Google is sending me push messages with “Remember this 3 years ago…” I look at those pictures, when I just bought my converted camper van and started the first trip. What a difference. I was happy, excited and curious. My hair was still black. I had dreams and plans. It started pretty good, life was good. Life was kind of perfect. I learned how to catch waves at the right moment quite easily.
Back at the ocean. No waves, time for a break and calm down
Somewhere along the way, things changed. I got some injuries. Physically and also mentally. My love for the ocean stayed, riding the waves. And I also wanted to get higher, further up into the mountains. I PeakD quite a few times. It became a rollercoaster. Like my whole life is so far. It looked good in the beginning and turned into a deep dive, stressful and dark during riding the big wave. The big wave was hanging over me like a shadow, not letting me go. At the moment it feels like ending up in the whitewash. Is this what I wanted? I wanted to change and a new, better and healthier life. I got sick and my van got sick…several times. Was this a warning already? Or are we 2 identical characters with serious issues? Am I not at the right place? Or am I doing something wrong? The van issues are getting worse and worse. No matter if I visit experts or not, I am spending a fortune. It’s like real healthcare, things doesn’t seem to get better. In fact, more issues pop up after treatment. Some people seem to attract this, some say it’s my karma. I am a nice guy, helping others and so on. Ok, I am not the average person stuck in the system. It might be something in the genes, that keeps passing it onto the next generation.
Why?
I’ve thought about it many times. I turned the perfectionist into accepting things as they are. I always give a fun and positive touch to something, no matter how bad things can be. This is already a big contrast with the earlier generations non my family. I walked into this little message today, on the wall behind the garbage saying “Read the wave”. The message on the wall could not be read and didn’t make any sense. Like things are in real life… First you go through the garbage, then you try to read your way of life and come to the conclusion it doesn’t make any sense.
The message behind the garbage bins
3 years after the start of a dream, I became slightly grey. The fire burning is the candle in the van, because the solar system burned through this week. The turbo power is out of the engine (from the van and from my own engine). At the moment, I am waiting and thinking. For response from a garage that can or even want to help. How to recharge things in the van without the old energy source? Just the summer sun is not enough to recharge us anymore. Get the portable battery out of the box and try to recharge it in new places. And how to recharge my own battery? I guess I just answered that question :) Vanlife is fun for a moment, and sucks when things go seriously wrong.
Instead of catching waves, maybe I should catch something else?
Current situation, the technical part of this blog
After visiting an official Mercedes-Benz garage, it became clear. W E A R E F U C K E D ! They were actually really nice and helpful. The mechanic was honest and showed me the main problems. The complete turbo system is broken and needs to be replaced…a problem I am already mentioning for the last 2 years at every mechanic…the loss of turbo power, while the car has been chip-tuned twice. Even Mercedes-Benz in Germany didn’t check it. I won’t say too much about the things that happened in that 1 (Mercedes) Star garage in Germany. The ones reading my stories know it.
Besides the turbo, the manifold intake, the cooling and the thermostat are broken. And last, but not least…the gearbox. Yes, the other thing I mention for 1,5 year at every mechanic. The sharp metallic noise, when the semi-automatic gearbox shift to the next gear. The issues when I take steeper roads. All mechanics said the same… “Don’t worry, just the noises of an old car”…”Oh that are your big tires”…”I don’t hear anything”… I am 50% deaf on both ears, and even I hear it quite well. The company that placed a reconditioned gearbox in this van almost 3 years ago, maybe I should try them to check it? I made an appointment to do a full check, open up the gearbox etc. The waiting list was 2 months. Ok, let’s do it. I drove 700 km’s to visit that place. The mechanic drove with the car and told me the van has issues with the wheel bearings. Still, that doesn’t make any sense with the noise and the gear shifting issues. Then he said; “Sorry, no place and time on the bridge. I can’t help, you have to make an appointment and come back another time”. WTF?! I made an appointment 2 months ago for a full checkup, drove 700 km’s for this appointment and then this? At the office they didn’t want to do anything with my complaint about this.
In Portugal the semi-automatic gearbox was flushed by a garage in October 2023. I went back to the same garage 3 months ago, because of a lot of oil leaking under the engine. The gaskets were replaced 4 months ago, so that could not be the problem. There was nothing to worry about, they said after inspection. Interesting…so much fresh oil under and engine that was recently checked and cleaned. After the visit at Mercedes-Benz here in Portugal, the diagnose was that during the last flush of the gearbox silicon sealing was used to close the oil carter under the gearbox. This caused a major leak and I was using my gearbox since October last year, while losing most of the oil in the gearbox. This fucked up the gearbox.
In total 10.000 EUR of damage. Is this worth the investment? And where to get this amount of money from? HIVE isn't worth enough at the moment. The current Dutch market for diesel camper vans is not the best, the road tax will be increased with 100% next year. In more and more cities these diesel vans will also be forbidden. And the amount of km’s driven by Vin Diesel? 374.000 KM. In my opinion, it’s not easy anymore to get good money for this campervan.
Daily coffee stops, after swimming or during battery charging.
Becoming a local
Anyway, my plan was to find a rental place in Portugal this year. Now the universe tries to push me a bit faster in that direction. It is high season and rental prices are the same as the name of the current season: HIGH. I decided I want to live close to the ocean, it feels better for me. I need to learn again how to catch the right waves.
Currently we are camping here. It's in the blue zone, maybe Vin Diesel lives longer.
The van doesn’t drive anymore and I am parked in front of a big supermarket in a town famous for dicks…ceramic dicks. My portable battery I have to charge daily at the only available socket in the supermarket. Every day I sit there, waiting and have a coffee. It actually feels good to slow down and stay at a place. Since I can’t drive anymore, I sometimes spend my time at laundry places, without doing laundry. Just charging my battery and talk to random people. Funny meetings. I am discovering new places, start new friendships and become a bit of a local. I even meet people with similar technical issues. I found a swimming pool from the fire department, where I swim a few times a week. Together with old ladies (70+), that come there for doing aqua gym. It’s funny to see…how enthusiastic they are, doing their moves on house music from the 90’s. The Portuguese in the little cafe’s around here are very friendly, it motivates me to learn the language. And my new favorite supermarket? Mercadona…their fresh pizza section is addictive!
I will visit a few places in the area next week to see if I am going to pay monthly rent, enjoying more space and luxury. Although, I miss the freedom of moving around with my tiny home. Freedom is for me and important piece of luxury. I don’t know if I will keep the van here on a campsite or tow it back to my home country and see if I can bring it to the car cemetery. There are several options. I might try to see if there are second hand parts available in my home country. It feels sad to say goodbye to my buddy.
It’s all in the stars
After this Mercedes I will not get another car with 1 Star. I do understand now, where the Mercedes logo stands for: 1 star quality and service. Af few weeks ago I went to another Mercedes-Benz garage; Nasamotor. I told the mechanic I want my car to sky rocket again, TO THE MOON! And I thought I came to the right place: NASA-motor. First he didn’t get the joke. He told me it was better to go down…WTF?! Ah, down South. Not the other down...
At this spot, the turbo's gave their last breath. Before they died on the mountain.
Where did the turbo actually die here in Portugal? On the Serra da Estrela…it means ‘Star Mountain’. Seriously?! The 1-Star car died on the Star Mountain? I am not making this up. Thinking about this, reminds me of a Dutch commercial from 2010. It’s a commercial from the insurance company CENTRAAL BEHEER. Every year they make a new commercial, with people ending in a fucked up situation. The one from 2010 is from a family on a camping trip and things go completely wrong on top of the Serra da Estrela The commercial. I guess my situation on the mountain was not that bad. And I am not bold.
Around the same spot where my van got wrecked, the commercial was shot in 2010.
Let’s see where the universe leads me to. Let’s end this blog with something positive, a link to a song from Lil Nas X “Star Walking”. It’s an anthem of perseverance and chasing one's dreams. The song talks about not giving up on one's aspiration. Let’s keep that in mind and don’t let anything or anyone stop reaching dreams. A funny detail, the car in the video clip is a...MERCEDES! Star Walking video clip