High Pregnancy Traveling and Camping
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Week 36
We really wanted to enjoy this little summer holiday, so after we’ve finished everything (a.k.a. masters, bus education, museum work and other projects) we went on a mini vacation to disconnect. And how could we travel other than with the Strineholmobile, which besides transportation, served us again as a home on 4 wheels. I say again because last year we experienced going camping in our Zafiruța (Open Zafira), the only difference being the duration of the trip, around 10,000 km around Europe. This time, however, we said to keep our journey on the territory of Sweden, as if someone decides to come out faster and get to know the world through his eyes, we can go to the nearest hospital.
Now, here are some impressions about how it was like to walk with a 7 and a half months belly with us, and especially to sleep in the car. The route was quite small. I definitely wanted to visit the city of Gothenburg because I had never been there, but I had heard many nice things about its relaxed air and harbor feeling, so we drove towards the South.
We have never aligned ourselves with the program of the other campers, who are waking up early in the morning and go straight to the next destination, arriving around 4-5 in the afternoon and spending their time around the caravans. We are a bit the opposite, we visit the day as much as we can (depending on how curious we are and what tourist attractions catch our attention from the signs on the highway) and arrive in the evening (I mean when it’s already dark outside, around 10-11 at night) at the campsite.
With me pregnant and considering the heat outside (in Sweden 25-26 degrees feel like 30-35 in the Southern countries), the daily program started with a lazy morning, waking up around 9-10 a.m. and a little walk, to enjoy the campsite during day time. Then we relocated our car to be closer to the destination proposed the night before and parked somewhere from where we started walking to our objectives, for about 5-6 hours, with the necessary breaks for eating or visiting museums, wonderful botanical gardens or seaside cliffs. If the goals had been reached, then we would go to the next destination, a 2-3 hour drive (sometimes even less because the entire west coast of Sweden is full of wonderful places worth seeing), where we stopped for sleep.
Now comes the interesting part, with sleeping in the car. I must admit that I slept better than at home, without any problems of being too cold or not having enough space, and the air mattress was very comfortable. However, the preparation for sleep brought me some objections, because the space between the mattress and the ceiling of our car was very small (I would say about 50 cm) and the whole process of changing into the pyjamas for sleep was extremely cumbersome, due to my belly being considerably large. And because of the pregnancy, the nights were quite often interrupted by physiological needs, so getting out of the car was a real adventure at 4 a.m., propelled by the too inflated mattress, while trying to get my shoes on (my fail, I forgot to bring slippers). Climbing up back in the car was a challenge too, feeling like an elephant trying to slip into a mousetrap, still pulling after me my shoes so they wouldn't stay out for the night (here Philippe's magic hand was also involved, which was dragging me and my shoes, while being still asleep and dreaming).
In conclusion, the short-distance car ride was no problem, the everyday walking (around 8-10 km) felt good, and the sleeping in the car was comfortable, but I have to admit that every time the night approached, I was checking on the GPS the travel time home, if we decided to go back the next day (obviously the next day everything was great again and my travel energy was at its maximum level).
However, I noticed that in the places we went, we didn't see too many pregnant women walking their bellies on vacation (I didn't understand if I was somehow more adventurous or if they were hiding in the shadows). Oh, and as another conclusion of this trip, we realised that we would enjoy a bit more space above our head than the current 50 centimeters, so we decided that next year the trip will be made in something more “spacious” (to be continued).
I was glad that we were able to disconnect a bit and that the baby had the opportunity to enjoy our trip through my tummy.
Week 36
We really wanted to enjoy this little summer holiday, so after we’ve finished everything (a.k.a. masters, bus education, museum work and other projects) we went on a mini vacation to disconnect. And how could we travel other than with the Strineholmobile, which besides transportation, served us again as a home on 4 wheels. I say again because last year we experienced going camping in our Zafiruța (Open Zafira), the only difference being the duration of the trip, around 10,000 km around Europe. This time, however, we said to keep our journey on the territory of Sweden, as if someone decides to come out faster and get to know the world through his eyes, we can go to the nearest hospital.
Now, here are some impressions about how it was like to walk with a 7 and a half months belly with us, and especially to sleep in the car. The route was quite small. I definitely wanted to visit the city of Gothenburg because I had never been there, but I had heard many nice things about its relaxed air and harbor feeling, so we drove towards the South.
We have never aligned ourselves with the program of the other campers, who are waking up early in the morning and go straight to the next destination, arriving around 4-5 in the afternoon and spending their time around the caravans. We are a bit the opposite, we visit the day as much as we can (depending on how curious we are and what tourist attractions catch our attention from the signs on the highway) and arrive in the evening (I mean when it’s already dark outside, around 10-11 at night) at the campsite.
With me pregnant and considering the heat outside (in Sweden 25-26 degrees feel like 30-35 in the Southern countries), the daily program started with a lazy morning, waking up around 9-10 a.m. and a little walk, to enjoy the campsite during day time. Then we relocated our car to be closer to the destination proposed the night before and parked somewhere from where we started walking to our objectives, for about 5-6 hours, with the necessary breaks for eating or visiting museums, wonderful botanical gardens or seaside cliffs. If the goals had been reached, then we would go to the next destination, a 2-3 hour drive (sometimes even less because the entire west coast of Sweden is full of wonderful places worth seeing), where we stopped for sleep.
Now comes the interesting part, with sleeping in the car. I must admit that I slept better than at home, without any problems of being too cold or not having enough space, and the air mattress was very comfortable. However, the preparation for sleep brought me some objections, because the space between the mattress and the ceiling of our car was very small (I would say about 50 cm) and the whole process of changing into the pyjamas for sleep was extremely cumbersome, due to my belly being considerably large. And because of the pregnancy, the nights were quite often interrupted by physiological needs, so getting out of the car was a real adventure at 4 a.m., propelled by the too inflated mattress, while trying to get my shoes on (my fail, I forgot to bring slippers). Climbing up back in the car was a challenge too, feeling like an elephant trying to slip into a mousetrap, still pulling after me my shoes so they wouldn't stay out for the night (here Philippe's magic hand was also involved, which was dragging me and my shoes, while being still asleep and dreaming).
In conclusion, the short-distance car ride was no problem, the everyday walking (around 8-10 km) felt good, and the sleeping in the car was comfortable, but I have to admit that every time the night approached, I was checking on the GPS the travel time home, if we decided to go back the next day (obviously the next day everything was great again and my travel energy was at its maximum level).
However, I noticed that in the places we went, we didn't see too many pregnant women walking their bellies on vacation (I didn't understand if I was somehow more adventurous or if they were hiding in the shadows). Oh, and as another conclusion of this trip, we realised that we would enjoy a bit more space above our head than the current 50 centimeters, so we decided that next year the trip will be made in something more “spacious” (to be continued).
I was glad that we were able to disconnect a bit and that the baby had the opportunity to enjoy our trip through my tummy.
