We packed the old Molly with all the necessary stuff for a nice weekend, and then we thought, we had it right. Then we bought a new, much bigger, Molly, and of course we could now bring a lot more stuff. We knew that we had to bring more for the girls, e.g. more toys, a lot of creative stuff, more books and some more games. 

Then we also packed a bit more clothes, a larger and more stable camping table, some comfortable camping chairs and a couple of those easy-to-fill-up-with-air-in-the-commercial-but-in-reality-it-is-pretty-difficult chairs. Hey, built in that big gas tank as well and throw on some solar panels and an awning for the sunny days – we have got the room for it..!

More spices, more extra food (pasta, rice, canned stuff etc.), more gear to fix the bikes and some more coffee!

Furthermore, we bought some nice comfy mattresses for the beds, some new sleeping bags (thanks Trailsurfers.dk!) and of course we now have a bathroom, so different things for the personal hygiene and soap for dishwashing and laundry (bio-degradable).

So, we were all good, set, and ready to go… But then we got Molly weighed, and… Not good… 3.440kg – maximum is 3.500kg. Should not be a problem then? Well, none of us were in Molly, when she got weighed, and although we look quite thin and fit ;-), it is safe to say that we weigh a bit more than 60kg altogether.

So now we had to really strip down and see, if we could make Molly legal…

No micro-scooters for the girls, out with the nice big foot pump for the bikes, no longboard for Jakob, strip down the toys, creative stuff and books for the girls, smaller flasks for the soap, less clothing (who needs fresh clothes?), ditch the “nice” shoes, only three teddy bears pr. girl, Lego is out (play with a leaf in the forest instead or practice on the bike), drink the wine before heading out etc. 

We made it (almost), and now we are doing it! Living the free life in a van for the next many months – and actually it feels good that we had to leave so much stuff behind and are now forced to live with only the absolute bare necessities. 

It is still living in luxury compared to old Molly, and am I really going to miss the longboard – not really… We have, what we need and not much more than that. But why is it so heavy then? Because we are four persons in a campervan… On the roads we mostly see two persons in this setup, so we have twice the amount of clothing, shoes, food, toilet gear and so on… 

Furthermore, we are bringing four bikes, and although they are really nice, lightweight bikes, they still weigh around 75kg altogether when including the bike rack… Plus we are bringing biking clothes, helmets, shoes, tools and backpacks, so it all adds up. So, it is definitely possible to travel lighter – just not for us 😉

Right now, the things, we enjoy the most, are our Omnistove, the GSI Javamill and our Aeropress

Stay balanced…