An old kombi in our lives

(First published in Issue 9, June 2023) It all started with a yes, and I am sure you know what kind of yes I mean. She said yes during the COVID period, and true to ourselves, we decided to celebrate it differently.

The idea was to bring the people closest to us together, arrange a meeting for drinks in a bar and not say anything in advance. For this particular event, we rented a Kombi, surprised all our guests and enjoyed the day with our close family and friends.

After that crazy day, we thought, why do we not buy a van for ourselves, for our holidays and for small adventures? We found Léon in Belgium. He was a German Kombi manufactured in 1978 for the English market and was spending the rest of his days in the garage of an old lady in Belgium. The last owner gave him a new breath of life and we bought him. The nickname of the smiling man who sold him to us was Léon and we named our new family member after him.

Our first trip was a discovery of a part of France that we had never been to before, the eastern side.

I cannot really describe the exact route, because we followed our instincts and drove very carefully with our vintage bus. Our starting point was in the north of France and we roughly fixed a destination on the map.

We tried to travel without using our GPS but kept it close just in case we got really lost. It is much more interesting to be lost when you are looking at a real map made of paper. If you need help in a tiny village, you will always find someone with a smile who wants to talk about our holidays with our vintage van. The locals usually give great directions and local tips on interesting spots to spend the night or on things to visit that are not in a tourist guide.

We tried to follow a straight line down toward Reims and then switched onto the road toward Nancy. All the villages reminded us how diverse France is. When we visited Nancy, reality set in and showed us how difficult it is to drive through a busy town with an old, capricious van that is not good at starting and stopping repeatedly. It was also challenging to find a parking spot or underground car park big enough for Léon. Nonetheless, we enjoyed visiting this culturally and architecturally rich town.

We visited the popular zoo in Amnéville to entertain the children and then headed toward the Belgian Ardennes because Alsace was too far for the old van. On the way back home, we took it slow and traveled peacefully through Belgium.

During this journey, Léon safely traveled 1,500 kilometers (930 miles) which might seem like nothing for a modern car, but he made us very proud by bringing us back home with no trouble on our first trip. After all, he is a vintage van from 1978.

We discovered a new way to spend our holidays, slowly driving on winding roads, closer to nature and more conscious of our impact on it. That is the kind of holiday you are set up for when you travel in such an old vehicle. Unfortunately, we cannot spend every day living vanlife, but on the days we do, when we turn the key, all the troubles of life disappear for a moment.

We always greet them with two honks and the shaka sign. It is impressive how much easier it is to talk to someone when traveling in a vintage van. People are more careful and relaxed and if we are too slow for other cars, it is nice to exchange smiles when they drive past us.

For the last two years, we have been on the road with this classy vintage van. It is a little bit roots style, no electricity, a very small kitchen and a place for water, nothing more.

Last year, we were in Brittany and crossed the Normandy countryside. For this summer holiday, we booked a ferry to Ireland. I hope I found the right words to share the joy we feel when we are all together with Léon. We hope to see you on the road.

Do not be shy, we are always happy to talk and share a beer, in case there is one in our fridge.