Hi! We're Tania and Adam and this is our home, Jitters.
2020 was nothing like what we had imagined,
but we're grateful to have been kept safe and well
inside these four tiny walls.
Traveling through Europe for the past 16 months,
we've lived here,
here,
and here, in a tiny home on wheels.
And after a very cold, expensive,
but amazing week in Switzerland,
we've crossed over into Italy
to swap snowy mountain tops for the rolling hills of Tuscany.
Our first stop in Italy was on a small farm
we found on Park4Night.
We plugged JIts into charge
and managed to get on with some work.
The farm even had a few assistants to help with the edit.
After a few productive days hanging out with the pigs,
we drove south to the province of La Spezia.
We arrived to a beautiful sunset in the mountains
and got an early night to make the most of the following day.
We spent the day exploring the beautiful seaside towns
that make up Cinque Terre
Cinque Terre, meaning five lands,
is comprised of five, small colorful towns perched on cliffs,
all with their own unique character.
[Adam]: It's so cool. It's so Italian. It's exactly what you picture.
It's like just this like something from a novel.
[Tania]: Yeah, it's absolutely gorgeous.
After exploring all five towns,
we walked back from Vernassa to Monterosso.
A beautiful, scenic walk and a perfect way to end the day.
[Tania]: So, we're just about halfway through a hike
between two villages.
And Adam and I were just saying,
how each of the villages,
although they're all like really colorful
and hung on the cliff tops, they are all quite unique.
[Adam]: Yeah
[Tania]: in of it themselves.
and.. it's just really nice being by the sea again
because it seems like we've been next to lakes the entire time
but uh..
[Adam]: Yeah, we haven't been by the sea since we were in Portugal.
[Tania]: Yeah, exactly.
[Adam]: Wow, it's incredible.
[Tania]: Yeah, so absolutely beautiful here. Here you go!
[Adam]: You can actually see two of the villages behind us there.
[Tania]: Oh. Hold on.
[Adam]: Just about.
[Adam]: See kind of. One there poking out and then one a couple of ridges down poking out too.
[Tania]: Yeah
[Adam]: So funny that Jits is doing so many different types of roads
like big mountain roads, little thin Italian roads.
[Tania]: The next day we took our tiny home on wheels
further south, towards Tuscany.
[Tania] It's quite.. classic Italy, waking up next to vineyards.
Tuscany was somewhere we've both been really excited to visit.
Ever since we started our trip,
we planned to be here for a lot of the Summer.
But, due to COVID, we were on lockdown in Portugal,
which put us behind schedule.
[Adam]: So we have made it to Tuscany
and we are in the most Tuscany park up that you can imagine.
[Adam]: Look, we just walk out of a van and there.
That's, that's just what it is. It's beautiful.
[Tania]: Amazing, so Italian.
[Adam]: Yeah, couldn't have asked for anything more Tuscanarian.
Vineyards and...
[Tania]: Jits!
[Adam]: Jits!
[Adam]: Also, it's worth noting that we are in our summer clothes.
It's so warm here.
We were worried that that was it.
We were going south, hoping to get somewhere warmer from Switzerland.
Um.. but I wasn't sure.
I thought maybe we'd missed the boat
and that was just cold now everywhere,
but the weather here is
[Tania and Adam]: perfect.
[Adam]: I'm so happy.
[Tania]: And it's just so good to be able to ditch the winter jackets,
and the hot water bottles.
[Adam]: Yeah! T-shirt and shorts!
[Tania]: Yeah, yeah. And we just slept so well last night.
It was just perfect temperature, so we're very fortunate
and we're so grateful to be here in sunny Italia.
[Adam]: Yeah, very happy and there they are behind Tania there.
The rolling hills of Tuscany.
[Tania]: While parked up at this picturesque spot,
we met Erik and Lisa, a lovely Dutch couple living in their van, Fred.
At this point, COVID cases were spiking across Europe again,
so during these uncertain times,
it was really nice to have company.
We ended up spending nearly two weeks together.
[Tania]: There you go, well done.
[Erik]: Is this happy? Is this happy?
[Adam]: So we've just pulled into an olive grove in our little home
and the novelty of those kinds of things, just do not wear off.
It's so cool. Look at it. Look at where we are.
[Tania]: It's so cute. Look! Right next to the olives!
And we've got Fred just over here
[Adam]: But yeah, it's just so nice. It's such a peaceful spot.
It's funny, because it feels... [gun noise]..
peaceful, except for the guns.
[Tania]: We all spent a couple of nights at this beautiful park up
nestled behind olive trees.
The olive grove seemed to go on forever
the farmers were harvesting olives
and we enjoyed the most vivid sunset we had seen in a long time.
[Tania]: We are up very early this morning because
we are on our way to the thermal baths!
Just a short 10-minute drive with the thermal baths of Saturnia.
We got up at sunrise on a crisp morning to beat the crowds.
Springs of sulfuric waters
cascade around the abandoned mill,
forming large ponds with a temperature of 37.5 degrees Celsius.
It's warm in the water, but on a cold November day,
you feel the difference when you get out.
[Tania]: That night, we found a park up right next to the still waters of Lago di Bolsena.
[Erik]: I said, "who's in the water first?"
[Tania]: Race you! Ahhh!
Jits and her boyfriend, Fred
and yeah, there we go.
[Adam]: More of a fling.
[Tania]: Yeah, they're.. yeah.
[Adam]: They're more of a romance.
[Tania]: They're they're just seeing each other.
[Erik]: Just a holiday romance.
[Tania]: Awwww!
[Adam]: For now, we'll go have another holiday later.
[Erik]: One, two, three, four. [Adam]: Oh ‘Parklane’.
[Lisa]: Yes! Woohoo! Lucky me!
[Adam]: With the full set don't forget
[Lisa]: 70!
[Everyone]: Woah!
[Erik]: Isn't that 'Mayfair'?
[Lisa]: No, 'Mayfair' is 100.
[Erik]: Oh Sh**
[Adam]: I remember that. I remember you had to pay 100 loads of times.
[Erik]: Yep
[Adam]: and then I bought houses.
[Erik]: Lisa, can I offer you a deal?
[Lisa]: What is it then?
[Tania]: Good morning!
[Lisa]: Good morning! Oh, look how beautiful this is.
[Tania]: It's so good.
[Lisa]: Wow!
[Tania]: Today was our last day together.
Unfortunately because of the new spike in COVID cases,
multiple countries across Europe
were going into a second lockdown.
This time, we felt as though the sensible thing for us to do
was to make our way back to the U.K.
[Erik]: Adam
[Lisa]: Yeah, let's say goodbye saying goodbye.
[Tania]: Saying goodbye was really hard.
Parting ways with Eric and Lisa symbolised the premature end of our trip.
[Lisa]: I'll miss you!
[Adam]: Be safe. Look after yourselves.
[Lisa]: Bye!
[Tania]: I had gotten so attached to the simple and adventurous
life in Jits and the thought of change got to me.
[Adam]: Awwww
[Adam]: My love.
[Tania]: We are currently driving through the Dolomites
[Adam]: And not the way we originally wanted to.
[Tania]: Not how we envisioned it at all.
We were driving straight through...
[Both]: on the motorway. [Adam]: Yeah.
[Adam]: So, we have woken up in a locked down Italy.
Um..and we are going to be heading over the border
through Austria to Germany.
Uh or at least that's the plan. Four and a half hour drive.
Um.. which probably means
like five and a half hours in Jits to be honest.
um...and yeah, it's weird that we're woken up in a lockdown situation again.
I mean we knew we were going to, but it still feels weird.
[Tania]: The roads were quiet and the drive was long.
We began to reflect on the year we'd had.
We'd been so lucky to see the places we saw,
from the mountains to the sea.
To drive the roads we had driven
through rugged Ireland and dusty Spain
and to meet the people we had met.
Joao and family, who kept us safe through a global pandemic.
Bek, who demonstrated the value of local knowledge
and the community we built online.
Knowing that when we traveled,
we were bringing you all along with us
and picking up more virtual hitchhikers along the way.
After making our way back to the U.K., safe and sound,
we self-isolated before taking Jits on a mini trip to Dartmoor with Wills, Adam's family dog.
And for those of you who may have wondered,
we did end up reuniting with Chesca, Ben, and River.
Just not in warm, sunny Italy as planned.
[Adam]: Fast forward and it is now one month
after we got back from Europe into the U.K.
We are on Dartmoor, which is in Devon
and we've just been doing a little weekend away
because other than that,
we've just been locking ourselves down in...houses. haha!
[Tania]: Yeah, exactly!
[Adam]: 2020 is now coming towards an end
[Tania]: We're making plans for 2021
[Adam]: Yeah we're making plans for 2021.
We're not exactly sure what they are
because we've got lots of factors to take into account
and in reverse order that is,
Jits' MOT...Brexit, and the global situation of COVID.
So, we definitely want to do some traveling
we really are looking into the best options for us.
We want to do as much time in Jits as we can, but we...yeah.
So there's a lot. There's a lot to consider.
Um, but we're very excited um.. we've just got to work out what the best plan is.
[Tania]: Yeah, so at the moment, our plan is to stay in the UK for a few months.
We're gonna work. We're going to save, and we're going to plan for 2021.
And yeah, we hope that you guys will join us
and we will continue to put films out there.
[Adam]: Yeah, and..
[Tania]: Any of the trips that we do here in the UK,
[Adam]: Yeah we'll definitely be doing a few little UK trips,
and also on Instagram will be on more regular updates as always.
[Tania]: Yeah, so we just wanted to say Happy Holidays, Happy New Year, and also..
[Adam]: Stay safe.
[Tania]: Stay safe.
[Adam]: Crazy year!
[Tania]: Also, what I was saying to Adam,
we keep talking about how 2020 was a year like no other.
No one expected what was to come,
and we feel so grateful to have had the year that we did.
[Adam]: Yeah
[Tania]: The traveling that we did. The places that we did.
[Adam]: It's been incredible to be able to come out of 2020
and be able to look back at it and go, “Wow, we have some really good times."
That is a privilege because a lot of people have not had the privilege to be able to say that about 2020.
[Tania]: Yeah we were kept safe in Jits
and we also met some incredible people like
Joao and family that kept us safe during the lockdown,
and none of it, we take for granted
[Adam]: Yeah
[Tania]: ..and also the fact that we've grown our community
and I think there's now 25,000 of you subscribed to our channel
and and that is incredible to us, um so we just wanted to say a big big thank you to everyone.
[Adam]: Thank you so much.
[Tania]: and everyone that takes the time to comment, to write to us, email, or send us a message.
[Adam]: It's the reason we keep making films.
[Tania]: Yeah, it really is and uh it makes me really emotional to think about it. I think it's just really, really special.
And Adam and I talk about this all the time.
We are really, really grateful, so um we just want to send you all our love.
Thank you and we will see you in the new year.
[Adam]: See you in 2021
[Tania]: Thank you all so much for traveling with us in 2020.
We hope you'll join us for 2021.
[Tania}: Do you want to tell everyone what you just saw?
[Adam]: Yeah, so I just walked around the corner down there,
and there's this little grass bank
and I saw lots of little mice running up.
I thought I saw mice. I think it's mice that were running up.
I was like, "Oh that's cute. There's a little mice out here."
But, I was like, we gotta be careful the mice don't get into JIts again because we've had that happen a few times.
And then I saw this snake.
A massive snake, just slivering off around the corner through the grass
and it's the first time I've ever seen a snake in the wild like that before.
It was probably about that long and I don't know, maybe that thick.
It wasn't hugely thick, but it was like a big, big snake
and it's like not the kind of snake you want to hide under the van.
Yeah, exactly right. I don't want the snake to just surprise you.
I'm sure it's not venomous or anything, but still.
It's like ugh snake, just don't like snakes. People are just programmed not to like snakes I think.
[Tania]: Yeah, we like snakes, but we don't like snakes.
[Adam]: Yeah, I like them when they're a safe distance.
It's cool to see it, but I don't want it to surprise me.