Vanlife

I myself have long yearned for adventures throughout my youth and adult life. I embarked on backpacking tours and later off-road adventures in Thailand and Laos, drove the Trans-Africa route along the western route, and shipped my vehicle to South America, where I traveled alone for six months. I spent many weeks in Iceland and explored the southeastern part of Europe alone for two months. As group travel felt too sheltered to me, I always undertook all my journeys with vehicles, with just a single vehicle - often alone, sometimes with a friend, and occasionally with my respective partner. In my travel life, I can still count the visits to campsites on one hand - usually, I was always wild camping , meaning I stood alone somewhere in nature at night. For those who think that having a second vehicle makes no difference - the sense of security at night when someone approaches the vehicle at night is a different story altogether. I love the connection with nature, the tranquility, and sec...

In the wrong place at the wrong time - pure adrenaline

In April/May 2022 we were on the road in Andalusia for 2.5 weeks. One of our more intense experiences occurred while wild camping - something that really got under our skin. In the last third of our journey, we reached Cabo De Gata, on the recommendation of our research queen and also on the recommendation of Juan, an employee of a hotel in Seville. The last kilometres of the journey were quite desolate, endless vegetable fields covered with fabric roofs, unusually littered roadsides - and then one of the most unadorned places "Cabo de Gata" did not really invite us to linger. But we stopped at the restaurant "Goleta Cabo de Gata" and had an extremely delicious lunch, I had mussels and then swordfish steaks on the table - both exceptionally tasty. On arrival, we had already marked a branching track in the sat nav, which, according to satellite image research, led directly to the beach, between Almeria and Cabo de Gata. After lunch, we ploughed about 1-2 km along ...

Off-Road Navigation Made Easy: How to Plan Your Adventure

Before every Off-Road Adventure, the same big challenge awaits: Planning and Navigation! The perfect app for planning and navigating off-road adventures just doesn’t exist! Although there are plenty of usable apps, the learning curve is often only worth it for commercial tour operators. As a traveler and overlanding enthusiast, I’d rather spend my rare free time (especially as a new dad!) outdoors or behind the wheel instead of spending late nights diving into route planning or learning complex navigation apps. Of course, we could just opt for pre-made roadbooks from MDMOT, 4x4Roadbooks, or Pistenkuh, or book a guided off-road tour, such as one of the sociable events offered by Five-Mountains. Since we prefer solitude and remote nature, though, pre-planned tours or group trips aren’t ideal for us. They tend to lack that touch of adventure—like the uncertainty of whether our vehicle can handle the route—and shared spots can sometimes mean crowds, noise, or litter. So, if you’re like us—...

World trip / sabbatical - what is the ideal age?

What is the best age for starting an world trip or sabbatical in our life? What is the ideal age for a world trip? This question has reached me from all age groups and even parents have asked me this regarding their children's travel plans. I think anything up to a year can be done without a major impact. As with the cost of a trip around the world, there is no one-size-fits-all answer. But there are some factors that you can consider. In my eyes there are two ideal time windows for a longer world trip: Directly after the end of training / studies up to an age of 26 and then again as a pensioner. Long-term travel in between has its own opportunity costs that are not only monetary. Not without reason most backpackers leave after their education high school graduation or completion of studies. Many still live at home or in a shared apartment/student apartment and it is easy to leave everything behind for some time. On a backpacker world trip you meet this age group therefore also mos...

Choosing the right vehicle for an extended trip

Which vehicle to take for a big trip around the world? This question occupies all travelers from time to time. Because the requirements change with you. We will show you here later already completed world trips done by a motorcycle, with an old VW Beetle with attached caravan trailer, vans, heavy modded 4x4 till the bigger trucks - nothing is impossible. In the depths of the Internet I also discovered this "Buyers Guide", which tries to break down the whole thing with a bit of humor and shows the options amazingly successful. What is the right vehicle for you has a lot to do with the road comfort and the living comfort you want on your journey. And the amount of days you like to be able to stay self-sufficiency at remote spots. We will show you, that the availability of spare parts is helpful, will show you too that dhl is working worldwide as another way to handle that. Some buy a smaller touring vehicle after a while, others increase their size. There are enough examples ...