This is WHY we moved to Sicily in our Campervan ⧸⧸ S02E09

Welcome back to Kombi Life, after an incredible experience sleeping on the rumbling sides of Europe's largest active volcano, we are saying goodbye to Mount Etna and descending the black slopes down to the Mediterranean coast in search of Sicilian delicacies. We are driving around the world and you guys are invited to, so subscribe and buckle up. It's one heck of a ride. We interrupt this video for a brief rant about our unwanted passenger. What a cheeky sausage he got out whilst we're in the combi. You're never gonna find him. Sorry but if I see him like he will be getting squished by. I don't care let's get rid of him he's a pain in the arse. That life is not easy with a mouse in the house honestly. It's not fun, it's not pleasant, you can see him, you can smell him. got to wash everything before you use it. Obviously we like nature when it's outside. How big was he? How big? Honestly he was bigger than I expected. His body was probably about that big. The thing is we have to take down the traps every time we move the car to and then set them up again so it's a bit of a mission and obviously try not to get caught in them whilst we're moving around this tiny home. I know you're setting them and going it's the best thing ever. Hopefully we catch him soon because he's causing a lot of stress. Morning. Bad lie. reporting in. I heard last night some scurrying up in the cupboard above our heads. Above our heads. Which we really thought was like the one safe place. He can't get there. There's no physical way for him to get there. This is impossible as he crawls over our face in the night. We got him. We got him guys. Viewer discretion advised. We're about to see a dead mouse. Please children look away. I'm personally extremely happy about this because this still has been terrorizing me. There you are. He's massive. You didn't need to see that, he's gone. I feel sad, he was cute, but my god is it horrible in a van with a with a mouse. Tamara and I get on so well, I can't even begin to tell you, but like the stress of like having to set those traps up and Oh lucky it got to us didn't it? Yeah it did get to us. We were niggling last night. It wasn't good and yeah that's just like the kind of stress you don't need on top of the van life stress of having to find a camp and blah blah blah and trying to stay level and having an alternator that still doesn't work by the way. One less problem. One less problem. Oh no not that. I'm Our travel plans are definitely going to change in this video starting but one thing that never changes is the fact that we always need a reliable data connection and that is why we started using Holofly to keep us connected whilst we're exploring. Holofly have sold over 15 million eSIMs and have over a 4.7 Trust Pilot rating with 70,000 reviews. to speak They cover over 200 destinations and also offer regional and global eSIMs but best of all they offer unlimited data so we now. so we can enjoy a seamless data connection without any issues. We use Holofly for for everything from working to sharing our adventures with our family, and of course, you guys. And we can even hotspot our other devices so we can use it to stream TV shows too. Because Holofly is an eSIM, we've got it pre-installed and it works directly when we cross the border. So we don't have to worry about how to navigate foreign roads when we arrive at a new destination. There's also no more searching for wifi to activate an account, nor do we have to shop for physical SIM cards. It's worth noting that we can keep our original SIM card in our phone and we can seamlessly use apps like WhatsApp. Thanks so much to Holofly for sponsoring this video and thanks to you guys. Okay back to discovering Sicily and we're headed to explore the stunning town of Taormina. Welcome to the beautiful town of Taormina. We are about to explore and try to catch up with our new friends because they have found a delicacy, an Italian delicacy. We must simply must try. Before we get to the main event we're gonna have some arancini balls. This is our first time. and oh my god it's it's a small bag but it is heavy it is full it is yummy I mean. Yeah. one this one this is this one's eggplant this one's beef i'm going vegan Good evening. wow i want to bite into it before i finish your mouthful look at that ricey cheesy deep fried Of course we couldn't leave Taormina without trying the local cannoli, so we met up with our new van friends Stefan and Naomi. Wow, this is the side, just samples, small, big, in simple chocolate and pistachio, and these are all flavors of cannoli. The first one is the most popular, okay guys, ricotta one, and the special is two tests of your choice, so one hand, one hand. Ah! This is the pistachio. Ah, amazing. Grazie. Wow. Enjoy. Don't forget the coffe. Wow. What's this one? That's the ricotta. Buon appetito. Thanks for the recommendation. Mmm. Oh. Wow, the cream in the middle. So good. Like I imagined it to be like super sweet, but it's actually so nice. Yeah. What is, what was the Guinness? the biggest cannoli inside is a picture 464 kilograms wow 464 different okay when did you do that like in 1999 25 years ago wow seven days to prepare one hour to eat three thousand people 3,000? Wow, that's amazing. Mush. watch out for the cats Problem with uh not having an alternator you can use to charge your batteries is you have to rely on solar and that's not so difficult, it's not so easy, it's not so easy when uh oh god, no she messed that up. No! Why? It could be close to the balcony. I'm right under it. Don't worry I'll push you back up the hill. Go on. The problem with relying on solar is when it's cloudy, which it is at the moment quite a lot, we can't really sustain two people working full-time in the van so we have to get a little charge from our friend Stefan and Naomi. Go on push push up the hill come on okay It's okay. I'm going to roll in. Don't push too hard, okay? we need this guy for charging in a campsite and this adapter for houses see What a throw man. That was perfect. So suave as well, you know, like. Sensitivity in, all the amps in. We met Naomi and Stefan in the place where we originally broke down in our campervan. They were only there one night but they seemed like such nice people that we said let's catch up when we get to to Sicily and here we are catching up. Stepping in. You're like, oh, this is how you are. Yeah, I mean, yeah, I get it, but it's also like I'm not sure if you know if it's like in the States or... What? That's just showing off. Yeah I wasn't expecting that. I'm not. It is a pretty van though isn't it? And it's not humongous. I was trying to convince myself that this is the same size as the Kombi pretty much. It's not though, it's just not. This is Stefan by the way that I was telling you about. This is Evie's doggy lounge. Oh nice. Right so when she when she goes to bed at night or when we're traveling this is where she where she travels and it comes up to like a table. Hi! Chow Chica! Ciao Evie. Evie's from Greece, she's a rescue dog. I'm super curious about this. Two people working more or less full-time with quite a large dog. Oh that was quick. Left turn around. Usually Naomi works over there. And then we got like um little power points here and over there. Yeah so like work-wise it's actually pretty nice. How do you find the tinted windows? Is it, is it dark in here? Yeah. It is, I think, if it's like gloomy outside, you know, then it gets pretty dark. But we also have like this thing right now here. You have a skylight. No way. So that's better. But it's still gloomy. Yeah. Would you have, if you were like redesigning the van, would you have tinted windows? Yes. Because of? It's just that the privacy is nice. The privacy, yeah. Yeah, that's pretty cool. And I think the main problem, like with the darkness in the van, is more the bathroom. because like you've got this wall here right and i mean there's a window in there i just would not have like these walls here you know yeah like so you like the one in Eamonn and Beck's one where it pops up more like that yeah because like we never shower inside we don't shower so you have a shower inside but you don't shower inside yeah that's interesting Because we're thinking sure would be nice to have a shower inside because we have to shower outside all the time. I just don't like the the water in the van like it's especially like you would shower inside if it's like rainy or like bad weather outside but then you would really have the the you know the humidity in the van. Yeah this is what I was thinking. Yeah. But is that an extractor fan in the shower? It is not so it should be. Okay yeah I was thinking it'd be a good idea to have an extractor fan there. How do you feel about like this kind of entrance here like this half of this is taken up with the kitchen i guess it looks like it but it's so sleek you know and you have a doorway as well and it leads you straight inside it's okay will there be enough room for me to get my Zimmer frame through here that's we just need to leave but you could do you could do this this is like yeah yeah no this is this is great size of the kitchen as well two hobs just like us let's have a look Be noisy, come on. Yeah. You okay with that? Yeah. Do you think two hobs is enough? That's big enough for cooking? Or would you want more? For me it could be bigger. Like that helps. That's nice for chopping and stuff. I mean you would build it right? So I think There's definitely like, like the main design is not bad, but I think this, this area is just like wasted so much space, right? Like if you had that smaller, maybe just like half the size or like accessible that you can actually walk here, that'd be so much better. I think then you would really feel the six meters as well, because now, you know, I've been in I've been in... in vans, like friends of ours, they have like, I think it's five and a half. But it was like one of these caravans where the bed comes down over the driver's seats. Oh, right, okay. And it was so spacious, right? While here, if we both sit, you know, like if we don't move around, it's fine. But only one person can move. And I think if you have a van that size, it could just be like a little bit more, like space-wise, more efficiently designed. Wait till Naomi and Stefan get into our van and try and move around. I can't get over the fact that you can stand up in your van. That's sweet yeah, that's why we bought it. This is one of the parts I'm most looking forward to. I'm going to go to this... I'm not standing on this step. Do it! No, I'm not doing it. I'm starting it. But look at that, actual headroom. Not having to crouch, that would make such a difference. So your bed's back there, it's a permanent bed set up. That's pretty sweet. That means someone can be sleeping in late. I don't know what you're talking about. I'm here doing all the business. Cheeky. We should do a van swap, shouldn't we? Do a week with you guys in our van. A week? No. They'd be broken down the whole week. We'd just stay somewhere. Then we wouldn't know that we're broken down. We're actually broken down but we don't even know. Do you know what? Man with a plan. Go to a nice campsite and just stay there. I think that's what those vans were designed for. Oh my gosh. But all that stays, like... And you sleep width ways, and you're 186cm, so you're basically the same size as me, May. Yeah. Um, and you can sleep, but you have to have a short girlfriend. That's a requirement. That's an absolute requirement, yeah. Okay, what? Okay, so. Okay, so. Come on. 100 litres, it doesn't take up much space. And it's over there as well, like it's like all the way here. Wow. Over the wheel arch. Do you have gas bottles? And I reckon it's filled. Yeah, I'd probably do the under, underneath gas tank again. Save that space. We could take bikes. Would you put the bikes inside or outside? Because you guys put it outside, right? Yeah, but like we had... On a previous trip we were traveling with like nice bikes and they got really fucked up you know just by standing next to the water and like all these kind of things and now we just have cheap bikes from Decathlon you know and they're so rusty and everything but at least we don't need to worry about them yeah you know like we just bought them basically as long as we're traveling and when we're not traveling we're just going to donate them to someone. One of the things that would be nice about having like a more modern van is just It's just features like those that just... Work, you know, like everything I've had to do with the Kombi, I've had to make myself for that. Nice, you have the window open and yeah, no bugs. What about storage? How do you feel about storage in here? Um, storage is nice, so... You feel like you have enough? Yeah, yeah, yeah. It could be like maybe like a little bit more clothes storage, um, but I think it's... Quite neatly designed, put the skin here under the bench, that's good, and then we've got like the cooking stuff here. That's your entire kitchen and stuff, that's enough? Yeah. Wow. That's a lot. I mean they're really, they're really big drawers. These are interesting. Oh yeah, wow, yeah. You actually have space in there. So that's, with that we're happy. Yeah, nice. I would probably like, I would like to have like a deeper sink, I think that's such a cool thing. A deeper sink, yeah. You said that you're, you can shower outside from the sink, is it? Yeah, but like from like, this tap is kind of not extendable. I think that's something that we should have, definitely that. Perhaps a bigger sink because, although, you know what, there's the area around the sink compared to our van. This sink is already bigger than ours. Oh yeah. It's bigger. It's bigger and it's not as enclosed as our... Go on, stand in there and tell me how you cope with headroom. Oh, it's actually higher than I thought it would be, but it's definitely on the level where you... Yeah, this is it. Exactly. That's how I am all the time. I can see the turning, you know, you're getting good, like, you know. The trick is you gotta bend your knees, that's the way to deal with it. Also good for your quads, hey? Yeah. Good quad strength. My squatting game is strong. Yeah, I guess so, hey. But, like, lounge mode, in the, in the, you know, we can both fit in that really nicely. Lounge mode is on, hey? Yeah, yeah, lounge mode's good in this one. I feel a whine. Yeah, yeah. We sit sideways so Ben will have his back here, his legs out against the wood and then I'll be between his legs and that's how we watch TV. Lounge mode. Yeah, it basically has most of the same stuff, but just a lot more compact. It's a lot smaller really, isn't it? It is a lot smaller. But, I mean, it's going to be hard to match that, you know, that sentiment, that feeling, you know, that's going to be very, very hard. I mean, it's a very, very nice room. And it's actually way more spacious than I thought it would be. Really? Yeah. Are you just saying that for the camera? Is it rolling? Yeah. How many breakdowns have you had in the last two years on the road? We had... We didn't break down. Shut up. I love how you started off like, we had, we had, nah. I mean, we had, like, this thing is new, so that broke. It used to have, like, one of these little lever things here. And, what do you call it, the gearing or whatever. It was broken so it wouldn't close anymore. Oh you poor thing, you couldn't close your skylight. Yeah, it was awful, it was traumatizing you know. You know? Oh my god. It was like when we went like 120 it was like so loud. It's a normal car-ish, definitely bigger than the Kombi, definitely food for thought. Well thanks for showing us around. Yeah they're giving us some good ideas. This was very quick to swap around as well. Well. It works really well. Very easy to do. Do you have power steering? We have to leave because basically Tamara is feeding the cats all of our food and we're running out of food. There's your egg there, look. I'm gonna turn it over. Look, yellow inside. This is our first egg. Yeah guys. Nom nom nom nom nom nom nom. Oh yeah. Look at all of the fruit that's in this garden. We were just thinking we've never actually tried to cure olives before and we have a Sicilian olive tree here which is going to waste. Nobody's picking them and they're they're exactly ready right now. So you want to give it a go? Yeah let's get picking. Should we pick some olives? Yeah yeah I'm looking forward to it. Yeah you put the jar in like this and you grab a branch. There you go that one's ready. Oh landed right on the camera. Did you see how many fell down there? No. Mamma mia. Two jars of Sicilian olives. Now we have to brine them or cure them in brine for three weeks or something. So let's do that. Shall I do it? Yeah. Oh okay. Not too much. Oh, that was... He actually did it perfectly. That's so annoying. He's German. They're related. That's it. Up here. Do you want to sit in here? Right. It's all aboard the convoy. It's definitely soft. It's definitely soft. Can you feel us? Yeah. Do you know what I'm thinking? Right, next stop, food festival. See, but I've got an offer. Come on. Starving. Honestly, the air just smells of food. I'm in heaven. Yeah. My nose led me to this. Prego, signora. Calamari fritti. Tradizionale. Ah, fishy, fishy cheese, who would have thought that goes together. Grazie! Prego, buon appetito! I'm going to have to free you, huh? This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen, ice cream, an ice cream sandwich, literally a sandwich, very traditional from here apparently. Weird, but good. Go for it girl. Wow. It's not supposed to work but it works. Friends, we're just scouting for a place to park tonight that is going to have some nice Hard ground because there's a lot of soft sand around here but we are right by the sea which is nice except yeah except it stinks the thing that isn't nice is everything you can see in the background all the rubbish I mean I'm not moaning I just know that a lot of the places that I share on these videos are beautiful and stunning and I'm like wow look at the amazing sea view we have in our van but I do want to share the reality of van life with you as well for those of you that are thinking about doing this kind of thing. Sicily's got a lot of rubbish everywhere a lot of rubbish everywhere it's not good what the actual crap this is literally a dump And it doesn't stop in the trees, it's along the beaches too. Less so, but it's there. And it's such a shame, it's such a beautiful part of Italy as well. Yeah, a lot of Italy's actually got quite a bit of rubbish. Sicily, the most we've seen so far. It's not the other campers. No, if anything, they tend to leave it cleaner than when they arrive. Yes, a lot of campers will pick up rubbish like we do at certain camps, but where would you start? You need a truck to come and clean up this. Not bitching, just sharing the reality. Let's try this one. The problem is it's not exactly level but I have an assistant here looking for it. Found one We don't carry level ramps with us, a lot of van lifers do, but we just don't have the space for those big bulky plastic things even though they're not heavy. We use rocks and almost always we can find something to improve the situation. Listen, this is our teamwork. I'm the rock finder and the leveller and you are the one that gets on to them. Paramind's so good. Take that, that's within spec. Can't feel one degree, one and a half degrees, that's fine. 0.9. 0.9 up, that's pretty good right? Yeah we'll take that. Oh wow, what a beautiful morning. Swim? Swim's a good idea isn't it? Yeah, I'm not awake yet so I don't think it'll be good. We have neighbours down the road so we're gonna go walk down the road. This is the road by the way. Someone's been driving here. we're gonna go find them go for a swim so ready we found billy the van and stefan and naomi you can just about not see her which is exactly how she likes it what a spot time for swimming hi hi hi time for a swim so ready for this sardinian water it is so clear it is so nice and refreshing and not too cold it's not cold i was just telling them how warm it was Hopefully today we'll get our part, it's predicted that it's in the post office so we're going to go and get it right after this mark. Hopefully this is the end of our alternator problems, it's not been never-ending this, we haven't been able to charge our battery for weeks, it's been a real problem. We have it! The end of all of our problems. Honestly this guy has been our saviour, he has been so quick and so helpful. You're talking about me right? Of course. You look so beautiful today, my gosh. Is it the sea swim? Maybe. We're not really very level. No and the rock selection isn't great either but we do know someone who's got space in the back of their van. He's parked pretty level. Oh look, look what he's holding. Who did you just zap? Did she just zap herself? She just zapped herself. We bought them a mozzie racket. You should have given me some safety instructions. Maybe. Stefan! This is our knight in shining armour. Help! Help! Get the ramps. I still can't believe that you guys have space to carry this in your van. Well, I would do whatever you want now for you guys because you've got us a mosquito killer. Let's kill mosquitoes together. where we can set like around the fire later and like you know like i look forward to that can we trust naomi with that no absolutely not oh god oh she got him do you agree i don't know i've never used these things before after like 10 years of doing van life first time on proper ramps i see your level and i raise you what's this this is digital that's where it's a digital bubble It never breaks. Sturdy. Doesn't need batteries. Error. What do you mean error? Also it's magnetic. It went up. It was almost 0.1. We'll take it. That's good. I can sleep with that. Princess. Yeah, princess. Pretty good view to be sorting this problem out. The parts we've been sent are really not very good. As far as places to do mechanical work. This one is up there. Awful. Yeah baby, we've got it. See how that's moving? It's wet, the metal's weak and shite. The new one's basically the same. Sheep shitty path. More rings. Good. And a nut. The manual says it should deflect about one centimetre. It seems about right. We're good baby. Thank you. Oh wow, holding water in here. Very lucky. I don't think it's a neutral. Can you hit the clutch please? there we go okay well done clear prop i think that that's it i think that should be us really really how does it look because i was that play yeah well it's it's good for now watch this space but our friends are vegetarians so we are making veggie veggie special Oh, for sure. It drives me crazy. It looks so pretty. hopefully they're marinated probably yeah chicken wait wait what's it called McFlaherty. It's definitely not, it's not look meat, that's for sure. This is it. Yo, look at the horses. I think this has probably been our best span life. spot do you think yeah yeah we've got the company we had the fire last night we had dinner outside this spot on the east coast was one of those places we could have happily stayed for months however we're keen to see what Sicily has in store for us so we're packing up and heading to the west coast of Sicily which somehow might just be our last stop on this road trip to Asia But that is a story for next time. Thanks for giving this video a thumbs up. The Kombi Life channel is only possible with your support. If you'd like to get access to behind-the-scenes vids, real-time updates, and hundreds of exclusive unlisted posts, please join the Kombi Crew community on Patreon or YouTube channel members. It's the best way to keep the Kombi Life videos rolling.