Matilda on Tour - 89 days on the road 🚐

This morning I realised that just seven days ago we were parked beside the river in Belgium at a free little stopover, surrounded by cyclists, cafés and the atmosphere of a city enjoying a huge sporting weekend. It already feels much further away than that. Now suddenly we are back in the UK and the whole trip already feels slightly dreamlike — as though normal life quietly carried on without us while we disappeared into another world for three months. Looking back to those early planning days before we left, we really only had a rough idea of the route. George suggested places and stopovers along the way, but beyond that we mostly made things up as we went along and travelled almost entirely without bookings. In fact, the only campsite we reserved in advance was our final stop in Ypres before the crossing home. Since then we’ve crossed countries, mountains, borders and coastlines. We’ve cycled beside rivers, eaten lunch overlooking lakes, wandered through old towns and sat outside Matilda on warm evenings watching the light slowly fade behind mountains. At times it was hard to move on. The sun was shining, we felt comfortable and could easily have stayed longer. But we soon discovered that there was always something else waiting for us further along the road — another beautiful place ready to be explored. I remember arriving in Kotor in Montenegro and thinking it was one of the most beautiful places I had ever seen. Then came Plitvice Lakes, the Austrian lakes and countless other beautiful places along the way. It really reminded me just how much beauty there is in the world. 💛 We have learnt so much during these three months too. About travelling slowly, about the van, about ourselves and about what really matters to us when we are on the road. Perhaps one of the biggest lessons was realising just how little you actually need to live a very happy life. The places we tended to linger longest were often the quieter, less polished sites. We loved the freedom of simply stopping where felt right for a few days. Rugged mountain areas, lakes, rivers, quiet coastal spots and simple campsites surrounded by nature seemed to suit us far more than busy resort-style places. One of the other things I learnt was that using George, my AI travel guide, can be brilliant — but it’s important to ask the right questions and dig a little deeper rather than just accepting the first answer. Does the route really make sense for a campervan? Is the campsite actually open? Are there steep climbs or tiny roads that don’t show up at first glance? Most of the time he got it remarkably right and honestly became like having a travel guide and route planner travelling alongside us. But I definitely learnt that AI works best when you work with it rather than simply following it blindly. 😄 There were stressful moments of course. The failing battery and sleeping overnight on a garage forecourt waiting for help the next morning. Camper Contact sending us high into the mountains only for there to be no campsite at all when we finally arrived. SIM cards, routers and all the little frustrations that somehow become part of long-term travel. But strangely, those moments now sit alongside the good memories rather than spoiling them. What I think I’ll remember most is not one big highlight, but the feeling of the whole journey. Slowing down. Living outdoors. Coffee stops in little places we’d never even heard of before. The rhythm of driving, walking, cycling and simply seeing where the road led next. Now we are home again I find myself almost consciously reminding myself how much I love it here and focusing on all the good things about being back. But at the same time, something has changed a little. After three months on the road, normal life suddenly feels far more complicated than it once did. Van life was surprisingly simple really. A smaller space, fewer possessions, very little cleaning, no garden to tend and a freedom that quickly became addictive. And perhaps that’s one of the strangest feelings of all — realising that after seeing some of the most stunning places imaginable, it wasn’t necessarily the dramatic scenery that mattered most, but the simplicity of the lifestyle itself. 💛