Caravanlife 4.0: Half a year on the road

It started on July 31st, 2023 and we have now been on tour for a good 6 months!

When I type and read this, sometimes I can't believe it, but the speedometer now shows 20,000 km more than before. What can I say? IT'S STILL GREAT!

Hopefully we are still open-minded and tolerant, we have fun and constantly see new things that surprise us. I thought Ireland was great, I love Great Britain as a whole, France has so many surprises, Spain was only known to me through Mallorca, it was great because each stage had its own charm and flair.

Morocco really surprised me because everything here is so decelerated and simply more relaxed than at home. I only knew the country from films and a few travel reports, the reality is simply different. Of course there are things that I don't find so great, such as dealing with garbage, but overall it's the Moroccans' attitude to life and everything that goes around it that I think we in Europe could learn a lesson from.

People here are relaxed, they don't get mad if you don't look at their stuff or shop at the other stall, it's just karma. We, on the other hand, are constantly under pressure and are always stressed!

I discover that I could relax more, of course I'm still on the journey to myself, which sometimes doesn't work so well in caravan life. We've had some really bad luck in the last few weeks, from an accident with significant damage to a flat tire on the Palumbi, which so far "just" looks like a defective valve. That's quite a matter of substance, because Palumbi is our mobile home. If too much had broken here, it would have meant the end of the journey. The most important thing is still that nothing happened to us or the dogs.

I notice that I'm not as relaxed right now as I should be with daily yoga and meditation. I find myself sickening some days, so I need to work harder on myself now. What I mean? Moroccans are not jealous of me and my apparent wealth, they just allow it. I should do the same, I should focus on myself and my inner healing, it doesn't matter what other people think and say about me.

The last 20,000 km have been experience in sometimes strange situations, we didn't let Covid and salmonella get us down, now we're just making the best of the realization that our caravan isn't there for eternity, it's had a few repairs in the last few years Months, plus gravity and age are slowly coming into play. 50 years have not passed by without a trace, the roads contribute to the fact that this wonderful Knaus Jet 525 moves more than when it is just standing in one place, it is always working somehow.

Over the last few days, Christian has been looking for a successor "out of interest", here too we are trying to be open-minded, but my greatest hope is that Palumbi will hold out until August 2024, that nothing more will happen and that we will then be in peace can think about what will come next. I like Palumbi a lot, it's hard for me when I write this, but here too I just have to face reality.

But there are also other things to report, because we will soon have visitors here in Morocco and are enjoying life here, our own tagine and the tea we make ourselves. I like the souks and the markets. Tomorrow we'll visit one and see what's available when it comes to spices, because we're in the saffron stronghold!

I like the fact that in theory we could just stay in the desert, that we can go off-road with our van and see more than with a camper. I see a clear starry sky, usually without light pollution, and experience a friendliness at the campsites that is unfortunately often different in Europe. LA VITA E BELLA!