Ron (:    The Bus Depot <ron@NETCARRIER.COM>) wrote:

. >  My advice to you
>is, if there is something like this that you have always wanted to do, and
>it is remotely possible to do, do it rather than spend your life wishing
you
>had.  We traveled Europe on a shoestring budget in a VW van and had the
time
>of our lives!  There's nothing I'd have rather been doing.
>

I can echo this with passion! Thanks , Ron, for your post.

We've shipped 2 Canadian Westies over to Europe, and have done 9 one-month
trips in the 1990s in them .
We have our 91 for sale over there now, but Ron's saga is making me have
second thoughts about selling.

The Vanagon Westy is the perfect vehicle for Europe's narrow roads. You
still have to watch the poptop under some arches, though. (some rental
companies specifically exclude damage to the poptop from their insurance !)

Free camping (camping sauvage)is common, there are even books.
We've freecamped in Paris (a block from the Louvre), on the Kurfurstendam in
Berlin, & of course on highway rest stops. In Germany, though, we had to pay
2-3 marks for showers. Must have been Ron's winning smile.
My European camping friends, though, assert that freecampers are
increasingly becoming targets of crime(even in Germany), so that more
diligence is required these days.

>I'll be happy to share more info with anyone who is contemplating a similar
>adventure - just p-mail me.

Same here.
E-mail me, but please include the words"Vanagon Europe" in the subject line.

Frank Goodrick

91 Westy (stored near Amsterdam Schiphol)
95 Winnie (here in Toronto)

PS - Belgian beer is the best! Witbier (white) is only one of dozens of
different syles - actually died out & was revived in the 70s. Celis brewery
near Austin makes a reasonable facsimile.