Gadgetory

is there anything more appealing to a person of nomadic sensibilities than a set of wheels an open road and no fixed plans search van life on Instagram and you'll find no shortage of beautiful travel pics but do these glossy images capture the reality of a road trip to find out whether van life lives up to the hype we took a 20-18 VW camper on an epic two-week 2600 mile road trip across Europe heading first to Slovenia via Austria before dipping down into Croatia's history and peninsula popping up into the Italian Dolomites and meandering home to the UK via Bavaria and Germany's Moselle Valley the journey was a steep learning curve an unforgettable adventure and never-ending quest to find that perfect light join us as we find out what it's really like to live the van life dream the first leg of driving was a big one an 800 mile 15 hour stint from London across France into Germany and finally to Austria getting a huge chunk of miles out of the way at once gave us more time to spend later cruising around the areas we were most keen to see about 10 to 12 we set up before o'clock this morning so has been a long day but believe here is a place for toilet stop and of course to fill the kettle up with some water so we can make a coffee which means I get to actually use the gas burners which I find very very exciting to do in a car step one actually was trying to get the thing hooked up because I couldn't really figure it out and I'm always a bit scared about using gas in case well in case it explodes and I get covered in fire and all that but it has worked we have got boiling water I do have my arrow press and a nice fresh bag of coffee which means I get to make lovely fresh delicious coffee in the outside in the van which I find amazing CNET mark of course having arrived at our first stop in the beautiful Austrian mountains we hit our first snag amenda shoving it in the hole how many times have you done it so far is there any way of telling when it's full with our water tank full it was time for a much needed sleep but even that wasn't problem-free we had a good first night's sleep the only problem is that we did find it little interrupted by the car alarm going off now it turned out that we locked the car by pressing the lock button on the keys which we thought fair enough I hit unlock the car turns out that also activates the alarm and there are motion sensors inside so as soon as we moved anywhere the alarm went off very loudly at night I don't imagine we were particularly popular but it turned out there's a button on the dashboard that you need to press which locks it but doesn't activate the alarm good lesson to learn so putting the roof down is fairly easy because if we have a look up here see we've got the bed bit up on these rods so if you call these Pistons I don't know I'm not very technical surprisingly for a tech journalist we pulled the bed down here there we go you see the sheets is all crumpled because how we sleep to make sure that these window panels are all closed and then I move around to the driver seat and I find the keys they found the keys the keys the keys Katie where are the keys here hiding behind my camera okay you do need the ignition on to do this say we'll go down now up here we have this panel and it tells me roof open I know it's open that's why I'm closing it pop-up roof close by pressing holes but Dan yes find open no yes fine carry on and it's closes in between two crystal meth Noah never stops making a different sign that let go and you're done then all we do because obviously they still look pretty messy is pour this across ready all day cool with the roof closed and our body's full of bacon and coffee we hit the road for a few hours of cruising through Austria and into Slovenia with the mountains and rolling countryside all around us we were pretty sure we'd already found the photographic gold every corner we turned in every village we passed through provided yet another stunning scene to take in as we plunged deeper into Slovenia the views only became more dramatic Judas found this wooden rickety suspension bridge a sort of thing you'd expect to see in a bad film and the worst thing about it as well is that and actually wobbles a move which is a little disconcerting when you're crossing a river here's a lovely River a little bit of road here but necessarily anticipate this okay I think I've had enough of that now I'd like some solid ground please well we've had the second night which means this is the second morning that makes sense we had no alarm troubles thankfully because we actually not knew how to lock the van properly as you can see sort of the parts in this wooded bit other campsite that we found in Slovenia the great thing is how close we are to the lovely River which latency is clear and blue she can't see too well for trust me is clear and my bleep it's a gorgeous spot and the men that we get to listen to the river all night and wake up and make coffee and it's great the lands been super comfortable as you can see we've plugged into the electric point over there so that we can have a light side and charge divide sitters and the fridge has been up coming Hadley boiling up sitting underneath the awning last night which is really nice but being River adjacent wasn't just good for relaxing Sylvania socha River is crystal-clear and cuts its way through the stunning landscape making it a haven for watery thrill-seekers the water was truly amazing but once we dry it off we had to make our way to Slovenia's famous lake bled so we're at like bled now which is one of the most photographed spots in all the Slovenia is probably the first image that will come up if you just google Slovenia in fact I think this particular island with the church on it is one of these screen savers of a new Apple TV it's just a gorgeous spot photograph to death problem is that we've come here and if we take a closer look oh yes completely covered in scaffolding which does somewhat ruin the ambience so we're shooting away anyway and trying to get some sort of cool nice-looking shots from different areas around the lake and as you see the lights great and we've got beautiful clouds overhead but it is marred somewhat by the church that looks a little gross right now whether or not I decided to Photoshop some of the scaffolding out later I don't know I might not be bothered but it is a little disappointing what do we do when the odds are against us no we go home and cry by this point we'd realized our kitchen supplies were slightly lacking we did pack many of the absolute essentials on this trip such as washing up liquid but neglected to bring any sponges because we're idiots so instead I'm using an antibacterial surface wipe as a sponge not entirely sure if that is healthy but we haven't died yet so it's fine we need a new system it's a great game though washing up done we hit the road with a beautiful blue sky overhead we had a lot of ground to cover across the heart of Slovenia and as we drove further into the country the motorways and main roads gave way to single track paths through forests winding mountain passes flanked by cattle and long sweeping ribbons of tarmac that gently curved across the pretty rural landscape although the roads were narrow the van was still easy to maneuver it was comfortable to drive and because it's an automatic all we had to do was point it in the right direction and sit back and enjoy the ride because we had our accommodation with us there was no rush to get to a hotel for a particular check-in time that gave us the freedom to take a winding route over the next few days cruising through the countryside enjoying the slower pace as we picked our way through the hillside villages our route Tucker's through the charming town of de pavo surrounded by picturesque vineyards to cruise through and with its tight winding streets the parlor was classic of many of the towns and villages we passed through in Slovenia the hills were dotted with old villages each of which provided plenty of opportunity to snag some nice photos not to mention opportunities to stock up on farm-fresh local olive oil and wine we've arrived in Croatia now in this small town the name of which I forget but it is very similar to what I know of Tuscany in Italy the vineyards rolling green hills lovely old buildings - gorgeous little spot to explore and certainly this view here's a shot I really want to get the narrow streets of the old villages and the snaking Hill roads weren't always easy cruising but that didn't mean they weren't enjoyable these are snake through the forests and over the hills and even when we've got these really tight hairpin bends it's still super fun and I thought I wouldn't really like driving this because it's a big van and it weighs several tons particularly we've got all our gear in and the water tanks for their fuel tanks for but it handles really really nicely it's a proper sport but I want to put your foot down you really go it's so much fun and these rows the best place to enjoy it particularly when the sun's out and the sky is blue and we're driving through Slovenia's wine region I'm hoping to pick up maybe a case maybe a couple of cases of their finest produce eventually the road took us to the Croatian coastal town of revenge where we were met by a beautiful sunset our time in revenge meant relaxing instead of seeking out mountains to hike we strolled cycled and swam along the coast enjoyed the amazing food and wine and even made a new friend one of the cool things I do like are being in this van is that while one of us drives I get to sit back here and I've created my little editing workstation I've got the table up and I'm backing up all my photos and videos so far to this WD my passport Wireless I'm pulling all the footage on my truck from my there is SD cards from my camera from the GoPros everything is being backed up at the moment I do get a little bit trouble stick if I try and do too much I'm probably not gonna be full edits right now but basically just transferring all over the data so that I can keep on shooting when we get to the Dolomites later today I think we've got about on about 5 hours of driving four hours probably about that what something like that I'm also I am fully belted in here so it was a totally legal I'm being safe view of this so that's quite nice our journey into the Dolomites in Italy signaled a sharp departure from the landscape we traveled through so far jagged peaks and pine forests replaced the green fields and the higher we climbed the more narrow and winding the roads became we'd also said goodbye to the beautiful Croatian sunshine and as we drove further into the peaks the weather got worse we are well into Italy now and we are climbing higher and higher into the Dolomites now the weather is all for the moment it's cloudy it's gray it's raining I personally think that this is what the mountains of the Dolomites this area it's how it lives best everything looks super dramatic and moody all the Greens of this like muted grey greens the way that the clouds all hang around in like little strands and wisps through the trees I think it looks so cool so cinematic and I would love to be out hiking and shooting but the problem is is that it is absolutely hammering down the brain and so we just kind of think well do we stop now spend an hour hiking to get absolutely drenched it then have to dry the stuff off or hopefully just carry on going we've only got 20 minutes until we're at our stop see what the weather does and then see if we can maybe go back out some of these locations we've saved a few map points on Google Maps as we've been driving through just to make sure that we know exactly kind of where we want to go to it the weather picks up but it's one of the things that we are having to take well on one hand it looks great and I think it looks better now than it would do with bright blue sky this empty blue sky this is so cool but I just cannot be bothered go there and game absolutely soaking with right as you can see the weather is absolutely atrocious it is hammering down with rain it is definitely raincoat time probably won't be using the Sun awning on the van but we are in the dolomites and it looks great I love the clouds I love the colors I love the whole moody dramatic atmosphere that this weather has brought what I don't like is that I get drenched on my gear gets drenched every time I leave the van so why I'm hoping that the rain stops but maybe some of the clouds stays but eventually we made it into the heart of the mountains among the jagged peaks of the Dolomites so there's the refugio iran's as where we've just been so get prepared walking basically come around so i'm already planning on coming back even in whether it's bloody dramatic and here's what you get with a bit of patience and perseverance this guy's clear astern opens up to catch some of these rocks give us his gorgeous rainbow i know how to sprint up to try and find a good spot before the clouds come back but we've got some good stuff my patience in waiting for the clouds to pass were really paid off with this amazing rainbow but my evening wasn't done yet so right now as you can see it's pretty much completely dark out here all over the mountains dark and back the way i came pretty much completely dark but the refuge is still has its lights on i'm sure a little bit light on the outside which i think looks pretty cool can't see at all on this phone of course but by using a longer shutter speed we can bring out a lot more of that light and you probably can't tell very well here and as I do that there's a lot of different colors in that sky blues and pinks and the refuge itself has come out really nicely the mountains have put it on a great display but there was still more that we hope to see you can see obviously very little due to the lights because it's dark it's actually almost midnight and my alarm sadly is set for 3:30 a.m. so that gives me the best three and a half hours sleep and that's if I fall asleep immediately which I tend not to the reason is is because sunrises at about 5:00 to 5:30 and we want to hike was about an hour's hike to a location that we want to find so even if we leave at 3:30 we're getting there for about 4:30 to more like Worcester 5 and then we need to find like a good location and get ready for when sunset really kicks off so it's an early start but hopefully back here by maybe 8:00 and probably have a couple of hours sleep then but it's definitely good night for now it's house you can vaguely see it is just starting to get a bit lighter still be my head torch lighting the way ahead but it looks like the clouds are clearing a bit I think we could be in for an absolutely cracking sunset sunrise that's right it's early I haven't slept I don't remember which ones which I've been hiking for prod about an hour now it's pretty tough going because the altitude means it's quite tough to take proper breaths now going very light and I'm still not at the spot I want to be a little nervous that I've taken too long to get here as you can see we've got some lovely light over there and those guys themselves are just ready to be lit up how to carry on after a long hike we are finally in position waiting for that glorious sunrise to erupt and shroud the landscape in beautiful golden light except that it didn't there was no direction to this light no contrast on the rocks and no beautiful golden hues our shots were flat and dull and not even a coffee in the mountain Refugio Locatelli did much to help our moods but again a bit of patience made all the difference as it wasn't long before some direction to the light brought out some great shadows and contrasts on the mountains letting his capture more of the shots we really wanted our hike back down in the daylight was certainly easier and a lot more enjoyable as we really could soak in what has to be some of the most dramatic scenery found on the planet with more to be found further down so come to this absolutely gorgeous place as you can see beautiful this gorgeous old boathouse here the trees in the background and the mountain here that's just catching the last of the evening light I want the tops there and of course some lovely blue sky above it now to capture this I've got my camera on the tripod I've got a circular polarizer on the top and I'm probably going to be doing a blend of two exposures this one which is as you can see rather overexposed with a five second exposure we go in order to get enough detail in the boathouse and the trees and then I'm going to do one which is a little bit under at 1.6 seconds of money or focused already on this in order to make sure that we've got plenty of detail left in the sky on the mountains and then I'll blend the two of these together in Lightroom or Photoshop later driving around the Dolomites meant more narrow paths more winding roads and a lot more beautiful views to take in it's where the freedom of having the van really became apparent any road we wanted to take we could and anytime we wanted to stop to get some shots we could do that too time wasn't a factor for us and it made us feel like it was just us and the road as we hit the 2000 mile mark on our trip we came to our next photo stop the stand set magdalena church nestled in the Italian countryside we have made it up the windy roads to Santa mad Santa Madalena rose gold and was a very iconic church right here basically now sort of wanted to wait for some really good light on it and gonna get Pete so while we do so I've seen some really really great shots of this place so I knew I wanted to come but one of the few things that I didn't really get from the photos is the fact you're shooting up against this electric fence this is one of the biggest wild snails I think so as we're shooting the lights changing the Sun is going down towards the right of this scene and we're just seeing the last of the beams coming across the field illuminating the chapel and the trees around the base of the mountain leaving the sky or Moody and dark and and this is gonna look so nice when his head itches our last stopping point in Italy was the Alpha D Suzi Europe's largest alpine meadow we hopped on the cable car to get to the area and immediately hit the hiking trails that crisscross their way over the beautiful Green Valley normal while the dark clouds added some cool drama to the scene the heavy rain that followed meant it wasn't long before we returned to the van and fled across the border to the German region of Bavaria with the full two days to make it back to London we were fully off piste detouring via the vertiginous vineyards of the Riesling producing Moselle Valley and past another castle worthy of a fable or two the tall turreted charmingly timbered burg eltz it's surprisingly hot in germany at the moment and we're in the wine region so I'm fairly certain that after we've done this hike up to the castle and then back to the van I'm going to try and drink all of the wine I can find obviously once we pass up and luckily having to drive anymore and also some fine somethig German sausages what there's no innuendo you can possibly find there we become used to a meandering style of travel the VW California played its part perfectly it had mean more than just a bed on wheels for us it represented a freedom to take our holiday and our lives in whatever direction we wanted unencumbered by hotel check-in times or bus schedules we wound our way across Europe for almost 3,000 miles detouring when we wanted stopping to take in the views when we wanted if the weather sucked we could simply drive on to make the best of our next location we made our way back into England on the Channel Tunnel from France and as we drove the final road back to London we both agreed it was exactly that flexibility to made this trip so enjoyable not having to abide by anyone's timeframe but our own made us masters of our own destiny and utter feeling we won't soon forget and certainly we can't wait to take our next van life adventure you