A little bit of sunshine

(First published in Issue 2, October 2020) The 1st of November was exactly a day like that for us. Thomas invited Line out for coffee, and less than 24 hours later, without us knowing, we "randomly" bumped into each other during a shelter trip to the woods—and we've been together ever since that night. It was as if the universe listened to us, knew that we'd already agreed to spend some informal time together, and just skipped the whole human calendar-planning part, bringing us to the same place ASAP! Pure magic! It didn’t take long before we both knew that what we had found and the energy we shared was something very special.

We have both lived our lives partly nomadic, traveling all over the world for the past 10 years, both professionally and privately, in both exotic and frozen places. Needless to say, we instantly connected over dreams of endless travels, life on the road, living in different and beautiful foreign countries, and we quickly learned that we shared a dream of living in a van, cruising the never-ending roads. In April, we both had to cancel ongoing travel in Central America due to Covid-19. When we got back home to Denmark, like everyone else in most of the world, all of our plans were canceled, both professionally and socially. Line, a self-taught jewelry designer, had designer markets lined up from June through September and planned to attend a good number of the bigger and smaller music festivals in Denmark over the summer. Thomas, a trained carpenter, was planning to go to Ilulissat, Greenland, for a two-month contract for the second time in a row, working as an adventure guide, trekking, guiding, and kayaking with travelers from all over the world. But all of that obviously fell through!

We bought our golden sun wagon in April and instantly fell in love with her. Even before we met her, we knew we were going to bring her home, and she could be named nothing else but Sunshine.

We had our first road trip the very next day—an old wood-framed mattress on top of four old rusty wheels, some fairy lights in the ceiling, and off we went—and oh, it was glorious! Our dreams and ideas grew day by day, mainly focused on smaller and bigger everyday adventures, but most of all, a grand one in September—a full month on the roads of southern Europe. Paperwork, registration, and of course, the actual build needed to be done first. Feeling both humble and excited, we acknowledged our privilege of being able to travel during uncertain times and crossed our fingers that the global situation would allow us to proceed with our plans! Sunshine was a semi-rusty elderly lady, a VW T4 from 2001, with some cracks and flaws that just needed some undivided love and attention—which she got. With no plans at all and the world in an ever-changing state where events and jobs were getting canceled, we were able to focus almost full time on Sunshine. She became our main focus—and what a ride it has been! Insulation, rust- and metalwork, floor, walls, ceiling, electrical installations were finished during the summer while we were waiting for the right paperwork to land in our hands.

Laws and registration can often be a bit tricky in Denmark, especially when it comes to sleeping in cars and actual van conversions. Nearly 5 months later, we pulled through! The final car inspection was approved and the actual build of our four-wheeled home started. Less than two weeks later, we were ready! Our dream home on wheels was done! The solar panel and the brand-new rooftop terrace were in place, and it had a bedroom, kitchen, lights, and all necessary equipment with a beautiful interior. The GPS was set for Italy. GO! It felt SO good! We were ON the road! We were actually living this dream! Our hearts were overflowing with joy and gratefulness. We found our way to turn things around, reschedule our lives, and extend the summer for another month—and it all turned out in a glorious way!

We got to see Castles in Southern Germany, the stunning Alps in Switzerland and Northern Italy, and the charming and colorful Cinque Terre. We paid a quick visit to the tower in Pisa, and Sardinia was a little adventure in itself. We're already planning to go back to Italy and Sardinia; we dream about cruising Spain, Portugal, France, and all of Eastern Europe. We're also thinking about a trip that's going to take us to Great Britain, with a ferry towards The Faroe Islands and further on to Iceland and Norway! Our van life has been a dream for quite a while, more than 4 years—even before we met each other—and now it's happening. That's the beautiful part about it. We believe that life and dreams can actually come true if you set the right focus and intentions and give your dreams the loving attention and action they deserve. We have once again experienced that the amount of wonders we are able to manifest is beyond our wildest dreams! Thank you for reading along. We hope you keep your hearts warm and your dreams alive.