Wild Camping in Europe – With the Global Convoy!

Photo by Jeron Holy

One of the things I was most nervous about before setting off on a trip with the Global Convoy, was wild camping (well, just camping in general!). My only camping experience was going in middle school and high school to Big Bear with our church group – which was fun until it was the only thing we did for a family vacation every single year in a row.

As it so happens, some of my favorite memories take place at the spots we camped at, especially the wild camping locations. Camping as it is, is rugged. But wild camping even more so – where it was just our group and the wilderness, some spending time trying to make a fire, others figuring out the best spots to set up tents without it being too rocky or muddy. Half the time we would show up somewhere in total darkness floundering around until the sun comes up to reveal the beauty of the camp spot.

I did my best to take photos of every location we wild camped, with only one missing from Romania. People were pretty prompt about putting their tents away in the morning, so not all of these have the best representation of our site!

Germany

Wild camping is pretty illegal in Germany – but that obviously didn’t stop us. (Luckily, we didn’t get caught either!)

Pag, Croatia

Here we camped on the island Pag in Croatia – this was one of those spots where we showed up at dark, only to be greeted by a beautiful view of the Mediterranean Sea in the morning.

Kotor, Montenegro

This was where it finally got warm enough for some of us to go tentless – whether this was on purpose or not, I’ll leave that open to interpretation.

Thessaloniki, Greece

Thanks to the iOverlander app, this was one of the gems we discovered. A quiet beach town with delicious restaurants, and hardly any other people! Apparently it’s supposed to be buzzing in the summer – but we had it all to ourselves.

Outskirts of Ankara, Turkey

In Turkey, not only is wild camping legal, but encouraged. Even though it looks like we were alone in this picture, there were quite a few other locals speckled around the lake.

Trabzon, Turkey

This was just a quick pit spot, but it’s always nice to camp in the woods!

 

Batumi, Georgia

This was by far our favorite camping spot on the trip, not even because it was particularly stunning. We would wake up with the sun because it would relentlessly toast us out of our tents, and run straight into the Black Sea to cool off. You’ll see more of this spot later because we came back!

Chiatura, Georgia

Here was the most unique camp spot of the convoy. If you look closely, you’ll notice there’s a monastery on top of that massive pillar in the distance!

Batumi, Georgia

The second time we came here, we hunkered down for a few days, befriended a wild dog named Jeff, and saw one of the most stunning sunsets I’ve ever witnessed in my life. Plus, campfire kebabs!

Romania

Again, not a particularly stunning landscape, but it was definitely unique waking up to cows wandering into our campsite!

 

 

By | 2018-10-24T03:30:14+00:00 October 24th, 2018|Travel Stories|

About the Author:

Hey Humans! My name is Michelle, and I've been writing since I was a teenager. Having a mom as an English teacher most likely helped plant the seed that I had no idea would grow into what it is today. For the most part, I love writing about my travel experiences, but I'm slowly branching out more. Stick around and see what else comes out of my fingertips - sometimes I even surprise myself!

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