Our life is better outside
About the happiness of travelling as a family in a camper van
Tina Jacobsen works as a virtual assistant and author. She is a mother of two young sons and commutes with her family between Portugal and Germany. The four of them travelled through Europe in a camper van for a year, and she has written a book about this time.
Van life has become the travel trend par excellence in recent years, and we hear more and more often that young families in particular are travelling in campers or self-built buses. We, too, have been dreaming of a trip through Europe with our children and a camper van for a long time. But like probably many others, we have always waited for the right time to start such a trip. Only to realise at some point that the perfect time will probably never exist and that there will always be a reason not to do it. In April 2019, we finally managed to get every "but" out of the way and set off with our rolling home.
But what is actually so special about travelling with a camper? From our point of view, there are so many unbeatable reasons to travel this way as a family. Once you have found the right car for you and your family's needs, the fun can really begin!
We are not fans of meticulous travel planning, we rather travel according to the motto: The journey is the destination! And that's not just a saying - in the camper, the holiday begins for us as soon as everyone is strapped into the car and home slowly disappears in the rear-view mirror. We usually have a rough direction or region we want to go to, and then we don't set ourselves fixed stage destinations, but see how far we can get. Having this flexibility to decide how to continue the journey depending on mood, weather or other circumstances is something we love.
When you plan a hotel holiday, you never know in advance exactly what it will be like. Sure, you see pictures and the reviews of other travellers help you get an impression. But in the end, it can happen that you imagined everything quite differently and that your expectations are disappointed. Or the weather is totally bad. Or something else just doesn't seem to fit. It's not so easy to get out of the hotel or holiday home situation. With a camper, it's a little easier. Pack up and go!
A clear advantage - especially when travelling with children - is that you always have your home with you. The environment changes regularly, of course, but the base remains. Our children, for example, feel totally at home in the camper and have quickly accepted it as their second home. It offers a place of retreat, security and at the same time we have all our belongings in this car when we are on the road. Packing for a camping holiday is certainly not without its challenges, but once that's done, you're usually pretty well equipped in your rolling home. Of course, long car journeys are also much more pleasant in such a large car. The children sit in the back and have a big table to play and draw on. If someone has to go to the toilet or is hungry, we don't have to spend ages looking for a suitable place to rest, we just pull over for a moment.
To be honest, I can't imagine a nicer way to travel, especially for children, no matter what age. We open the door in the morning and are outside in the open air. And then usually for the rest of the day. At best, all meals take place outside. We always try to choose places that offer a child-friendly environment. So far away from major roads and lots of people, in the middle of nature. So that the children can ride their bikes and move around relatively freely. Since we always try to be near the water, we often discover wonderful nature and because of all the movement and fresh air, the kids are usually tired but very content in their beds in the evening.
On our long journey, but also on our camping holidays before, we have always met a lot of people. Making contact is always similar: you arrive at a new campsite, check which other cars are already there, and then quickly strike up a conversation by asking the standard questions. Have you been here for a long time? Where do you come from? And how long have you been on the road? With some people, you only talk briefly. With others, you spend more time together. And if it goes really well, sometimes a genuine friendship develops from such an acquaintance on the campsite.
We love the freedom the camper gives us to simply change plans sometimes and to get involved in things that we didn't see coming. At one of our most beautiful places in France at Lac de Saint Croix, for example, we met a super nice family by chance. We ran into each other completely unexpectedly and became friends within a very short time. Actually, we only wanted to stay two or three nights at the most. In the end, it was seven. And after that, we changed our plan to continue our journey in order to be able to meet up with exactly the same family again at the Atlantic Ocean a few weeks later.
In some places, you meet people you might not have come into contact with in your usual environment. In most cases, you meet each other with great openness and beautiful things can develop from that.
Of course, there are many more reasons to travel in a camper. Travelling as a family of four is not necessarily cheap and we like the minimalist life you lead when camping. For us, it has always been a good balance to life in the big city. Ultimately, camping for us means being largely self-determined and unattached on the road. We have found the perfect way to travel and feel incredibly comfortable in our home on wheels.
Our favourite campsites
CAMPING MUNICIPAL LES RUISSES
Verdon Nature Park, Frankreich
GPS: 43.781472, 6.212733
The campsite is not that special and quite simple, but the location is unbeatable! In the middle of the Verdon nature park, surrounded by lovely little villages and very close to the Lac de Sainte-Croix, a beautiful lake with turquoise water.
CAMPING BRÉMONTIER
Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Frankreich
GPS: 44.798048, -1.225854
A very nice, small, and quiet campsite directly on the French Atlantic coast. The beach is within walking distance and there are great cycle paths through the pine forests around the site.
CAMPSITE SALEMA ECO CAMP
Campsite Salema Eco Camp, Algarve, Portugal
GPS: 37.075266, -8.831295
In Portugal, the density of campsites is not as high as in France or Spain and the Eco Campsite in Salema is something special. Everything the site offers is designed with great care to minimize the impact on the environment, the location is top-notch and everyone from tents to motorhomes is welcome here.
written and photographed by
TINA JACOBSEN