Last Friday, the time had finally come. We set off for Barcelona to pick up Nacho from storage. At the end of my previous trip, I had left him there and flown back to the Netherlands. The plan was to continue traveling from Barcelona… but plans changed.

A good friend of mine, Jeff, had just finished converting his van into a camper, built to carry his motorcycle. Together with his brother, Marlon, they joined me on this trip. We left on Friday, March 27 at midnight and drove non-stop to Barcelona. Every three hours we switched drivers, stretched our legs, grabbed a drink, and occasionally refuelled.

The weather was terrible. Through Belgium and France we dealt with heavy rain and even wet snow. About three hours before reaching the Spanish border, the weather finally cleared up. It was obvious we had entered the Mediterranean region. But then came strong wind gusts, so we could not maintain high speed. We arrived in Barcelona around 9:30 PM after about 21 hours of driving.

I had saved a few parking spots on Google Maps, but the first one failed immediately. No vans or campers allowed, only trucks. We had to find another option. Parking security suggested a spot 8 km away, which was not practical. Two of our phones were dead, and the third had only 6%. My phone, with the saved locations, was also dead.

In the back of the van, Jeff had a large battery, but we needed the key to open the side door to access it. At the same time, we were afraid to turn off the engine. Earlier, during a fuel stop, the van would not start, and when it finally did, the battery warning light came on, indicating it was not charging. Still, we had no choice. We turned off the engine, opened the side door with the key to reach the battery, and quickly started the van again. Everything worked fine. It turned out heavy rain had caused a temporary connection issue. Relieved, we charged the phone, found the saved parking spot, and drove there.

If you know Barcelona, parking is difficult, especially for tall vehicles. But this spot worked. It was just behind Las Ramblas, so we carefully navigated the narrow streets and parked safely.

That gave us an instant energy boost. The Barcelona effect.

Jeff had the idea to bring our bicycles, so we all brought our own. Once parked, we grabbed the bicycles and rode to the Airbnb. That gave us an instant energy boost. The Barcelona effect. We were exhausted but happy to have made it.

After checking in, we dropped our bags and bicycles and went out for food. Despite being extremely tired, morale was high. We walked around the city and ended up at Marula Café for a drink before heading back. We fell asleep within a minute.

The next day, Sunday, we woke up slowly. No tight schedule. After breakfast, I played tour guide and showed them around Barcelona by bicycle. The weather was perfect. Sunny, not too hot, not too cold.

We visited the gothic neighbourhood, Cathedral de Barcelona, admire the Pont del Bisbe, Casa Batlló, Arc de Triomf/parc and the finally finished Sagrada Familia, where we sat on a bench for almost an hour just watching people. Then we rode to Barceloneta and relaxed by the beach. After that, we had an amazing paella at Bar Cal Chusco, a traditional restaurant in de La Barceloneta neighbourhood 3 minutes from the beach.

Later, after some resistance, I convinced them to ride to Plaza de España to catch the golden hour from the steps of the National Art Museum. It was a long ride, but the view was worth it. They complained, but now they have a story to tell.

Monday was the day to pick up Nacho and head back to the Netherlands.

That morning started chaotic. Someone tried to steal our bicycles parked outside the Airbnb. Jeff heard it, confronted the thief, and suddenly all three of us were outside in our underwear chasing him. He managed to escape, which was probably for the best. Meanwhile, we stood there half-naked, frustrated and disoriented, in front of a hotel restaurant full of people having breakfast. Not our finest moment.

After that, we laughed it off. We checked out, had breakfast, and rode back to the camper. Loaded everything up and headed to pick up Nacho.

It was close, but with Barcelona traffic it took about 20 minutes. At IMTBike Barcelona, they recognized me immediately and guided me to Nacho. There he was, happily waiting. Or maybe I was the happy one.

We loaded him into the van, secured him, talked a bit with the staff, great guys, very friendly and helpful. Then it was time to head back.

The return drive went smoothly. Dry weather allowed us to keep a good pace. We left around 1 PM and arrived home in the Netherlands at 7 AM. About 18 hours of driving, but it felt much faster.

That was the journey to pick up Nacho. Long, exhausting, but full of laughs. Barcelona always gives energy. Now I have also infected two of my friends with the Barcelona virus, I am sure they will go back again.

In the coming days, I will give Nacho some attention. Oil change, new filter, and a few small fixes. Then he goes up for sale so I can upgrade.

Thanks for reading.

HPPY TRVLS

June travels

THAT’S ME!

F.a.q.

TAKE ME THERE!

50 random facts about me

EVERYTHING YOU NEED KNOW

Hi there! Welcome and nice to see you here on my first blog.

My name is June and I was born on the island of Curaçao on October 18th 1975 by Venezuelan (mother) and Surinamese (father) parents. And growing up on Curaçao has its advantages, like… we speak standard 4 languages, namely; Papiamentu (native), Dutch, English and Spanish. Pretty cool huh? When I was ten years old I moved to the Netherlands where I grew up and lived until my 30s. Then I move back to live on Curaçao for 7 years where I worked at the local TV station and later my own video production company where I produced numerous commercials, infomercial and TV programs. Also a self-produced travel program called Travel Info. This was an attempt for me to fulfill my passions whilst satisfying my urge to travel.

Fast forwarding 7 years, life happened and I was back again in the Netherlands. Bought a old motorhome and motorcycle and the intention was to travel around Europe.

But then… I ran into an old love. We reconnected, moved in together and soon the travel plans with the motorhome were canceled. The camper was sold, I bought a Macbook and started to work on my digital nomad career. We traveled together to Venice, Barcelona and in 2016 we traveled for a month to the country of her origin, Morocco. We landed in Marrakech and 5 minutes in the taxi I immediately fell in love. It felt like I’ve been here before.

We covered a total of 3550 km in one month with our trusty rented Dacia Logan.

Moroccan roadtrip

3550 km

After 5 days in Marrakech, we rented a car and started our Moroccan roadtrip adventure that lead us to cities like: Essaouira, Agadir, Tiznit, Sidi Ifni, Taroudent, Aït Ben Haddou, Ouarazazate, Casablanca, Rabat, Cheffchauen, Fes and Ourika. We visited all of the beautiful places like Legzira beach, Mausole Mohammed V mosque, Tannaries of Fes, Akchor and many more. We covered a total of 3550 km in one month with our trusty rented Dacia Logan. The most fuel economic car I’ve ever experienced. We stayed at some wonderful riads and ate some amazing tajines along the way.

Morocco inspired us so heavily that we started a business together and moved to Marrakech in 2018. The company was doing amazing, but there where many challenges in our relationship. 2020, Covid-19, lockdown killed us. The relationship could no longer be saved according to her. We broke up, she fled and I decided to stay in Marrakech and try continuing with the business. But it was only for a short period of time, it was like poking a wound with a needle.

I took the plunge and quit the business and chose for myself. I had enough giving up everything for others and in the end all I was left with was sadness. I am a hopeless romantic and have no luck with women. So I decided to pick up my old idea and that was traveling around Europe with a motorcycle. This time I will proceed no matter what… so I sold everything, bought a motorcycle, kit it out with panniers and more!

On this website I am going to share all my experiences, challenges, happy and sad moments with you. You can also follow my journey and stories through my socials:

• Facebook
• Instagram
• TikTok
• YouTube

Please bear in mind tho, i’m not an award winning accomplished writer yet. But hey, everything is possible… right?

Explore // Experience // Learn // Live

HPPY TRVLS