MY FIRST CAMPER(VAN) EXPERIENCE

Today – for the first time in my life – I’m going to experience how it feels to travel with a campervan. The night before I prepared everything for my trip and then I fell asleep like a log, to wake up completely rested. The weather forecast is not rosy. It’s going to be four days with a lot of fog, clouds and rain. Fortunately, if the forecast is correct, with reasonably high temperatures, despite the fact that we are already in the second half of October. All in all, ideal weather to try out a compact motorhome. Because if I like it under these not too rosy conditions, it’s only going to be better with good weather. I’m grateful to the weather gods, thanks! 

Around half past ten in the morning, I arrive at my destination and immediately a smile comes to my face. The company ‘Roadsurfer’ in Amstelveen has the Cali T6.1 almost ready for me. Even though I’m half an hour early and you must pay extra for picking it up earlier, I can already get started with my Cali. Beforehand I received an extensive tutorial that explained to me step by step – in text and photos – how all the functionality works: folding up the roof (where I first have to open a window or door to prevent negative pressure), switching-on the fridge and gas stove, the lighting, parking heating… an almost infinite list of possibilities and functionality. What a fun toy! Before I take it on my journey, I’m asked to check everything based on the tutorial. Assisted in this by a very customer-friendly and enthusiastic employee of Roadsurfer. The holiday feeling really starts here before you have even left the building! Within half an hour I have checked everything, and I agree with myself that I will check every step again at the campsite. The only thing left for me now is to transfer the stuff I brought in my own car (food, bedding and some clothes) to ‘my’ Cali. It’s not even a quarter past eleven in the morning when I head out into the wide world. Driving this VW campervan is a joy! I sit high up and look over the traffic, the driver’s seat is very comfortable and the humming and vibration that is normal for a diesel engine is completely absent here. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think I’m driving a normal passenger car, a real pleasure.

 I had decided in advance that I would mainly use this long weekend (from Friday to Monday) to get acquainted with this campervan and its (or is it her or his?) functionalities. That’s why I’m not going to trek from camper place to camper place but stay in one and the same place during these days. And where better to experience this new way of relaxing than in Netherlands’ newest province: Flevoland. It’s not entirely coincidental that I ended up with this. Flevoland is only a short distance from Amstelveen, where I picked up my campervan. And more importantly, it houses a beautiful campsite, with spacious motorhome pitches, excellent facilities and a large indoor swimming pool and several saunas. Not a bad place to experience my first motorhome mini holiday. With the added advantage that I only need a little space in the camper to store my clothes for such a short stay.

On the way to the campsite, I stop at a nice wine shop in the city of Almere, called Steinz. A former colleague had recently given me a delicious French red and white wine when he came over for dinner. Nothing for the worse of my visitors, but most of the time these ‘giveaway wines’ have at most the predicate ‘drinkable’. Of course, you are not allowed to look a gift horse in the mouth, every gift and gesture is welcome. However, the French wines he had brought with him were much more than drinkable, they were downright delicious. The label mentioned the name ‘Passivite’. I remember that I thought ‘what a strange name’ for a French wine. Until I realized that it is not ‘Passivite’ as one word, but ‘Pas si vite‘. Apparently, my knowledge of the French language has not yet progressed to the point where I understood this immediately, or am I just in need of a new pair of glasses? ‘Pas sit vite’…how beautiful and appropriate is the name of this wine for this occasion. Especially now that I have stocked up on white and red at Steinz and am going to take it with me to the campsite in my campervan. ‘Pas si vite’ literally means ‘Not so fast’ in English. In other words, take it easy, slow down and enjoy life. A liquid version of Carpe diem! As I already mentioned, not only the name was appropriate for this trip. The taste was also excellent, so it will be delicious to enjoy at the campsite. With a small ‘vinological’ sidetrack: the red Pas si vite is a so-called GSM wine, composed of the grapes Grenache, Syrah & Mourvèdre. The most expensive and delicious Rhône wines, including my beautiful aged wines from Chateau de Beaucastel, are made from this blend. But unlike the Beaucastelthat I have stored in my wine cabinet, this Pas si vite is considerably more affordable. At just under ten euros the bottle, it is a desirable wine with a great price-quality ratio. The same goes for the white Pas si vite, a delicious ‘fat’ Chardonnay. Tonight, at the campsite I’m going to enjoy this white one. And Steinz can look forward to a regular order from me in the coming years. Or even better, it’s a good reason to come to this camping site more often and to combine this with a visit to this wine shop!

Whilst it starting to rain cats & dogs, I park my Cali in the visitors parking lot and present myself at the reception desk. It’s a Friday afternoon way outside the holiday season, so I’m the only one that needs to check-in. Five minutes later I’m on my way to my reserved spot close to all the facilities. The field where I will stay for the coming days can host a total of 30 campers. As it’s late in the season I only have four neighbours: a quite big and very old liner and three normal sized half integrals. One from the Netherlands, one from Belgium and two from the UK. So far, I’m the only one with a Cali. With a German license plate (as many of the RoadSurfer campers are from Germany), so this makes this camper field very international. I had expected to see more VW camper knowing that this is the by far most sold camper in the world. On the other hand, it’s good that my camper is special here, always good to stand out. 

Luckily, I do not have to level the campervan as the ground is completely flat. This safe me a lot of troubles. Because of all things that I practiced and had read about, I’ve never ‘levelled’ a camper on these awkward ‘level ramps’. The first thing I do is connect the power plug in the hope that the vehicle is not going to blow up. First mission accomplished! Followed by opening a door to extend the roof (fully electrical!). Suddenly the small indoor space is converted into a cozy area with enough height to stand upright. Next thing to do is filling the water tank, a very simple task. I fill up the foldable water container (my camper place does not only have electricity but also running water) and start pouring the water into the build-in container. As quickly as I pour it in, it’s dribbling on my shoes. What the heck? Apparently, I overlooked that I had to check whether the water tap was closed. With now drenched shoes I crawl into the camper, start looking for the tap and come to the conclusion that in the meantime all the water has leaked out of the container. I can start all over again, this time however the water stays in. Drenched or not, well done by me! The last thing I now must do is to close the wastewater tap and then everything is set. All in all, this took me less than fifteen minutes. I guess that when I’m more experienced, I could do this in five. What a joy! Particularly if I compare this to setting up my previous trailer tent. This would take me at least three to four hours. And in rainy conditions like today even longer, with covering all the sleep gear that is not allowed to get wet. Let alone the ‘arguments with your spouse’ when you’re setting up the trailer tent together. In good French: douze points pour le campervan!

My watch indicates that it’s almost two o’clock in the afternoon and my belly indicates that it’s way past lunch time. Hence time for the next ‘exercise’ in the campervan: preparing my all-time-favourite lunch that consists of ‘eggs-tomatoes-bacon’ with a good slice of bread. The kitchen is placed relatively low, so I do the cooking whilst sitting down. A strange feeling at first, one that I get used to within minutes. The result is a delicious lunch, again a ‘first ever’ in a campervan. I’m tempted to open the bottle of white wine but decide to wait until dinner. First, I’m going to explore the total campsite and facilities. I also need to find out where the nearest toilets are as my VW Cali does not have a Porta Potti on board. I could have rented it of course. I however first want to experience how to deal with not having this facility ‘on board’. Looking back, I must confess that this was not the smartest thing I did. During the first night, and then really in the middle of the night, I had to go to the toilet. Before I was able to climb down from my bed, open the door quietly, closed the door quietly, open it again because I forgot to take my car keys, close it again and walk two hundred meters to the nearest toilet, it was almost too late. Almost, but at that moment I absolutely promised myself that if I would buy a campervan of my own, it for sure would have a Porta Potti! I can do without a shower. But as a young man of age, a toilet is by far the most important thing to have nearby. I do not only make a mental note of this but immediately add it to my ‘must buy’ list.

After a tour around the camper place, I treat myself to a relaxing sauna and a dip in the swimming pool. With as result that I soon feel hungry and thirsty again. The wine is already waiting for me in the fridge of my Cali. To make it easy for me on this first campervan tour, I had already prepared dinner for two evenings. The only thing I now must do is to heat it up on the stove, uncork the wine bottle and to enjoy. Completely at ease I close the blinds for the windows, switch on the cozy lights and settle down in the comfortable chair. In this beautiful ‘bubble’ I enjoy both my meal and wine, start to read a book afterwards and almost fall asleep. The last thing I do this first day is to climb through the ‘hole’ upstairs where I immediately fall asleep.

The next two days can be described very briefly. Less the awning, I tried out every functionality and feature of my Cali. To be surprised with the diversity and the ease of use. Particularly the ‘stand heating’ was fabulous. With the outside temperature dropping to some five degrees in the evening, inside the van it stayed very comfortable. Given the fact that you can also cool the van, it makes it a great travel companion in both cold and warm weather. I can’t wait to experience this if and when I have a campervan of my own. All in all, I was very disappointed that these three days passed by like lightning. Which brought me to the clear conclusion: a campervan is more than just a nice to have, it’s a great ‘tent on wheels’ to spend short and longer holidays in. In short and beyond doubt, I would love to have one myself!