Vantastic Voyage

Surprisingly, this is the first time in weeks where there has been free time to write. Though this sounds ridiculous as we have not had any responsibility and time at our disposal, we have been a guest at 3 gracious host’s places, driving long distances and getting our van in order. When time was available, it has simply been too damn cold to pull out the computer and start typing. We took a pit stop in a McDonalds outside of Avignon, France and it is nice to get these fingers working.

As I mentioned, three gracious hosts have made the transition to Europe and the move to our van a world more comfortable. There have been 3 trips to the mechanic after purchasing Mac and twice we had to return to Utrecht, Netherlands after being hours down the road. A new battery, fuel line and air filter should hopefully do it. Mac has not been suddenly dying as it had last week after hundreds of kilometers. I think the engine wasn’t getting fuel and we hope the minor fixes will do the trick.

Our first host was Ingrid whom I met in Sucre, Bolivia last February. Awesome woman. I didn’t realize she lived in the same city where we would be getting our van and didn’t put two and two together until just before leaving to Europe. She provided incredible hospitality while we dealt with numerous issues while arranging all of the van details. She kept us out of the cold in her tiny apartment in Utrecht and trusted us with a key to her apartment. She showed us the cheap grocery store, opened up her kitchen, gave us her time and lent us her bikes while we were there saving us a great deal of time traveling around, money and having to brace the less than pleasant weather. We had a wonderful time with her and it was very cool to spend time together in her motherland. She showed us around the city, told us a great deal about dutch people and culture and was just simply great. 

Our second host would be Ingrid’s parents, Toine and Reggie. I had briefly met Ingrid’s parents for the first time while they visited her in Colombia and they offered up their home for us south of Utrecht in the small town of Olland. Ingrid’s mother, Reggie, took Ratha and I shopping for materials to make cushion covers and curtains for the van (the washed out pink needed to go). We shared breakfast together every morning and ate some interesting things like buttered bread covered in chocolate sprinkles which graces the tables of most dutch homes. We had an interesting fennel roll with butter and speculaas crackers in them. We strolled through their village and met and chatted with local goat farmer Pete and bought some cheese from their vending machine attached to their house. One of the first nights in Olland I was talked into going on an 11.5K run with Toine, though I’d only run this distance once before, 2 years ago. “Well I do have running shoes”, I said, “but I left all of my clothes for working out in Utrecht”. Of course they had extra of everything I needed and I was very glad that I joined Toine. The shirt selection he provided came down to two options. The tiger shirt below was suggested to me with a straight face. Ingrid could not stop laughing when she was told the story.

We were also able to meet Ingrid’s brother and I think he challenged me to a racquetball match when we are back in the Netherlands. We would spend Thanksgiving with her parents and we cooked them dinner and shared with them our culture and traditions for the holiday. Though turkey is hard to find in late November, we managed to buy the only two large packages from the store. We were happy to be sharing the day and meal with such great people and we were made to feel part of the family from the moment we arrived at their home. Quite worthy of noting, there was a death and funeral in the family that both occurred during our stay and they insisted that we did not leave. We did feel like a part of the family.

Our next destination would be Bochum, Germany to visit Ralf, whom I met in Potosi, Bolivia in February, shortly after Ingrid. We had a very nice stay with Ralf and he too was an amazing host. He cooked us some awesome vegan meals (discovered savoy), prepared us a special meal of wild deer meat bought from a hunter, took us to the aquarium where the famous soccer match predicting octopus Paul lived, and to a handful of his social events with his friends. Bochum and the surrounding area was big on coal mining and steel production in the early 1900’s. We visited an awesome facility that has since been turned into a park that has a host of lights illuminating the grounds and was (our favorite price of) free to the public. Ralf showed us around the Christmas market in Bochum and we had a chance to meet his mom. We slept later than I had slept in years every day and enjoyed a slow breakfast with delicious german breads and spreads each morning/afternoon. Another week flew by with Ralf and it nearly turned into 10 days before we left Bochum. While we were there we explored some surrounding cities including Dusseldorf, I managed to get to a dentist who did 40% of my recommended dental work recommended by the U.S. dentist for 87.5% less than it would have cost in the U.S. Lastly, don’t mess with German Christmas markets. They are pretty amazing with decor, food, drinks and are in every city we saw in Germany hopping with people throughout the week day and night.  This would include 60 something year old women doing shots on a weeknight past 10pm. Impressed I was.

 We have been doing some reorganizing of items in the van as we are getting adjusted to the van life. We invested in a pressure cooker that has already provided a couple delicious meals. We stopped over just outside of Landgraaf, Netherlands, Luxembourg City, Luxembourg, Vaucouleurs, France and Boussillon, France. Wherever we decide to camp for the evening, no matter how seemingly remote the area, it is bustling with various activity. Whether it’s traffic in the middle of nowhere, midnight dog walkers, or a random large farmers market that springs up at 6am as it did this morning, there has not been a lack of interesting activity where we stay. That being said, we were both very happy that the weather was finally warm last night (49 degrees Fahrenheit). We are planning to head down the French and Spanish coast off the Mediterranean until we hit Tarifa, where we plan to take our van on a ferry to Morocco for a couple of months at the time of this post.

The time we spend with friends is something that far outlasts a memory of a building or famous site. We have been lucky to have met some truly amazing people who will be lifelong friends. We thank our hosts and appreciate the special memories we have made together. Until next time, onward Mac!