How We Travel

We are not “professional” campers, we are tourists and sightseers and the RV is an especially convenient way for us to travel and see the most for the least amount of money, and in the least amount of time. We arrive at the campsite in late afternoon or in the early evening, fix an easy supper, perhaps pop some popcorn, read novels, study guide books and maps of the area, then continue on our way after a good night’s sleep.

Some mornings we eat breakfast before we leave the camp, other times we have a piece of fruit as we leave, then stop for a late breakfast or an early lunch in some beautiful scenic spot. I try to park the RV so the view from our dining table is grandiose.

Lunch right under the Eifel Tower, within the arms of the Louvre, next to the Brandenburg Gate, in the shadow of Mont Blanc, next to the rail of a ship as we sailed the Adriatic from Italy to Greece, right below the Parthenon in Athens, near an ancient Roman theater in Gubbio, or next to the Roman Amphitheater in Pula — Ah, the convenience of the RV.

Is it worth it, you ask? Can you imagine camping at Chamonix, France at the foot of Mt. Blanc; in Fiesole, Italy, high over the Arno River Valley with the domes and towers of Florence spread out below; on an island in the Rhône River with the floodlit le Pont d’Avignon and the Popes’ Palace on the far riverbank; with le Mont St. Michel (northern France) out our window one night, the Rock of Gibraltar (southern Spain), or the Parthenon (in Athens) on another; next to the wall of the Crusades city of Aigues-Mortes, and the double wall of Carcassonne, France; on the bank of the River Seine in Paris, the Neckar at Heidelberg, the Vltava in Prague, the Rhein and the Mosel at Koblenz, and the Danube in Budapest; high above the Mediterranean Sea on the French or the Italian Riviera; on Lido island across the lagoon from Venice; along the Adriatic near Dubrovnik; and hundreds more. The excitement of visiting these spectacular destinations seems almost a dream.

Fortunately we have been able to travel with the idea that “… it has been here for many years, and if we miss it this time, it will still be here the next time we are in the area.”

For us the RV means:

• We are not campers, we travel in a Recreation Vehicle because
Our clothes are on a hanger.
There are goodies in the refrigerator.
We know who used the toilet last.

• Quiet — believe it or not, the campsites are quieter than the hotels where we have stayed. People gather and talk, children play ball, etc., but by dark all is quiet.

• Refrigerator — We can keep food and drinks cold, and even make ice-cubes. Ice is hard to find in Europe, but so necessary for Iced Tea, and Coca-Cola American style.

• Beds — we sleep better when we’re in the same bed night after night, and we are more comfortable with our own familiar pillow and blankets.

• Chemical toilet — very handy, nothing like a clean private restroom after hours of walking, and it beats going down a strange, cold, dark hall in the middle of the night.

• Hot water and Private Shower — We don't worry about clean floors, hot water and fresh towels, we have it all.

Sure, all these amenities are available a hotel of most any price, but in the RV everything is ours, and ours alone.

Reservations for nightly accommodations are never made, and when we leave a campsite in the morning, we often have no idea which country we will be in by evening.

But we do know it will be a delightful day.