How long

For exactly one year we took a very, very long road trip.

A road trip that leads us along the ‘Road Less Travelled’ – which is by far my favorite way to travel as we meandered along many back roads, through lovely villages.

With Explorason by my side as the perfect traveling companion, we set off.  He allows me to stop and take photographs (my passion), have toilet breaks as needed, pop in and out of accommodation to find the nicest place at a great price, and pull over at an idyllic spot for a picnic lunch.

His favorite quote to me was “keep your eyes on the bumps, not on the beauty“.  Many of the back roads were filled with potholes, yet the beauty of the scenery around us was an easy distraction.

Getting started

We started in the UK and managed to see a lot of England, Scotland and Wales before boarding the Ferry to France.

It was relatively easy to buy the vehicle, and we registered it in the UK.  Then after a lot of phone calls and emails, we managed to get an insurance cover for it as Australians taking a UK vehicle to Europe, Eastern Europe, and Turkey.  We even managed to buy the Green Slip for Eastern European countries each time we came to the border (as a few countries were not included on the main insurance).

Next came preparing the Right-Hand Drive vehicle to be as good as a Left Hand Drive vehicle.  With a few easy modifications, and checking each countries laws, this was an easy feat.

And we were off, driving around Europe with incredible freedom.

I found the driving really, really easy most of the time – apart from Albanian roads which were in dreadful condition, and these roads even managed to disappear or abruptly end at no notice! But as Explorason would remind me again with his words to “keep your eyes on the bumps, not on the beauty“.

Maintenance

With some expected and unexpected maintenance and repairs, we kept going for the whole 12 months – mind you, the 12 months was not planned, but life often ends up very differently than we all plan.

Read our article here, and find out the pros and cons of owning your own vehicle for long-term travel.

Weather

Things like seasonal changes take a bit of getting used to…

… An hour after we fitted the car with ‘winter tires’ we hit a major snowstorm, and I felt confident to drive.

(We had earlier ‘winterized the car including snow chains).

Read about it here

http://www.discavo.com/travel-magazine/travel-with-kids-road-trip

This is a detailed article, and well worth the read. CLICK HERE TO READ it on the Discavo website.

Apart from buying this vehicle, we have also had long and short-term vehicle hire in Fiji, several different hire vehicles in USA, Ireland, Wales, England, and Uganda.

We also bought a motorbike in Brazil and hired one in Fiji too.

Share this article with your friends, family, and anyone you know considering traveling for a long period of time overseas.

http://www.discavo.com/travel-magazine/travel-with-kids-road-trip