It’s the start of my big European road-trip and Gloria is nowhere to be seen. I’m squeezed between huge artic lorries walking along the vehicle deck, just about to arrive in Calais and there’s still no sign of her; she’s used to crossing the Channel, but is generally the bigger vehicle, surrounded by smaller cars. But this is a post-lockdown world and there are still very few passengers onboard, so Gloria is feeling a bit intimidated by all these enormous lorries all around her. However, once located, she is keen to get off the ferry and head off to our first stop in Belgium, Ghent. The advantage of the lack of passengers is that there is no queue for food and, more importantly, there are tables available at the front of the ship to watch France come into view whilst eating my boxed fish&chips. The disadvantage is having to wear the mask everywhere…..

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Perhaps I should backtrack a moment here and explain who Gloria is, how did she end up with such a monniker and why we are on a ferry in July 2020. Gloria is my 3.5 tonne Fiat Ducato Lifestyle 696 motorhome and, as a grounded Airbus pilot, she is also affectionately known as the Groundbus696. She started off in life as a male called Fenton, being driven around the UK and Europe for kids sailing events. We had a wonderful time in him, parking at reservoirs or beside the sea and he did a great job in not complaining about being draped in wetsuits and being taken over by marauding teenagers. However, life moves on and when the kids left school and I got divorced, Fenton became mine and was used initially to go to Festivals with girlfriends in a very luxurious way. With a lady owner, Fenton began to feel the need to switch to the female gender, so after his sex change, a flamboyant new name was chosen: Gloria, and she loves it! Now to the last part of the explanation – why are Glo and I heading off on a European roadtrip? Well, as my furlough period continues, it seemed like an ideal opportunity to hit the road, especially as she will be used a whole lot more from where I now live in Portugal……our ultimate destination. The plan is for me to meet daughter Emma and friends in Nice in two weeks time for some South of France beach action, so plenty of time to potter down through 7 different countries!

First stop on this roadtrip is Ghent, also known as “the Venice of the north”. It is beautiful and especially good to explore by bike, as most of the canals are lined by small lanes or bike paths. The architecture is stunning with plenty of old characterful houses, as so much of the city’s medieval architecture has remained intact. Gravensteen, which sits between two branches of the Lys river, was my first castle of the trip (castles are my new obsession, along with bike rides, so it was lovely to be able to combine the two!). A beer looking out over to the castle was a good way to finish up the bike ride…..

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Next stop, Brussels – a real step back in time for me, as I used to fly cargo here almost 30 years ago (where did that time go?!), so had got to know the city reasonably well. There’s always the worry about returning somewhere after so much time and find it not as beautiful as you remembered, but the central square has been sensitively renovated and completely surpassed all my expectations of it. The weather has been pretty poor, with a lot of intermittent rain – fortunately, I seem to have been lucky in dodging most of the showers, but it sure is noisy at night on Gloria’s roof!

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As for the MOVAL, that’s me! I’ve done some pretty mad and crazy things in my life, but a solo European roadtrip in a big machine like Gloria is probably right up there with them, making me a Mad Old Van Lady (or a complete nutter as one of my friends said!).

Thoughts so far:

• Even a big motorhome can look small surrounded by artic lorries
• Travelling post-lockdown is safer if you have your house on your back (and means there are no queues for food on the ferry)
• It can still be cold in Europe in July……..and rain (a lot)
• Rain on the roof of Gloria is very loud. It is definitely NOT white noise and it doesn’t help me get to sleep!