We are no strangers to that face palm moment when you realise how daft you have been. Here is our van life fails part two, sharing a few more short stories.
Call a fridge a fridge
Whilst on our first and second trip into Europe we only had a cool box as a fridge. Now I know that doesn’t sound all that bad but trust me it is. A cool box cooling system is very dependent on the outside temperature, so when in warmer weather it acts as nothing more than an extra cupboard. In fact our actual cupboard was often colder than our ‘fridge’. We were buying ice every other day in attempt to cool the cool box. Genius. Not. Often ending up with our refrigerated foods in little swampy ponds. Delicious. The further east in Europe we got it become increasingly difficult to find ice. Mm sweaty cheese and spoiled milk anyone? We suffered this way for two trips! Cool boxes are great for day trips not a replacement fridge in a Campervan. Obviously. Now we have pure luxury with out compressor fridge.. it’s amazing how we ever managed without it!
The missing piece
Our mattress is divided in three separate foam sections that lay on top of three wooden boards. In warmer weather the middle section can get a little damp on the underside where our body heat can’t escape through the wood. Well when this happens we like to air it out and leave it in the sun to ‘sun bleach’- it’s a thing. Sometimes we leave it on the ground and sometimes we put it on the van somewhere. On this particular occasion in Romania we put it on the roof to dry out. Can you see what’s coming yet?
Anyway, our morning goes by as normal, we have breakfast, we work a little and we pack up the van and drive a few hours to our next destination. You know what’s coming now don’t you? Once we have pulled up, the second we open the side door it dawns us.. we drove off with part of our mattress on the roof. And we drove three hours. At this stage there was nothing we could do, we decided to stay where we were and drive back the next day with little in the way of hope and dwindling optimism. As you would imagine it was long gone but we did get a chuckle at imagining it on one of the many gypsy carriages and thought we’d made one Romanian very happy.
A swing and a miss
The roof tent. Need I say more? Visions of camping on rugged landscapes, being even closer to nature and living in a tiny home were very soon wiped from our mind by a huge fat reality check. Envision waking up to water dropping on your face every morning from built up condensation. Imagine perpetually wet bedding due to condensation not drying, or having to pack the tent up even in the rain. Most of our memories from our time in the converted Honda CRV and roof top tent are shrouded in a cold dampness. To be fair it wasn’t all bad, we did create a lovely little home in the back of the car, equipped with a seating area that we couldn’t quite get comfy in and a kitchen that you had to have the back door open to use. There is so much more to the roof tent saga, let me know if you want to hear more about it. So it wasn’t the greatest idea but we tried it.
Stuck in the middle with you
Last but not least we got stuck in the mud in Serbia. Venturing out onto the riverbank for a peaceful night stay it didn’t take us long to realise the mud was maybe a tad muddier than we first thought. We did the panic thing and frantically tried to get out, allowing us slide around even more. But it’s okay we have snow chains, they can be used for mud too right? Using the car jack we lifted up both rear tyres one by one and attached the snow chains. Again just slipping about, the panic begins to creep in as we dig our selves deeper and deeper into the mud as it’s getting dark. Recognising there is nothing we can do about it in the dark we down tools and endeavour to try again the next morning.
We tried to ignore our predicament but the 45 degree angle of the van was a constant reminder. The following day try as we might we couldn’t get out. Luckily for us I was able to enlist the help of a willing passerby and with his experience and guidance we were freed from the mud. No doubt we would still be there now if it weren’t for him.
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