#VanLife Road Trip Greece to Portugal - Week 1 of 8

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Week 1 (Part 1 of 8)
Athens to St Tropez

Such a great feeling to be back on the road again! The goal for the first week was to get as many of the kilometres we did last year behind us as quick as possible. Then to take it slower and have more time in places we haven’t been before. That meant long days on the road this past week, and we’re glad we’ve got that behind us. Now we can take the rest of the trip at an easier pace; or so we hope ;-)

We left Athens with “Isabel” packed and geared for the long journey. The first stop was Karpenisi high in the mountains of Central Greece. Our pitch for the night, just outside the town, had a beautiful view across the valley towards Karpenisi with a backdrop of snow capped mountains and rather chilly. This was the first night we could test the newly fitted TV and sound bar - being completely alone with nobody else around we made full use of the opportunity with some Afrikaans music videos on YouTube late into the night.

The next day we trekked further over steep and winding mountains passes and through deep swaying valleys towards Igoumenitsa. We spent the following day at the same place we stayed twice before about 15 minutes from the ferry port. Late that night we boarded our ferry and ready to set sail for Brindisi in Italy. Having and hour or so late departure from the scheduled 1AM time, we went straight to our cabin and got ready for a peaceful night at sea… Somewhere in the Adriatic Sea we woke up due to heavy rolling over the waves; relieved about the safety bars next to the beds preventing one from falling out - the Mediterranean does get huge swells after all! Not such a peaceful night eventually with both Rafa and Gandhi equally restless about this new, and unknown to them, experience.

As they say “All roads lead to Rome”, and that’s exactly what we did after arriving in port mid morning. From the heel of “the boot” first in the direction of Napoli across the width of Italy and then North towards Roma. We knew the next day was going to be the longest with the most kilometres of the entire journey, and got a camper parking place very close to the highway just outside Rome.

The next day we headed towards Northern Italy and as we drove through the rolling hills of Tuscany I realized yet again how fortunate and blessed we are to be able to see and do this again; so much gratitude! After a long day on the road and almost 600km later we arrived at Agri Turismo Camping Lo Zapperano - an organic farm in Albenga with free roaming animals all over the campsite, and much to the entertainment of both Rafa and Gandhi. We spent two nights to catch our breath and get some work done.

This morning we continued along the Italian Riviera and in particular Riviera dei Fiori of beautiful Liguria. As we neared a well known turn off, it felt so strange not to take the exit to Bordighera as we did every single time before we travelled these parts. Long road ahead, so move along. We left Italy and entered France. The journey along the Cote D’Azur was ahead. After a quick lunch stop in Cannes, back on the road. We ended the week with a stroll along the boulevard of St Tropez.

Now it’s time for a glas of wine and to reflect over everything of the first week, on of which was the milestone of reaching 20000km’s overall in the van today. Happy, relaxed and looking forward to the week ahead into España. Vamos!

Stats Week 1
Distance: 2107 km
Travel Time: 34h 04m

#vanlife #roadtrip #