From Girl Time in Belgium to Vario Time in Germany & Our August 2026 Expenses 

Girl time with Maya

On the last day of July, Mark left for his annual visit to Massachusetts, USA, leaving Maya and me behind in Belgium for two weeks. When you live together 24/7 with your partner, it’s nice to have some me-time once in a while. Maya and I enjoyed this special time and bonded with lots of cuddles, attention, and walks.

(As always, hover over or click on photos in galleries to read their captions.)

That time apart also allowed me to meet up with four different girlfriends, which allowed us to talk in Flemish and foster our relationships without any hurry. One of my friends, Rosy, had just obtained an 8-week-old puppy, Bonnie, who joined her for our day together. Maya was the perfect oma.

I also cooked a lot, wrote a bunch, ran errands, did research, studied German, saw my parents frequently, called Mark daily, cleaned Duke’s interior, had long nights of sleep, witnessed the partial solar eclipse, visited my nephew for his twelfth birthday, and sweated a lot during more heat waves.

I finally met a famous overlanding couple when they passed through Belgium. I’d been online friends with Geneva (and her husband, Mike) from “It’s Not a Slow Car, It’s a Fast House” for at least six years, but we never managed to meet up before, despite coming close. Our morning together was a bit rushed, but it was still special. And they had brought a dissolvant product for us from the UK, which is not available in Europe. The Vario T2 remained front and center in our lives even while we were apart.

Another highlight for this reggae lover was watching the Wailers (yes, from Bob Marley fame) through a fence during the Fonnefeesten in Lokeren. Why through a fence during this free concert? Because, unbeknownst to everyone, event security didn’t allow dogs on the premises anymore. Two years ago, Maya joined Mark and me without any problems…

The music wasn’t bad for a “cover” band! 😊

August 15th arrived very fast! Other than a long delay at immigration, Mark’s return to Belgium went smoothly, which was a big relief. No questions were asked about his long stays in Europe. Maybe it’s on the record that we are married and travel together 24/7.

Our last week in Belgium passed fast as well. I finally managed to see my niece play volleyball, and we fit in a couple more family visits while packing up the camper and preparing for a multiple-month return to Germany. The propane bottle had to be swapped and the water tank filled. Mark and I celebrated our 19th wedding anniversary with an exquisite tasting lunch at Pacht 26, a month and a half after the fact. Better late than never!

I had a teeth cleaning scheduled, and there was a little health twist for Mark, which made our last two days stressful and busy, but after thoroughly tidying “the little house” and having a last lunch at my parents’ place, we took off for western Germany on August 23rd.

Vario time with the entire family

It was time for the second part of our Vario chapter (part one was passing the German inspection, which you can read about here): maintenance work for the truck, and converting the habitat box.

First, we swung by builder/friend Mirko to pick up our German license plates. Our contact, André, had eventually come through. He had registered our truck and arranged liability insurance. I was pretty excited about the plate number FOR ML 26, which is easy to remember: FOR M(ark and) L(iesbet in 20)26.

After picking up our Vario T2, we returned to Mirko to grab all the packages he’d received for us, recycle the cardboard, check the contents, and test the solar panels. Then, in tandem, we drove to the Giessen area for the foreseeable future. Our overlanding friends Sandie and Karsten had generously offered us a space to park and live for the next step of our Vario work.

The last week of August was focused on truck maintenance, with the expected ups and downs, mainly due to rusty or stubborn bolts and limited access underneath — changing the transfer case, differential, and transmission oils, removing the driver seat, treating rust, installing a new faucet, replacing the metal step plates of the cab, greasing the nipples, fixing the electric step and manual passenger window, and dealing with a tricky transmission leak.

Luckily, it hasn’t all been Vario work. We go for daily forest walks with Maya, and our Spanish friend Ivan showed up. Six years ago, he was the one who introduced us to Sandie and Karsten in Baja, Mexico, which also led us to meeting our now good friends Heather and Jon!

Our little group enjoyed a wonderful BBQ at our friends’ place, an authentic paella dinner prepared by Ivan, exchanging stories, and tasty drinks and sides.

On a rainy afternoon, we all hiked up to the local castle, which had been on my to-do list.

September has now arrived. Mark and I hope for pleasant weather and productive days as we continue working on getting the truck in tip-top shape before we start tackling the habitat box.

Expenses for August 2026

Well, Mark and I set another record. Not a yearly one, but a lifetime one. Usually, every year has one, maximum two months that are above $2,000. This already happened in 2026, but our August was twice that, for one month! Just as we thought life couldn’t get more expensive, it does and continues to be. It’s crazy. And these numbers don’t even include our Vario work!

Our car category topped out at $1,354, an amount that used to be our monthly average not too long ago. We got hit with a bunch of taxes – the Vario’s German road tax of over 700 euros (this was way more than we expected because it’s an old truck without emission standards), Duke’s Belgian road tax of around $200, and André’s annual fee ($60) for dealing with our German paperwork.

Then, there were a “low” fuel cost of $255 to keep Mark’s rental car going in Massachusetts and to drive one camper in Belgium and Germany and parking fees of $27 for the airport garage in Zaventem and the Dana Farber hospital garage in Boston.

A huge chunk of money – another $860 – went to Mark’s trip to the US. And I’m not talking plane tickets here; that expense went to a previous month. He had to rent a car for two weeks, which set us back $650, and he needed to bring back two checked bags (stuff we brought from Bella in Chile), which now cost $105 a piece. Ouch! Where are the days when checking a bag – or two – was free?

We bought $478 worth of household supplies, like an impact wrench, other tools, a new pillow for Mark, an extension cord, toilet chemicals for Duke, lots of brake cleaner, a light, and more…

The grocery category was average at $384. This was a normal expense and as long as we can keep it under $400 in western Europe, we’re doing pretty well, I think. This seems to be the only cost we can keep under control these days!

Another extra expense in August was for medical services. I had my six-month teeth cleaning done (which only took ten minutes since my dental care is still excellent) for $85; good money for the dental hygienist. And Mark had to undergo a dermatological procedure in Belgium ($232), because he fell through the cracks with the dermatology department in Boston. Everything was supposed to be taken care of there, for free.

Our dining out splurges hovered around $170. This doesn’t include the full Pacht 26 experience for our 19th wedding anniversary since we used leftover gift money to cover most of that.

The German liability insurance for our Vario T2 was prorated at $137 until the end of the calendar year. In January it should renew for a full year. Our alcohol expense was relatively high at $128, because we brought wine and beer to gatherings.

Mark managed to buy a “new” pair of Oboz hiking shoes off eBay and a bunch of T-shirts at thrift stores to get his wardrobe equipped again ($86), and we spent about $80 on gifts as thank-yous to people who have helped us out with storage for our campers and receiving packages, and for my nephew’s 12th birthday gift.

We also needed new razor blades and Parodontax toothpaste ($33), which I stocked up on. I swear by this brand, since it has really prevented gum infections and is an integral part of my renewed, proven dental hygiene, which gets compliments from dentists around the world.

Utilities claimed $28 in August. A low $15 went to our monthly data plan in Germany and the rest we paid for propane gas. Here’s that quick story: we needed to swap our 11kg fancy, lightweight fiberglass tank for a new tank and had to pay €51 for just the gas!!! When I inquired about the price of the 11kg normal, heavy, metal tanks, the quote was €31. So, for the exact same gas but in different bottles, there was a difference of €20!!

If you know us, you can guess what we did next… We returned the fancy bottle for a high deposit and got the other tank for a lower deposit and more affordable propane price. Hence the “discounted” expense for gas. We also decided to give Maya fish oil ($22) to help with her arthritis.

Despite being careful with our money (as always), cooking most of our meals, and not spending anything on accommodation or laundry, August’s $4,074 total was an all-time high, due to the awful exchange rate, inflated prices for everything, and the necessary costs for visits, camper ownership, and healthcare.

Here is the breakdown:

• Car (taxes: $1,072; fuel: $255; parking: $27): $1,354
• Travel (car rental: $650; baggage fees: $210): $860
• Household supplies (tools, pillow, …): $478
• Groceries: $384
• Medical: $317
• Dining out: $168
• Camper insurance: $137
• Alcohol: $128
• Clothing (shoes & T-shirts Mark): $86
• Gifts (birthdays and thank-yous): $79
• Health & Fitness (razors, Parodontax toothpaste): $33
• Utilities (internet: $15; propane: $13): $28
• Dog (fish oil): $22

TOTAL: $4,074

This post is linked to Natalie’s Monthly Wrap-up blog link-up.

Next up: Probably our September 2026 update and expenses, unless something else is worth reporting on earlier.

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