We call it, we call it camperists, a camper life. They are not holidays, it is not even traveling: it is “camperlife”, a lifestyle, much more than simply visiting new places – or returning to places of the heart. In fact, there are travel and trips, those that are forgotten quickly and others who remain within us like the soundtrack of an unforgettable summer.
Traveling in a camper undoubtedly belongs to the second category: it is not only a way to move, but a real experience. I am 4 years that I discovered this wonderful world and since then everything has changed. Enough hotels, enough apartments, just long movements in the car, enough stationary holidays (and very expensive). It is like finding protagonists of a film that mixes freedom, nature and human ties. Each journey on four wheels is something to itself: stop living according to the times imposed and begins to follow the rhythm of your own curiosity by living everything with eyes wide open and fascinated like a child in front of his favorite toy.
The freedom that is priceless
A travel by camper is above all freedom, in particular if, as I do from the first moment, the purest form is chosen to do so: what is defined, in fact, free stop. No campsites, parking areas only for the loading and unloading of black, gray and light waters (the water to wash and eat). Obviously in compliance with the local laws and avoiding to camp and pollute.
There are no check-in to be respected, nor ages marked by the sound of an alarm. There is the road, with its unexpected events and deviations, which turns into an invitation to follow the intuition. Stop in front of a sudden sunset, to change direction because an anonymous sign indicates a village never heard before or simply because we don’t like that sea or the day after the weather threatens rain: this is the authentic spirit of the Hon Road, the one that makes you feel alive inside.
A house traveling with you
I said it and I repeat it: the camper is much more than a vehicle. It is an extension of your home and therefore of one’s intimacy, so much so that a name is given to him. Bring a cup, a book or guitar behind it means not giving up those small daily rites that make us feel “at home”. The beauty is precisely this: having a mobile dwelling that moves with us, without ever taking off the comfort of the habits.
And while outside the walls the panorama changes, you pass from the sea to the mountains to the villages to the starry skies, you continue to sleep in your bed, drink your coffee, to cook what you like, to have everything (or almost) at hand.
Because the camper also teaches you to do without, not to waste. You can certainly not carry behind a thousand changes of clothes or have unlimited water and electricity (despite the solar panels and ad hoc systems, help a lot): you must learn to make you enough what is there and soon you will realize how much in everyday life we exaggerate to use resources unnecessarily.
Nature as a travel companion
Those who choose the camper also choose to immerse themselves in nature. In recent years I found myself waking up in front of a lake, lunch next to a pine forest or fall asleep with the sound of the sea. The romantic Germans knew this, science confirms it today: nature regenerates body and mind, reduces stress and turns on creativity. In camper, this experience is not consumed in a few hours: it becomes the backbone of each day.
The pleasure of rediscovering the company
Traveling in camper also means discovering the value of sharing. Whether you start with friends, with the family or in pairs, every moment becomes an opportunity to live together: cooking, playing, telling each other stories on rainy days or laughing in front of an improvised barbecue. It is in small spaces that ties are strengthened. No televisions, often poor connection and then here is rediscovered the life of the past: that of authentic relationships.
Meet new people and new stories
Then there is another aspect strictly linked to the latter which makes this experience unique: the possibility of meeting camperists of all origins. Each stop can transform a microcosm of stories and accents. Just an evening under the stars and we exchange advice on the routes, we tell each other experiences, they give suggestions on how to improve your camper and make it even more autonomous and functional.
Often friendships that last well beyond the holiday are born, with people of all ages with whom we find ourselves on the other end of Italy – and not only – the following year for a new adventure, as happened this year. We promise to meet again and you really do it, almost like in an episode of Beijing Express which combines strangers in an unexpected link. The beauty is precisely this: to leave for a trip and return with a human background that you had not expected.
An invitation to lightness
Finally, traveling by camper is an invitation to lightness. Of course, there must be a planning base, just to understand where to lean in case of need. But you don’t need to plan everything in detail: you can decide the route day by day. The real surprise of the camper life is to realize that the wonder is not only in the destination, but in what happens along the way. Buying a camper is not spending money unnecessarily, but investing in happiness. And once you try it, you will no longer be able to go back, the word of camperist.
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