One van. Two very different opinions. Absolutely no shortage of mishaps.

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I love the campervan.

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He hates the campervan.

This is going well.

Welcome to The Campervan Diaries — the ongoing story of two people who clearly have

very different ideas about what constitutes a relaxing weekend away.

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I see freedom. Adventure. Beautiful views. A cup of tea with the doors open. Waking up

somewhere different. He sees reversing. He sees parking. He sees the price of diesel. He sees

a vehicle that apparently requires an alarming amount of planning just to go somewhere for

two nights.

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And yet…

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He keeps coming.

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Which is where the fun begins.

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Two people. One campervan.

We don't live in it. We have a perfectly good house with a perfectly good bed and a bathroom where you can actually turn around without hitting your head on something. The campervan is for getting away. For exploring. For finding somewhere beautiful to park up and pretending we've got our lives together.

Sometimes it works brilliantly. Sometimes it really, really doesn't. There are wrong turns. Parking disasters. Arguments over directions. Things that mysteriously stop working. Things that make noises they definitely shouldn't be making. Weather that had promised to be lovely. And those inevitable moments where one of us says:

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“This will be fun.”

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And the other one immediately knows it won't.

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I see the adventure.

He sees the inconvenience. I get excited about finding a new place.

He gets excited about finding somewhere we can actually park.

I want to explore. He wants to know how far away the nearest toilet is.

I think a slightly questionable road looks like an adventure.

He thinks it looks like the beginning of a very expensive recovery operation.

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I say:

“Let's just see where it takes us.”

He says:

“Absolutely bloody not.”

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And somehow, eventually, we're both sitting outside the van with a cup of tea.

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Usually.

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It's not a travel blog.

Well, not exactly. There will be places. There will be views. There will be recommendations. There will probably be the occasional useful bit of information. But mostly, The Campervan Diaries is about what happens when two complete opposites decide to go away in a small vehicle together.

Because the reality of a campervan trip isn't always the Instagram bit. It's the arguments. The compromises. The unexpected problems. The things you forgot to pack. The things you packed but can't find. The moments where you wonder why you didn't just book a hotel. And the moments where you look around and think:

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“Actually… this is bloody lovely.”

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Even if one of us is still complaining.

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There will be mishaps.

Obviously. We're us. There will be stories about places we've been, things we've done and decisions that seemed perfectly reasonable at the time. There'll be the little disasters that become funny eventually. The journeys that don't go according to plan. The discoveries we weren't expecting. The disagreements that probably shouldn't have been arguments but somehow became arguments anyway. And the occasional victory where we manage to park the van without anyone shouting. That's basically a successful trip.

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The great campervan compromise.

Maybe that's what this is really about. Finding a way for two people who don't always want the same things to enjoy the same adventure. I love the campervan. He tolerates the campervan. I want to keep going. He'd quite like to go home.

And somewhere between the two of us, we usually find a compromise.

Usually.

Because when you've spent enough time travelling together, you realise the best stories aren't necessarily the ones where everything went perfectly. They're the ones where something went spectacularly wrong…

…and you can laugh about it afterwards.

Preferably with a cup of tea.

And preferably after he's stopped complaining.

So, pull up a chair.

Come along for the rides, the wrong turns, the arguments, the views, the disasters and the occasional moments of campervan-induced happiness.

One van. Two opposites. I love it. He hates it.

And somehow…

We're still going.