On The Road….Again. What We Did This Winter

Settling down in our motorhome after renting an apartment in San Jose near Almeria over winter, and I have to say my overriding feeling is of coming home. When we first moved into our compact and comfortable apartment there was a definite feeling of relief at the chance to expand a little and enjoy a little stability after four months on tour. Now, however, the opposite feels true. Compactifying our lives once again just feels right.

I’ve written before about the joys of clearing out and of shedding unnecessary stuff. Well, for us at least, moving back into our motorhome and knowing that almost all of our possessions are on board and available, all in their well-packed places, really intensifies that feeling. We know we could probably still get rid of a t-shirt here or perhaps a pair of running shorts there, but for the most part everything on board is in regular use. That’s a good feeling. And, of course, being mobile again has the added thrill of the unknown road ahead of us. Where will we go and what will we do when we get there?

Anyway, I didn’t set out intending to go on about clearing out. The point is that as I sit writing these words, looking out of the window on the Mediterranean Sea and knowing that in 10 seconds I could turn this chair into a driving seat and be on my way, is a great feeling. And we're also fully powered now with some extra solar on the roof, an extra leisure battery and a 1200W inverter so we can run our NutriBullet in the camper whenever we like. Big thank you to Hispavan for doing such a great installation.

Not that we won’t be slightly sad to say farewell to San Jose for the fourth time in as many years. Our three months here have been good months, full of both familiar and new experiences. In no particular order, we celebrated a fun Christmas and New Year with Esther’s parents who were also here at the same time. We’ve been visited by many friends passing through, people we had met on the road these past four years and who it has been a pleasure to spend time with again. We’ve been free diving, hiking, trail running, paddling and cycling many times, mostly on familiar routes that we have done before but also enjoying a few new trails that we had only heard about, such as the wonderful coastal path between Las Negras and Aqua Amarga. We have been regularly attending a yoga class, which I will write more about in the future. I also visited the UK for a week way back in December and we even published our first travel book! There was also another, thankfully brief, reminder of why we do our best to live in the moment and enjoy each day as I found myself hospitalised for a night in Almeria.

If anything, the only thing we didn’t really do enough of was sitting down and just looking at the sea from our apartment terrace. Although we had ‘rest’ in mind when we arrived, our intention being to hit the road at full speed when the time came, probably the opposite has turned out to be true. It’s now that we are back in the van that we can really slow down again.

San Jose and the apartment has also been a great experience for the dogs. We’ve really refined their routine and needs further during our stay, as I wrote about in my previous post, so that we can spend more time enjoying and playing with them rather than always worrying who needs the toilet. Again, although the apartment was fantastic, getting back into a smaller space and seeing them all now sleeping within 2 metres of me right now is a lovely feeling. It feels much more ‘together’.

And, speaking of togetherness, San Jose has also involved lots of special reunion walks with one of the gang's other sisters, Jessie. Walking them all together on some of the many beaches here has been lots of fun, plus other reunions with other folks in San Jose who were supporting us at the time the pups were born.

So, here we are. We don’t know exactly where we are going. Moving slowly is our aim, hopefully driving only short distances so that we can continue with our usual van-life routine as we go along.

Here are a few of my favourite pictures of our time in San Jose this winter. And a huge thank you once again to H.M.S for looking after us so well and providing such a lovely apartment for us to rent.