Archives for April 2015

Van tour: Mike and Sophie from Relaxedpace

April 20, 2015 by Mike 10 Comments

I left the Peloponnese (see best bits) and met with some other vanners: Mike (from L.A.) and Sophie (from London). They spent last Summer in England converting their van, and are finally on the road…

I think these two were the first actual readers of this blog, like a year ago. It was really good to finally meet you both… near this nice bridge… in Greece.

On the road since: December. Coming from: Morocco. Going to: Norway

Their van

The van is a 15 year old Hyundai H200. They’ve done such a good job with this small space. It’s all properly insulated with water and electrical system. There’s even a toaster, a kettle and a nice photo editing setup

The bed folds out to be the full width of the van. The ceiling is my favourite thing

The bed folds out to the full width of the van. The ceiling is my favourite

My second favourite thing is the secret screen–a big computer screen behind the fold down table used for processing photos. Want one.

My second favourite thing is the secret screen–a big computer screen behind the fold down table used for processing photos. Am I allowed to tell people? want one

Hanging out

We were neighbours for the day so we went back to mine…

vanlife-greece-meetup-sophie-relaxedpace

Sophie cooked some great food. She used an actual blender to make hummus! Once, me and Finn spent a full afternoon making hummus using a spoon

We camped here for the night. By the bridge. Really nice spot. A bird flew past

Mike (left) and me (right) Mike–he’s won a Guinness world record for these jumps shots

Thanks for the drawing. Exactly what I was thinking

I love to meet such talented people–astray from an office and doing their own thing. These two are massive wanders, who have been all over the world. Compared to these two, I haven’t even left the house… oh yeah, it’s on wheels though

Sophie’s thing: Makes nice music with really dreamy vocals (I was listening to this whilst converting my van) – A music video – I can’t get enough of this sound.

Mike’s thing: Makes films and takes nice photographs. He produced and edited a feature length documentary on the Burning man festival, “as the dust settles” (here) and now working on compiling his “jumping book” which will feature his best jump shots, taken from all around the world.

More of their photos and adventures on their blog: Relaxed Pace

See you both again on another road

Note: Maybe this can be the start of a “meet the others” series…? Or should it be “meet the vanners” ?

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My favourite electronic products for van living

April 12, 2015 by Mike 3 Comments

Here are my very favourite electronics products that I’ve been using for the past year living in my van.

Note: these are affiliate links, which means you’ll be helping me if you buy using these links. Thank you!

Kindle – ebook reader

All your books in one hand! I wasn’t sure about the Kindle when it first came out. But being in a van means I can’t carry all my books. So I bought this Kindle, and I’ve never read so many books! I love this thing. You forget you are reading an electronic screen. A van and rucksack essential

The classic Ipod – my portable music library

All your music in one hand! I’ve had this Ipod for 4 years and used it every day. I could not be without it. I have used the full 160gb just for music. I’m going to buy another and stick them back to back.

Sennheiser HD25 – proper headphones

Headphones that will last for +10 years. Industry standard, as used by the BBC, and most djs. The HD25s came out in 1988! Forget the crappy fashion headphones. Sennheiser doesn’t even have to advertise these. I have the velour pads on mine and have used them every day for the past 3 years

The Minirig – a quality portable speaker

I don’t own one but Finn has one and used it all the time in the van – he uses it for busking whilst travelling. I was really impressed with it compared to all the other naff portable speakers around. Really solid and good quality. Used for music outside the van, beach and busking

Nikon D5100 – SLR Camera

I already made a couple of posts saying this is the perfect travel camera (like here). It’s been 2 years and it’s still an excellent camera with way more than I need.

High gain WiFi Antenna

Lets you get WiFi internet from way further than normal. Very useful for van life. It has a nice long wire and is built to be used outside – fully waterproof.

Huawei E313 – 3G Internet dongle (unlocked)

I use 3G most of the time (when there is no WiFi). This unlocked version lets you use any sim card in it. I buy a data sim card in each country – if I’m staying for any length of time.

Garmin Nuvi 52 5″ – satellite navigation

Easy and reliable navigation. I have the Garmin Nuvi 50 (now discontinued). This link is the newer version (Nuvi 52) with a brighter screen and a few other improvements. I’ve tried over satnavs – including the no brand ebay ones, but I find nothing beats Garmin. This will let you track and download your route to your computer with the included software

Behringer 1C- Monitor Speakers

These give you great sound at low cost and small size and weight. It’s difficult to get good sound in a small place, but this was the best solution for me. I have these mounted on the van walls in front of the sofa.

9 best bits of vanlife in the Peloponnese

April 11, 2015 by Mike 10 Comments

The Peloponnese is an amazing place to feel the winter turn into Spring. There’s no wonder I’m suddenly bumping into all the other vanners, after seeing non for months. You’re all here!

Here are 9 highlights from the past 5 weeks of vanlife in the Peloponnese:

1. The mountains

I didn’t really know the Peloponnese was like this

Taygetos mountain range. Just South of Sparta

2. The ancient stuff

Camping near the ancient stuff with no one around. It starts to feel like a different world

Temple of Apollo, Ancient Corinth

3. The coast and beaches

Nowhere I’ve been beats this coast! it feels so wild

Voidokili Beach on the West coast

4. The landscape

It’s so… like… mystical

A big hill we climbed near the archaeological site at ancient Corinth

5. Loads more ancient stuff

I mean, it’s everywhere! And there’s still loads more not yet uncovered

Mycenae archaeological site

6. The scenic routes

So many colourful slow roads through the mountains. No need to rush. Can’t anyway

A road down to Sparta

7. The crazy weather

From clear sunshine to dramatic thunderstorm in a few hours. This seemed to be every few days. I’m not if this is normal?

A pier at the town of Nafplio

8. The wild and free camping

Inland or coast, the camping is top notch. It’s so easy to camp, locals seem to be used to vanners and there’s never a problem. Even in a city, you can get often get right on to the beach with the van and no one minds

Kalamata beach

9. The wildlife

See post on finding the wild spots – listen to the recording of the animals at night (bottom of that post)

Walking through the forrest, lizards and snakes dash across your path in front

North West coast – see location in this post

Basically

Greece was already my favourite country… and that was before I went to the Peloponnese. There really is everything here! It has been so nice to explore it in during springtime. If you have a van… go! If you don’t have a van… go!

Have you been? tell us your favourite spots…

Vanlife – finding the wild spots

April 11, 2015 by Mike 5 Comments

This is probably a protected area, and you probably are not allowed here. But this is Greece, so it’s probably cool…

It’s these kinds of places that often catch my eye on a map – there is a little tree symbol on google maps. If there’s a mixture of blue and green, it’s probably going to be nice…