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whereistheworld

🇨🇦🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Driving around the world
🚙 Gimli our self-built #defender110
🌍92 Countries, 87 with kids, 47 with Gimli 🚙
📍🚙 in 🇹🇷

Everyone told us Belarus was the most dangerous co Everyone told us Belarus was the most dangerous country in Europe. They were wrong. 🇧🇾
Here’s what actually happened to us there. 👇

We’d driven every country in Europe with our kids. Belarus was the one everyone warned us about. The one people seriously questioned most when we said we were going.

And honestly? It was one of the most surprising countries we visited — for all the right reasons.

The border crossing to enter was long. Official. Serious looking guards, lots of checks, lots of bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy. Exactly what you’d expect. But from the moment we were through, the people were warm, curious and genuinely happy to see a foreign family rolling through in a Defender.

Brest Fortress was like nothing we’d seen — monumental, Soviet, heavy with history. 

The streets were clean and felt incredibly safe. We loved all the statues on the sidewalks. And the people were genuinely friendly, smiling, saying hello, and stopping to chat (if they spoke English),

And the market was fantastic. The girls especially enjoyed the fresh honeycomb and dancing in the snow.

And then we tried to leave. 🚧

The Polish border was only accepting Belarusian and EU citizens. As Canadians, we knew there was a chance they might not let us through but we thought we’d risk it. 

We were turned back.

So there we were — back at the Belarusian border, re-entering a country we’d just left, with stressed kids in the back, no plan, and less than 24 hrs left on our Visa.

The border guards recognised us. And instead of cold indifference, they were genuinely kind. Apologetic, even. “This happens often,” one told us. “We’re sorry. But you are welcome in our country.”

We spent one more unplanned day driving through Belarus to Lithuania, and then crossed into Poland without a problem.

But that moment at the border stayed with us. A country with one of the worst reputations in Europe, and the people made us feel more welcome than almost anywhere else we’ve been.

Dangerous? We never felt safer. 🌍

Save this if you’re planning an Eastern Europe overland trip — Belarus deserves to be on your list.

#belarus #overlandlife #fami
We’ve driven through every country in Europe with We’ve driven through every country in Europe with our kids. 🌍

These are the ones that didn’t live up to the hype — and before you come for us in the comments, hear us out. 👇

🇫🇷 France — We wanted to love overlanding here. We really did. But between the toll roads bleeding us dry and wild camping being treated like a criminal offence, France consistently cost us more stress than it was worth. Beautiful? Yes. Worth it in an overland rig? Debatable.

🇮🇸 Iceland — The photos are real. The crowds are realer. Every “hidden” waterfall has a coach park, a gift shop and 300 people in matching puffer jackets. We felt like we were touring a theme park, not overlanding. (Unless you get into the highlands, and then it’s absolutely worth the expensive, 3-day ferry!)

🇨🇭Switzerland — Genuinely the most beautiful country we drove through. Also also the most frustrating. Every track, every forest road, every path that looks like adventure on the map? Private. The whole country feels like it was designed to be looked at, not explored. You’ll spend more time finding somewhere legal to sleep than actually enjoying it. And to top it all off, it’s SO expensive!

🇳🇱 Netherlands — Lovely people. Terrible overlanding. Flat, densely managed, almost zero wild camping, and every green space feels like it was designed by a committee. Not built for the way we travel.

🇮🇹 Italy — Hear us out. Italy is incredible and we adore it. But overlanding there (in the South)? The ZTL zones get expensive if you have EU plates, the tourists on the roads were genuinely dangerous, and finding anywhere to sleep legally felt like a part-time job. Come in shoulder season, stick to the North, or don’t come at all.

We know this is going to be controversial and honestly, that’s the point. 😅

Drop your most overrated European country below — we have a feeling we’re not alone on some of these. 👇

Save this if you’re planning a Europe trip and want the honest version, not the highlight reel.

#overlanding #overlandingeurope #familytravel #unpopularopinion #europetravel
You’ve been in Europe and now you’re in Türkiye 🇹🇷 You’ve been in Europe and now you’re in Türkiye 🇹🇷 

Do you know why she’s so excited?!

#vanlifeeurope #europetravel #waterbottles
I’ve been diagnosed with a condition, IWTDE I Wan I’ve been diagnosed with a condition, IWTDE

I Want To Drive Everywhere

What about you?

#landroverdefender #overlandlife #adventuredriven
Follow on Instagram

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whereistheworld

🇨🇦🧑‍🧑‍🧒‍🧒 Driving around the world
🚙 Gimli our self-built #defender110
🌍92 Countries, 87 with kids, 47 with Gimli 🚙
📍🚙 in 🇹🇷

Everyone told us Belarus was the most dangerous co Everyone told us Belarus was the most dangerous country in Europe. They were wrong. 🇧🇾
Here’s what actually happened to us there. 👇

We’d driven every country in Europe with our kids. Belarus was the one everyone warned us about. The one people seriously questioned most when we said we were going.

And honestly? It was one of the most surprising countries we visited — for all the right reasons.

The border crossing to enter was long. Official. Serious looking guards, lots of checks, lots of bureaucracy for the sake of bureaucracy. Exactly what you’d expect. But from the moment we were through, the people were warm, curious and genuinely happy to see a foreign family rolling through in a Defender.

Brest Fortress was like nothing we’d seen — monumental, Soviet, heavy with history. 

The streets were clean and felt incredibly safe. We loved all the statues on the sidewalks. And the people were genuinely friendly, smiling, saying hello, and stopping to chat (if they spoke English),

And the market was fantastic. The girls especially enjoyed the fresh honeycomb and dancing in the snow.

And then we tried to leave. 🚧

The Polish border was only accepting Belarusian and EU citizens. As Canadians, we knew there was a chance they might not let us through but we thought we’d risk it. 

We were turned back.

So there we were — back at the Belarusian border, re-entering a country we’d just left, with stressed kids in the back, no plan, and less than 24 hrs left on our Visa.

The border guards recognised us. And instead of cold indifference, they were genuinely kind. Apologetic, even. “This happens often,” one told us. “We’re sorry. But you are welcome in our country.”

We spent one more unplanned day driving through Belarus to Lithuania, and then crossed into Poland without a problem.

But that moment at the border stayed with us. A country with one of the worst reputations in Europe, and the people made us feel more welcome than almost anywhere else we’ve been.

Dangerous? We never felt safer. 🌍

Save this if you’re planning an Eastern Europe overland trip — Belarus deserves to be on your list.

#belarus #overlandlife #fami
We’ve driven through every country in Europe with We’ve driven through every country in Europe with our kids. 🌍

These are the ones that didn’t live up to the hype — and before you come for us in the comments, hear us out. 👇

🇫🇷 France — We wanted to love overlanding here. We really did. But between the toll roads bleeding us dry and wild camping being treated like a criminal offence, France consistently cost us more stress than it was worth. Beautiful? Yes. Worth it in an overland rig? Debatable.

🇮🇸 Iceland — The photos are real. The crowds are realer. Every “hidden” waterfall has a coach park, a gift shop and 300 people in matching puffer jackets. We felt like we were touring a theme park, not overlanding. (Unless you get into the highlands, and then it’s absolutely worth the expensive, 3-day ferry!)

🇨🇭Switzerland — Genuinely the most beautiful country we drove through. Also also the most frustrating. Every track, every forest road, every path that looks like adventure on the map? Private. The whole country feels like it was designed to be looked at, not explored. You’ll spend more time finding somewhere legal to sleep than actually enjoying it. And to top it all off, it’s SO expensive!

🇳🇱 Netherlands — Lovely people. Terrible overlanding. Flat, densely managed, almost zero wild camping, and every green space feels like it was designed by a committee. Not built for the way we travel.

🇮🇹 Italy — Hear us out. Italy is incredible and we adore it. But overlanding there (in the South)? The ZTL zones get expensive if you have EU plates, the tourists on the roads were genuinely dangerous, and finding anywhere to sleep legally felt like a part-time job. Come in shoulder season, stick to the North, or don’t come at all.

We know this is going to be controversial and honestly, that’s the point. 😅

Drop your most overrated European country below — we have a feeling we’re not alone on some of these. 👇

Save this if you’re planning a Europe trip and want the honest version, not the highlight reel.

#overlanding #overlandingeurope #familytravel #unpopularopinion #europetravel
You’ve been in Europe and now you’re in Türkiye 🇹🇷 You’ve been in Europe and now you’re in Türkiye 🇹🇷 

Do you know why she’s so excited?!

#vanlifeeurope #europetravel #waterbottles
I’ve been diagnosed with a condition, IWTDE I Wan I’ve been diagnosed with a condition, IWTDE

I Want To Drive Everywhere

What about you?

#landroverdefender #overlandlife #adventuredriven
Follow on Instagram

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