The worst part about California....

Leaving! When you’ve fallen in love with a place and its people, it’s so hard to tear yourself away. At the beginning of this trip we decided that our plan would be to have no plan….there are some things that have to be organised in advance, but having our campervan really allowed us to be so spontaneous and our planning was at an absolute minimum. There were a few times that this was a little bit stressful, like when we were driving around a town at 11pm trying to find a spot to park the camper for the night OR having an upset stomach when there is no access to a toilet (don’t use your imagination too much lol). But these are minor inconveniences compared to the magnitude of what we have experienced and the people we have connected with along the way. When you meet the kind of people we have, it really encourages your faith in humanity and the goodness that is in our world. The media may feed us so many messages of fear, but in reality, if we are willing to open our lives and our hearts to strangers we might just find kindred spirits.

Our biggest highlights of California not only involved the locals, but the natural beauty as well. The National Parks here were so incredibly spectacular and literally blew our minds. The intricate complexity of our surroundings has left us completely in awe of our creator. The weather was so good to us as well – it was so nice to have sunny, warm days, especially with the freezing cold winter we just experienced in the UK! We have decided we could definitely live in California…probably because it is a whole lot like home actually, maybe with just little bit more sunshine (unless you live in LA and then it is spoiled by smog).

We have to give a massive plug to Escape Campervans (www.escapecampervans.com) who have a whole heap of brilliant vans for hire! Honestly the best way of travelling around California and really good rental prices too! Our van had everything we needed (minus a toilet & shower) including a really good comfy bed and a little kitchen in the back where we ate breakfast from most mornings. Every van is painted with a different airbrushed design and we thought our ocean theme was one of the best. We had the van for 34 days and could have continued our travel in it for a lot longer. It was quite liberating knowing that everything we really needed was in such a small space and we could go wherever and whenever we wanted. Our experience with the van has made us think seriously about buying one when we get home to Oz and travel around for a while…..and of course get it painted with a very funky design!

The very cool sign made from paint cans hanging in the Escape office