Diary 25. Not Your Average Gypsies

As the Weather Girls would say, the mercury’s rising. 

We thought that Southern Spain in June was going to be hot, we weren’t bind to the fact, but we really and truly did not expect it to be this hot. We were constantly searching for shade, and just couldn’t seem to find it. 

Sticking to the coast for the chance of a sea breeze was the best we could do, but we needed to head in-land. Matt’s Aunt and Uncle have a holiday apartment near Alicante, and as luck would have it, they were on holiday at the same time as we were only a few hours drive away. The lure of a shower and some familiar faces was so great that we had to go.


Unfortunately, in-land Spain wanted to make us suffer before we arrived. The drive wasn’t very long, but we didn’t trust Keith to make it through the mountainous terrain with the sun glaring down on him in one trip. We looked on our map for somewhere roughly in the middle, and Murcia seemed the best choice. Our pantry was looking a little sad, and the water and waste tanks both needed tending to, so our only priority on Park4Night was that our stop be near a shop and have the services we needed. A parking lot of a large shopping centre seemed to fit the bill.

Campervan Parking, Murcia

When we arrived the lot for campers was fairly empty, but more importantly, there were small trees. We found the shadiest spot we could (which still only had about 30cm of shade!) and hurried out of the furnace we called home for some fresh air. We hadn’t been outside more than a few minutes when a young chap come running over to us. As usual, we wondered what we had done wrong, but his keen eye had seen that we had GB plates, and he wanted to introduce himself.


Jamie was really lovely, and we had a little chat about where he was going, who he was travelling with, and gave him the grand tour of the van. His partner, Venus, and their dog, Ananda, came back over with Jamie once we’d had a chance to neaten the place up. Bailey and Ananda got on straight away, and so did the two couples. Jamie and Venus were basically a more hippy version of Matt and myself, and they had been living in Ibiza for years before they decided they wanted to travel.


Venus used to work in a mental health capacity, and while living in Ibiza had decided to create her own spiritual healing counselling service, with a mixture of physical and mental rituals. Luckily, it’s the kind of job she could take on the road with her thanks to Skype. You should check out her Facebook and webpage, she does some really interesting work, and it’s always good to broaden your mind and horizons by seeing the kinds of things other do.


Jamie is also lucky enough to have a job he can do on the road, although he did have some deadlines coming up when we were parked together which meant he had to stay up into the wee hours of the morning. He is a graphic designer whose business card says ‘London and Ibiza’, but I think a new print run may say ‘Europe’!


They rescued gorgeous Ananda from a bin when she was just a puppy, and she was just as friendly and calm as her owners.
In terms of enlightenment, I’ll be frank and say that I don’t think Matt and me have much to offer as eye openers. I’d like to think we’re on the right path, but listening to Jamie and Venus’ tales of Ibiza, we have a long way to go. 

Jamie and Venus

They described to us about all the different areas of the Island. Obviously, we all know of San Antonio for the clubbing scene, but they told us of the more family oriented areas too. When you add the rich and famous quarter and the hippy quarter, Ibiza really does sound like an idyllic place, where you can live the life you want, from one mood to the next. 

The couple had experienced life in all parts of the island, through house sitting, bar work and beyond. I can certainly see us looking to visit Ibiza in the future, just to get that all round experience, hopefully with a little tour guiding (even if only through email) from Jamie and Venus. 


Follow their Insta @notyouraveragegypsy_


After our chat, the pair were getting ready to explore the shopping mall. They were new to van life, and after having a few days on the road in their back pockets, knew of a few things they needed to make life in the van easier. They set about locking up their van, and were about to pop Ananda inside for safe keeping. As dog owners in the heat ourselves, we know how frustrating it can be to have the time constraint of the dog to heat ratio when you need to get a lot done. So, I shouted out that we’d look after her. After all, her and Bailey were enjoying each others company, and it meant that Jamie and Venus could shop without worry.


After the quintessentially British exchange of, 

“Are you sure?”

“We don’t mind.”

“Ok if you're sure.”

They set off, and the dogs had a little party together. In the end, the heat was so much that they both ended up asleep on the sofa, having nothing more than a toothpick of cushion for my big bum to squeeze on. Ananda even enjoyed catching flies as much as Bailey, though being bigger, she was quite slow. Still, we appreciated the thought! 

Hot Dogs (and Jenna)

Before long, Ananda’s mum and dad were back, hauling their purchases which included some new camping chairs. They set them up in front of our van, and we got chatting again about life and all other things involved in it. 

I’d already started cooking our dinner, and, of course, made enough for the 5,000. I’ve never been able to get the portion size right for two people! As they were at our home, I offered for them to bring their bowls over and join us for dinner. I’m not sure if they smelt the interesting aromas from my rice bowl palava (basically rice, with whatever canned and fresh veg we had, and some spices), or if they really did have food going off in the van, but they declined and retired to their van for dinner.


Matt and I still needed to do some food shopping, so after we’d all eaten, the favour was returned and they looked after Bailey for us, very kindly, while we wandered off to take part in a Dale Winton-less Supermarket Sweep before the shops closed in less than an hour.


On our way back through the dark car park, we bumped into Jamie walking Bailey! Bless him, he’d seen her being fidgety, and, comparing the size of her bladder to Ananda’s, decided it was wee wee time. We suggested a night cap, but both had some work to be getting on with, and so we retired to bed too.


The next morning (cough, afternoon….), the three of us and Ananda were awake. We could see her peering out of the window of their camper, looking longingly at Bailey. The 6 of us had a lovely morning catch up, sharing our tales of the night. I’d gotten up for a wee at about half 2 and heard a car crash pretty hard into something on the motorway. I stayed awake for a while, but didn’t hear any commotion. Jamie revealed he was awake around that time but didn’t hear the crash. Instead he was disturbed by other campers making a lot of noise.


The three of them were going to be gathering their things together and leaving fairly soon, and we had plans to wander the aisles of IKEA (possibly my favourite past time. I’d go to every IKEA we passed if I had my way. It’s my version of a theme park!). This being the way of things, we said our goodbyes and exchanged details to keep in touch with one another on our journey.


Last we heard from them, they were in Portugal during the insane heatwave. The air temperature was in the 40’s, so you can only imagine how hot that means the interior of their van was. They were there to attend a festival, and once that was dealt with, they spent some birthday treat money on a hotel room for the three of them. I can certainly imagine them all sprawled in front of the air conditioning unit!


So, we have yet another set of gorgeous people we get to keep in touch with in the future, and we can’t wait to carry on sharing our adventures. Who knows, maybe we can meet up one day and let the dogs have another party.


J x


<< Diary 24. Poorly Pup