The Vegetarian Travel

Familia viajando en autocaravana para descubrir las recetas vegetarianas del mundo.

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26 January, 2019 Por Ale 7 Comments

How we sent our Motorhome from Europe to South America, step by step

When we decided that we would go to America, we began a great research to find the best option to take Kale, our motorhome of 7.23m long, 2.23m wide and 3.10m high, on the other side of the ocean.

Obviously sending Kale by boat was the only option, but there were many questions and doubts to be solved: from where, who could help us and give us recommendations, what companies provide this service, what do we had to do, how much was it going to cost, what paperwork would be needed … Where to start !?

In this article I tell you how we did it and how our experience turned out in detail.

WHERE SHOULD WE START?

The first thing we did was internet searching’s, looking for options, companies, ports and prices to guide us. We found several companies that could do the transport but it was essential to receive recommendations from other travelers who had already gone through this experience.

Our friends of “Autocaravana en Familia” were a great support and helped with thousands of recommendations they gave us, not only with this topic but with many others. THANKS FAMILY!

So after comparing companies, prices and services, we decided to work with the one that seemed the most complete in terms of services, facilities and in relation to the things we could carry inside. Some of the companies did not let us take anything inside the vehicle, but SEABRIDGE was the one that allowed us to send the Motorhome with our things and we also thought that it was the one that had more experience in this type of transfers.

Seabridge transports to different ports of South America, Central America and North America so we could use it in the one way transfer, but we could also have notions of prices to return from all these points.

HOW IS THE MOTORHOME TRANSPORTATION TO AMERICA?

There are two types of formats for transporting a vehicle; putting it in a container or RORO. In our case, due to the dimensions of Kale there was no doubt; It had to be RORO. This means that the Motorhome is transported as if it were a Ferry but on a cargo ship.

The price is calculated taking into account the total volume of the vehicle, so for us, having a large motorhome, it was not very cheap, but we were clear that we wanted to take Kale with us.

We also knew that the trip would start in South America, but we had to decide whether to send it to Montevideo, Uruguay or to Zarate, Argentina. Again the recommendations of different travelers clarified our doubts; Montevideo is the best option. The port of Montevideo is simple, gives a lot of onfidence and allows you to carry out the release procedures in a very agile way (5 hours in total).

To dispatch the Motorhome to South America, we would have to bring Kale to the port of Antwerp in Belgium, where Seabridge operates at a better price. So we planned a route that would take us through Europe with Anwerp as final destination, where we would leave Kale… “Bon voyage Kale!”.

Before leaving Kale at the port, we also received recommendations from Seabridge and other travelers, to block the entrance from the cockpit to the passenger compartment to prevent or make at least more difficult to get inside the AC.

We bought some wooden boards and we built a wooden wall between the two spaces.

 

PROCEDURES AND PAPERS

First of all, it is important to book the trip three months in advance, for which they do not charge you anything and give you the freedom to make dates changes at no additional cost.

To make the reservation, you have to complete a form, where you are mainly asked for all the data and dimensions of the vehicle and you will have additionally to submit a copy of the vehicle documents to be able to process the reservation.

Then, Seabridge informs you and confirms the most specific date, bearing in mind that this type of transport may suffer modifications of dates, both for departure and arrival, so you have to relax and follow the dates that are communicated.

In our case we left Kale 5 days before the ship departure, which was delayed one day at the port. Leaving Kale in the port of Antwerp was extremely simple, there they already had all the information of our reservation, so we filled in the travel documents, they took a copy of the passports and the vehicle documents and … that’s it! You can go to the port control.

The port control is very simple also because it is all automated. You pass the control area where you park the Motorhome on a scale that weighs and scans it. It take measures to confirm the declared dimensions and they put stickers on the windows with the vehicle data, as if it were a suitcase at the airport; o).

They will tell you where to park and you will bring the key (only the one to open it and turn on the engine) to the administration office, where it will be secured.

And finished this process, you can go … you leave your Motorhome there!!!! … it was a big moment!

A useful clarification, at least we did not know this, the port of Antwerp is quite far from the city, and from where you leave the vehicle there is no public transport (only if you walk for 30 minutes to a bus stop). You can ask for a taxi that costs approximately € 70/80 to the Antwerp central train station.

PAPERS AT DESTINATION AND DURING THE TRIP.

When the vehicle is already consolidated (term of the port world) and traveling, Seabridge sends you the invoice to pay the transport amount and insurance. Insurance is optional, in our case we bought it, the cost is 1% of the value you declare of the vehicle.

After that, we tracked Kale from time to time, as they give you a tracking code for the boat with which you can see where it is at all times.

A couple of weeks before the arrival of Kale to Montevideo, we contacted by phone with the company with which Seabridge works in Montevideo, KMA Uruguay. They inform you of the most exact dates of arrival and the tariffs that must be paid in Montevideo to free it.

In KMA you have to pay several tariffs: the local management price that entitles you 5 days of parking of the vehicle in Montevideo without additional cost, another tariff to obtain the release document of the original vehicle that KMA gives you and finally the transfer of the vehicle. All these fees are paid in cash and in US Dollars at the KMA offices when the vehicle has already arrived.

From there, the owner of the vehicle has to go to the Migration office to obtain an entry certificate in Uruguay that is needed at the port Customs. This procedure is quick and also has a low cost, and is paid in Uruguayan Pesos.

From there you have to go to the port, all the previous procedures and these that I am going to tell you now can be done walking, we are talking about maximum 6 blocks away.

The final destination is the port of Montevideo, where you have to do the last two procedures. In Customs you have to present all the papers collected above, plus the local insurance of the vehicle you have hired, plus a photocopy of the driver’s license, passport and car documents.

Before finishing the procedure in Customs, you must go to the port office where you have to pay the last rate paid for each ton that weighs your vehicle, this fee is also paid in cash and in US dollars.

Then you return to Customs with the document that justifies that you have paid the Port Fee and they will issue the document to withdraw your vehicle.

Now you can go to the warehouse where your vehicle is parked with the paper that you have been given at Customs to remove the vehicle.

¡¡¡¡THERE IT IS !!! A nice meeting… And everything is in perfect condition 😊

To finish everything, you have to go to the vehicle inspection where they look at it and inspect it (in our case very little, just a look inside) and there they give you the permission entrance document to the country that is like gold, you have to take care of it until you leave the country.

And ready … let’s discover America!

 

Detail of expenses

Filed Under: Family, Motorhome, Camper, Travel

27 October, 2018 Por Ale Leave a Comment

This is how we feed our family

A few years ago, we decided to change our diet and eat vegetarian. When we say that we are vegetarians, they often ask us the same questions: Why? Since when? Your kids are vegetarians too? And proteins? How do you get all the necessary nutrients?

Although vegetarianism is growing a lot and faster than before, there is still a long way to go. In this post we want to tell you about our diet and the advantages of eating vegetarian.

How did we become vegetarians?

Caro was the first one in our family! As we told you in Hello, Caro read a book that made her rethink eating animals. Understanding where the food we eat comes from, how it has been produced, the impact it has on our health, on the environment and on the animals themselves, were the trigger for the change.

The most difficult part of the process of change is the environment; the people around you do not always understand that you stop eating meat and the truth is that in Spain there is still not much awareness of this subject, so eating vegetarian in a restaurant is not always a simple task either.

However, at home, it is quite simple. For several years, Caro was talking to us, explaining, we gradually made changes in our family diet so that we could all eat the same and so, the boys, we made a complete migration until we completely stopped eating meat.

We became vegetarians.

Today we are a vegetarian family that seeks to maintain the most natural and healthy food possible, taking into account the needs of each one of us.

Introducing foods as natural as possible in our diet was relatively easy since now there are many organic food stores  and they are located close to home. Now it is easier to find Bio products at a good price thanks to current food trends. Today we have brands such as El Granero Integral that have taken these Bio products very seriously and made it much easier for us.

Hemp in beads

¿What do we eat?

Now it is easier for us to elaborate our menus because we find more and more options.

Our family diet today is based on vegetables (boiled, steamed, raw, stewed, sautée … there are a million options to prepare them!), legumes (in soups, pâtés, burgers, stews), cereals (mainly pasta, bread , rice, oats, quinoa, millet, buckwheat, spelled …), fruit (minimum 2 pieces a day!), nuts and seeds that we incorporate into breakfasts, snacks, salads and help us to complete essential nutrients.

In addition to the proteins found in the foods mentioned above, we eat eggs and although we do not drink milk, we eat cheese occasionally. We complete the proteins with textured soy, tofu and sometimes seitan.

We have many options to carry out a vegetarian diet and as I mentioned before, we often choose among the more than 500 products related to the bio-culture offered by El Granero Integral.

Quinoa

¿ Would you like to take the step to a vegetarian diet?

Did you know that the WHO not only considers it a healthy diet, but also has studies that suggest that vegetarians are more long-lived than non-vegetarians?

To ensure that our diet is balanced and to check how we were in general terms, we have made a complete analysis. The results are very good and the doctor told us “keep it up, you are very good!“.

If you are evaluating taking the step, we encourage you to try and prove the benefits for yourself. If you are short of ideas for cooking, you can download our guide with 10 vegetarian recipes to surprise. We are working on a book with many more recipes that can give you many ideas and that will be available soon.

Hopefully our experience will inspire many to eat a diet richer in vegetables.

This post is sponsored by El Granero Integral

Filed Under: Family, Flavors

17 July, 2018 Por Ale Leave a Comment

How did we create our Blog without knowing anything about it?

When we decided to pursue our dream, we also decided that we would create a blog to share with family, friends and anyone who wants to get on, everything we will discover during the trip.

After this decision was taken, we started to investigate how to make it. It was not going to be easy….

The first dilemma: should we hire a designer to make an amazing web or should I try to do it on my own?

When you’re starting a project like this, you have a lot of expenses. So the answer is easy: “It can’t be that complicated, I’ll manage it myself. With some YouTube tutorials I will be able to fix it!”

But after reading about this subject and diving on the internet, we asked for some advice to Bloggers who have already gone through this, such as Antonio G from “Inteligencia Viajera”. We finally decided to invest time, money and effort to learn how to do it ourselves with a course.

If you write in Google “WordPress Web Design Online Course”, you will see millions of courses.

I found the ideal course for me.

So I started looking for courses recommendations and there are thousands of suggestions … but we found one, that has been a real surprise.

Recommended by Antonio G, we found Oscar Fernández Herrero from Creativolandia, a Spanish blogger.

The course “Create a website that converts with WordPress” has been a discovery. Not only the course and the way in which Oscar imparts it, but also because it’s all given with videos. This is a strength as my way of learning is mostly visual.

With each video Oscar brings you through a well-structured content that allows you to create a Web step by step from scratch. In addition, the video-course remains forever as a video-guide that you can review, allowing you to change things in the future or to develop web pages for others.

Oscar also offers a tutorial of “How Create a Logo with Canva”, this helped us with the development of the brand.

The hosting, basic Chinese for me

The course also explains and teaches you “How to Manage a Hosting”. At the beginning this subject sounded like Chinese for me but now I am in control of it thanks to the course. In our case we have hosted the blog in “Webempresa”.

For those who don’t know about Internet technical topics, a web hosting is the place where the page is physically saved and where everyone accesses when putting the web address.

“Webempresa” provides an impeccable service, they have a remarkable speed in solving incidents or doubts and the price is very good.

And we finished it

So here it is, with some support and recommendations, with our personal touches and above all with our heart … WE FINALLY HAVE OUR BLOG! The most complicate comes now… we have to make it live. And how can we do this? We will share experiences and information, hoping we will create some expectation and desire for more.

In this challenge of giving life to our Blog, we ask you to help us. This is easy!

SHARE OUR GIFT, SHARE OUR BLOG with your friends or share this post or the one you most like… that would be a great contribution!

Thank you so much for sharing it…

A hug and … See you on the road!

Filed Under: Education, Travel, Traveler Advice

12 June, 2018 Por Ale 3 Comments

How we bought our campervan and we did not die in the attempt

We did it!

Yes, here we are, we have survived this adventure… The truth is that it has not been an easy task. Just imagine, you get into the campervan world, an unknown world for us until now, with an initial significant investment. You start getting informed, looking around and checking websites and you realize that there are thousands of different configurations, brands, tips and you don’t really know where to start!

So this is how we started off, with many doubts but it was clear for us since the beginning that we wanted to buy the campervan. We were going to realize our dream of traveling around the world!

How do others travel?

The truth is that the first thing we did was checking online to find other travelers with a campervan and see which vehicles they have. Some of them travel with vehicles equipped with bunk beds, others with double beds, others have modified trucks, 4×4, modified vans… there are vehicles of all types traveling around the world. This online search also helped us realize that there are many people out there like us who want or are realizing their dream of traveling the world. This encouraged us and we started getting in touch with some of them to look for some advice. I will talk about this later on as this deserves a special post.

What did we decide to go for?

Model

after much checking and chatting, we decided on a campervan equipped with bunk beds for the kids and a double bed for us; we went for a high-top campervan (campervans which have an extra space just above the driver’s cab). However, this was not going to be our final choice. We read some tips from other travelers which made us opt for double beds instead of bunk beds for the kids.

The first reason is that with small children it’s quite usual to change beds: if you have to change because someone needs company it’s easier and more comfortable for an adult to sleep in a double bed. The second reason is that this way the children would always sleep with someone, which is something that our family like. And the third reason is that with this model we will have more space in the luggage boot, something that we will surely need.

New or used vehicle

we had to make a decision; do we buy a new or used one? Everybody likes to have a new car, but this was clear from the beginning for us. We would look for a used vehicle with the warranty, so we could save a good amount of money which would allow us to extend the trip.

We visited several campervan companies, both car rent, and sale companies, as the idea was to check out the vehicles and the configurations as, till that day, we had never stepped into a campervan.

Where to buy it

We visited companies in Spain and Ireland and we spoke with many people until we found an ad for the “Madrid 2017 Caravaning Fair“. When we saw it, we understood straight away that this was our chance, so I bought plane tickets for a round trip Dublin-Madrid on the same day and off I went in search of our future house on wheels.

Everything was just magic: the trip, the meeting, the fair. There were many people, a lot of new vehicles but only a few used ones. As soon as I got to the fair, I found it and it was just perfect:  the first campervan I saw and stepped in, it was Kale (Kale is the name which we have given to our new family member).

There is

After only 2 minutes of getting to the fair, I met “Alejandro”, who showed me what it’s now our campervan. I then visited the whole fair but I was thinking all the time of the first one I saw: was it love at first sight? I called Caro and I then quickly returned to close the deal with my name-twin guy.

We bought the campervan from “Alejandro and Almudena”, a lovely couple who have a campervan rent and sale company. Highly recommended for those who want to live the same experience. Renting a campervan with them will be for sure a wonderful experience. We leave their name for those who are interested: Caravanas Albatros.

Welcome Kale

Well, I now introduce you to Kale. Certainly, it’s not the best or the worst, but it’s now our family member and we love it just as it is.

It’s a high-top campervan as I mentioned before, it’s one of those campervans which have an extra space just above the driver’s cab. It’s a 6 berth campervan and sleeps up to 6 people, all double beds.

The brand is Sun Living, a sub-brand of Adrià, a well known German brand in the campervan industry (totally unknown for us at that time).

Kale started strolling around in 2010 and has accumulated 69,000 km until 2017.

Now it’s time to accumulate kilometers with us.

And what is this button for?

The truth is that until you start to find out how it works and how many buttons it has, you are not aware of all the things that need to be done and taken into account with a campervan. Nothing to be scared of, but there are several things to deal with: water and wastewater, light, fuel, gas, maintenance, and toilets.

Thanks to a YouTube group we follow, understanding all this became much easier as we discovered many tricks and we asked for help on other topics.

On the other hand, we found a Facebook group from the same authors, which we are part of, and we followed carefully all the topics discussed there. Little by little we are getting to know everything, every time better, and we are becoming experts in the campervan world, thanks to the unforeseen and surprising events which come with it.

YouTube group (Spanish): VIAJAR EN AUTOCARAVANA Fernando Yuste
Facebook group (Spanish): TODO AUTOCARAVANAS, CARAVANAS Y CAMPERS

Water

in a campervan, you have to take care of 4 different types of water:  water top ups, greywater, blackwater and drinking water. The darker the water colour is, the more complicated the water change is but it’s not so complicated after all.

Types of waters

  1. Topping up water for showering and washing is simple if you find a tap. Generally, in Europe there are several taps to top up water, we will see how it is in South America and how we will be able to top up water. In order to keep the water in good conditions, we add a tablet which makes the water in the tank drinkable AMAZON.
  2. Emptying the greywater is not difficult either. The greywater is the water from showering and washing. You have to find a place specifically designed for this or a sewer. To empty it, you need to rotate a small lever located underneath the campervan, next to the rear wheel (this is how it works for our campervan model).
  3. The blackwater or the toilet is the hardest to empty. For those who don’t know, the toilet has a watertight compartment where you need to add a chemical product once it has been emptied and cleaned. We use small bags which already contain this chemical product. After emptying and cleaning the compartment, we simply have to put the bags in it and that’s it AMAZON. While the compartment gets filled in, this chemical product acts as an air freshener and decomposer of what there is in there (as to say: this chemical product makes sure that the campervan does not smell bad and decomposes the waste in order to empty it more easily). To empty this compartment, you have to find places specifically designed for this.
  4. And finally the drinking water; we opt for buying mineral water bottles and we store them for the family’s water consumption. There is no secret for this but you have to remember to stock them up.

In the campervan control panel, you can check the levels of all waters as to plan when you need to top up or empty them.

Light / batteries

In the campervan, there are two types of batteries. The engine’s batteries work to start the engine and provide power, like in any vehicle. We then have the cabin battery, which is the one providing light to all the components which need it within the campervan: the lights, part of the heating, part of the water pump, part of the refrigerator, the TV and anything needing a plug. If you don’t have a converter, you won’t be able to plug in some devices, as everything in the campervan work with 12V. I had to watch videos and read to know about this because although I can do my own for many of these things, this particular one was totally new to me.

Converter

What are converters for? The converter is a device that when is connected to the battery, when the campervan engine is on and operating, it transforms the power of the campervan plugs from 12V to 220V and this way you’ll be able to charge computers, mobile phones, cameras and everything else you might need. There are several types of these devices, all with different prices and features. Depending on their features and the components you want to use in your campervan, you will have to invest some money in a converter.

Charging the batteries

Generally, batteries get charged when the vehicle is moving or the engine is running but for charging the cabin battery the solar panels are usually the best option. In our case, we have a solar panel which helps us to charge the cabin battery and allows us to be independent, without having to connect to the power to charge the campervan.

The good thing about the campervan is that you have a control panel to check the battery level, which allows you to know the level of both batteries you are depending on, so you can anticipate any unforeseen power cut.

Gas

well, this is an important topic and you don’t need just a course… but a Master’s degree! Cooking, heating the water for the shower or washing, the heating, and the refrigerator are all the items that work thanks to the gas. This topic which seems easy at first becomes a big dilemma if you have plans like we do, to travel around different countries. I’m going to give you a quick summary.

There are two types of gas, butane, and propane. In general, in Spain, it’s easier to get butane gas at gas stations but in other countries, you can choose the type of gas, since both can be easily found. The most important feature you need to consider is the temperature at which the gas can resist without freezing. The propane is the best option for low temperatures.

The LPG

The gas connection is a critical topic as in Spain a different system is used compared to France and Italy and this applies to many other countries… Travellers who like to discover new countries need to be prepared to set up these gas connections. In general, I have been told (I have not tried it yet) that in Europe you can go around with no problems adapting your campervan to the LPG. The LPG is the liquefied gas that can be loaded as well as the fuel at many gas stations across Europe, including Spain.

I mean that the LPG can be used for the campervan components, not as fuel. It is not recommended to use the LPG as fuel for the campervan. If you use the LPG, you won’t have to worry about replacing the gas bottle, since you’ll have to top it up directly. The only problem is that this adaptation it quite expensive but we have finally decided to do it in our campervan.

Quite big to drive and park, right?

When you buy a campervan you don’t realize how big it is. Our campervan measures more than 7 meters, it’s the double of a car or even more. When you drive it for the first time, you realize that you don’t have a mirror to see what happens behind. You need to do wide turns because the campervan is long and the turns get tight, therefore the side mirrors stick out on the sides and you need to be careful. And when you have to reverse, you absolutely need help, or a reversing camera, which we don’t have. The first trips we took were a real adventure but to our surprise, it was much easier than we expected. Our real test was to drive the campervan in Ireland. For those who know the Irish roads you will understand us, for those who don’t, there it’s the explanation: in some cases the roads are narrow and in other cases, they are very narrow!

Parking and staying overnight

we have already spent several nights in parking, paid to park, in campervan parking, in places where you can park but not camp. Little by little, with some apps we downloaded on the mobile phone and asking around, you will get to know the available options to enjoy the road trip and to have a good rest.

  • For Europe, in general, we have used  Park4nigth. This app is very good, it allows you to configure the height of your vehicle and this way you won’t find unwanted surprises. You can find services for campervans, parking and overnight stay areas, many of them with photos.
  • For South America, we will check but we have been recommended to use IOverlander. We heard that this is “the app” and we downloaded it already.

You also need to take into account entering a town or a city as it’s not like driving a car. Finding the right place for the campervan is not easy but you’ll find it without problems.

We are now planning the greatest journey of our lives with Kale. We are checking and finalizing everything we will need before leaving for this trip: maintenance, wheels…

We will decorate the campervan with our logo and our website image so that when people will see us passing by, they will recognize us and will think “There it goes The Vegetarian Travel!”.

So, if you see us passing by, please do not forget to say hello.

See you on the road!

Primera foto en la autocaravana
Campervan first picture – 2017

Filed Under: Motorhome, Camper, Travel, Traveler Advice

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