John's Travel Blogs

Month: September 2025

  • Days 2 and 3 Amsterdam to Bremerhaven

    Days 2 and 3 Amsterdam to Bremerhaven

    I successfully picked up Patty from Schipol airport and we spent the first night together in the van about 1.5 hours North East of Amsterdam. It was a nice little campsite in the middle of the very flat and rural Dutch countryside. It gave us an opportunity to catch up and to organise the van.

    Day three we started West and almost immediately found this windmill and shop..

    It was a farm shop full of local produce, at very affordable prices. We stocked up with a few essentials such as goats cheese 🧀 😀.

    We spent the rest of the day driving into Germany and are now in Bremerhaven on tge North West German coast. We went for a lovely meal at a fish restaurant in the port last night (thank you mum 🥰, who paid for it 😘).

  • Day 1, Southampton to Caen

    I am on the Brittany Ferries ship Guillaume de Normandie half way across the English Channel.

    This is a very new ship (2024) and i am very impressed. Everything is clean and bright, there is plenty of room aboard and the food excellent, and is not expensive. I have had Breton fish stew, a raspberry and blackcurrant dessert and a Pepsi for less than 20€.

    I haven’t seen any small dinghies full of people going the other way yet 🫣.

    I should arrive in Caen around 3pm and plan to drive toward Amsterdam. I will probably camp roadside close to Amsterdam, ready to pick Patty up from Schipol airport Around 10am tomorrow. She is flying in from Cordoba Argentina, via Madrid, she is probably in the air by now.

  • Preparing to go

    Preparing to go

    Hi everyone, and welcome back to my travel blog. I am preparing for a 4 week trip in the camper van, leaving in 2 days time.

    Patty will be joining me on this trip and we will be blogging here with notifications going to my facebook page.

    The itinery is:

    • Ferry Portsmouth (UK) to Caen (France)
    • Drive France, Belgium and Netherlands to Amsterdam
    • Shipol airport to pick up Patty
    • Drive Germany and Denmark to Frederikshavn
    • Ferry Frederikshavn (Denmark) to Gottenburg (Sweden)
    • Drive through Sweden, Norway, Sweden, Finland to Lapland
    • Drive South through Finland to Helsinki
    • Ferry Helsinki to Tallin (Estonia)
    • Drive through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, France back to Caen
    • Ferry Caen (France) to Portsmouth (UK)