Portugal by campervan, July 2024

 

Like the occasional flight, life encounters moments of turbulence. Our unique lives are unconventional and full of freedom, while being challenging, by choosing not to work full-time or have children, we have had to carve out our own sense of purpose and meaning. Raquel and I have lived financially independent in Lisbon for three years now, experimenting with multiple hobbies, volunteering opportunities and part-time jobs. Before buying our city apartment we considered more rural living, with the romantic idea of having a garden to learn about growing some of our own food. But we chose Portugal’s capital for the ease of building community, and its wonderful choice of activities to stimulate our bodies and minds.

This year brought itchy feet and a heavy dose of soul searching, as we encountered frustrations, such as injuries and Portuguese red tape preventing our parkrun event becoming official, and we thought of ways to build a better quality of life. One moment we almost bought a couple of pieces of land, with rewilding, wild camping and food growing aspirations! Next we bought a campervan, to satisfy our wanderlust spirits, while remaining grounded in Lisbon. We then pondered uprooting dramatically and moving to England, for easier language integration for me, volunteering opportunities with parkrun and the National Trust, and potential work in schools and more weddings ceremonies for Raquel. Lastly, on our July campervan trip we found a cool house and garden in the spectacular far north of Portugal, viewed it twice, put in an offer, which was accepted, then decided against it! For now at least, we have turned back towards our rich Lisbon lives, embracing and celebrating our excellent friendships, and enjoying our sweet little Alcântara apartment.

Our 1999 Mercedes Sprinter van was refitted as a camper by the brother of a good friend, and although we weren’t looking for a campervan, we quickly snapped it up and immediately fell in love with her! She was born in Rio Tinto in Porto, so we christened her ‘Tia Tinta’ (TT), which means Auntie Tinta. Raquel, Joy (our pup) and I had many fun little trips in spring, getting to know TT and discovering new parts of the country, as we practised slower travel away from the highways. 

We dedicated the whole month of July to exploring the north of Portugal with TT. We gravitated towards overnight spots in the thick of nature, ideally next to a river swimming spot. The priceless ‘park4night’ app provided recent reviews of sites and allowed filtering such as ‘surrounded by nature’, ‘swimming possible’ and ratings of 4 stars or higher. Usually at night we were accompanied by a couple of other vans, which felt reassuring, having safety in numbers. Occasionally we were the only ones, which was particularly special, and allowed swimming without clothing!

Joy, our Westie, took to van life like a duck to water, and although she contrasted greatly from a waterdog, she underwent a small transformation on this trip. Previously she had been exposed mostly to scary big (for a little dog) waves at the beach, so when she encountered calm river water during hot summer temperatures, she went for her maiden voluntary swim, which she repeated several times! Joy loved all the new adventures, sights and smells. In public she would act like a cool teenager, keeping her distance from us, usually sitting at the end of her lead. In private in our van, she would cosy up to us as we drove and snuggle with her puppy parents in bed at night. Joy was the best travel companion we could have wished for.

Recently I have been realising and appreciating that Portugal has a surprisingly good amount of forest cover - 36%, compared to the shockingly low figures for the UK (13%) and Ireland (11%) (https://www.euronews.com/green/2023/11/04/finland-ireland-france-which-european-countries-have-the-most-and-least-forests). Our meandering journeys away from motorways often took us around delightful wooded hills, and after splashing around in rivers we would usually sprawl our glistening bodies under some magical green giant. In Lisbon we are lucky to have a generous smattering of trees, in nearby gardens, Tapada da Ajuda and Monsanto Park; one must mindfully slow down, keep one’s phone away, and take a moment to admire these beauties.

These were our best overnight spots, roughly in the order from south to north; numbers in brackets indicate my ranked favourites:

Zêzere River reservoir (6) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/UyTny9UGAoTU4gtz5 

River Alva (9) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/ntBqdJsoJobnbYbP6 

Serra da Estrela mountains (5) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/WAdBtFQ2K4dF35m26

Mizarela mountains and river (7) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/YxDF8iDwRiN5qZFz8 

Paiva River (2) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/tqmCUVUEom9cRATP8 

Sabor River, Douro (10) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/jmdMBH1fYHVZsm6u8 

Tuela River (3 and photographed above) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/S6UvJnbqDsQ1N6oJA 

River Rabagão lake (8) - https://goo.gl/maps/L68jx5kU61s1cHrx8 

River Lima Ecovia (4) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/w1QfdkiZnWdum2LVA 

Vez River (1) - https://maps.app.goo.gl/Dm1Rmbu9jMoNHgLZ6 

We will definitely return to this last spot close to the northern border, to walk along the stunning Ecovia (walkways along the Rivers Lima and Vez), swim in the clear waters, stand up paddle board in silence, and just soak up the delights of nature and life. Raquel and I have come to realise that we love the quick blast of simple living that comes with a long weekend or week or two of campervanning in the northern half of Portugal, without the urge to jet off somewhere far away, while also happily returning to friends, apartment and city luxuries. Thank you Lisbon and Portugal!