While May had a handful of quiet days, in June we could barely breathe – literally and figuratively.
This was our second month staying in the little house of my parents, in Berlare, Belgium. I mentioned in a previous post that we had to consider Plan B as June approached, and that’s what we did. Not finding – or better, not buying and owning – a 4×4 Vario, the vehicle we’d been pursuing for a long while, put us in a bind. We needed to be mobile again. And when a prospective Vario deal fell through (more about that soon), it was time to take action.
So, the main priority (other than continuing our search for our “forever camper”) was to… buy, register, insure, equip, and load another camper. I wrote about that process here. Duke was to become our temporary home.
Ready for new adventures in Duke!
It took about a week to search online for the right vehicle – potential cars, campers in Germany, vans in Belgium – before we settled on the Fiat Ducato Bürstner. During that busy first weekend of June, Mark, Maya, and I also used my mom’s car to check out another Vario chassis truck in the middle of Germany.
It went something like this: get up at 6am, split six hours of driving between the two of us, scrutinize a rust bucket for an hour, declare it a lost cause, turn around, drive the six hours back to Berlare, and be home in time for bed. All while dealing with an anxious dog in the back, who doesn’t like car rides anymore. Yeah… The amount of time, energy, and money invested in this search has been adding up.
(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)
Week two contained a lot of research and figuring out logistics related to RVing in Europe and owning a European campervan. The international propane filling situation is a headache in itself; every country has different bottles, adapters, and/or rules!
The best thing to come out of our efforts to plan the next chapter of our lives that week was a friendly neighbor allowing us to park our future camper on his empty plot next to the little house. Really great news! And there was an ironic twist, which caused us extra stress, but that’s for later as well. The weather was cold and rainy, and once, I got soaked while biking home from my parents.
Of course, we had to stay on top of some chores as well.
June’s third week was taken up by all the administrative tasks and logistics of picking up the camper’s paperwork after its second-hand inspection, dealing with the insurance, registration, and license plates, picking up our new home on wheels, making some changes, and taking it to a weighing inspection.
Mark put in a better battery and converted a few more things to make living in the Bürstner (which we called Duke) a bit easier without staying in expensive campgrounds. We would use most of this gear in our future Vario. More online shopping to equip the van also had to happen, since we left most of our belongings in Thirsty Bella, which we sold in Chile. We had to start from scratch.
By then, the heatwave had arrived. It would last ten days and made equipping, cleaning, and organizing our new camper harder and sweatier than it should have been. We had to limit those tasks to the early hours of the day because, even at night, the temperature didn’t drop much.
Tiles are great for a hot dog in summer!
One night, a massive storm brought hurricane-force winds, hail, and rain, which damaged properties and trees. No Belgian around us had ever experienced something like this before. (Mark and I sat through a couple of hurricanes before.) The last part of June brought sleepless nights.
We tried to cool off a bit in the little house by rigging up a portable air conditioning unit from my parents in the living room (the hose had been tossed). It did help, but only when you sat right in front of it. The temperature inside still read 30°C (86°F).
At some point, we moved our mattress into this room to try and sleep better. But then the blinking light of the smoke alarm on the ceiling in the kitchen had Maya up and about all night. She thought it was lightning!
Luckily, we still managed to make our daily dog walks in nature until it got too hot and muggy for that as well.
And throughout June, we saw a few friends and family members – these were the fun and enjoyable moments.
By June 27th, Duke was loaded and organized, and the little house cleaned and mostly emptied. Our maiden camping trip would last about a month. And while Mark and I are experienced campers and overlanders after twenty years, we felt like rookies in a European camper on a new continent…
That being said, we had a fantastic weekend in Schoonhoven, the Netherlands, meeting up with our good American friends Heather and Jon and finally with Ivan from Spain again. We all met on the Baja Peninsula of Mexico in 2021.
While Saturday was still extremely hot – we could turn our AC on at the campground – Sunday and Monday were more pleasant. On those days we could go for walks again and sit outside to socialize.
Mark, Maya, and I concluded the month of June at a free camping spot in Simonshaven, South Holland. It was a peaceful two days before another hectic chapter would begin. Stay tuned!
Expenses for June 2026
I’m almost embarrassed to post our numbers for June. It was an extremely expensive month, but based on our circumstances and plans, it is easy to see why. We bought a new camper that needed “everything”, and Mark booked his annual flight to the US.
The highest category was household supplies at $748, which covered an array of tools, two comfortable camping chairs, bedding, and kitchen gear. Mark’s $630 flight was almost twice as expensive as in other years (blame the guy who started a war in the Middle East). We tried to soften the blow by applying for a new Chase Visa card that offered a $400 discount on the ticket, but were rejected.
Our car expenses were high as well, at $574. Most of that went to fuel for my mom’s car and for Duke. A $100 chunk was paid for the registration of the camper (inspection and plates). Groceries cost more than average, although over $400 a month seems to have become our new European average. And the liability insurance policy for our campervan was $333.
We spent a bit of money on gifts ($228) for family, friends, and our kind neighbor and on Maya ($177). Her first food order went wrong, so we had to buy an extra bag and she is soon due for more heartworm medicine. We always order a year’s supply of those tablets.
The alcohol amount was higher than in other months ($105) because we shared nice wines with friends on visits and meet-ups. The $95 annual bank charge for our Visa card was due and we spent $49 on two nights of camping with our friends in the Netherlands.
I needed to invest in new shoes. This was a bummer. I bought virtually new Keen walking shoes on eBay in January and was initially quite happy with them. Unfortunately, after a month they started falling apart and – even worse – I recently developed two different foot injuries. We suspect they were counterfeit Keens. The nearly new pair I ordered for $46 is of the Oboz brand, which Mark swears by. He will bring them back from the US in August.
We treated friends to an unhealthy Belgian dinner to thank them for the feast of a brunch they provided that day (our $31 “dining out” charge for June), and we went out to a café twice to meet up with friends in the afternoon (the $22 drinking out category). We are such party people! 🙂
The other two expenses for the month were $13 for the Park4Night app (the substitute for iOverlander in the Americas, which is rarely used in Europe and quite outdated) and $8 for a Portuguese SIM card that allowed us to access the internet. No laundry costs as I didn’t have coins for one of the dryer sessions at my parents’, and the other times, the sun did that job.
Sunshine means drying our clothes outside!
Here is a breakdown:
- Household (tools, camping chairs, mattress cover, kitchen supplies): $748
- Travel (flights Mark): $630
- Car (fuel: $474; registration camper: $100): $574
- Groceries: $411
- Camper (insurance): $333
- Gifts (birthday, Father’s Day, gifts for neighbor & family): $228
- Dog (food: $123; meds $54): $177
- Alcohol: $105
- Bank charge (annual CC fee): $95
- Camping: $49
- Clothing (shoes for Liesbet): $46
- Dining out (fries’ shop): $31
- Drinking out: $22
- Computer (Park4Night app): $13
- Utilities (internet): $8
TOTAL: $3,470
Evening reflection on the lake
This post is linked to Natalie the Explorer’s Monthly blog link-up for June 2026.
Next up: The stressful story of the Dutch Vario
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July 7, 2026 at 7:40 am
The new camper looks so clean and nice! Maybe you’ll like it enough to give up the idea of the Vario? (I forget why that’s the holy grail!)
July 8, 2026 at 10:51 am
Haha, Lexie. That’s what my parents hope as well. Duke is a decent camper to live in for now, but it’s not set up for the kind of travel we like to do. It’s a “vacation” or “weekend” camper that would be perfect for campgrounds with hookups and paved roads. But the main reason we want a Vario is because of many reasons, like the older and simpler engine, no electronics, sturdy and reliable, easy to fix worldwide, big payload, and a 1,000,000 km engine. Plus, we’d be able to (mostly) build it our to our specifications and desires. 🙂
July 7, 2026 at 7:50 am
Good recap as always! Looking forward to reading about more of your adventures in Europe. Hope the temp cools down soon.
July 8, 2026 at 10:53 am
Hi Annie,
The adventures in Europe will have to wait a while. We are now living in Duke in Germany to focus on our one main goal: a Vario 4×4. Once we have that (built out and ready), the adventures will continue. The weather has been okay this last week, but that will change again this weekend. And now, we have a lot of outdoor projects to complete. 🙁
July 7, 2026 at 8:42 am
I get the impression that the transition from SA to Europe has not been easy, but you have family and friends around you this month. The good news–you lived through it.
Your photos are amazing: Maya trying to get cool on the tiles and the double swan–wow! In other news: “The United States is out of the World Cup, routed by Belgium 4-1.”
Stay cool. . . but most of all ,stay safe!
July 8, 2026 at 11:00 am
Hi Marian,
I think discomfort is just part of our lifestyle. And then there’s the usual “bad luck” with extreme weather and things going wrong. We are actually getting used to that and are elated when something actually goes according to plan!! Like we find the correct shop and it has a parking spot for Duke and we actually find what we need inside right before closing time at 6pm and they accept international credit cards! Score!!
I wish I could have watched that World Cup game, but it took place at 2am our time. Since our days are extremely busy, we fall asleep exhausted by 10pm. But I’m happy Belgium won, mainly for what happened before the game.
July 7, 2026 at 10:03 am
Such fascinating information you put out here each month.
July 8, 2026 at 2:06 pm
Thanks, Jacqui. I’m glad I can keep you interested and entertained!
July 7, 2026 at 12:06 pm
It must be nice to have a temporary home again. I’m sorry that your trip to look at the Vario chassis was all for naught.
July 8, 2026 at 2:08 pm
Hi Pete,
Yes, we are happy to be mobile and relatively comfortable and free again. But, Duke is being used for the reason got him… A work vacation. 🙂 The Vario road has been a long one, but we can see the end of the tunnel.
July 7, 2026 at 2:56 pm
You keep going non-stop! Hope things calm down soon.
We are all Belgians now after THAT football result 😉.
July 8, 2026 at 2:10 pm
Haha! I’m so glad Belgium beat the US in the World Cup. Usually, I would not care so much but this time, it had to happen!! And I’m sure those Belgians on the field were extra motivated to win and prove a point!
Unfortunately, we seem to be going non-stop even more these weeks falling into bed exhausted by 9pm. And we usually don’t have a choice to slow down based on the situation we got ourselves in, namely particular deadlines. Sigh.
July 7, 2026 at 3:20 pm
Whenever selling and buying homes, there’s expenses for the new home. I hope the weather is back to comfortable temperatures where you are. Thank you for linking up with #MonthlyWrapup.
July 8, 2026 at 2:12 pm
Hi Natalie,
Sure thing about the expenses for starting over again. We have been acutely aware of that ever since we left our gear and belongings in Bella. It’s still painful to incur so many costs, though. Mark and I are not very good at spending heaps of money, haha.
We had a nice week, but it’ll be crazy hot again by the weekend. Since we have a lot of outdoor projects to complete at the moment, it won’t be much fun. We might have to find a campground again so we can run the AC.
July 7, 2026 at 7:33 pm
A lot for you but would not shock us too much. Hey you have a new camper! Maybe you will like it more than you know. And I could not sleep in temperatures above seventy degrees.
July 8, 2026 at 2:14 pm
Hi Alex,
We are quite happy with this camper, as we needed a home and Duke fits that bill well at the moment here in Germany. Driving him around to run errands is not as easy as a car, though. 🙂 Yeah, hot days are manageable when it cools off at night. Not so during that June heatwave and potentially again starting this weekend.
July 8, 2026 at 6:53 am
The heatwaves have been extreme; even our bathroom got to 29.5C. But no damage here from the thunderstorms, so they must have been more extreme in Belgium.
I had to chuckle at who you blamed for the rise in Mark’s flight costs. And when I heard that Belgium was playing the U.S.A in the football World Cup, I couldn’t help but think of both of you. Did you watch the match? So many people were smiling at the result because of what went on before the match.
Duke looks great. I’m sure you guys will have many happy adventures too, even though you have left us on a bit of a cliff-hanger.
July 8, 2026 at 2:20 pm
Hi Hugh,
The weather is heating up again this weekend and we are not looking forward to that. Living in a camper in extreme temperatures is not ideal. We will have to go to a campground in this area so we can run our air conditioning.
Doesn’t everybody blame that same person for the expensive fuel and raise in prices for everything else as a result? 🙂 Oh, I’m so happy Belgium won that game. Just out of principle!!! And, no, we didn’t watch that game. It started at 2am our time and these days, we are so exhausted and busy that we fall asleep at 9pm (if it’s not too noisy around us)!!
There was an unexpected twist, last month, which defined what we are doing at this moment. Not that great to live through, but it will all be great in the end! So, our adventures in Duke are quite lame, yet he is serving his purpose well.
July 9, 2026 at 6:47 am
It was far too late for even me to watch, Liesbet. Not so bad this time around, but still late! I loved the dance the Belgian team did.
Looking forward to finding out what that twist is.
July 8, 2026 at 11:47 am
Ouch, that monthly expense amount does hurt a bit, doesn’t it? At least you should be “over the hump” now, after re-buying equipment and restocking everything you need to hit the road in Duke. Does Duke have air conditioning?
July 8, 2026 at 2:25 pm
Hi Diane,
Duke does have air conditioning, but it only works when we plug the camper in at a campground. This weekend, the temps are rising again, so we might have to spend more money on sleeping again. Can you believe that this European camper didn’t have any fans installed? And when we checked five different stores (in Belgium, Holland, and Germany), they had all run out of 12v and USB fans because of that heatwave. We ordered one to a friend in Germany, but it (and we) won’t be there for another week or so. Aaah, life on the road. 🙂
We are over the hump – mostly – when it comes to household items and tools. But… Our future expenses will be in the thousands because of a recent twist.
July 9, 2026 at 3:11 pm
Oh, no. There’s always a twist, isn’t there? I hope it wasn’t too troublesome.
July 12, 2026 at 8:07 pm
The heat! Man, now it has moved farther west here in the US. We are in the mountains of Colorado, and it’s hot! I hope it has abated some where you are.
It’s weird how disorienting it is doing something you’ve done before but in a different place. Of course we have traveled in the US a lot, but we haven’t done it in so long; it’s weird.
That’s a lot of money for you guys to spend in one month. Transition and starting over can be so expensive. But its kind of nice to get all new stuff too.