always 🙂
Oh this sounds like a very exciting adventure indeed! I very much likethe idea of that authentic experience where on could really get to know the locals and not just the tourist scene. I’m very keen to hear about things like Wifi and how the two of you manage in a smaller space. Most of all I’m excited for you! Looking forward to reports from the adventure. Happy New Year!
Sue, we are super excited and can’t wait to start our motorhome travels. We do wonder how we are going to get along being together all the time in a smaller space?…only time will tell. I will be reporting along the way, fingers crossed for good wifi. Happy New Year to you and Dave!! I hope you keep having great adventures and writing your fabulous blog, I will be following your travels throughout 2019 🙂
What a wonderful adventure you and Brian are embarking on. I do admire your ability to compromise your different needs. I am in love with your new home which will give you the on the open road freedom you crave. Gilda, it is me that is grateful for your blog posts as they not only bring me vital information for my own adventures but also so much beauty, colour and a touch of poetry in the way you passionately write. Go with Angels! Happy New Year to you and your lovely family. Xx
Val, we are so excited about this new adventure. The freedom and flexibility of a home on wheels should give us the opportunity to travel slow and at our own pace. We both wonder what “van life” is going to be like, what are the challenges? But we can only find out by giving it a go. Thank you so much for your ongoing support and generosity. A very Happy and healthy 2019 for you 🙂
Gilda, thanks for the article post.Really thank you! Great.
Fabiano, you are very welcome :)Thank you for visiting my blog 🙂
Fantastic! Great way to slow travel and keep both of you happy
Paula, we are looking forward to our home on wheels and taking our time to visit places at our own pace. We are total newbies so there is some trepidation, but only time will tell if it was the right choice for us. I hope you are having a great time in Morocco? Happy 2019 🙂
I think you’ll find yourselves wondering (like we did) in the next few years how you ever fit work into your busy lives.😁 It’s amazing to be able to retire early and make the most out of the time you’ve been given rather than waiting for some far-off ‘right time.’ One of the things I loved most about our years of full-time and slow travel was very consciously making the decision not to plan beyond three months and see how the journey unfolded and evolved. Looking forward to seeing where the road takes you Gilda and meeting you two somewhere along the way when you travel through Portugal. Here’s to many new adventures and much laughter in 2019! Anita
Anita, you are so right. Life is too short to wait and postpone our dreams for a far-off “right time”. We do feel very grateful to be able to retire earlier than most and I hope we never take that for granted. We love the idea of slow travel, hence why we think having our home on wheels will give us the flexibility to do that and let our plans unfold without too much planning ahead. I am so looking forward to meeting you Anita, we will be heading towards the Algarve sometime in March. We will stay in touch and fingers crossed our paths will cross. I hope 2019 will be a healthy and peaceful year for you 🙂
Well, that’s exciting! Congratulations on your new home on wheels and all the best wishes for the ultimate road trip! Looking forward to following your journey. Happy New Year!
Patti, we are picking up our new home on wheels tomorrow morning…exciting, but also a little scary. Thank you for your support:) Have a very happy and healthy 2019 🙂 Will be looking forward to continue following your “expat experiment”.
Exciting times ahead, Gilda! I do envy you as I would never convince my husband to do this. I love our new home but I’m all too well aware of what else the world holds. Enjoy life to the full. I’m sure you will 🙂 🙂 Happy 2019!
Jo, Happy New Year! How time flies and here we are with you starting a new life in the beautiful Algarve and me with a new home on wheels. Let’s make sure we have a great year of adventures. We might bump into you when we tour the Algarve? I do hope so 🙂
That would be great. Let me know when you’re in the area 🙂 🙂
Happy New Year to you! I will look forward to reading your posts about your new home as this lifestyle is one that we are hoping to adopt in a few year’s time.
Happy New Year! Exciting times ahead, we are looking forward to our home on wheels. We are picking the motorhome up tomorrow…feeling a little nervous 🙂
Very exciting and total freedom! I think that sounds like great fun. No having to worry about booking a hotel – just park somewhere, right ? (I guess?) I think that’s great, especially if you’re both comfortable drivers. I’m sure it’s quite the investment but you’ll save a lot of money along the way on transport and accommodation. Very exciting, congratulations!!!
Frank, we are super excited. We are both going to drive it, although Brian is a more confident driver than me. But it is important to me to be able to drive it also. We intend to do a mixture of paid and free camping. I am planning to keep blogging as we travel and report on the many aspects of motorhome life including costs. I think Europe is such a great Continent to explore by motorhome, allowing us to visit places that are off the beaten track, taking our home with us. Fingers crossed it will work well for us 🙂 Happy New Year to you and Lissette.
Your new motorhome looks like the ultimate freedom machine. Like you, in the last couple of years, we have also retired, down-sized, eliminated a car, and generally simplified our lives. We too hope to find a motorhome some day to roam around North America. Until then, happy new year and happy trails!
Joe, thank you. We are looking forward to the “ultimate freedom” that having our very own home on wheels will afford us 🙂 It will feel like another downsize for us…not a bad thing, since it is so liberating to realize that we can live and thrive fewer possessions. Happy New Year to you and keep up with your travels also, I love your blog posts 🙂
Happy New Year and congrats on the new van, what exciting news! You’ve done a great job of downsizing too. I’m looking forward to seeing how your European plans develop and how you find van-life, hope to see you both down here in the Algarve!
Amy, we can’t wait to start traveling Europe in our motorhome. We are hoping to arrive in the Algarve sometime in March, but no firm plans yet. We would love to see you and Andrew again 🙂 Have a great year full of new adventures 🙂
Truly enjoyed reading about your new “baby”. We had trailers for over 25 years (after the tent got too small for 6 of us) and used it for 5-8 weeks every summer and other long weekends exploring the US and Canada and loved (almost) every minute of it. Can’t wait to read about your upcoming travels.
We are super excited to finally be able to explore Europe in our motorhome:) Sounds like you have experienced some great road trips in North America? I am enjoying your recent travels in South America. Thanks for visiting here 🙂
How exciting Gilda – will be so interested to see how you get on! I don’t think I’d be game to do anything so adventurous so admire your courage and look forward to reading about your new adventures. Very best wishes for 2019! 🙂
Thank you so much, we are going on a “practice” motorhome trip this coming weekend. Fingers crossed we will still love the Moho and each other by the end of it 🙂 Happy New Year to you 🙂
It sounds like you have wonderful plans for 2019. Have fun!
Thank you Sheryl, we are super excited. We will be heading towards France very soon 🙂
What a fabulous adventure, Gilda! I just know that you and Brian will love it. We’ve done a similar thing in the States, but with a tiny popup trailer. Your van looks like the absolutely perfect home on wheels. Wishing you all the best on this new adventure – we can’t wait to follow along. 🙂 ~Terri
Terri, we just can’t wait to start our road trip. We should be leaving very soon, we are almost ready 🙂 It must have been a lot of fun to travel the US in a popup trailer? I love nature and the outdoors, you have some amazing National Parks in the US. Brian and I would love to explore it in the future. thanks for your words of encouragement 🙂
So very exciting, Gilda!!! I’m so happy that the first phase of downsizing worked for you both (with the house) and that you have your priorities right. It might not have been easy to get rid of the stuff and “toys”, but imagine how much more freedom (and money) you have available now. Well, you already realized this. The new motorhome looks comfy and big enough to hit the road long-term. In Europe, they take space and fuel efficiency to another level! Enjoy the prep and planning for your new adventures!
Liesbet, we are super excited. Downsizing has been the right decision, we have no regrets. We feel very lucky to be able to retire a little earlier than most people and experience the type of freedom that feels right for this stage of our lives. Our motorhome is super comfy, we are already enjoying life on the road. We want to travel slow, it will help saving on fuel and it should also be more enjoyable. I always admire how well you do with your budget, we will be keeping a close eye on ours 🙂