Gemeente Blaricum

The last few days of our trip are spent in France, starting with a beautiful drive across the border. Mountains, sun and snow make up a perfect landscape. The last few days of our trip are a mix of long hours covering distance towards home and sight seeing a few places on the way.

There is one campsite where we stay a few nights: for the first time on our trip we actually give in to the slow pace of camping life and do nothing. And then nothing some more. Reading a book, playing a game, swimming in the pool AND river… before we started our trip we had imagined that there’d be a lot of these days as that’s how we remember camping with our families when we were kids, but as we went places the excitement of all there’s to see got to us. We have not stayed more than two nights anywhere else - which was never more than necessary for sightseeing and traveling on to the next amazing place to be. Not regretting this traveling style at all, it is pleasant to wind down and take it easy a little more.

One of the other stops is in Creysse, a small typical French village that makes one feel like you are stepping right into the Disney movie of Beauty and the Beast. This town is a familiar spot to Tim, who has gone camping here before when he was little. Just next to the scenic town is our camp site. We get to park our campervan right in front of the Dordogne river, adding to our peace of mind with its continuous sound of water flowing. A great spot! Following the Dordogne we continue to travel north the next day.

Tipped by our parents (in law) we make another noteworthy stop in a village called Collognes la Rouge. A name that means something: the whole town is built using red (rouge) sandstone. The combination of a well preserved historical town and the colour red gives it a bit of a magical vibe. It could have been inspiration for a Disney set, too!

We have experienced a couple of amazing weeks on the road. Being away together, reflecting on our past five years abroad, digesting an impactful emotional past year, exploring new places, appreciating the beauty of Europe, getting excited for living closer to family and finding a new home for ourselves in The Netherlands. I wouldn’t be able to call out what my favourite place of the trip was: it was the journey and variety that made this few weeks special.

We definitely found our hap-pea-ness with our green pod! Now that we’re safe and content back home, it’s time for a new chapter in our lives. Let’s go!Read more