This trip can’t really get much better. Our road trip proper now starts with a bonafide boat trip. Not only are we moving to the mountains this December but we’re doing it in some style.

With an Elddis Autoquest 185 as our partner in crime and a bunch of other amazing supporters who are making sure it’s as comfortable a trip as is possible, it’s all staring to feel very real.

For a long time we’d imagined that we would somehow teleport the 800 miles to the Alps. Apparently, they’ve clamped down on that kind of witchcraft so we’re going to have to do the ‘road’ part of the ‘road trip’.

It’s been decades since I’ve been on a ferry and James’ recollection of his last water crossing is somewhat hazy so we’re both mega excited to be jumping on a boat in December. We’re travelling with DFDS who are, as all our partners seem to be, curious to see what we can make of this expedition. We’re coming to the realisation that behind closed doors there is a conversation that seems to go along these lines:

These people do not know what they’re doing. Like, not at all.

In my imagination, this chat then flips between concern and pity and results in a nonchalant shrug of the shoulders and a “let’s see what we can do to help them out” and “What’s the worst that could happen?”.

Kent bound, our first scheduled stop on our Winterized road trip is The Port of Dover. There’s something quite exciting and daunting about the idea of watching the white cliffs fade into the distance just a few weeks from now.

A huge thanks to DFDS for supporting our journey with a boat trip. These are the people who’ll see us off on our journey and will welcome us home again. Feels old fashioned and a little bit romantic somehow.