Matilda on Tour: The Balkans Loop 2026

1 March 2026 — Leaving Home Day

Day 1 — Thankful to be on the road.

England 🇬🇧 → France

This morning I shared a quick post on Facebook — the simple version: we’re off. 🚐 But I wanted to write a little more here, because the feeling behind that post matters.

Right now I just feel thankful we’re on the road.

It’s been a tougher week than I expected — not because anything went wrong, but because there was so much to think about. Even when you’ve done loads in advance, the final days are full of tiny details: packing, checking, charging, sorting, remembering. The kind of mental clutter that sits in your shoulders.

And then we left. The moment we pulled away, something shifted. The planning stopped, the noise dropped, and the trip finally began.

Before we even turned the key, there was a whole other trip happening at home — the quiet work that nobody really sees. I love the idea of spontaneity… as long as the basics are sorted. 😄 Routes that suit us, no-toll settings, where we’ll stop first, insurance and breakdown details, packing lists that stop you waking up at 3am thinking, “Did we bring the…?”

That’s where George comes in. Call him my little AI experiment - using George to help organise the practical stuff so the travelling seems easier.

For anyone new here, George is my AI planning assistant — a calm digital helper who has quietly sat beside me over the past few weeks while I’ve untangled routes, road charges, phone numbers, vehicle settings and all the other practical bits that come with taking a campervan across Europe. Some of my close friends already know him well.

What’s been helpful isn’t just the information — it’s the clarity. Turning a swirl of “mustn’t forget…” thoughts into something manageable. Enough structure to feel calm. Enough space to still enjoy the adventure.

We arrived in Dover for the 16:40 ferry after a really good journey. Sundays are a great day to travel — the roads feel quieter and everything is just that bit calmer. The sea looks on the rough side, but we’ve packed our sea legs. 😉

And then… a little wobble while boarding. Matilda decided to throw a wobbly and wouldn’t start. Not ideal timing. Thankfully P&O were brilliant — a quick jump start and we were on our way again. Let’s hope it was just a hiccup and we don’t need the same help to get off.

Right. Time to relax. 🌊