The moving around makes every day new. Every location opens our eyes, and the fact, we might leave in only a few hours makes us alert and present. Living in different locations, and also under different conditions, makes us very flexible and also very strong. We can do about anything, we feel.
Af Cecilie Felumb Conrad | November 10, 2019
The moving around makes every day new. Every location opens our eyes, and the fact, we might leave in only a few hours makes us alert and present. Living in different locations, and also under different conditions, makes us very flexible and also very strong. We can do about anything, we feel. Of course, some things are more fun and more meaningful than others. But what we choose is to pay attention to the details and elements that are important and of great value in every situation, moving from success to success. With this attitude, it is hard to fail.
This blog is as much a travelblog as a lifestyle blog, my goal is sharing how life feels and looks from our special perspective. As the travelpart has a huge photoside, I normally do a gallery at the end of the text, to share the visual part of our life and experiences. This time I experiment with a new format, sharing the photos in several galleries within the text, so they appear closer to the story told. Please let me know how it works.
Week 44 of 2019 serves as the basis of this text. In this week we were in the mountains and in deep caves of geological and prehistoric interest, visited a huge and chaotic market, saw another converted Setra, went to a national park AND finished the adventure of traveling with Bjørn and Ina’s family, going back to the red bus in Catalonia. It has been about the adventure of new locations, about friendships of many kinds, about conversations and about slow.
This blog is as much a travelblog as a lifestyle blog, my goal is sharing how life feels and looks from our special perspective.
I shall tell you a story. I have said before, the people are the real adventure of our journey, and I believe, actually, it is the adventure of any journey. Any life. In the end. One thing very interesting is how relations evolve, and how different they can be, yet powerful and meaningful and strong, all in different ways.
We have spent a month with Bjørn and Ina’s family, close and “old” friends of ours. We knew each other quite well before we moved in with them in 2018 to do the bus conversion and lived together for 3 months a memorable summer. We are close, and we are just good at sharing life. We did not know before this Andalusia trip, that it would also be great to travel together, but it was no surprise. This is a stable and awesome relation, or actually, a lot of relations as 10 people are involved.
At the summit, we met another Danish family and evolved quite fast a solid straight forward honest relationship with a lot of laughter and common support. Felt easy. Saskia and her children were good company and we grew close easily and fast. Our native tongue, lots of stories shared, beach time, peace.
We also met Stella. This is one of the more different relation stories. More of a mystery. Like the one I have with the founder of Mon La Bassa: Just feeling right away, there is something strong here and no need to work for it or act in it – I felt the same when I briefly met Stella a year ago at the beach of La Herradura. We had only a few minutes to share, then we went in different directions. But the connection was established, and with no stress, I think we both knew at some point there would be time and place to evolve the relation.
So, the time and place were these weeks in and around La Herradura. We have the kind of relation, where we do not need to speak, we do not need to know each other’s stories, we just smile and have tea and a hug. And we talk if possible, not if not. It hardly makes a difference.
The people are the real adventure of our journey, and I believe, actually, it is the adventure of any journey. Any life
This week I am talking about we went to visit Stella, all of us. All the people mentioned before: Bjørn and Ina’s family, and Saskia’s family. So all the fourteen of us drove up the mountain to walk the last 2 kilometers to the place where Stella lives. It was complex to get everyone coordinated, yet meaningful and fun. All of the practicalities of eating and backpacks and google pins and timing!
Coming to Stella’s place was interesting as she also lives “alternatively” and it was a great day spent in a different context. Wonderful to have the option to see how others have organized life in their own way. Stella lives off grid, in yurt-style “houses” and her home is … just fabulous, honest, peaceful, “hyggeligt”
Interesting as well how somehow sometimes you know someone deeply without having to spend time together and without having shared stories. It seems the inner journey and the outer adventures often resemble mirrors pointing at mirrors, only from different perspectives of life, or cosmos if you will.
One could say, the lifestyle in the mountain in yurtlike huts and with solar electricity and the whole off-grid setup would seem …. Very alternative. But what I saw was something else. I saw my friend. The place we live will somehow be a mirror of who we are (all the persons living in the space), and this place was to me not “alternative” or different. It was very much like home. The way of organizing the pantry and the books on the bookshelf, the balance of the colors and the organization of the practicalities: Could have been my home.
And just as the relation all the time had no need for a lot of talking and politeness, the visit did not need any servings of anything or any stiffness or any special attention. We just hung out one wonderful afternoon, everyone enjoying the company of many people and of the peaceful and beautiful surroundings.
All of the people we spend this day with are great people and I am grateful to be their friend and to have them in my circles. What a wonderful and nuanced world.
Sometimes you know someone deeply without having to spend time together and without having shared stories. It seems the inner journey and the outer adventures often resemble mirrors pointing at mirrors, only from different perspectives of life, or cosmos if you will.
So, coincidences are interesting, right? In the end, I don’t believe, they are coincidental. The more we are aligned with the Big Picture, with God, if you like, the clearer it becomes, there is more going on than what we can explain with logic and science.
Listen to this story.
When we first arrived in Granada, my husband got a whats app message from a german guy, who knows us through a mutual friend, saying, he had a Setra for sale. A bus, the same brand as ours. Veteran also. Would we be interested?
As we were in the middle of the conference, I said NO to more bus-projects, but Jesper had a good feeling and wanted to see the bus. He asked the guy, where the bus was, and now this is weird: It is in Granada, he responded, not knowing where on the planet we were …
Okay. So are we, but we simply do not have the time this week. Could it wait a bit?
After the summit, we did only on Granada day, and of course, it had to be the Al Hambra. So we left Granada for La Herradura and thought we would have to go back to look at the bus. But listen:
Jesper re-contacted the guy and said: Now we actually have time, but we are one hour away. When do you want to meet, and where is it actually? Oh! He was also near La Herradura, only 5 minutes out of the village, could he come to say hi at the beach, he asked us? The bus needed some attention before he could show it, but he would very much like to meet us. Yes, sure.
So, we spend an afternoon. And decided when to go see the bus.
On the day, he came to pick us up at the beach, as it was easier to follow him to the location than understanding what roads to take to the land he had rented. And we saw the bus and fell in love with it. Just a WONDERFUL bus. I can not begin to describe in how many ways it would be a perfect supplement to all the vehicles we already own. Or I will. If we buy it in the end.
Mucky had lived in it on and off for twenty years of his life and given it good attention and lots of love. Just like we are traveling with our children around Europe he had done the same, some twenty years ago. So similar stories.
And listen: He had parked in a VW Multivan converted for living and traveling with his children at La Herradura Beach on the exact spot where he picked us up, just before he bought the bus.
And one more thing. We share family names. Yes. We do. We have the same name. He is Conrad, just like we are.
So, coincidences are interesting, right? In the end, I don’t believe, they are coincidental. The more we are aligned with the Big Picture, with God, if you like, the clearer it becomes, there is more going on than what we can explain with logic and science.
What to conclude?
YES, we would love another bus.
YES, I should listen to my husband with less resistance, when he has a project pending.
YES, this life is more than you can explain.
YES, we are ready for more adventure.
And also. Like my kind of veto:
And finally: The adventure of the people! This german guy is now a new friend, a very special kind of vehicle living hippie to learn from and to share some bits and parts of life with. We are thankful for this connection and the perspectives it adds to our life.
I often say we plan after the fact because planning is just a waste of time. We may have some ideas, and sometimes even plans, but more often than not, things happen, present themselves to us, and we embrace the emotional reaction. Life is in many ways a learning journey, events carry lessons and directions, and when we listen carefully it is amazing how this life always tries to point us in the right direction. We actually do not need to plan, to think – not so much as we need to listen, to embrace, to be grateful, to follow the flow happening within and around us.
The story of the other Setra and Mucky is one of the clear stories, life calling, pointing, opening. We might just do another bus conversion, it is not clear. Not yet. But it is very clear what needs to come first, and we are grateful for this clear message, this clear direction.
YES, this life is more than you can explain.
YES, we are ready for more adventure.
I have written about these caves before, back in 2012 when we did a big road trip with all of the children. I wonder if I can find the old text.
The caves are amazing. They truly are. They remind me of Sagrada Familia, and they are just so HUGE. The area we can visit as guests, not scientists, is just a very small part of the whole cave system, yet what we see leaves us with awe. Stalakits and Stalamits and huge cave rooms, every corner we turn make us wonder, every detail we learn is interesting.
We visited the caves with Bjørn and Ina’s family, and with Saskia’s. A large group of people, always fun. Lunch at the wall of the parking with a great view and with squirrels to enjoy and the good company of each other.
After the caves, we went to spend the rest of the day together in a small village Frigiliana, very beautiful and white in the mountains. Actually, we spend all of the time at the playground, eating and playing and talking. But it WAS beautiful to look at the village from there.
When it became too cold, we had to go back. It is nice and warm in Andalucia compared to the rest of Europe. But we can not escape the fact, it is November. When the sun is gone, the temperature drops and we need to go inside.
The rest of this week, we drove back to Catalonia and the bus. Saskia’s family went in another direction after the caves, and Ina’s family had to go North at this point. So we enjoyed each other’s company until they went north of the bus location. We needed to come home to our base and to fix it all up. It was a deep calling. For both. Some peace and quiet and some finishing of projects, repair of broken parts, elimination of accumulated stuff.
It was fun. Road tripping. It always is.
First, we did a market in Almunecar. It was full of ripe mangoes, stuff probably from china, local produce, and people. We did a photoshoot, a market is a great location for that. And we ate dripping mangos, leaving us in need of showers. We bought some veggies and nuts, looked at people and dogs and stands, and had fun. When the market closed we all sat down to eat again, and then we started the drive north.
We drove pretty far until very late at night. There were a lighthouse and some cliffs I had on my list as places we wanted to see, and it was all good. Except for the wind, that was a bit crazy and the huge amount of tourism in the area, a bit ruining my ideas of what we were going to see in the morning.
But guess what. When you let go of your ideas and plans and take in what presents itself, embrace the moment as is, become present and thankful, all adventures are adventures.
In Cartagena, we had dinner at a wonderful little Asian fusion restaurant, and drove out to the lighthouse to sleep, even though there were no public toilets. We slept under the stars and the palm trees in the storm and slept well.
In the morning we walked the sleeping city, watching the beach and the harbor and the sunshine to find a morning cafe, where we could enjoy some orange juice and coffee – and use the bathroom. Necessity often creates wonderful adventures. It was a great walk. Lovely. On the way back we did some yoga and jumping at the beach while watching the beach bar being removed for the winter. It is interesting to visit the huge tourism when it is closing. So silent. So practical. We were the only people at the huge and wonderful beach, except for the ones taking down the bar.
When our friends who had arrived later than us woke up, we had breakfast in their camper as the wind made its great finale. After, the weather was perfect for a walk around the lighthouse. Then we ate again before we started the traveling of the day.
When you let go of your ideas and plans and take in what presents itself, embrace the moment as is, become present and thankful, all adventures are adventures.
With just one stop at Decathlon for practical stuff, we drove away into the night to sleep at Delta del Ebro. We had mixed children in the vans and decided to go that far, in order to meet some plans of Ina’s family. It was fun, it was a party. The children had a lot of fun, and we got to talk for many hours.
At the delta, it was a storm, and it was not ideal for sleeping in a pop-top. But we did it. At least we spend the night, I can not say I slept a lot.
In the morning we went out to look for flamingos, but they were not around or hiding somewhere from the wind, and we did another campervan morning of fruit salad and coffee and friendship.
After this, we had to say goodbye to our beloved friends. It has been a great month to spend with them, and we sure will miss them a lot.
At the same time, we are ready for the next adventure. Just great to go back to pauce, to breathe and to organize at home base. The home base being the red bus, still parked at the amazing Mon La Bassa in Catalonia.
Thank you for reading the blog. I write to share our experiences and perspective, and would love to hear yours. Please comment in whatever way feels right to you: Facebook-comment, personal e-mail, text-message, whatever you like. It brings a lot of joy in the bus, when we hear from readers. Thank you and may the sun shine on your path.
Appearance matters – Week 2019 / 46
