It has been a while since my last entry, both in terms of actual time and distance as well as who we are as individuals (if that makes any sense). We ended up spending a year in India and Nepal on our gorgeous Royal Enfield motorcycle, surviving a massive earthquake. Our experience in that part of the world changed us. We grew a bit more, became a bit more sure of ourselves and how we are living our lives, and our experience gave us a thirst for more independence while moving around.
Fast forward a couple of years and we are now in Spain. We bought our van a year ago and spent 3 months living in it while traveling through Galicia (north west Spain) and exploring Portugal from north to south, which was an amazing experience, and spurred us on to thinking about living this way, long term.
Yesterday was our first day on the road again. As usual, we have no fixed schedule and will be taking it one day at a time. For us, this has been our travel style from day one, as has traveling on a tight budget. This time though, we aim to be in Sweden by midsummer, which falls at the end of June, so we need to adjust the pace at which we move (usually we are very laid back).
When we set off from Puzol, Valencia, it was the hottest part of a scorching day. After a long and cold winter, the weather in this part of Spain has improved tremendously so it was high time to pack up and get going again.
All packed up and ready to hit the road again!
Giving the van a good wash before setting off.
Since Rick has a job now, we are always mindful of setting aside some quiet time for him to concentrate on his projects. It takes some discipline to focus on work, especially when you are living on the road and have so many new things around you every day. We took it slow and our first stop was only about 50 kms north along the Mediterranean coast, Benicassim in Castellon. Since it’s off-season there were not too many tourists and the beach was nice and breezy. We ate our lunch, then while Rick worked for a while in the van, i took a walk along Benicassim’s long beach.
First stop, Benicassim beach for lunch.
Walking along the boardwalk in the quiet side of Benicassim beach.
Later, we decided to head further along the coast to the next town, Oropessa, where the massive holiday village of Marina D’Or is located. We found a parking spot in between the town and the holiday village right opposite the beach and were treated to the beautiful sight of the full moon rising from the Mediterranean.
Our parking spot for the night, opposite the beach in Oropessa.
Full moon rising from the Mediterranean sea.
We had a fairly good night’s rest, although it takes some time to get used to sleeping in a new environment, sometimes in places where there are people walking by outside. We had breakfast in a small cafe on the beachfront close to where we were parked for the night then made our way towards Tarragona, where our friends Juan Carlos and Esther have a house.
A shady spot in the park surrounding the Ermita de San Cristofol (San Crostofol Chapel) in El Perello, where we took a break from the road.
Rick, taking the opportunity to review some work under a massive pine tree.
Lunch under the trees.
We knew it would take some time to adjust back to living in the van, but so far, it looks like we have gotten off to a good start. It feels great to finally be back on the road, deciding our next destination as we go along, day by day, waking up to a new world outside our windows every morning.
Anita's Wanderings 