Nix European Drift

🚐 NIX EUROPEAN DRIFT – MAY 2026
Solo run across Europe in Vanilla.
France ➝ Swiss Alps ➝ Tuscany ➝ Croatia coast ➝ Bosnia & beyond.
Mountains, coastlines, quiet stops and total freedom.
No schedule… just the open road. 🌍✨ En savoir plus

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Nix European Drift Voyageur
Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina
15 mai, Italie ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Today’s wander took me into Portopiccolo on the Adriatic coast. 🇮🇹⚓️

It’s one of those places that feels half luxury marina, half film set. White limestone buildings built into the cliffs, yachts gently bobbing in the harbour, little bars tucked around the waterfront and that calm sea air rolling in from the Adriatic.

The strange thing is it looks completely private… like security should appear at any moment asking if you own a 40-foot yacht and a linen suit. But you can just stroll straight in with muddy trainers and a campervan parked up the road. 😄🚐

Sat by the marina with a drink watching the world drift past and thinking how mad this trip has been already. From Alpine tunnels and thunderstorms to places like this.

Not a bad way to spend a Friday afternoon

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Why Not?
15 mai, Italie ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
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Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina
15 mai, Italie ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
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Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina
15 mai, Italie ⋅ 🌧 13 °C
Currently hiding from the weather in Bar Inter after getting absolutely soaked through to the skin. 🌧️🍺

The rain outside is biblical, my clothes are slowly drying out, and this cold Alpirsbacher is doing sterling work for morale. Sometimes the best part of travelling isn’t the landmarks… it’s finding a warm bar at exactly the right moment. 🚐

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Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina
15 mai, Italie ⋅ 🌧 12 °C
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Duino Aurisina / Devin - Nabrežina
16 mai, Italie ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
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Krvavi Potok
16 mai, Slovénie ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C
Fuel stats for Vanilla ⛽🚐

* Total fuel: 55.11 litres
* Total cost: €95.56
* Price per litre: €1.734

Approx UK conversions 🇬🇧

* Total cost: ~£81.20
* Price per litre: ~£1.47
* Fuel bought: 12.12 UK gallons

Odometer: 20,270

That’s actually pretty decent pricing for Adriatic-side fuel at the moment. Vanilla’s basically drinking continental diesel like a retired lorry driver at an all-inclusive buffet.En savoir plus
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Voyageur£1.86 at Brocton
16/05/2026RépondreTraduire
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Nasirec
16 mai, Slovénie ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C
In Slovenia
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Brdce
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C
Italy/Slovenia Border

Brdcey. 🇸🇮➡️🇭🇷

One minute I was cruising through Slovenia with immaculate roads, tidy little villages and forests everywhere… the next I was rolling into Croatia without even slowing down properly. No passport checks, no drama, just a tiny sign at the roadside and suddenly another country added to the trip. Europe is brilliant for that. 🚐

It’s still slightly surreal driving a campervan from Stafford all the way to the Adriatic and casually crossing borders like you’re popping from Stafford into Cannock. The scenery around here is superb too — green hills, red-roofed houses, flashes of blue sea appearing in the distance and roads that just seem made for wandering.

After nearly 1800 miles, Vanilla is now officially in Croatia and looking very pleased with herself. 🇭🇷☀️En savoir plus
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Found out I need one of these in Croatia. The reception have loaned me one.

One of those little campervan lessons they never tell you about before you set off across Europe… Croatia uses different campsite electric hook-up sockets to a lot of the ones back home. 🇭🇷⚡🚐

After arriving at Camping Opatija in the rain looking slightly like a damp wandering nomad, I discovered my trusty hookup lead wasn’t going to fit. Thankfully the reception took pity on the soggy Englishman and loaned me this adapter. Absolute lifesavers. 😂

Not exactly the glamorous side of vanlife, but without this little blue gadget there’d have been no heating, no coffee, no fridge… and possibly no morale either. The glamorous Adriatic road trip temporarily came down to one man emotionally attached to a plug adaptor.En savoir plus
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Arrived at Camping Opatija on the Croatian Adriatic coast 🇭🇷🚐

What a location this is. Mountains behind me, the Adriatic just down the hill and that lovely warm Mediterranean atmosphere everywhere you look. Palm trees, sea air and little coastal towns scattered along the shoreline 🌊

The drive here was superb too — Italy into Slovenia and then into Croatia with dramatic tunnels, rocky hillsides and endless sea views appearing around the corners.

This feels like the point where the trip properly changes from “European road trip” into full Adriatic adventure mode heading south towards Split and Dubrovnik ✨

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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Storm clouds hanging over the Adriatic tonight as I arrived in Grad Opatija 🌧️🇭🇷
Red rooftops, tiny marinas and misty mountains everywhere you look. The weather might look dramatic, but somehow it just makes the whole place feel even more cinematic. One of those views where you stop for five minutes… and end up staring at it for half an hour with a coffee in hand. 🚐☕️En savoir plus
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Voyageur Cold Ožujsko on the Croatian coast while the clouds hang over the Adriatic like an old film set. 🍺🇭🇷 One of those little moments where absolutely nothing exciting is happening… yet somehow it feels like exactly where you’re supposed to be. Campervan parked up nearby, sea air drifting through the town, and a proper local lager in hand. Živjeli from Croatia. 🚐 :
16/05/2026RépondreTraduire
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Somewhere on the Adriatic coast, I appear to have stumbled across what can only be described as Eastern Europe’s answer to the Tate Modern. 🤣

A fenced-off sculpture garden proudly titled “Pissing Art” features three rather enthusiastic bronze figures mid-performance, all outside what looks like a perfectly normal family house. No ticket office. No velvet ropes. Just absolute commitment to the concept.

One of those moments on this trip where you slow the van down, do a double take, and immediately think: “Yep… I’m definitely not in Stafford anymore.” 🚐🌍En savoir plus
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
Tonight’s Croatian dinner: Orada (sea bream) with pomme frites and a side salad, looking out over the Adriatic. 🐟🌊

€20 — about £17.45 — which feels pretty decent for fresh fish, sea air, and me pretending I’m sophisticated rather than just a hungry bloke in a campervan somewhere on the Croatian coast. 🚐En savoir plus
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
Somewhere in Croatia I stumbled across what can only be described as the final boss of campervans. 🚛🌍

This is a proper expedition overland truck — the sort of machine built for crossing deserts, mountain ranges and countries most people can’t even point to on a map. Based on a heavy-duty 4x4 truck chassis, these rolling apartments are designed to live completely off-grid for weeks at a time.

Huge ground clearance, off-road tyres, external storage lockers, integrated awning, bike rack, insulated habitation box… and probably enough diesel, water and electrical power onboard to survive the apocalypse while still making an espresso. ☕⚡

You can immediately see the engineering mindset behind it. Everything is square, practical, durable and easy to repair. No unnecessary curves. No chrome nonsense. Just pure function. It looks ready to drive straight from the Adriatic coast into the Alps without even changing gear.

As impressive as it is though, there’s something reassuring about Vanilla being slightly more civilised. This thing looks like it could comfortably invade Belgium by teatime. 😅

Still… standing next to it makes you start mentally checking the lottery numbers.En savoir plus
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VoyageurWhen this left the campsite it struggled to get up the hill
17/05/2026RépondreTraduire
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C
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Grad Opatija
16 mai, Croatie ⋅ ⛅ 13 °C
🚐🇭🇷 FIND PENGUINS ENTRY — ADRIATIC ECONOMICS 🇭🇷🚐

Tonight I’m parked up in Ičići on the stunning Adriatic Sea and I’ve accidentally become an international financial analyst. 😂

There’s a campsite I used to use between Kingston upon Hull and Beverley when visiting the kids. Lovely owners and ideal for family visits.

But financially… Croatia is absolutely bodying Britain at the moment.

UK version:
💷 £25 a night
⚡ No toilets
⚡ No showers
⚡ Underneath enough electricity cables to recharge a Tesla by standing outside
🍺 Nearly £6 for ONE pint

Croatia version:
🇭🇷 €25 a night
🚿 Heated shower blocks
🚿 Spotless toilets
⚡ EHU included
🌅 Adriatic sunset included free of charge
🍺 €4 for ONE ENTIRE LITRE OF BEER

Now for the mathematics…

At today’s exchange rate:
💶 €25 = about £21.30

So Croatia is actually CHEAPER than the pylon field near Hull. 🤣

Beer maths gets even worse…

🇬🇧 Hull:
£6 a pint = roughly £10.56 per litre

🇭🇷 Croatia:
€4 a litre = about £3.40 per litre

Meaning UK pub beer is over THREE TIMES the price. 😂

In Britain:
“Would sir like another pint?”

In Croatia:
“Would sir like an entire reservoir of lager while overlooking the Adriatic for the price of half a sandwich meal deal?”

Honestly this whole trip is starting to feel like I’ve discovered a secret cheat code for life.

🍺
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Grad Opatija
17 mai, Croatie ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C
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