So we are a few days into our family adventure, and it has certainly been full of emotions thus far!
What started as a mad dash to get everything packed, and then get everyone to Madrid airport from Salamanca … was followed by an exhausting wait due to a cancelled flight and 12 fruitless hours in the airport … then a much needed rest and relax in the Marriott hotel beside the airport (thank you Avianca Airlines) … before eventually making it to the impressive airport in Santiago Chile, and our new home on wheels (which is still awaiting official naming). Busy times for sure!
On arrival, we were quite a sight for any passers by in the long term car park, with the contents of our 4 large bags laid out across multiple parking spaces, as we struggled to find places for everything to go!! Added to this was the location of said long term car park, conveniently situated right at the end of the main runway, meaning planes taking off what felt like about 50 meters overhead! To add to the surreal nature of the whole experience, the Chilean Air Force decided that this very morning was an ideal time to initiate practice drills overhead. Those of you familiar with such machines at close quarters might be able to relate to the eardrum shattering noise involved in such activities! Somehow our little adventure did not seem like the biggest show in town…!
We were finally here…!
Thankfully, after about 3 hours of trial and error, and an impromptu game of hurling to keep a 5 year old from having a complete meltdown, we found space for everything on onboard (although we have since reorganised most things on average once per day ever since – lesson #1, every space efficiency is worth the effort in such small living quarters)!
Next step was to get the campervan operational (it had been idle for over a month with both batteries disconnected, water tanks emptied out etc.). Given myself and Laura’s Montessori-like mechanical nous, resolving this was not a done deal…! However our perseverance was rewarded and we eventually got ourselves up and running.
Our first stop was unintended, a toll booth about 30 seconds after leaving the airport parking. My mistaken confidence in not withdrawing any Chilean pesos came back to haunt me, as only cash was accepted at the toll booth. Having detoured to the toll offices, it took the kindness of a staff member to exchange 2 USD for 2,000 CLP with us. This allowed us to continue our trip, although we did have the added challenge of having to reverse the campervan back up the motorway to the toll booth, given the office was 100 metres further down the road. Lesson #2 learned. We were learning fast…
Driving the campervan itself was less daunting than anticipated, although it’s certainly loud, slow and very big (7m+ In length and 3m+ high)! Parking in the shopping centre we found on day one was a sign of things to come…essentially we take up four parking spots, so not exactly something we can squeeze into a tight space!
So about 60 hours after our last full nights sleep (I for one cannot sleep well in airports or on planes unfortunately), we settled into our campervan for our first on many night “wild camping”. After much diligent research, we settled on a car park beside Santiago’s Metropolitian park, an urban city park in a lovely area of the city. Thankfully this turned out to be a great choice, and somewhere we stayed for quite a few nights that followed.
Waking up on day 2 was a unique experience. My mind raced upon waking, trying to locate my GPS coordinates in my head in a mad dash upon waking! When it finally dawned on me that I was in a campervan in Chile with my family, I rolled over and smiled, content in the knowledge that the last 12 months planning, organising, buying, selling, researching and talking had all been worth it.
We were finally here…!
Click here to read the “What’s Really Important” blog post
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