Wild Camping

 

Wild Camping - May 24 Day 100

There is an app – in fact it turns out there are many – but Park4night was commended to us by a nice man on a boat.

It works. You pull up a map of the area where you fancy and engage the search function. And a scatter of icons designating overnight parking locations with graded and keyed amenities are instantly overlaid.  When you click on an icon further information, reviews and photos are provided.  All the information has been provided by travellers in whose footsteps you are following.  I might even contribute myself as I have something to tell.

 

The morning of the 24^th we woke up in our very first wild camp site.  We had pulled of the main road, found a nice spot, no app involved, on a country lane and parked up.  It was a wild success.  I should let Park4night know. We breakfasted in rural splendour and were away before the birds had finished with the morning song.

Then of course we drove again.  We are on a sprint through Italy to our Ferry from far south Brindisi that has always been leaving at 1pm today – May 24^th.

 

And here we were.

 The boat ride, a mere seven hours did drag a little but no matter.  Plenty of time to catch up and meet nice folk with handy tips about overnight camping apps. 

Taran and I made friends with the community of lorry drivers that the boat fosters.  They were very keen to chat over their complimentary suppers in the canteen.  We have seen so many lorry drivers, approaching from distance, on high in their cabs ruling the roads, remote and scary at the wheel of their monstrous charges and occasionally terrifying as they finger their mobile phones eyes averted.  A lorry driver on a phone and driving is, unambiguously, playing in crowded room with a loaded gun.  A pleasure then to meet them as real people, all grisly and lonely cheery and (mostly) fat, showing off their languages and knowledge and anxious to extend the hospitality of the ferry to us.  Taran was encouraged to eat meat but that was too hard a sell so he was filled up with bean soup.  Which he liked.

After supper they all gather on the deck to smoke and chat but we left them to it.  

Jo is convinced there is also a lively trade for a sex worker and her pimp but we didn’t see that.  So we arrived and pressed on into the night.

 

Our first night's use of Park4night was a great success.  We love wild camping!