New Parents, a Small Baby and a Van - blog 1
Jimmi:
Since before moving to the UK in March of 2004, I'd always pictured myself at some point, in a van, on the open road seeing all of Europe. I've been lucky enough in that time to take numerous city breaks, as well as many road trips but never had the chance to really live the ambition to do it as I'd imagined all those years ago; with no job, no house, no worries. But never did I, an Aussie living in London for going on 13 years, think I'd be living this dream with the love of my life Jade, a Smoggie (translation: from Middlesbrough in the north east of England, not to be confused with a Geordie or Maccam) and the gift of a new son, Séamus B. Nolan, who as I write this currently sit in front of me, both nodding off each after a feed at around 11.30am in early September 2016 in a campsite in Luxembourg City.
It's been interesting over the past couple of months to gauge friends, family and colleagues’ reaction to seeing the world with such a new baby, some totally supportive, perhaps deep down skeptical (I said perhaps!), and the rest flat out frankly voicing the craziness of our endeavour. And I can't lie, there have been challenges already, only 2 weeks into our trip, but it is so wonderful to be able to share this life ambition with two of the greatest humans ever that I love so dearly.
To give you some further context about this blog, I guess it is more of a journal of our trip so we can look back at it in years to come, as well as share our adventure with friends and family, which both Jade and I (and Séamus!) will contribute to. It is also a travelling guide of the places we visit and experiences we have, and we’ll share some tips about what it’s like to travel the world with an infant and what you can do to make it work; but with a caveat that everybody and everybody’s babies are different, it’s just what worked for us!
Until now we’ve read blogs from those who have travelled with older babies than ours, but have really offered some great advice that we’ve certainly taken on board in preparing for this trip. Some of our favourites we suggest you check out if you’re looking to travel or go backpacking with a baby:
Starting Mileage - 239,364 kms
Two weeks ago today we headed off on our trip, leaving the sleepy suburbia of East Molesey in Surrey (UK), our home since just before Séamus was born, with our incredibly generous friends Ange, Toby and 1 year old son JJ. After a very testing week with our boy, suffering from a mixture of colic and reflux, we frantically packed up our lives, and loaded the chaos into van.
Bearsted, Kent, UK - 86.5 kms
New Mileage - 239,449.6 kms
We then headed east to Bearsted in Kent, to visit our good friend Nigel and his 3 kids and partner Andrea at their pub The Bell Inn for a brief overnight stay, as well as a quick cup of tea with Susan, the kids mother and partner Kerry. A 3 piece band called the Mofo’s were playing rock covers, who played an impressive 2.5 hours with no break! I blame the pub landlord - what a slave driver. (Cheers for having us Nigel, don’t expect me to play that long without a break next time though!)
Eridge, Kent, UK - 43 kms
Total journey - 129.5 kms
New mileage - 239,492.6 kms
Then back to the country, to Eridge near Tunbridge Wells, for a few relaxing days with our our friends Andrew and Bekah. It was also good opportunity to try and get some last minute things done to the van, including fitting a solar panel to the roof so that we can be self sufficient for up to 3 days without electricity or starting the engine. Few things get me more excited than renewable energy these days. Got nothing to do with my age or recently becoming a dad I'm sure. Special thanks to Andrew who essentially did all the work while I supervised, and the lovely plant with woven hanging basket that Bekah made us as farewell travelling gift.
Newhaven Port, UK - 50 kms
Total journey - 189.5 kms
New Mileage - 239,542.6 kms
Dieppe Port, France - 129.9 kms
Total journey - 319.4 kms
New mileage - 239, 862 kms
So then finally, we headed to Newhaven port, not far from Brighton off the south coast of England, bound for Dieppe in Normandy in France, for the first leg of our adventure.
The Newhaven-Dieppe ferry is much longer than the Calais and Dunkirk connections, but it is by far the least amount of hassle. It was the beginning of the final week of the summer holidays before school started again, and there was literally no queue whatsoever at immigration and waited only 20 mins to board. The ferry itself was much quieter than the other ferrys as well, and was by far the cheapest. When you arrive in Dieppe you are in Normandy, and are actually closer to Paris than Calais and Dunkirk. The only drawback is that it definitely takes longer than the other ferrys at 3.5 hours. But when you’re not in a hurry like us, who cares. Have a beer. Eat something. Watch the sunset. Lovely.
Ouistreham/Calvados/Bayeux/Arromanches les Bains, Normandie, France. 205 kms
Total journey - 524.4 kms
New mileage - 240,386.4 kms
I never knew too much about the significance of the landing of the Allied forces of forming the western front on the Normandy beaches on D-Day during WWII, but over the few days that spent there we really felt the power of coming to terms with its historical significance. The countless memorials everywhere, dedicated to all those who fought both German and Allied soldiers alike, and has continued as we've travelled past Paris to the Champagne region, to where we are now in Luxembourg and no doubt as we travel further east. We wanted to see the American Cemetery off Omaha Beach, as a friend had told me the sheer scale of the half a mile of burials is incredibly moving, but unfortunately was just too far to travel for one day for our 9 week old son in our Frank (by the way Frank is the inherited name of our campervan. He really does look like a Frank you have to admit.)
We did however visit the British & Commonwealth War Cemetery & Memorial in Calvados not far from Bayeux. After reading as few as 4 gravestones, you can't help but be overcome with overwhelming grief and channel a fraction of the emotion of what these brave soldiers experienced. But the most moving of all are the inscriptions that of the unknown soldiers, 'Known only unto God.' What did this soldier go through in their dying minutes and hours? Why weren't his dog tags found to identify them? How real are story lines such as Don Draper from Mad Men taking the identities of others in war? Whatever the story, the reality is deeply saddening to think that they could not even be recognised in exchange of their life.
After a deeply moving afternoon we feasted on a seafood lunch in Arromanches-les-Bains off Gold Beach. With the usual annoying ‘sorry we’re closed after 2.30pm for lunch’ you seem to get everywhere in France, while every retail store in the country is already closed, we found ‘Brasserie Au 6 Juin’ (http://www.au-6-juin.com/) which I highly recommend for an amazing seafood platter for just 18 euros, friendly staff and atmosphere. Jade had the moules and frites - such a KO combo of deliciousness the French & neighbouring Belgians do so well.
Camping Tip numéro un:
A final note about our campsite in Ouistreham, we learnt do some research before staying anyway where people actually live. It’s a sure way not to feel welcome when effectively you are pitching between 2 caravans on stilts on their front lawn! After all, the feeling of being on holiday is about being with other people on holiday.
Here ends our first blog. We are playing catch up at the moment as we get to grips of how to do things, but will be up to date soon then add to our blog regularly in real-ish time.
Comments
Post a Comment