That\u2019s enough for now, let\u2019s get to the answers\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What did we forget to bring?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Nothing really. We could do with a colander and a bigger chopping board, but that\u2019s about it. We\u2019ve done nearly 10,000 miles in the van since we bought it, so we\u2019ve figured out the basics by now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I was wishing I\u2019d brought a nylon trouser belt, but my leather jeans belt is filling in fine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019re thinking it might be good to have a bigger mat for the awning space and we\u2019ve looked at some electric grills for cooking outside, but nothing essential.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The bigger question is the next one really\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What have we brought we shouldn\u2019t have?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Not a biggie either really, but I brought an extra rucksack that I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll use (Sue goes out with a 10L rucksack and I have a 15L camera rucksack that we carry each day).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I brought three camera lenses with me and I pondered long and hard over which to bring. I was just going to bring the 100-500mm and the 24-105 f4, but I chucked in the 24-240 at the last minute and it\u2019s that one that I\u2019m using the most. 10 days in and I\u2019m wishing I\u2019d left the 24-105 at home (which is odd because that\u2019s the one I use the most at home).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Space is at a real premium on a long trip like this one in such a small van, so extra crap lying around is as bad as forgetting something – you can always buy the thing you\u2019ve forgotten, but not really an option to throw away a \u00a31,000 lens I\u2019m not using!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What have we left behind while on the trip?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Well, nothing at the moment. Though we very nearly left my laptop at Toms\u2026 thanks for spotting that as we were rolling down the drive Arri!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How\u2019s the data holding up?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ok\u2026 ish!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sue is almost out of her monthly 20GB. That disappeared really quickly and we don\u2019t know why. It renews on the 22nd but we\u2019ll probably need to buy more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My 50GB per month is holding up. I\u2019m 7 days into this month\u2019s allowance and have use 4.5GB\u2026 about 10%. That\u2019s working out fine, but I\u2019m using WiFi whenever we come across it. 50GB is the max that EE allows in a month, so I won\u2019t be able to buy any more if it goes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
We\u2019ll have to use a data SIM service or a burner SIM if we run out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How are we finding places to stay?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
We use a combination of the Park4Night app and web searches. We tend to find sites we like more with Park4Night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s your breakfast and dinner?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Mostly the same as recently at home\u2026 scrambled eggs and ham for me and yoghurt and a banana for Sue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dinner is usually salad and chicken or salad and sausages. It\u2019s tough on a Paleo-Keto diet! \ud83e\udd23<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019ve only had a couple of really warm nights but Sue keeps the windows open downstairs and I have a swamp cooler and the vents open upstairs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If the opposite happens and we\u2019re<\/p>\n\n\n\n Cold, then we have a diesel heater as part of the California kit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Usually we have the eyes (wrap around) on the windscreen and the awning out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If it\u2019s really cold or hot then we put the wrap-around around the pop-up too (silver side out if the sun is going to hit the van).<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019m rocking a three tier setup \ud83e\udd23<\/p>\n\n\n\n Absolutely! It\u2019s a bit full on, but we\u2019ll probably try and slow the pace from now on.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019ve had a few questions come in after people have read the blog, so in the spirit of this blog (that\u2019s \u201cover sharing\u201d in case you missed it) here\u2019s the questions, and then the answers – if you\u2019re a pictures person then this post isn\u2019t for you! \ud83e\udd23 That\u2019s enough for now, let\u2019s get to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8926,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[53,52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8884","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2024-summer-holiday-to-greece","category-travel"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5313-1.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8yl38-2ji","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8884","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8884"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8884\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8938,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8884\/revisions\/8938"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8926"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8884"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8884"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8884"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5353.jpg\")
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_5309.jpg\")
How are we staying cool at night?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do we configure the van when we pitch?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/purplemeanie.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/img_2471-1.jpg\")
What camera gear are you using?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\n
Are we enjoying it?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n