but what will you do every day?

At the start of a long stretch of mind-numbing jobs and stupidly long hours to raise money for our trip I was discussing our plans to an employer when she fired the unexpected question at me “… but what will you do every day?” Such a basic, rational, yet strangely odd question but so difficult to answer. My normally animated adventure chit-chat was silenced and I found myself speechless for the first time when discussing 800 days. So, to clarify “what we do every day” here is a breakdown of our day-to-day 800 days activities;

Driving

An obvious starting point, but despite being a road trip we spend relatively little time behind the wheel, on average maybe 2 hours a day. Sometimes we don’t move for days at a time but then if we have a stretch of monotonous landscape to cover we might motor on for several hours. We avoid motorways and main roads where possible, preferring back-roads, tracks and if possible no tarmac at all. Andy occupies the driving seat for around 90% of the time, disliking being a passenger and being impatient and confused by foreign maps to the point where “I promise to mostly let you drive” was included in my Marriage vows. I’m not joking.

Exploring    

Our favourite activity, whether it be mooching through markets or visiting museums, churches, temples and art galleries, traversing mountains and plains or wandering round back streets and rural villages. Meeting local folk is a huge part of our trip and we spend as much time as possible discovering every new place we travel through.

Planning

A lot of our route is spontaneous; we enjoy impulsive diversions and spend a large amount of time ‘lost’. Saying that, we do have a general plan and a route which is evaluated each day using a selection of maps, guidebooks and recommendations from locals and other travellers. Our only restrictions are visa duration lengths and sometimes Diesel cost where meandering can be expensive.

Washing

We like to think that personal hygiene is high on the agenda for 800 days and while water is frequently limited we are proud of our ability to ‘duo tail-gate strip wash’ using a mere 2 litres of water. And a strict top-down policy.

Drinking

The thing with camping is that everything takes more time than a normal domestic set-up. Take making a cup of tea; you have to collect water from the on-board tank or possibly nearby stream. Then you may need to purify water with tablets which can take up to 10minutes of vigorous shaking for it to dissolve. The gas stove is empty; fill with petrol then light flame. Water into pan and boil, then mugs, tea bags, milk etc. Several times at the final milk-pouring point we have discovered our white liquid-containing packet/bottle featuring a picture of a cow was in fact drinking yoghurt. Gutted.

Eating

Sampling local food and drink is one of our favourite experiences in a new country, from grocery shopping in markets, cooking local dishes, street food, workers canteens and the occasional fancy restaurant. The vast majority of the time though is ‘tail gate cuisine’; a two-ring petrol stove, basic kitchen equipment, a thrifty larder and our biggest luxury of all- a 37 litre fridge. Cooking responsibilities fall to myself and over time my ability to rustle up meals from very limited ingredients has improved.

Sleeping

An al-fresco existence results in a re-alignment of our body clocks to synchronise with the rising and setting of the sun. As such, a retirement up the ladder can be as early as 8pm and the best thing? No alarm clock. Ever. Our roof tent pops up in seconds and contains a surprisingly comfortable mattress with duvet and pillows. It’s toasty in sub-zero temperatures but with the 3 sides and a window zipped open it’s cool in hot and tropical climates with mosquito screens for a bug-free breeze. Although there’s only room for sitting in our rooftop abode, it becomes a ‘terrace lounge’ with 360° views during the day and even a hide for wildlife watching. 

communication

This takes up a surprising amount of time, aside from messages to family to let them know all’s well, we invest a lot of time on words and pictures. Andy can spend hours sorting, selecting and editing photographs and painstakingly producing Vlogs for our YouTube channel. I keep a daily journal, making scribbled notes and Dictaphone recordings throughout the day which are then written up in ‘best’ in the evening. We regularly update our Facebook page and post Blogs to our website. In addition, we write articles for online and print publications to bring in a few adventure monies.

Chores

Despite having only a few square metres of living space, chores are still time-consuming and surprisingly plentiful. Clothes are laundered frugally, eeking out wearing of t-shirts until the welcome sight of a communal washing machine at a campsite. In the sticks, Andy’s boxers are prised from him and are scrubbed with river water. Bed making, box packing, fridge cleaning, pan scouring, car washing, dashboard dusting and sand sweeping; tedious yet necessary.

Maintenance

Bee-bee is both our transport and our home, without which our trip would be impossible. She is lovingly kept in tip-top condition by Andy who often has his feet sticking out from underneath the chassis, emerging with twigs in his hair and oil on his face. Roof tent patched, socks sewn, joints oiled and cooker greased- if you look after your equipment, it will look after you.

Relaxing

So when all of the above is done we occasionally get time to put our feet up. Andy carries a box of art materials so he can cut and stick en route. I am never happier than when I have binoculars in hand spotting and jotting native birds and wildlife, turning over stones to find insects and foraging about in streams. A gentle swing in the hammock, a doze in a flower meadow, swim in a river, Scrabble in the sunshine, a cold beer at sunset. The simple things in life really are the best.