Over the last four months we have spent 350 hours in the car, driving 11,328 miles, through 16 countries, stopping off at over 45 campsites!

We will no longer have to endure four minute luke warm showers, or drink horrible European milk! Jake will no longer be snoring and farting from underneath us, and we will no longer be sleeping on a wonky, squeaky bed! We won’t miss the mozzie bites or cleaning out the toilet…but we will miss the campsite quirks, the Carrefours, the cheap fuel and booze, the random radio stations, meeting new people and visiting new places. We really will miss living in our little den of a caravan, it has become our home.

Jake has learn’t the art of reversing in the caravan, and he’s got use to his food only being a few feet from his bed, which is probably why he’s put on 3kg since we’ve been away! He’s loved waking up, jumping out of the caravan, having a morning roll about and going on lots of fun walks.

We have learnt so much about the countries we’ve visited, we have seen so much amazing art and architecture, and have had a history lesson of a lifetime…we’ve turned into proper culture vultures!

A few of our highlights: We loved Italy, the country was so interesting to drive around, the history was fascinating and the places we visited were so varied. Barcelona overwhelmed us, and the Sagrada Familia blew us away. Nothing could have prepared us for the awesomeness of the Swiss mountains and the unbelievably blue lakes. We loved the smaller cities of Zurich, Ljubljana, Luxembourg and Heidelberg, all with their quirks and hidden art worlds. The cragginess of Croatia was unexpected, their castles were amazing and the lakes and waterfalls were breathtaking. We loved visiting Trogir, Split and Sibenik, such charming cities with so much history. Bigger cities such as Berlin, Vienna, Copenhagen and Stockholm buzzed with creative life, we could happily live in any of these. There was something special about Budapest, it was unlike any other city. We loved the unplanned days when we stumbled upon places we hadn’t expected to see, such as the Palais Idéal, in Hauterives, Hundertwassers crazy buildings in Austria and the village of Vernazza in the beautiful Cinque Terre, which had recently been destroyed in a devastating flood. And… we were transported into art heaven at Denmarks Louisiana Museum of Modern Art.

Having visitors was a massive highlight of the trip. We had a drunken weekend in Rome with Marie-Ann and Pedro. Hats met us in Zagreb/Slovenia where we spent most of the time in or on a lake!! Ollie joined us in Berlin for a bit of a booze up and Mum & Dad met us in Copenhagen, where we had a fun few days seeing the sites of Denmark.

As the weeks past, without knowing it we slipped into our own roles which made the journey smooth going. Ben did all the driving and was head chef, he cooked amazing meals in the confines of the caravan and kept us well fed on the cheap! I was ‘route co-ordinator’, ‘researcher’ (!) and blog writer, along with being the morning dog walker and sarnie maker! Ben emptied the waste and filled up the water tank, and I washed our clothes every couple of weeks- it all worked so well!

But sadly it had to come to an end…so this is it…no more new places to discover, no more borders to cross, no more map reading, no more getting away with not washing for a few days (!) no more blog writing, no more attempting to speak another language, no more trying to understand another language, and no more drunken evenings in the caravan…well, until next time…!!