The ultimate freedom in heels!
Spring 2022. My boyfriend and I are longing for an adventure, but don't have enough time to travel to the other side of the world. Can we also find that adventure close to home, we wonder? Enter: the campervan. We never traveled like this before.
It is with tempered expectations that we pick up our camper on a sunny Friday evening. I come straight from an editorial meeting. “You're overdressed,” my boyfriend whispers, somewhat embarrassed, when he sees me. Now he is not immediately in baggy uniform, but he is right. I attract attention in my high heels and with a blouse and dress pants. 'I dress how I want, no one says you can only camp in Teva sandals and shorts. This weekend is about freedom,' I hiss back. “You do it,” he says. "But don't talk to me about freedom. We have to be at our destination before 9 p.m. - otherwise we will disturb the other guests and we still have to find food and coins for the showers and electricity along the way. That will be tight timing.'
Somewhat stressed by the time pressure of our planning, we climb into our camper. Moreover, we have just had an extensive briefing. Our heads are spinning with information. But then I kick off my heels and as the sun sets, it really sinks in: this - this moving box of a few square meters - is our place until Monday, this is where we will live and sleep. The two of us, a limited amount of stuff, this campervan. That's it for this weekend. That's all we need. I immediately feel that this limitation conceals enormous freedom. Having everything with you in a traveling home also provides us with an unknown kind of autonomy. I immediately understand why the pandemic caused a rush in sales: with a campervan you don't depend on anything or anyone.
Still a feeling of freedom, although upon arrival we immediately encounter new boundaries. Camping life entails a laundry list of written and unwritten rules. It is not freedom happiness at these campsites… and that is a good thing. It ensures that it is wonderfully quiet, even if the campsites are full. It also means that the sanitary facilities look perfect at any time of the day and that you can enjoy aperitifs and read books undisturbed without feeling obliged to socialize all the time. At the same time, there is just enough social control to prevent us - inexperienced campers - from leaving the site with the skylight wide open (really happened) or with the electricity cable still connected (could have happened). Freedom ends where that of others begins, you can take that very literally here.
Freedom also means parking the camper and then doing everything on foot or by bike. The first stop of our long weekend is Weingut Oster-Franzen in Bremm, one of the many wine estates in the region. You camp here among the vines and at nightfall the family organizes tastings. Our hostess has just returned from a trip with the campervan. 'Being able to change course depending on the weather.' That's how she interprets her freedom, she tells us over a glass of Riesling. We had already booked our camping pitches for a few weeks and fortunately the weather is sunny, but I will remember for my next trip: book a camper well in advance but only reserve the camping pitches at the last minute. Or in the low season: just don't capture them at all.
From Neef, a half-hour walk from the Weingut, we rent e-bikes with which we cycle via the picturesque Beilstein and Ediger-Eller along the Moselle to Cochem. What a beautiful day trip this is (about 60 kilometers there and back), with an excellent cycle path as well. We marvel at the half-timbered houses in Beilstein - the sleeping beauty of the Moselle - and climb to the Reichsburg of Cochem for a beautiful view over the vineyards and the lively historic lower town with its many wine bars. Thanks to the app 'Listening points on the Moselle Cycle Route' we can explore the region at our own pace and still receive the necessary background information. The second day we walk to Calmont-Gipfelkreuz. From this viewpoint, which towers 280 meters above the Moselle, we see how the river shapes this region and how exceptionally steep the slopes are on which the grapes grow, it is not without reason that this is the steepest vineyard in the region. In this particularly idyllic place you can also have breakfast with a view every Saturday and Sunday morning (book via calmontfruehstueck.de).
Speaking of meals: just as I think it's totally okay to go camping in high heels, I also think it is just fine to go camping without cooking ourselves and to just go to a restaurant. That's what we do. Authentic schnitzels on day one in Weinhaus Berg, refined German classics in the wine cellar of Schloss Philippsburg on the second evening. You won't get to know the local cuisine on camping gas.
All those trips and dinners at the restaurant mean that, as the weekend progresses, we get the feeling that we only use the camper to sleep. After a visit to Eltz Castle, we decide to take advantage of camper life for a few hours. With a spot directly on the Rhine at Green Camping in Braubach, we can watch life on the water pass by from our camping chairs. Traveling slowly and taking time to take a break proves to be prerequisites for truly experiencing that feeling of freedom. Planning everything doesn't work with a camper. Opening ourselves up to unexpected encounters and moments. This is the only way you can get all the potential out of such a weekend. And maybe that includes flip-flops. Luxury here is not in my high heels, but in the view over the water from our bed.
When was the last time we did so many new things for the first time? When was the last time we laughed so much in a short period of time? This is a formula we would sign up for again in the future: a mini-vacation outside the comfort zone for a macro effect.
