I’m one week into a two weeks camping trip! For the time being, our home is rolling on four wheels! After our trip to Greece, we wanted to try something new. No plans, be mobile and drive according to the weather forecast.

A wet and windy dream, but a very different reality! The picture below is my snap from the departure day! Haha!

My Wet And Windy Camping Dream

Going on a mobile home trip might sounds like a great idea. Everybody applauded the idea, when I told friends about it.

This was my dream:

• Drive and check-out different beaches
• Park overnight at a beach
• Watch the sunset, while having a family and friends BBQ
• Read a book before bedtime
• Do yoga in the sunrise
• Cruising on my sailboard, while the boys were playing in the sand

The True Story About Windsurf Camping!

Hey, wake-up! Often vacations doesn’t turn out like planned. Camping is not the romantic, family dream, I believed in. My expectations were too high and we didn’t do enough research.

No Wind!

There are many things you can’t control. One of them is the weather! Truth is, there is no wind in Scandinavia right now. Ooops, what to do? We do our best to get that energy out! Stand-up paddle, punning, yoga, gym and play with the toddler boys!

No Camping!

We have visited many beautiful beaches. The is only a big problem! It isn’t allowed to park overnight. So far, we have ended up staying at huge, annoying and overcrowded camping sites, on streets or in harbors. I don’t mean to sound mean and posh, but we really don’t like being stuffed in with 100s of caravans far away from the sea. At one of the sites, our neighbor had spend every summer there since 1977! We paid for two nights, and stayed one night. Then we escaped!

Pandora’s Exploding Box & Tortellini Between My Toes!

The car is nice and fairly spacious, with a lot of smart storage rooms. Being a management consultant, I actually made a plan on how to keep our things in a smart and lean order. My calculations went wrong! I didn’t estimate the uncertain variables, like bumps on the road, sudden weather changes, sand and food on the floor.

Whenever, I open a cupboard, things are flying out. Actually, it just started to rain! The rain coats are below the surf boards and the bed. Alex…help! You must come and lift the bed! I clean the floor every day, but ouch, I just step into some sand covered tortellini.

I can hardly move around in the car, because it’s filled with windsurf and SUP gear. Not to forget two car child seats. In addition, we took a trip to Ullared, Scandinavia’s largest warehouse. After the visit, there is a racing car, a viking ship and toy lawn mover inside our mobile home. Plastic is fantastic..!

A Family With Cabin Fever!

Camping is all about staying outside the mobile home. But when we park at a guest harbor or in a street, with water or fast cars on all sides, there is no option. We cannot have the two toddlers running around. Too many hours we have been stuck in the mobile home. Oh yes…with all the surf boards, the cars seats, the sand and the plastic-fantastic toys!

What’s THAT Smell!

Doing the daily sanitary work is no problem. The real problem was that even if we emptied the latrine daily, there was still a horrible septic smell in the car. No cleaning or air freshener could kill it. Then we discovered a smelly pond under the car. There had to be a second tank, which the rental company hadn’t told us about. And yes! After checking around and under the car, we found a huge overfilled tank with spill water. We manage the empty it! One problem solved!

No Sunset Nor Sunrise!

So far, I haven’t seen the sunset. Every evening around 8-9 pm we were trying to get the two twin toddlers to sleep. They think the mobile home is great fun, day and night! They spin around in their elevated bed above the driver seat. When one is sleeping, the other wakes him up.

Eight hours later, I don’t see the sunrise, either. I’m in a coma. I wake up every time a train passes behind the mobile home or when I have to get up and calm down one of the little ones.

I Was Naive!

My Swedish mother said to me – But Cecilia! What did you expect? You are in Bohuslän and Halland, Sweden. It’s always very crowded in July! 

Maybe my dream would have been possible on a windy day in October, but never in July!

One more week!

Okay, I admit it! I had a glorified view on the camping life in a mobile home. But I will keep on going for one more week!

I just checked windguru! Wind is on its way to Hvaler, and so are we!

Stay tuned!

Cecilia 😡