It’s two weeks ago now since my last day at work and a lot has happened in that time. I write this sitting on a park bench. The Aegean Sea less than 10 meters away. Mirror like, a gentle breeze passing in the trees above. A white wagtail happily chirping as it sits on the bow of a moored boat. It’s a beautiful and calm place to be.
The last two weeks hectic and at times stressful. The journey here hasn’t been with out van teething issues the last only yesterday when the oil warning light wouldn’t go out, meaning we had to stay in an hotel for the night as we strived to find and fix the problem.
We are now just under 2,000 miles by road from home. The morning we left home cold and grey. By the time we stopped to board the channel tunnel we were both shivering. The weather has steadily improved and the need for hats and gloves while in the van has diminished.
Crossing into Turkey we felt a sense of relief and elation that we have made it this far. The Turkish welcome so warm, friendly and genuine. Jenifer adding to the mix of interest and interaction. That she’s a “Scooby” van is going down well with children and parents.
To us she’s a 54 year old van, with an Ikea bed strapped to a couple of home made chest of drawers.
It doesn’t matter though. She’s our unique van, sometimes working well. Sometimes not so. We just wish the balance of working well and not so well would change.
To drive 2000 miles in an old van is hard going and at times, when we’ve been tired and hungry, we’ve become irritable. But when the shit hits the fan we work as a team to keep the journey going and the wheels turning.
Apart from the van the other main area of uncertainty has been around where we stay. Camping isn’t a big thing in Serbia. Sites are sparse and wild camping illegal. Bulgaria much the same. It has meant that on one occasion we’ve had to camp in a lay-by next to a cemetery on the side of a large town in the middle of Bulgaria.
Wherever we’ve gone though we’ve been afforded respect and warmth added with the odd bit of help. The Spanish couple in Serbia who stopped to make sure we were alright. The Turkish shop owner yesterday who helped diagnose the oil light issue and when he ran out of knowledge he asked a mechanic friend to come round and have a look. All of this as they were about to break fast for the final time of Ramadan.
We haven’t yet worked out whether we will head north for Istanbul and the southern shore of the Black Sea or meander along the southern Turkish coast towards Syria. We’re more likely to do the latter while the mountains of the Caucus continue to warm in the strong spring sunshine.
For the next couple of days though we will reset. Muck the van out, fix a few niggles and just enjoy life, as time stands still for a brief moment.
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