We caught up with photographer, Land Rover enthusiast and all round adventurer Paula Beaumont to hear about her experience overlanding in Spain. With a TentBox on her roof and her trusty Land Rover 90 to get her there, she set off for northern Spain with her best friend Susan.
Exploring Spain with a Roof Top Tent
Paula, Susan and Norton – her Land Rover – began their journey in the North of Spain near the Picos de Europa National Park. Overlanding in Spain had always been something they were keen to do, and as they live far apart (Susan lives in the Netherlands) they thought it would be fun to explore somewhere a bit different for them both. Having travelled through Northern Spain and Portugal the year before, they loved the area and wanted to take time to really explore it.
Paula explained, “We love overlanding and have been on loads of adventures together before. We wanted to explore the mountainous parts of Northern Spain because the scenery is just so beautiful. We began our journey up near the National Park and then headed West to the coast, approaching the start of the Pilgrims Trail. Susan and I both drive Land Rover 90s, so we like to drive off tarmac as much as possible.”
Challenges Of Overlanding
“Leaving the Picos Europa we had a few issues. I drove into a pothole and ended up with a flat tyre which meant we needed to be picked up by a recovery vehicle. Funnily enough the guy who towed us back to the garage was an off roader too! A lot of routes in the area travelled through a national park and couldn’t be driven legally. Luckily, due to his local knowledge he was able to direct us to a route we would love up a mountain we were allowed to drive. It was such a happy coincidence that we met him, as he gave us insider knowledge on the best paths to take by car. We drew out a map with his help and we found the local’s route up into the mountains.”
It didn’t stop there though. On the way up the mountain the route started getting really steep, leaving both girls wondering if this was the right way after all. They did what every good traveller does – asked the locals.
“We stopped in this tiny village halfway up the mountain and asked an elderly man which way to go. He sounded like he’d taken the path himself a fair few times and he showed us the route. When we got to the top, the 360 view was incredible. We started looking for a camping spot for the night when a farmer arrived to chat to us. He was so shocked to see us, but he was very friendly and gave us permission to camp anywhere in the area.”
Free To Roam
When we asked Paula what made this trip so special, she explained that the trip was unique because of the way they set up camp this time around.
“This trip was so different, we had so much more freedom. With the TentBox it only took us 2 minutes to set up camp as opposed to an hour or so – I literally opened the box and it was done.”
We asked her what made TentBox a good choice and she explained, “the views we got were amazing because we were off the floor. I wanted something robust, that would hold its own in stormy weather and Tentbox did. Even in 45mph winds, the box didn’t move at all. There was no billowing wind that keeps you up all night like with a normal tent, because the cover was hard. What made it so much better was the freedom it gave me to camp anywhere – I didn’t have to look for a perfect spot for setting up a ground tent. It didn’t matter if it was rocky, or bushy I was still able to set up”.
Check out more amazing pictures of Paula’s journey over on her website. And if you’re looking for a tent that will make your camping experience a little different, then take a look at TentBox – a roof top tent created with adventure in mind.
