Well, it was 18 months in the making, working with accounting firms, lots of Google translate, piles of paperwork, wire transfers, numerous bureaucratic delays and every ounce of our patience, but Tony and I are now the (excited) owners of a new campervan in Europe which we have named “Chickpea”. There were times we wondered if this was all some sort of elaborate scam (thankfully it wasn’t!). Our new van is a 2024 Hymer campervan which through some creative legal maneuvering, we can fully own, register and obtain French license plates for. We plan to use Chickpea over the next 4-5 years to explore Europe although we are limited by the Schengen Borders Agreement which only allows us to stay in Europe for a rolling 90 days out of every 180 days. We will be doing what is called the “Schengen Shuffle” coming to Europe in Spring and Fall shoulder seasons, starting with our current trip where we are headed off to southern France, Switzerland, Andorra and Barcelona, Spain and hoping to get in 2 road trips each year.

On first impressions, Chickpea is much newer and fancier than Tofu, our Arizona campervan. Chickpea has all the bells and whistles and all the newest safety features, but we are most excited about the hot water, shower and enclosed bathroom which we don’t have in Tofu. We are VERY glad we opted for the same size van as Tofu as the roads are so much skinnier in France than in the US and this removes some of the stress of driving, but not all of it! However, what Tofu lacks in style, it makes up for in functionality and storage as that van is totally customized for how and what we travel with. Tofu is not going anywhere and it will be used during the summer months when we are not in Europe to escape to the North away from the Southern Arizona heat.

More to come as we head out to the Alsace region of France for the start of our European adventures.