A family with teenage/grown-up kids has one major challenge: getting the kids to want to go on vacation with their parents…as there are indeed other, potentially much more appealing options for young people out there.

Since my eldest daughter has passed her driving test, we have much more flexibility with regards who is driving (and I’ve had my daughter pick me up after an evening out with some drinks…talk about payback!)

She loves driving and a long-distance road trip with her sisters has been high on her bucket list for some time now.

Why not combine the need for our children to be on their own and have loud music in the car during a road trip, us parents wanting to enjoy the trip by driving from village to village along the sea and whilst meeting up every evening and enjoying some drive-free days whilst doing some family activities? The kids will be able to sleep a little longer than us – check out of the Hotel and drive to the next place in their own speed and then either explore the town or just veg out on the hotel’s WiFi.

This is where TDE2019 comes in: my wife and I will be driving to southern Spain in our TWIKE (well, most of the distance, as the first 2 days crossing France, I’ll be on my own due to the fact that my eldest wants to go to an open-air concert). We will all meet up in Barcelona on day 3.

I’ll be starting my trip to Spain on Friday afternoon by driving to visit a friend of mine close to the beautiful city of Thun, staying over night and then embarking on a very challenging first day, trying to cover 421km on one charge whilst crossing multiple passes in France. The next two days will be similarly challenging – either due to topography or distance… check the map below for my current plan. (you can move around and zoom the map freely)

On the way back I will skip driving back through France in favor of taking the ferry from Barcelona to Genova over night and then driving back home from there on – hopefully – one charge. This trip will add Spain to the rather long list of countries TW560 already has been to!

The usual GPS tracking will be active in order to be able to see where I am during the trip.