the Camper Van Journey

September 10th, 2022

After 2 long travel days and an overnight stay in the city that never sleeps, we landed in Faro, Portugal. Both of us exhausted and no longer taking each other’s shit we decided it best that we keep our mouths shut and just figure out how to get to a place we could sleep. We picked up our amazing pop-up VW van that was decked out to the nines, and headed East toward the beautiful coast of Spain. Our first stop was Cadiz, which is a quaint fishing village on the coast. Exhausted from our lack of sleep, we grabbed a quick bite on the road, found a great parking spot along the beach (We used the app Park4Night for the whole trip, which was a great way to find some hidden parking spots), and checked in for the night.

After waking up to the sound of waves, a fresh cup of coffee, and a morning walk on the beach we were ready to take off. Unfortunately we opted out of exploring the town of Cadiz, which I regret because from everything I’ve read, Cadiz seems like an awesome fishing village filled to the brim with tapas bars and sherry wine. However, the towns we hit on our way to Malaga, did not disappoint. Our first stop was Tarif, which is widely known for it’s world class kite surfing. Steering clear of the crowds and tourist zones, we drove up a narrow winding dirt road that led us to a stunning view of the coastline and was a perfect place to perch for lunch and a get in quick hike – which I was clearly not dressed for but stunning none the less. We then continued to a small town called Estepona which we quickly stopped into for an espresso and cake to curb the effects of the jet lag we were very clearly feeling. Estepona felt like a small replica of Venice Beach, CA but in Spain. Packed full of every style of person you could think of, clothing somewhat optional, and countless bars/café’s it made for a very interesting people watching experience. In need of some good Spanish cuisine we spent the night in the magical downtown Malaga and of course polished off 2 bottles of wine and the best/most expensive Paella we’ve ever had. 

After 3 days I thought I’d finally learned to embrace the #van-life, but that was a short lived experience. We ended up accidentally sleeping in until 11am and were deathly hungover from the wine, so had an extremely late start to the day but we made the most of it. We started with an hour drive to Rhonda, which is a MUST SEE if you’re everyone around the area. Down below the village, there’s a small hike which gives you elite access to the views of the mid-evil city, and worth the short trek. After a quick stop there, we headed to Grendada. The mountain town of Granada is stunning and houses the famous Alhambra - more on that later, and also has the smallest streets I’ve ever seen. We managed to get the van stuck on a one-way which we didn’t think we’d make it out of. However, with the help of some locals we slowly inched our way out trying not the damage the brand new van. 

Waking up in the middle of a field, literally, we had 2 goals: get outside to hike and walk through the Alahambra. We tacked the first goal with ease after finding a stunning hike, which passed through towering mountains, quaint streams, suspension bridges, and even required some via ferrato skills. However, due to my severe lack of directional knowledge we completely missed the Alahambra. The Alahambra is one of the most well known tourist destinations in Spain and with my absolutely fantastic navigating skills I managed to walk us 7 miles around it and through the streets of Granada, yet somehow never made it to the entrance! However, from the pictures online and the views from the streets it was absolutely stunning, along with the rest of Granada. After a quick bite to eat, and of course a glass of midday wine we headed off to Cordoba. On the drive we decided we needed to see at least one Flamenco show, which did not disappoint and is an absolute must in this region! Full, tired, and danced out, we made our 5 hour drive back to Portugal to finish off the rest of this adventure.