Does Corona influence our travel planning?

Well, yes. It has been shadowing our planning already for months but now that there is a new lock-down and that the virus is getting stronger everything is becoming more uncertain again.

It looked pretty promising during summer, so we did not expect (or hoped) that Corona would start a second/third round of fighting back. And with uncertainty I mean the time when to leave the country, crossing borders and arriving safely in Portugal which is the country we want to head first.

When you are in the middle of converting a campervan but above all when you are still having a job, a house and it is in the middle of the year, you do not really think too much about ‘next year’. We kept and still keep saying: “We cross the bridge when we get there.”

We have taken the decision to leave with all its consequences but now that this weird year is almost done, that “bridge” is coming closer and Corona is still here.

Puck, our campervan is not ready yet either. The kitchen is still missing and well, everything else that makes a vanlife comfortable is still missing as well. The good thing is that both of us will have loads of time after christmas to work on Puck 24/7. We are planning to be finished by the beginning of January and leave Rotterdam in the middle of January. In order to be able to travel safely we still need to arrange some important things.

• An insurance that covers corona related health issues in ‘orange’ countries which is currently in every country outside the Netherlands. You can better be safe than sorry. We found OOM expatverzekering which will cover corona related health issues abroad. We keep our normal basis health insurance and add this one on top.

• Before leaving we need to check if we still need to have negative corona tests in order to be able to cross the borders and get the test before leaving (obviously only leaving when we are negative tested). I think we will need those tests. *Note to myself: Add corona testing to our travel budget.

• Check the country specific transit, travel and recreation restrictions.

• Check the country specific corona rules.

• Take loads of masks with us.

We still hope that that Coronabitch will be under control asap but as long it is not, we will start travelling in our own bubble and stay as far away from big cities and crowds as possible. And if we are really not allowed to leave the country in January, we will just camp in the Netherlands. There is always a plan B ;).