The past few weeks did not feel like a clear ending, but also not yet like a real beginning. It felt like something in between. As we described in our previous blogs, many things had already been completed, but our full-time travel life still does not completely feel like it has truly started yet. We definitely have not been sitting still lately. In just a few weeks, we sold our home, officially deregistered from Spain, started driving back to the Netherlands and slowly began realizing that this new chapter is no longer just an idea. It is happening.

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Selling Our Home to Travel the World

The moment it truly hit us that we had sold everything did not happen during the official handover of the keys to our house, but just before it. Right before leaving for the notary, we walked through the house and garden together one last time, grateful for the beautiful time we had there. It was time to say goodbye to everything we had built over the past two years.

At that moment, the emotions suddenly hit us. The realization that we were leaving behind not only our belongings, but also the memories and experiences connected to that place, suddenly became very real. As often happens with us, alongside the emotions there was immediately also something practical. It did not feel like a dramatic goodbye, but more like closing a chapter that had naturally come to an end. Not long after that, our focus shifted back towards the future again. What would happen next?

A few days later, we officially deregistered ourselves as residents in Spain. After living there for almost two years, it felt strange to walk out of that office without officially belonging anywhere anymore. No fixed address, no residency, no long-term plan fully mapped out. Just the two of us, a car full of belongings and the idea of building a life around travel.

Or as we sometimes jokingly call ourselves: modern gypsies.

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Preparing for Full-Time World Travel

We started driving towards the Netherlands with the idea that this would be the moment freedom would finally become truly noticeable. The house was sold, the biggest decisions had been made, everything was ready, right? In theory, that should have brought peace of mind.

In reality, it worked differently.

On paper, we were free, but emotionally it did not completely feel that way yet. We still had a list of things that needed to be finished. Just like it always goes with us: constantly busy with new ideas and plans. Besides that, we are not only traveling, we are also building a life as content creators. That means that while traveling, we are not only experiencing things, but also documenting them, thinking ahead and planning. Because of that, the sense of calm we had hoped for beforehand was still not fully there.

It feels less like an ending and more like a new beginning that still needs shape and direction.

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On the Road Through Spain, Andorra and France

We consciously did not want to drive to the Netherlands in one go. The plan was to slowly make our way north and discover new places along the way. That sounds great in theory, but our planning turned out to be tighter than we had expected beforehand. On the first day, after officially deregistering from Spain, we drove longer than planned so we could stay near Valencia and continue towards Andorra the next day.

Andorra was a deliberate choice because we really wanted to see this small country between Spain and France at least once. The first “new” country we could check off our list during this trip. In the end, Andorra turned out to be far more beautiful than we expected. The mountains, nature and views were impressive. At the same time, the traffic was unbelievable. Such a tiny country, yet endless roundabouts and cars everywhere.

Still, it was exactly the kind of place that reminds us why we are doing this. Unexpectedly beautiful and completely different from what we imagined. At the same time, we also felt that one full day in Andorra is probably enough if you are not going there for winter sports.

After Andorra, we really started noticing how intense the days were becoming.

Lyon

The next stop was Lyon. We experienced that city very differently. We underestimated the drive from Andorra to Lyon and only arrived at the end of the day. In just a few hours, we tried to see part of the city. We managed to explore a little, but we also realized we simply did not have enough time to truly experience the place. We walked through the city, saw how beautiful Lyon really is, but at the same time felt there is still so much more to discover than what we could experience in such a short amount of time.

That was one of the first moments during this trip where we realized how much time influences the way you experience a place. Traveling slowly sounds romantic, but if you still spend most of your days driving, places quickly become short impressions instead of real experiences.

Reims

After Lyon, we drove to Reims. We also had little time there, but this stop felt completely different. Nancy had wanted to visit a champagne house in the Champagne region for a long time. Eventually, we managed to do that. We got a tour, learned a lot about champagne and consciously took time to slow down for a moment.

Precisely because we intentionally created space for this, we noticed how much calmer a trip feels when you actually experience something instead of only driving from place to place. What Reims itself actually looks like? Honestly, we still do not really know. We will save that for another time.

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Expectations and Communication While Traveling

A trip like this also makes it clear that expectations are not always naturally aligned. One of us thought there would be plenty of time to drive slowly, properly discover places and regularly stay in the countryside, while the other was more focused on driving faster and visiting cities instead.

That did not lead to major arguments, but it did create moments where we had to adjust to each other. By openly expressing expectations and continuing to communicate clearly, we realized how important that is while traveling together. Especially when traveling together long-term, it helps to talk about what you expect from a trip, where you want to stay and how you can take each other’s needs into account.

During this road trip, we also discovered how much practical choices influence the way you experience traveling. Toll roads are a good example. At first, we wanted to avoid them, but we quickly noticed how much extra time that costs. Time we actually wanted to use to rest, explore places along the way and simply enjoy the journey itself.

In the end, choosing toll roads gave us more peace and more time to actually enjoy the places where we stayed.

Sometimes traveling is less about the perfect route and more about creating enough space to actually experience the journey.

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Arriving Back in the Netherlands

Eventually, after days of driving, we arrived back in the Netherlands. The country where both of our lives started, but also the place we no longer fully feel connected to in the same way as before.

We knew these two weeks would mostly revolve around practical things. Seeing friends and family, arranging vaccinations, passport appointments and all the final things that still needed to happen before leaving Europe for a longer period of time.

At the same time, we also knew these weeks would probably pass faster than we wanted them to.

And looking back now, that is exactly what happened.

In the next blog, we will share what those final two weeks in the Netherlands really felt like, how saying “see you later” turned out to sometimes be harder than expected, and why preparing for full-time world travel still included more surprises than we imagined.

Two Wild Nomads. Stories about freedom, growth and choosing the life that feels right.