#vanlife with baby: Our beginnings in Portugal

Here we are off for a new adventure in new territories but above all, with a new being: baby Rafiki. His first real trip, if we don't count southern Africa last winter when he was half-embryo, half-fetus in my womb. This time, with our 4-month-old toothless little guy, we are opting for a new way of traveling; we rented a campervan for almost 2 months, for excessive use of the hashtag #vanlife but also to walk around with our house on our back “snail style” at all times. So we find ourselves living (drinking/eating/sleeping/driving) in 7 square meters for the next few weeks. A poor surface area if we remember that not so long ago, we shopped for a condo of at least 900 square feet to be comfortable. Ha. Ha. Ha. Beautiful irony. No need to convert from the metric system to English dimensions, we understand that it's small in titi. It requires maximum organization for everything! Example: to sleep you lay down the bench, remove the headrests, lay down, pull, slide, pull again, push, clip. If you want to have access to the utensils then you lift, push, pull and unclip. We re-layer, re-slide and re-clip to cook. We re-lift, re-push and re-unclip to put the little one to bed. Ride upside down to do the dishes, the other side if you take the road, change the diaper go backwards and don't hit your head... AHHH! Ok I admit, it’s a challenge. #vanlife seems “glam” on Instagram, but in real life it’s not the same game . Faque, clip, push, pull the seat, I have to write the blog.

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Our arrival was not easy, with a baby who brought a pretty stomach bug as a souvenir from Canada, who fell out of bed and experienced his first plum on his forehead, followed by a short visit to the hospital and his 2 parents who are having a hell of a night due to common indigestion. In a place without toilets... We won't go any further here. All that, the first 3 days. WOW! Thank you, cheap DÃO wine at €1.99, you really relieved us! Now let's talk about Portugal.

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Lisbon, Sintra, Cascais

We begin our tour of the Lisbon area in Guincho, in the Cascais region. A superb beach bordered by cliffs where the Atlantic Ocean collides aggressively. Our first “wildcamping” will be here and we will nickname this place “home”. So we slept more than once “at home” with sublime #vanlife views to explore the surrounding area.

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Portugal, to date, is: pretty buildings lined with colorful ceramics, with pretty little stylish balconies, decorated with pretty little flowers, in pretty little narrow and winding streets and alleys too steep for the stroller. Gelatos, coffees and too many natas , cod prepared in a thousand ways, frightening seasides and above all, pretty castles and palaces. It’s pretty, I tell you! We first discover Sintra and the sumptuous Da Pena Palace, which belonged to the Chepasqui king in Chepasquelleyear, no problem because it really is the most beautiful and I think I'm a princess. We pass through the pretty town of Cascais with its streets too tight for our #vanlife and we taste the best natas in Lisbon, it seems, in Belém. A delight!

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Some photos of Lisbon and surroundings:

The center: Nazaré & Peniche

Before going down towards the south and the sun, we decide to neglect the rest of Lisbon, due to lack of space and ease of wandering there in #vanlife , to take a small detour towards the north to observe the biggest waves of the world in Nazaré.

We end up in a magnificent little fishing town with its upper and lower towns, nestled at the foot of the highest cliff in Portugal. We, #vanlifeux , have taken up residence at the top of this cliff. Well, just before going to sleep, I “pushed the female dog” as they say and asked JP to move the campervan further from the edge. Vertigo made me feel dizzy every time I looked out the window and my slightly paranoid mind was afraid that someone would push us down… OO

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Although the rain was there during these days of exploration in the north-central part of the country, we discovered an astonishing surfing culture there. In an ocean where my big toe turned blue at the mere contact of the water, with waves ready to swallow them whole, I don't know how surfers do it. Two world competitions were taking place in the region, inviting fans to wait impatiently for Mother Nature to give them the craziest “swells” to brave. In the meantime, a quick detour to Peniche and we eat some small dried fish while watching the waves from (very!) far away.

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Nazaré and surroundings:

Algarve: Lagos, Faro, Tavira and all that

We arrive in the south where the sun shines, the birds laugh, the bees sing… you know the rest. We discover the sublime rock formations of the southern coast of Portugal and its secret caves, as seen in the books. This magical landscape reminds us of the small beaches of Bali and its turquoise waters, but 6 hours by plane rather than 30. It's magnificent! Rafael takes his first boat trip and visits his first beaches. Although he didn't seem to really understand what was happening, his best memory will be of suckling our fingers salty with sea water. And the temperature of the water here? Too cold to wade in, but perfect for a dip!

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We visit Lagos and the Ponta De Piedade caves by boat and sunbathe on the Camilo and Dona Ana beaches. Small beaches of golden sand nestled between large striated rocks, scratched and reddened by sea water. We then head towards Benagil where we will pass by Cavoeiro for a coffee and finish above Cavalho beach to sleep. Our most beautiful #vanlife landscape to date ❤️, with sunset on the right, sunrise on the left, on the cliffside. Again, not too close please!

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We slowly begin to head east where we will cross the border into Spain in a few days. On the way we visit Do Vau beach and the sublime Marinha. One of the most beautiful beaches in the country, they say. TRUE! We will sleep near there once again perched on our rocks to contemplate the landscapes. We head towards Faro, paying a quick visit to Albufeira for a photo and a diaper change. We stroll through the Olhão market and end Portugal in Tavira, a small, ultra-quiet town not yet too invaded by tourism and cossin shops. I know all these names don't mean anything to you but it will help us remember them! No need to go into detail here, it's fabulous everywhere! From one rocky beach to another rocky beach, it's the same, but each time it is even more impressive than the last.

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Besides eating dried fish and chouriço, in any case we treat ourselves to the postcard landscapes. In summary, in the Algarve, we laze on the beaches, we stroll through the old towns, gelato in hand, we hike on the most beautiful cliffs of the southern coast of Europe and we camp in front of the most beautiful sunsets. Without forgetting the favorite time of the day in JP, the coffee & pasta break on the small neighborhood terraces, surrounded by charming old Portuguese women with no chattering teeth.

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The #vanlife <<

Now that we've gotten the hang of our camper and have become pros at clip-unclip-push-pull-lift the seat, we're having fun. It took us a few days before we found our comfort with #vanlife . As mentioned at the top, it seems cool on Instagram and in travel blogs but in real life, being confined to 7 square meters without a shower or toilet, storing toothbrushes with pans and only having one kitchen knife for cutting vegetables, it's voluntary simplicity at the elite level. Let’s just say I was getting tired of hitting my head everywhere. But like I said, now that we're well established, we're having fun! Living on the road is exciting: we make it our daily mission to find THE most beautiful spot for dinner, THE most beautiful panoramic view for an aperitif, and THE most peaceful and secure waterfront to sleep. We were only 3 nights at a campsite in 2 weeks to hook up and shower. We don't judge here, we're dirty but we love each other. The rest of the time, we camp everywhere, where it's flat and not too sandy.

In #vanlife , we can easily see the country and even more because our mobility is our main asset. It allows us to get out of the tourist centers and immerse ourselves a little more in Portuguese life, because traveling only in our snail, we sometimes feel a little disconnected from the people and the culture. On the other hand, it creates a nice little family bubble for us that is not unpleasant at all!

We who thought we were moving at a slower pace this trip, especially with a baby, well #vanlife encourages the opposite: we are always on the move. Impossible to settle down for a few days, our bed is our locomotive for discovering the cities. And when we ride, baby takes a nap. So everyone is happy!!

A wild camping roadtrip, rudimentary and (almost!) free, in Europe with our little plump who behaves wonderfully in his nomadic life, it's happiness!

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Our “cliché” photos of #vanlifeux :

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A little anecdote to finish... you think our colorful yellow van with the most beautiful quote in the world is really cool, don't you? Well that's the last time you see her. If you know JP's travels and his history with wheeled and powered contraptions, you knew it was only a matter of time before something happened. We were stopped by the GNR, the type of Portuguese RCMP, because our van was not “compliant” in terms of papers… blah blah long flat story, the big bad policeman who played 007 gave us less than 12 hours to change vehicles. Result? A wasted day fucking around (first time I've written this word, it's not bad!), moving out of the house and now we have a big gray pocket van. Instant devaluation of #vanlife 😫.

Next post, España!!!