February isn’t a full month for us, because although we lived in the van all month, we were driving around the UK getting things fixed up and ready to travel for the first couple of weeks. For the purposes of our stats, we’ll only include the details for the time from when we officially started our trip, leaving Bristol and heading to Folkestone to take the Channel Tunnel.  That was on Sunday 17th February.

Because of the miles covered to get down to Spain, the cost of tolls and fuel is high for those first few days. Higher than we would usually hope to pay on average. We benefitted from spending 50% of our nights in free accommodation, which is more than we would expect going forward. We both love statistics and details and are looking forward to keeping records of all this stuff going forward.

Statistics for February

Miles completed – van and scooter. Travelling all the way from the tunnel to Valencia certainly burned through the miles. We expect to ‘slow travel’ our way around so we don’t even have any expectation over the coming months about how much we might cover. But Spain is a BIG country.

The scooter got a few runs out getting us into and around Valencia. We’re trying out Google Maps on the phone as a way to find our way around. Nige wears ear buds from the phone to hear the directions while he drives. It’s been a bit hit and miss in Valencia because we keep on losing the GPS signal in the really built up areas. Too early yet to know if we’ll carry on this way or look for an alternative.

MileageVanScooter
February 201993687
March 2019

Countries visited – UK – 1 night before the tunnel. France, driving through only with some overnight stops, 3 nights. Spain, 2 night stops on the way down and then Valencia for 6 nights.

Camping nights – 6 nights free and 6 nights paid. We enjoyed the free aires in France and Spain on the way down to Valencia, but once in Valencia we stayed on a campsite just outside the city. It gave us a chance to put our feet up for a few days after all that driving, use the laundry, and feel the van was safe and secure while we left it to explore Valencia.

Going forward, we expect most of our sight-seeing time to be spent on nearby campsites, intermingled with a few free nights of wild camping here and there. We like to try to save a few Euros here and there, but still like to feel the van is 100% secure.

MonthFree nightsPaid nights
February 201966
March 2019

Travel, sightseeing and living costs for the month

  • Fuel costs:
    • Camper van – €218.24
    • Moped – €3.00
  • Other motoring costs – €63.40 on tolls and parking and £151.00 for the cost of the one-way trip on the Channel Tunnel.
  • Camping costs – We had 6 nights of free camping and 6 nights of paid camping. The paid nights were at Coll Vert in Valencia, paid at €14.00 per night through ACSI. Total cost – €84.00
  • Entertainment and admission – €78.30 on admission tickets to attractions and activities
  • Eating out – €60.55. We do really enjoy eating out, especially just stopping sometimes for a coffee and a cake in a pretty plaza somewhere.
  • Groceries – €76.07 (we were already well stocked up when we left the UK)
  • Phone and internet – £25.50 for the monthly mifi charges (50GB per month) plus £70.00 to buy a new phone after Deby dropped it and smashed it 2 hours before we were due on the Channel Tunnel!
  • Medical – £185.00 per month for our private medical insurance policy
  • Laundry – €7.00 (one campsite wash and dry)
  • LPG gas – €16.78 (one refill)
ExpensesFeb 2019Mar 2019TotalAverage
Fuel – van€218.24€218.24
Fuel – scooter€3.00€3.00
Tolls and parking€63.40€63.40
Channel Tunnel£151.00£151.00
Campsite fees€84.00€84.00
Entertainment & admissions€78.30€78.30
Eating out€60.55€60.55
Groceries€76.07€76.07
Phone and internet£95.50£95.50
Medical insurance£185.00£185.00
Laundry€7.00€7.00
Clothing
LPG Gas refills€16.78€16.78
Misc
Monthly total€1105€1105

Total spent = €1105 (or about an average of €92.08 a day)

Highlights of the month

Valencia was our main stop and it did not disappoint. What a stunning city. Check out our Top 10 Must See Sights in Valencia and our review of our day at the Oceanografic Aquarium.

It’s a busy city for sure and those 6 lanes of traffic on roundabouts can be a bit daunting if you don’t know where you have to get off, but every place we visited exceeded our expectations in one way or another.

Plans for the coming month

Some nice slow travel further down to southern Spain. Plans to stop at Denia, Calpe, Benidorm and Alicante. The weather in March can still be rather chilly and a bit unpredictable. We’ll stick to the coast and stay in the sun while the years warms up.

We’ll be checking out some of the larger campsites along the way as Spain is most likely where we will spend next winter, so it will be good to check out the resorts and destinations now, so we can make some plans for next year.

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