Introduction

After two years of taking our Mazda Bongo campervan across to France and being fairly cautious, our plan for 2011 was to be a little more adventurous and visit many more countries. I say "plan", but apart from ferry bookings, a rough idea of which countries we wanted to visit, and a decision for (some of us) to walk up Mount Pilatus in Switzerland, there was no plan - not even a campsite booking for the other side of the Channel. This was to be our second year of travelling some of the time with our good friend Simon, and his teenage kids Ellie (15) and Matthew (13). I (Ali), Lee, and our two kids James (13) and Zoe (9) loaded the Bongo, said goodbye to the cat, and headed to Dover to begin the adventure.