Writer: Helena Bergström
Twice in the last week we thought we were going to get "stuck" with the campervan here in Corsica, because we had driven into a place that was too narrow, and hadn't been able to reverse... Slight panic and a lot of stress!
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When we almost got "stuck" with the motorhome on aisle 1
We drove into the city Porto-Vecchio because we had an errand. The GPS told us to turn right and we turned right, on a reasonably narrow street. After that, we could only choose to turn extremely steeply up left or extremely steeply down right (which the GPS favoured). We turned down, and suddenly it stopped. In the middle of a superbrant downhill it became too narrow and it was completely impossible to continue ...
We tried to go back, but we couldn't, because it was too steep. We were stuck! We saw a private courtyard where we might, might be able to turn in. The woman who owned the place ran out and said that we absolutely not had to drive into her yard. We explained our situation and she softened. (Neither of us spoke each other's language, but we still understood each other!)
Centimetre by centimetre ... Peter had to drive back and forth and I (Helena) had to move signs and other surrounding objects. The stone walls were one centimetre from the motorhome. My heart was pounding.
Finally we managed to turn round and drive up the hill! The owner of the farm laughed and applauded! And then she invited us each for a glass of water, while we thanked her and talked excitedly in stumbling English-French. The happiness that we finally got out of there was total!
When we almost got "stuck" with the motorhome time 2
Now we would be more careful, we thought! In cities you should be careful, but you want to visit beaches... right? We turned off to experience the beach Santa Giulia Beach outside Porto-Vecchio. The road down to the beach is actually quite ok for a motorhome, but in high season park lots of cars along the road, and often too far out into the carriageway...
Suddenly it was completely impossible for us to drive forwards, because of the parked cars on the side. Could we reverse? Hardly, because it would have been insanely long and there were new cars coming behind us all the time.
Eventually we discovered that we could cross over into the wrong lane and then reverse into a driveway to turn round... Easy? Of course not, but it worked! We missed the beach, but we were happy just to get out of there. Happy Friday!
Everyday life mixed with adventure
We live everyday life mixed with adventure. Yes, it's great to be able to travel as much as we do! We are love It is! But of course there is a catch. The catch is that we work more than others realise and that we have to accept living with a large dose of insecurity. But still, we choose this, every time!
And yes, of course, a lot of misery happens all the time that we can't even bear to tell you about. Like some health problems (infections, migraines, wasp stings, jellyfish stings, toe injury from a hard stone, etc.), water leaks in the motorhome (so panic, we don't know where it's coming from!?), computer problems, invoices that don't arrive digitally so we miss them and so on ... that is, life simply!
This week: Grateful for ...
This week we are grateful that we can continue travelling, despite all the daily challenges. We are also incredibly grateful that we "got away" with the motorhome from those horrible "traps". First you are excited to visit the beaches... and then you are just thankful that you managed to get away!
Your turn ... What are you most grateful for this week?
The week ahead
We have now arrived in the stunningly beautiful town of Bonifacio, in the southern part of Corsica. For a few days we will discover the town, as well as the beaches and islands in the neighbourhood. After that, Sardinia awaits...! We will get back to you on this of course!
Did you miss the last Happy Friday? Read the Corsican life, collaborations and conversations with Chat-GPT
You might also like:
We are getting ready for the Elmia fair in Jönköping
What a week! - Iftar, quirky everyday life and a motorhome trip
We are on our way! - Motorhome holidays in southern Europe await
Friday blog: Lectures and party at Elmia Husvagn Husbil
Friday blog: We went to pick up the campervan ... but it didn't go as planned
The Friday blog: With a bit of a jolt, a bit of a jump, and a bit of a kick-start... we got the motorhome going
English (UK) 
Svenska
Solan says:
Motorhome life is no walk in the park... well maybe if you are out for 4-5 weeks at a time.
But during long journeys and you have the pressure of work on you all the time. Alleys that are getting narrower and hills that are getting steeper...
Luckily, you are experienced and have ice in your stomach (most of the time).
May I suggest that you go somewhere without mountains and valleys in the future! 🤣
25 July 2025 - 8:32
bmlarsreseblogg says:
Yes, there have been times when we almost prayed to get out of some place. In a Tuscan village we came to a barrier where roadworks just stopped all traffic. There was a minimal "square" to reverse into because I was out moving bags so that we could reverse forward, move new reverse forward etc to be able to turn around after about ten minutes while a couple of Italian elderly men with a cigarette in their mouths got their afternoon entertainment. In northern Norway it could have been worse when we had to turn on a fence road with deep ditches on the sides, reversing was not an option ..,
This week has been much calmer, some beautiful summer days in Bohuslän with good friends and this weekend awaits cruising in Falköping. Have a good time despite some travel problems!
25 July 2025 - 9:01
JoY says:
No, what a horror to end up on narrow roads as you did. Getting sweaty just reading about it, I would have panicked, which of course doesn't help, but so lucky you got away and could turn round.
Best this week, is probably the blueberry forest with friends.
Nice weekend Hugs
25 July 2025 - 16:33
BP says:
No, yuck!!! You left the bikes at home, as they did not fit because of the AC. But I think you might want to consider taking your bikes or electric scooters on your next road trip. It is much easier to get into cities with two wheels than with four...
Good thing you got out anyway. A little excitement might not hurt;-)
PS. If you ever plan a road trip in Cornwall, England, do NOT take your motorhome into the resorts. There the roads are so small that you even have to fold in the side mirrors of a car, and that was hardly enough. DS.
25 July 2025 - 19:59
Anette Nilsson says:
Phew, really feel for you and know exactly. And how bad you feel and how scared you are. Once when we were in Prague with the caravan, we got a bit lost. We asked a policeman for directions and he pointed out which street we should take to get to the campsite we were going to. If we had a tiny Fiat it would have worked. But we had a 6 metre caravan and a car with rear view mirrors on it. Just over 12 metres was our rig. The street became narrower and narrower. The mirrors had to be retracted. Then we realised that it was no longer possible and I had to get out of the car. I can't even believe I got out today. We had lots of cars behind us and everyone had to reverse. Everyone honked and I had a nervous laugh. Then Stefan had to reverse all the way back. After that bead we didn't feel so good. I can tell you that our three boys didn't make a sound when this happened. They realised that something bad was happening. Breathing and moaning
25 July 2025 - 20:15
Eval8 says:
What a nightmare to get stuck like that. How lucky you were to get out. The sweat must have flowed in rivers!
Grateful for this week... because we had a nice Pearl Wedding Celebration😍
25 July 2025 - 22:35
Marika says:
What a nightmare! How would I fix that? Absolutely not I think. Anyway, it will be exciting to follow you in Sardinia.
26 July 2025 - 23:15
Claes Heidenback says:
I shudder when I read about the steep hill and not being able to reverse! We got stuck yesterday but only in sand at a campsite so it was close to help. Glad it worked out and I understand the euphoria after it went well!
29 July 2025 - 13:05
Claes says:
Glad it worked out both times! Can feel the panic if we had ended up in the same situation! We got stuck yesterday in soft sand. The wheels buried themselves but we got help to be pulled up!
Hope you visit Cala Gonone in Sardinia and tell us how it is now. We followed your tracks there in 2018 and would love to go back.
29 July 2025 - 13:29
Lena - gott för själen says:
Oh my god how sweaty. Understand that it was a bit pulse-raising to say the least!
Hug Lena
13 October 2025 - 18:27