Last year I thought that by this time things would be somehow normal. I was reading about the Spanish flu, and it lasted a little longer than a year, and that was a hundred years ago, so I was sure that with the advance in technology, it would be easier this time. Fast forward, here we are, more than a year later and with the same restrictions we had a year ago, regarding traveling.
As a person that has always loved traveling, specially to other countries, it is a bit of a bummer… or so I thought. There are constantly people traveling to Spain (where I am from) to discover amazing places, or to Germany (where I live) to visit its wonderful castles and lakes. Why shouldn’t I do the same? Why can’t we see in our own country what other people come here for?
“Traveling has changed, but not stopped”
We are used to take a plane, travel to another country and start our holidays. But there are more and safer ways to travel during this time.
The things that make us feel safe while traveling are: avoiding airports, crowded places and hotels, in other words, avoiding people. That is why we thought that traveling with a camper van and staying where we live, is one of the safest ways to explore “the world”.
Last week we had our second trip with a camper, as we don’t have one of our own (and are not planning to), we usually rent with Roadsufers. The prices are fair, it is like renting a car and a night of hotel together, with the freedom of moving around without a problem, sleeping everyday in a different place and having a restaurant in the back of your car.
So that’s what we did, in the middle of the pandemic we packed our bags, filled the fridge from our camper and visited some of the most beautiful places in Germany, without worrying about the current situation, not doing tests and not worrying about where to eat (yes, sadly in Germany EVERYTHING is closed) or to sleep.
The first day of our trip we visited Monschau. Despite the fact that this city is not very much known outside Germany, it is very popular within the North-Rhine Westfalen community. Located in the center of the Eifel National park, it is famous because of its half timber houses and narrow streets. And the river running in the middle of the town makes it feel like a little medieval German Venice. It is full of little shops, and restaurants – which of course due to Covid where closed, but we were able to enjoy an apertive in our camper.
The second day we visited Koblenz, one of the most famous cities by the Rhine river. We think that it is a city worth visiting after Covid on a sunny day, and mix the very nice views with shopping. That day the weather was a bit of a disappointment, so we ran back to our camper and enjoy a nice pasta and played card games, in a country side area near by Maria Laach (another nice place to visit)
Last day with the camper was one of the best, we started our morning early and went to visit one of the most Instafamous castle, Burg Eltz. Before starting our small hike we had breakfast, food in the camper tastes different, don’t you think? Despite the castle being closed, it is still worth paying a visit, the outside looks just like a Disney movie.
The end of the day was just the best, we had the restaurant with the best views to the river, saw the sunset, talked and enjoyed the company without distractions. All in the back of our van. Something that we could have never had, if it was not because of our ride.
Have you ever travelled with a camper? I would love to hear your best stories about it!
LGBTQ & Travel 