🧭 Travel: 11 weeks of European family travel in a mini car & what we don't miss

Yup these are the things we would leave behind

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It has been a long travel summer of travel for us as a family.

Borders crossed = France, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia and Croatia.

Mode of travel = mainly a Volkswagen polo, 5 door “supermini car”

Why? Because we could and we care about reducing carbon emissions

Here are the things we DON’T miss after our mega car journey:

1. Packing and organising a super mini car - this was a challenge and no, there are no photos, it was chaotic. It was something we would all rather forget. And yes, our 9 year old sat on bags, slept on suitcases and complained lots! Do we have any tips on this, yes always pack less and lighter and take a deep breathe and treat repacking a small car as a sport (in itself!)

2. Driving - my family drove over 6051 kilometers, crossing the borders in France, Italy, San Marino, Slovenia and Croatia between June and August 2023. Rough breakdown below of trips taken, and distance covered - go on do some googling or look at a map to figure out the full route (I will share more on these later for paid subscribers)

   

3. Articulated trucks en masse - we encountered many large groups of huge articulated vehicles driving together across Europe SO often. Our small mini car was dwarfed by these road giants. It was nerve wracking - and light blocking - to be in their shade and hold strong alongside their presence as articulated-road-haulage-beasts. Particularly so on narrow Italian motorways, this was a huge source of driver stress and fatigue.

4. Toll plazas - the main traffic congestion and confusion we encountered was at Toll Plazas, where we also experienced very very vast differences in behaviours required. Which lane do we take? All of the various operators display different signs and use different symbols and terminologies. Should we: Pay a person, take a ticket, scan a ticket, scan a credit card etc. etc. Once we realised a toll was ahead, panic would ensue, which lane, which action, which method payment?! It was a brain melting exercise, at every stop and their were many. Why didn’t we count them? Believe me, as a family we agreed, the toll plaza palavers are very best FORGOTTEN!

Note: there was one joy we encountered at an Italian toll plaza however and that was the discovery of the perfect 2023 Summer European road trip framable car related souvenir. Further pictures to follow of final framed art piece!

Random Italian car number plate, found battered at (another) toll plaza

As we settle back into our home in Northern Spain, we are still digesting and processing our extensive and wonderful trip, but for now, we are content to know as a family the things that we don’t miss from too much time together mini car time!

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