Decision time - are we keeping the camper van or will we sell it? Camper Van Escapades 2026 - Part III
A daily diary of our travels in Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France, and the UK in May and June 2026 to bore everyone rigid! Well, hopefully not...
Please note - all the photos are my own. And apologies to those who are weird kind enough to enjoy my voiceovers as logistics mean that I can’t include one today - perhaps I can add it in a couple of weeks. Maybe.
And it’s over… We’re home from our big camper van trip for 2026. And our house seems vast in comparison to living in the van.
Facts & Figures
We drove (mostly Kim, but some by me) 4,175 km i.e. 2,594 miles.
We were away from home for 2 weeks, 6 days, 1 hour, and 16 minutes.
We spent 13 of the 19 nights in the van - more nights than we did all of last year put together.
We travelled through 6 countries - our home country of Denmark, plus Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, France, and UK.
We stayed in a total of 12 different locations - in date order - Flensburg (Germany), Bremen (Germany), Gistel (Belgium), Wheathampstead (UK), St Ives (UK), Ely (UK), Bedale (UK), Durridge Bay (UK), Bamburgh Castle (UK), York (UK), Wheathampstead (UK) - again, Münster (Germany), and Gråsten (Denmark).
The most we paid for a pitch, by far, was £68 in York and four places were free - including two that were the drives in front of the houses of friends and family.
While we were away I walked 210,033 steps. From a low of 2,612 steps on a day when we were hammering along the highway, to a maximum of 21,759 when we were out and about enjoying the beauty of Northumberland. So I still averaged around 10,500 steps a day during the trip.
THE Question
As some of you know we took possession of the van on 10th April 2025. The idea popped up on a Friday night and by Monday afternoon we’d bought it. Talk about jumping in with both feet.
But over the past year we’ve asked ourselves multiple time whether we really are camper van people? Before we left home for this trip we were teetering on the edge of selling it. It’s a lot of money to have sitting inanimate on the drive for much of the year. Plus it’s not a cheap hobby when it comes to insurance, road tax (as much as a smallish house here in Denmark), costs for a GPS tracker for the insurance, and other mandatory memberships and running costs. It runs on diesel - do I need to say more with current fuel prices?!
So this trip was crunch time. When we got home we had to decide. Was camper vanning for us? Or were we going to sell it?
And no, I’m not going to tell you the answer right now, you’ll have to read on. Sorry, not sorry!
Let’s start with a few of our favorite things when it comes to travelling and living in a camper van.
Kims Favorite Things
1. He gets to spend more quality time with me (and Evie dog).
2. He loved exploring new places that he hadn’t been to before - both the good ones and the bad ones - and enjoyed seeing the world close-up, a very different perspective compared to staying in a hotel. He felt that we could be our own tourist guides (well that was mostly yours truly), choosing what to do and where to go.
2 1/2. He thought it was nice to feel physically tired at the end of each day. Living in the van is definitely more taxing than living in a house and all that fresh air each day also contributed to us happily keeling over each evening.
3. He enjoyed living a simpler life. Living in a van made him realize just how little you actually need to be happy.
And finally what surprised him the most? How easy it was to drive on the wrong side of the road! He conquered his long-term anxiety about driving in the UK and looked like a pro who’d been doing it for years.
Then again I’m still counting myself as the ‘supremely qualified camper van driver’ as I successfully navigated the Magic Roundabout in Hemel Hempstead (UK)! If you’re not a Brit you won’t know of this version of hell on earth that consists of six mini-roundabouts positioned in a circle around one huge roundabout. BUT I couldn’t reverse the van if my life depended on it!
My Favorite Things
1. I loved the fact that not only did I lose track of days, but also of time itself. By the end of the trip I didn’t even bother to look at my watch. And most importantly I felt that I was truly getting away from it ‘all’.
When I told Kim he asked what was the ‘all’ was that I was trying to get away from? It’s taken me a few days, and actually arriving back home, to work it out. For the first time in three and a half years I was completely away from the memories that still invade my thoughts daily of getting sick, nearly dying, and then spending months recovering. I went days at a time in the van without even thinking about it.
There are so many triggers for those memories in our house. Jumping out of bed at 4am and running to our bathroom to throw up (still didn’t make it in time). Leaving the next night, walking into the garage, to head to the Emergency Room - not knowing I wouldn’t be back the following day and almost didn’t come back at all. Coming home two weeks later to an alien world that I no longer recognized and a face I didn’t recognize in the bathroom mirror! I could go on, but that’s plenty.
In the van I found peace. I found a sanctuary. And it was like a calming balm for my mind.
2. Life is slower in the van, and simpler as Kim said. I enjoyed doing the mundane things - even washing up by hand!
3. And I adored waking early (often around 5am) to enjoy the peace of the morning just as it was getting light. We seemed to be so much closer to nature. Listening to the rain on the roof. Feeling the slight breeze on my skin that would blow through the vans open windows. We made so many wonderful memories on this trip.
And of course I have to add all the things Kim mentioned as his favorites too.
Finally what surprised me the most? The fact that by the end of the trip the van felt like a real home. I got all choked up when I said that to Kim.
THE Decision
So will we keep the camper van?
Drum roll please….
… (suspenseful music)
… (suspenseful music)
… (more suspenseful music)
... (and now you’re bloody bored and probably yelling “Get on with it woman!”)
The answer is … YES!
But I just need to know. When are we going and where are we going next?
I’ll be back next week with something total different, you are free to breathe a sigh of relief that I’m done with camper van tales (for now!) and I’ll be sharing the true story of how Kim and I met, and almost didn’t...
Below you’ll find a link to each original note that I’ve posted each day during the third week of our trip that outlines what we’ve been up to. I’d love it if you’d add a like and a comment on the notes themselves. Thanks in advance!
Day 15 - June 5, 2026 - York to Wheathampstead, UK (306km)
Day 16 - June 6, 2026 - Wheathampstead (0km)
Day 17 - June 7, 2026 - Wheathampstead to Folkestone, Kent (168km)
Day 18 - June 8, 2026 - Folkestone, UK to Münster, Germany via LeShuttle (518km excl. tunnel)
Day 19 - June 9, 2026 - Münster, Germany to Lærkelunden Camping, Gråsten, Denmark (467km)
(And the photo below is 100% real and NOT AI enhanced in any way.)
Day 20 - June 10, 2026 - Lærkelunden Camping, Gråsten to Home (315km)
If you missed them here are Part I (days 1 to 7) and Part II (days 8 to 14) in this series of Camper Van Escapades 2026…
Thank you for reading along. If you liked this post then I’d love it if you would click on the heart and add a comment about what resonated for you – it means a lot to me to hear from each and every one of you.
In case you missed it, I published my book - Hold My Hand: A Journey Back to Life - for FREE here on Substack last year. If you’d like to read it then you can find each chapter by clicking HERE and you’ll go directly to the webpage dedicated to the book.
If you would also be kind enough to share it I would be eternally grateful as it will help more people learn about these deadly infections. Maybe one day that knowledge will save a life.
Thank you!
I am so happy you guys are keeping it. This is so exiting, so many adventures ahead. This is life goal for me.
You’re having wonderful adventures, which is the best reason to keep it.
My sister’s selling hers after four years, because her situation’s changed and she knows she won’t have the chance to use it as much. So now the cons outweigh the pros. But what memorable travels she and her husband have had. They have no regrets.