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A life less complicated….

Featured / freedombird / 13 Comments

Having started an epic journey around the coast of Britain in October 2017 – with a four year gap including Covid and caring for my elderly father – Tilly (my Toy Poodle) and I (Clare a 60 something female with a severe case of Wanderlust) are continuing to travel in our Bailey Endeavour B62 campervan, predominantly within eyeshot of the sea around both the Uk and Europe.

Returning from an amazing journey through the heart of Western Europe we rounded off our trip with a sunny (and as it turned out – very warm) tour around the South East Coastline of Kent, West Sussex and little of East Sussex and the Isle of Wight and headed home to Cornwall to re-connect with friends and family for the month of August, now in September it is time to head off again….

We have now visited some 1555 beaches around the coast of Britain and 638 in Europe with still plenty more to see..

If you would like to see our earlier journeys around the UK, they have loosely been grouped together by location and you can find the links below.

NB some of the links below are not yet working properly as it is a work in progress….

Beach Guides:

To catch up with our earlier adventures in:

  1. North coast of Cornwall from 5th October 2017 to 11th February 2018 –   Freedombird in Cornwall
  2. Back in Cornwall at various times to complete the coastline – Freedombird back in Cornwall
  3. North coast of Devon from 11th February to 19th March 2018 – Freedombird in North Devon
  4. Somerset from 19th March to 29th April 2018 – Freedombird in Somerset
  5. South Wales coast from 29th April to 14th August 2018 – Freedombird in South Wales
  6. West and North Wales coast from 14th August to 21st October 2018 – Freedombird in West and North Wales
  7. North West England from 21st October to 26th November 2018 and 27th January to 4th February 2019 – Freedombird in North West England
  8. Cumbria from 27th January to 5th April 2019 – Freedombird in Cumbria
  9. South Coast of Scotland from 5th April to 25th May 2019 – Freedombird on the South Coast of Scotland
  10. West Coast of Southern Scotland from 26th May to 17th July 2019 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Southern Scotland
  11. Edinburgh and surrounding area from 18th July to 30th July 2019 – Freedombird in Edinburgh and surrounding beaches
  12. East Coast of Southern Scotland from 28th July to 15th September 2019 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Southern Scotland
  13. North East England from 12th September to 20th November 2019 – Freedombird in the North East of England
  14. Yorkshire from 14th January to 22nd February 2020 – Fredombird in Yorkshire
  15. Lincolnshire from 23rd February to 13th March 2020 – Freedombird in Lincolnshire
  16. Norfolk and Suffolk from 15th to 24th March 2020 and 28th June to 18th July 2025 – Freedombird in Norfolk and Suffolk
  17. Inland England on various dates travelling through – Freedombird in inland England
  18. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 11th September to 14th October 2024 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  19. North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys from 15th to 27th October 2024 – Freedombird on the North Coast of Scotland and the Orkneys
  20. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1 from 28th October to 15th November 2024 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 1
  21. In the Highlands of Scotland from 15th to 26th November 2024 and 10th to 21st June 2025 – Freedombird in the Highlands
  22. West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 8th to 17th April and 31st May to 5th June 2025 – Freedombird on the West Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  23. Outer Hebrides Part 1 from 22nd April to 12th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 1
  24. Outer Hebrides Part 2 from 10th May to 30th May 2025 – Freedombird in the Outer Hebrides Part 2
  25. East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2 from 15th to 18th June 2025 – Freedombird on the East Coast of Northern Scotland Part 2
  26. North and West Coast of France from 11th September to 7th December 2025 – Freedombird on the North and West Coast of France
  27. Travelling down through the heart of Western Europe from 4th March to 27th April – Freedombird in Europe Spring 2026 Part 1
  28. Continuing our journey through Europe from 28th April to 8th June 2026 – Freedombird in Europe Spring 2026 Part 2
  29. South East Coast of England from June 9th to July 8th 2026 – Freedombird in South East England

Monday 5th October 2026 – moving on southwards to Rome….

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A little cloudy this morning which is good as it means the drive south wasn’t as hot as I feared it might be. The drive itself wasn’t particularly engaging but we did pass through some interesting looking old towns that seemed to be clinging onto the rock side by a wing and a prayer. Capranica (where we actually stopped to do some grocery shopping) and Sutri in particular also had many little of caves carved into the hillside – Etruscan necropolis or burial grounds, according to google. It is a shame that we didn’t stop to explore and take photos, but I was on a mission to get to the site in case it got booked up, as booking through ACSI isn’t an option.

Otherwise the route took us through olive oil country and rolling countryside then suddenly around a corner and we were in Rome – traffic everywhere!!

Fortunately the site was easy to find being just off the main road and having checked in we squeezed into our allocated pitch – outside of the casual parking on many of the aires, easily the smallest pitch we have had – but hey we are only here a couple of nights.

We tried to get out for a walk but the castle I had earmarked would have entailed dicing with death along the side of a main road for half a mile or so, instead we set of in search of the nearest railway station for our trip into the city tomorrow. Not a nice walk involving crossing main intersections (with traffic lights) and making our way through an industrial estate but only taking 10 minutes so that is ok.

We even saw some Roman Ruins and more caves on the way 🤣🤣🤣…..

We returned to the peace and safety of the site which is pretty big stretching a significant distance back off the main road meaning that there is no road noise in the camping area, for the rest of our walk.

Just as it was getting dark and I thought I had got away with not having any immediate neighbours an Italian van after numerous attempts and several ominous sounding scratches from the little demarcation hedges, wedged itself in next to me. Initially he reversed in, as was I, then he realised that his door pretty much opened opposite mine with less than a metre between and so he reluctantly drove out and after much fuss, reversed in. At one point I did go out to see if I could help and I think he was trying to tell me that it was my fault and that I should have driven in so my door was on the opposite side! I chose to ignore him, feign not understanding and just smiled and left him to it. I am not moving – vans are parked any which way and as the pitches are so narrow most people are sat out the back of their vans…

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 72
  • Miles walked- 5
  • Groceries – £34.34
  • O/N – £25.97

Sunday 4th October 2026 – a lovely afternoon stroll along the lake….

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Another beautiful day and in the morning we followed the footpath along the lakeside, away from Bolsena, only to discover it didn’t really lead anywhere, just a few private cabins and a large (closed) campsite.

After lunch we headed out towards Bolsena and instead of going into the town we continued along the promenade as far as it went. Passing the busy central hub where many were enjoying walking, eating, drinking or just passing a sunny Sunday afternoon in a very European way….

Passed a few more art installations….

Got a great view of the Old Town….

And then enjoying a gelato by the lake before heading back to site….

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 5
  • Gelato – £2.50
  • O/N – £14.14

Saturday 3rd October 2026 – a wander into the old town of Bolsena….

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A very peaceful night last night, not that we have been bothered by the business of the previous two large campsites or indeed the murmur of the waves but it was noticeably quieter here. A beautiful day dawned and a little cooler or fresher here, not sure which but temps around mid twenties so quite doable.

We took the footpath along the lakeside about a mile or so into Bolsena and soon joined the promenade with lake front bars and hotels and a rather random art installations….

A wide tree lined avenue led us to the old town with its narrow cobbled streets and many narrow alleyways adorned with bars, greenery and of course washing!….

The Castle Quarter towering overhead and once we had wandered around the lower town we made our way up the steep but mercifully relatively short distance up to the much quieter and even older part of town….

The castle taking the high point, overlooking the surrounding countryside and Lake Bolsena, the largest Volcanic lake in Europe….

Here too we wandered around the cobbled streets, with just a few bars and restaurants….

Making our way back down with eyes to the ground a necessity as cobbled streets lead to random cobbled steps and back into the main lower old town the street cafes and bars busier now with late lunches and afternoon drinkies…..

Enough for us as we head back along the lakeside to site, a quick change then down to the beach for a refreshing swim in the cool still waters of the lake returning a little later to see the tail of the sunset…..

Not a bad life.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles walked – 6
  • Beach – 1
  • O/N – £14.14

Friday 2nd October 2026 – moving inland to Lake Bolsena…

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An early start for us as we have an appointment in nearby Grosseto to get the windscreen replaced. This was slightly endangered as I needed to wait until 9 to check out (my bad for not checking at reception until about 6.45 last night and the cashiers finish at 6 and don’t start until 9am) but it was only a short journey and we just made it on time.

Leaving the van in the garage we strolled into Grosseto, a busy but mostly light industrial town in search of an old town centre. It wasn’t the nicest place we have visited but we did find the old bit with a rather impressive church and bell tower at the head of a central plaza….

We sat for a while just people watching and killing time before collecting the van and heading on our way. As a by the whole process was quite straight forward after making contact with my insurance company, Autoglass made contact with their Italian counterpart – Carglass 🤣🤣 who made all the arrangements with a garage along my route and Voila it was done. The only casualty being the French Crit Air sticker which was not going to come off in one piece, let alone in any reusable state! According to google I should be fine as long as I can produce the original email confirmation (which I can) until I get back to the UK and order a new one.

Our journey took us down the coast a bit on the SS1 and then inland through some lush countryside and hills until we reached our destination of Bolsena, or more accurately Blu Camping Holiday Garden (ACSI) on the outskirts and lakeside. Here again I opted for shade to keep the van (and us) cool as temps reached 29 today just 50m from the lake…

We spent the rest of the afternoon just relaxing in the shade before taking an evening stroll along the shores of the lake and watching the sun go down…..

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 102
  • Miles walked – 7
  • O/N – £14.14

Thursday 1st October 2026 – staying local and just being….

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Lovely hot day again, I say lovely as we have no plans and can just alternate between the cool shaded van / outside and wandering along the track to the dog friendly beach for refreshing dips in the sea – what is not to like?

I have also taken some time to do a bit of planning ahead and tried to decide exactly where I want to visit. This coastline has been trickier to access /find places to stay than the Ligurian Coastline from back in May, compounded by the extremely hot temperatures we are having. I have been looking at the Italian Aires (Sostas) to give me a few more options but have found them nearly all to be in unshaded areas which in this heat will be unbearable. As such I have also found that we have had some lengthy drives through not very interesting landscapes – so am feeling more focus is required. A plan always helps.

Today’s stats:

  • Miles driven – 0
  • Miles walked –
  • O/N – £18.75