Veggie Vagabond’s New Groove, Our Journey, Week 27

All the exploration of the summer, what’s new around here and a peek at what’s to come

It’s been a little while since we’ve updated Our Journey and with a few changes going on around here we thought now would be the perfect time. For those of you who missed the last instalment, we’ve currently set up camp in a small town in the Auvergne-Rhone-Alps region of France. Perfectly located close to the Alps, the Jura mountains and Lac Leman which means a lot of accessible adventure possibilities. Our summer has been spent exploring our local surroundings, making some changes on the blog and earning a bit of wonga to support us on the next leg of our route (fruits and vegetable don’t come free y’know!). Here’s an insight into the last few months and a sneak peek of what’s to come.

Girl on mountain top — Making the most of our surrounding exploring up high whenever we can

Wow, this summer has flown by!

We’ve been exploring outside A LOT. As you might have guessed we’ve been making the most of being so close to so much nature. Every free moment has been crammed full of adventure whether it’s hiking and camping in the Alps, wild swimming in lakes and waterfalls or clambering up boulders. This summer has certainly been well spent.

The whole region is truly spectacular so we’re as happy as two kids in a sweet shop exploring that little bit more each week. For my birthday J wanted to make the most of being somewhere with so much natural beauty. I was happy to climb our local peak followed by a dip in the lake but he felt this was too mundane. Instead, we opted to go further than ever before into the alps to a place that makes Avatar look like your local park. Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval is a glorious corner of the world with towering peaks that boast flowing waterfalls feeding into the valley.

If you want to read and see more of the beauty of Sixt-Fer-à-Cheval, click here

Man swimming in lake — Wild swimming in Lac Leman has been our favourite way to cool off this summer

As well as exploring outdoors we’ve been making the most of having a kitchen again, forever experimenting and creating. We love camping and life on the road but as massive foodies we really appreciate the chance to get into a fully functioning kitchen. This means energy fuelled hiking food concoctions, hearty dinners and experimental flavour combinations. We’ve even been growing our own herbs and mushrooms!

Girl holding plate of food — Making the most of having an oven

The pause whilst being here is also giving us the chance to make and save some wonga. Besides just putting food in our bellies and paying for the occasional campsite, it’s also going towards some crucial repairs on our lovely, but rather battered, bikes. Although we definitely travel on the cheaper side of life, living in our tent and being frugal, France really took us by surprise and our money disappeared before we knew it.

All in all, we think that we’ve picked a rather magnificent neck of the woods to nestle in temporarily. As Autumn starts to draw near we reflect on the warmer months reminiscing about days well spent. Now though, we’re bloody excited for an autumn of cosy camping, frosty hikes and warming drinks.

How about you guys? Did you do anything this summer that blew you away? Discovered a new destination? Picked up a new hobby? It’s a real treat to get your work/life balance right, giving you the opportunity to get out there and make the most of your surroundings. Where did you go? Did you discover somewhere close to home or have the chance to explore somewhere you’ve been meaning to for a while? Let us know in the comment below, we love to hear from you!

Man climbing outside — Clambering up boulders all summer long

Veggie Vagabonds got a brand new groove

The regulars here (hey folks!) may have noticed a few changes on the blog. The chance to stay still for a bit has given us the opportunity to hone in on a few things Veggie Vagabonds related. It’s been the perfect chance to think about the direction we want to go in, and not just towards India…

We really like the outdoors, heck, we’re pretty bloody infatuated with it. Throughout our travels, it’s always the outdoor experiences and natural wonders which have blown us away. It’s forever a reminder of how lucky we all are to have these incredible surroundings to explore. This opportunity has enriched our lives and made us feel passionate about protecting the natural world. We feel like we need to give something back.

In our eyes, the best start to having a positive impact is by getting outside and learning to appreciate the world. You can make life the ultimate adventure if you embrace your surroundings but you can easily do it in a sustainable way. It’s our mission to help encourage the world to get outside, get inspired and get more in tune with nature.

I won’t go on about all this too much here but you can find out more about our mission or our charity pledge, you also might want to read about the wonders of spending time in nature and you’ll see exactly what we mean.

Girl on mountain — We think the Earth is pretty remarkable and worth protecting

Where are we going from here?

More exploring (obviously!) and we’re really eager to see the mountain ranges turn fiery shades of red and amber as autumn draws in. Anyone else love seeing the seasons change?

Who would have guessed we’d be living so close to the Alps exploring the mountains on a regular basis, yet here we are. Over the next few months the hikes will be getting bigger, the mountains taller and probably the weather wetter. The Alps are proving to such an epic outdoors destination and we want to share it with you.

On the blog, there are a lot of changes and tweaks which are gradually coming into effect – we’re very excited – so keep your eyes peeled!

We’re striving to give you more of the tools to make life an ethical adventure, creating a big community where we can exchanges, stories, advice and positive vibes. That means we want to hear from you! Get to know you, how you found your way here and what you’d like to see next. Want to know how you can make camping more sustainable? Interested in finding local activities around you? Not sure how to plan for a first vegan trip? Tell us, we can share our knowledge and get writing!

Man on mountain top — We are pretty big fans of our natural world

There’ll also be more on overland travel, local adventures and inspiration for planning your first trip into great outdoors as well as inaccurate attempts at grammar on my part that J is forever correcting (much to his annoyance).

That’s us done, over to you guys, drop us a comment to tell us about your summer or what you think of our plans here at Veggie Vagabonds!