Bliss Ventures
I am Bliss, descended from wolves, a 4000 year lineage of Siberian Huskies. I’m travelling the World in our self converted campervan Ivy with my Mum & Dad (Vikki & Darren). I love to be in nature seeking adventure. The spirit of my ancestors with me. Read more🇬🇧Isle of Wight
  • Back to the coast

    May 2, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We’re drawn toward the coast like the water flowing from the stream we slept at last night. We found an aire that has electric and water dump so going there for just the one night on our way to see Le Mont Saint-Michel the next day.
    We had a walk down to the beach with Bliss who was able to get off her lead so she could have a proper run around. It was heartwarming to see her so happy and behaving like an excited puppy, sometimes lately when she’s tired it reminds me she’s 9 years old, to see her having fun like she did when she was young is lovely. From the beach we can see Mont Saint-Michel, a massive village with monastery castle at the top all built on an island in the sea, it looks amazing from here so can’t wait to see it properly tomorrow. Later we took a walk around the small seaside village and indulged in a cake shop. Happy days!
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  • Tranquil rain alone in nature

    May 1, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We bade a sad farewell to our quiet village stop by the river and headed off again after a good sleep. Our morning call was the sound of the river, birds and the braying of the donkey.
    We drove some distance to our next quiet riverside stop and settled down for the night. I couldn’t believe my luck when I saw another otter. This time much closer and sitting on his haunches grooming himself, close enough for me to get a video of him. Darren passed me his phone so that I could capture him and I proceeded to get what I thought was a great video of him on the river bank...BUT…when we watched the video afterwards it turned out that as Darren passed me his phone I must have touched the camera switch and ended up videoing my jumper instead!! So annoyed with myself. 🫣
    Nice quiet night in the middle of nature, listening to the sound of the rain on the van roof. Slept really well.
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  • Another beautiful riverside spot

    April 30, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C

    After a short walk around Broglie to find a fresh baguette for our tea, and a tidy up in Ivy we headed off to our next destination. Another stunningly beautiful drive through countryside that just keeps taking our breath away to yet another river side spot for us to relax, have dinner and stay the night. Met a lovely local lady and her dog who came over to introduce herself, she gave us lots of ideas about places we should visit on our way down south. She kindly listing them on Darren’s phone so we would remember them. I, with the help of the lady’s dog spotted an otter in the river which I and both the dogs were very excited about. We had dinner and spent the rest of the evening watching the river and hoping to see the otter again.Read more

  • Broglie

    April 29, 2024 in France ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Darren found a lovely river side park up so we headed off early afternoon to Broglie. It was a couple of hours away and a simple drive on quiet roads. We stopped off at Lidl to pick some supplies and were hoping to give Ivy a wash but the car wash was euros so we couldn’t do it as we don’t have any. Must try to get some somewhere soon. Quiet night, slept like a baby ( I don’t know why we say that because in my experience babies don’t always sleep well!)Read more

  • A magical walk to Gerbaroy Village

    April 28, 2024 in France ⋅ 🌬 10 °C

    Our first day of proper adventures. We got up and walked into the village of Songeon to get a baguette and some cheese and meat for our breakfast and lunch. The bread is delicious and the smelly cheese was nice too. We then went for a walk to the next village which is an amazing place like nothing we’ve ever seen before. 17th century buildings all kept so well preserved and like stepping back in time. Bliss was such a good girl even though she got seen off by two little terrorist terriers. We wandered around the picturesque village for the afternoon taking in the historic sights, wisteria was growing profusely along many of the ancient buildings and walls, the scent it emitted was fragrant in the air. We decided to take the long way back through the woods, Darren saw a small fox but I sadly missed it. By the time we got back to the van we both had sore feet and tired legs as we’d managed to clock up over 17,000 steps. Not used to walking that far anymore. We polished off the rest of the baguette, cheese and cold meat before Darren washed up and we all retired for the night tired & happy somewhere over the rainbow.Read more

  • Songeons... our first French aire

    April 27, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    We arrived at our chosen aire at about 4am. So elated to have got there alive and in one piece. We sat up celebrating with wine and snacks for an hour giggling and chatting like excited school kids until the last few days caught up with us and we fell into bed exhausted. 😴
    We woke by 9am and were greeted by a babbling stream right next to our van and birdsong , what more could you ask for on your first morning in France 🇫🇷 I spent most of the day just feeling so tired and hungover that I didn’t even leave the van until teatime. Went back to bed in the afternoon to catch up on some sleep 😴 before getting up and going for a wander into the small village for some supplies. Lovely peaceful place to stay to recover from the last few days so we’ve decided to stay here until Monday before we move on. Best thing is it’s free!! Only have to pay 2 euros for water and EHU if you need it.
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  • Arriving in France

    April 26, 2024 in France ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    I was ok with driving on the right but every time the satnav (and Darren) said go left or right I did the opposite!! I seem to have completely forgotten the difference between the two 😂 I think I was just so stressed and tired that my brain was not working at all with these instructions. It didn’t help that it was raining quite hard at times and the street lights in France aren’t great also there’s no cats eyes on the road to help you see the lanes clearly. Saying that though I have to say how impressed I am with the French roads, they are so smooth, not a pothole to be seen anywhere. Not even on the small roads, the roads are lovely to drive on.Read more

  • Channel Tunnel

    April 26, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    The drive to the tunnel was very straightforward and the whole process of getting through customs and onto the train was easy. Quite a strange experience, driving onto a train that you know is going to take you deep under the sea and deliver you to another country but apart from a little discomfort when you feel your ears popping and the shaking of the train it was okay really and so quick.
    Getting off at the other end was just the beginning of another very long and stressful journey!!
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  • Canterbury Park And Ride

    April 25, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    We arrived exhausted from a much longer than expected drive at our overnight stop in Canterbury. Nothing exciting or scenic but very convenient with facilities that we needed. After a good sleep and well needed rest we set off for the Tunnel full of nervous excitementRead more

  • Leaving the Island!

    April 25, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    The day has finally come for us to take the ferry and begin our adventure to France. We have said our emotional goodbyes and we have caught the 8:30pm ferry heading to Southampton and then a long drive to Canterbury. The journey wasn’t a pleasant one to say the least. The M25 was closed, there were roadworks everywhere and diversions that were extremely confusing, even the multiple satnavs struggled to work out how to get around it all...and don’t get me started about the state of the roads... potholes... it’s like driving on mars in this country! 🤬Read more

  • Building our tiny home Ivy (Part 3)

    April 24, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    This is the fun (but really really hard) part. All the furniture, plumbing, electrics, painting and decorating… the whole nine yards. But at the end of our most ambitious project to date we are so pleased with the results. Ivy is everything we had hoped for. Ready to take us on our adventures!Read more

  • Building our tiny home Ivy (Part 2)

    April 23, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    We began by adding lots and lots of insulation. Built the roof rack from aluminium scaffold poles, added cool lights and cameras. We put cameras on each side so that we can always see what’s happening outside. Then we put in the floor base, the framing for the walls and the vapour barrier before the ply lining. Windows were terrifying to cut and fit, we so nearly messed it up on the first one despite measuring FIVE times first!
    Then the ceiling, the bulkhead and the doors. Phew… this is a much bigger job than either of us could have imagined.
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  • Building our tiny home Ivy (Part 1)

    April 22, 2024 in England ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    We initially had this idea when we first fell in love in 1990, for over 34 years it seemed like an impossible dream. Wouldn’t it be just amazing to make your own tiny home on wheels and go venturing around the world in it? How wonderful would that be? Of course we knew it would always be out of reach for the likes of us.
    But then unexpectedly the opportunity came to us.
    “Let’s do it now” said Darren. “Don’t be bloody ridiculous, we’re too old “ said I. So we talked and talked through the night until eventually the reasons not to do it had been whittled away to just one. The only valid reason was the fear of the unknown!

    We spent the next few months watching Youtube videos on building a campervan and living the van life. Gradually becoming more and more sure of our decision.
    Finding a suitable van was difficult,, the perfect van completely impossible. But after weeks of searching we found Ivy. She ticked most of our “must have” boxes and arrangements were made to go and get her from Nottingham.

    Having spent her life so far as a delivery van being abused by careless drivers she was in dire need of some tender loving care. So with love and blind naive optimism we began her transformation.
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