Not all winters are created equal, okay…? I tend to love winter, when they’re actually wintery. But as of climate change the Dutch winters aren’t as pretty as they once seemed to be, with snow and ice skating. So since there won’t be much winter anyway, why not chase the mid-winter sun in Southern Europe?
So that’s where I currently am. In the heart of the Pyrenees to be precise. I left last Saturday, drove through most of France in a single day and headed straight to the Spanish border.
By the end of the (satur)day I reached a bit beyond Lyon to the Ardèche region. I was supposed to drive further into the region to a nice camping-spot. However, quickly after the narrow mountain-roads started I figured it might not be smart to drive pitch-black, narrow, steep mountain roads after already driving for 8+ hours. So I stopped at the next best spot next to the road and called it a day.
I started the day slowly and looked for a campsite somewhere in the Pyrenees. So that’s where I went. I was a bit nervous about going into the mountains as I did not have snow-chains with me. But as a very well-prepared traveler, I asked someone on the spot if I was breaking laws not having them. The good news was that i’m not. My van has All-Terrain shoes with the fancy snowflake logo and the M+S (that’s good). Meaning I don’t need the snow-chains at all, unless there’s a specific sub-sign specifically saying so.
On vacation again?
NO! The thing is that this is not vacation time like last summer. I now work full-time from the road. So 40 hours of my week I spend on helping a company do cool stuff in ‘the cloud’. The downside is it’s more work to keep this ‘household’ going, since I have to manage water, gas bottles, diesel (heater), electricity (hope it’s sunny) and in general need more time for most things. The upside is very clear to me. It’s lunch breaks, sunrises and sunsets like the ones below!
And also, a big realization hit me, right here this week. I’m now exactly at the point that I was dreaming of more than 3 years ago. Being a digital nomad, traveling and working in my self-converted campervan! Things don’t always move as fast as we’d like but when you put your mind to it, a lot can happen.
Time to Move on