View from the cockpit …..

A month in this wobble box, internally 22 feet long by 6ft wide, about as big as a prison cell. It’s not a big space, but hopefully I‘m getting smaller as fruit for breakfast, salad for lunch and healthy teas take over from my Welsh diet, which involved Irene from the works canteen, thinking I should resemble the rugby player proportions of my colleagues. Children’s portions I asked for, but her sense of giving great value, and my desire not to waste food on my plate was not a healthy match.

Benidorm does not help, its only 10 miles up the road, and even though drinking consumption is curtailed by the requirement to drive back, I can have as many breakfasts as like, at any time, day or night. All coming in at 3 to 5 Euros each, it’s a bargain not to missed, and a great way to supplement the bacon I so enjoy

But what about when I’m not breakfasting? Well it’s back at the caravan, which by most by external standards is huge, at 8 ½ half metres, 1700 kg laden legally, and with the Discovery at the front, as long as any lorry we have passed on the road, or indeed has passed us. We yo-yo along the autoroutes and Autopista , they overtake us on the flat, I overtake them on the up-hills; one of my first Spanish driving words “AP” – means “motorway” but low bridge, one way, no -entry and narrow road are also high up the list .

So, what makes life easier, in our confined space, well it’s the little things, like the sockets I installed just before we came away. As you can see, it is now phone and camera charger, kettle socket, laptop lifeline, it’s the herb garden, sitting in the fish kettle, it’s maps and precise destinations, in old fashioned Latitude and Longitude, and Wi-Fi, enabling us to keep in touch, or not as we feel.

 

 

Maybe one of the smaller, almost insignificant things we just can’t do without is plugs, of the sink variety, the filtered one in the kitchen means we don’t have clogged pipes, the larger ones mean we can fill campsite sinks, and shave, wash, or even do the dishes in relative luxury. And believe you me, getting the precisely sized plugs was an e-bay challenge.

  

Another addition to the inventory was the coffee machine, proper glasses and cups, and the three tables, – one each if you include the dog, – we can’t let standards slip in our multi-purpose space-saving lightweight environment.

Smaller things make the difference, they make life so much easier, they are not immediately obvious, which brings me to the best small thing on-board, my travelling companion, lover and soulmate, now she might be tiny, minor and small, but she sure does make the difference, turning our mobile plastic box into our travelling home.