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ArboursAbroad We’re Jason and Heather, a travel couple on a mission to live life differently. Join us for stories and inspiration from life on the road.

Expect to discover travel guides, vanlife tips, and photography insights, plus adventures with our cat Georgie!

24/03/2026

One Day in Aachen, Germany

We’ve visited Aachen on two different occasions, both for only a day each.

Naturally, we found ourselves getting lost beneath the towering Aachen Cathedral… but the good news is, that’s where Aachen comes to life.

Being a college town, Aachen is the perfect place to grab cheap eats from AKL Lebanese Restaurant, local beers from Rewe City, and sit on the steps on the backside of the Town Hall to enjoy people, the cathedral, and the lively city.

We stayed at two different locations in Aachen, the first place was at A&O Hostel, which is great if you’re on a super budget.. and the second at B & B Hotel Aachen — which we really enjoyed.

Both places are near the train station and just outside the main city center — which makes for a great walk in and out of town finding local coffee shops and yummy grab and go food.

Questions about Aachen, Germany — drop them below & be sure to head to ArboursAbroad . com for a more in depth guide!

19/03/2026

Follow Arbours Abroad for more day trip itineraries!

We had the most dreamy day trip to Lake Bled from Ljubljana, starting before the sun came up and getting back to the city after the sun went down.

Honestly, the day was so perfect in every way that we wanted to share our exact itinerary so you can have the perfect Lake Bled day too 👇

PREPARING FOR LAKE BLED (DAY BEFORE)

🎫 Purchase your bus ticket
— Buying online is more expensive
— Cash only at the station (€13.10 for an open return ticket)

🫒 Grab picnic goodies from Lidl
— Grocery store near the bus station with cheap local food

DAY TRIP TO LAKE BLED (DAY OF)

🚌 Catch the bus before sunrise
💦 Get off at Bled Station and head straight to the lake
🥾 Walk clockwise around the lake to Osojnica Viewpoint
🧺 Picnic at the top, then head down to the boardwalk
— It gets busy later in the day, so earlier is better

☕️ Coffee at Lasko Pivo Cafe Bar
🏰 Continue around the lake to Bled Castle
🥾 Hike up to Bled Castle
— Pay to go inside or just enjoy the views from outside

🍝 Head back toward the start and grab dinner at Spica
🌅 Finish the day with your favorite sunset view, then bus back to Ljubljana

We added more details, info, and coordinates on ArboursAbroad.com

Have questions? Drop them below 👇

17/03/2026

One bag.
No going back to resupply.

We tried to get through a full day in Brussels carrying only what we had on us…

And yeah—
we actually made it.

A versatile everyday carry setup changes more than you think.

Would you try it?


16/03/2026

From dating in high school to traveling to 40+ countries together… we’re Heather and Jason (well, Jay).

Back in our early days of dating, we thought life in our 30s would look pretty traditional. Jay would be a physical therapist, Heather would have a decade of teaching under her belt, and we’d probably have a couple little mini-mes running around.

Vanlife wasn’t even on our radar.

That dream didn’t show up until we were backpacking through South America and kept seeing families traveling in campervans. The lightbulb went off… that’s how we’d travel with kids.

But life has a funny way of rewriting plans.

Years later we realized kids weren’t in our cards — and they still aren’t. But vanlife definitely is.

Our first van was Izzy, who we sold when we moved back to the U.S. from Scotland. Then came W***y, the van we bought in Oregon and still call home today.

And now there’s Pierre… our European campervan.

Pierre, however, has a bit of a temper. He’s broken down four times in the year we’ve owned him, and we still haven’t taken him on a single road trip.

Right now he’s sitting at the garage, and we honestly don’t know if our dream of having a van in the U.S. and a van in Europe will end in heartbreak… or the adventure we imagined.

Follow along at for more of the travel side and for the vanlife side.

Both encouraging you to Live. Life. Differently.

And we’re curious… where in our timeline did you find us?

14/03/2026

Determined to live a life of “glad we did” instead of “wish we had”.

A little late to the game, but 2016 was too good to not jump on this trend. It was the year we moved to Scotland for Jay...
27/01/2026

A little late to the game, but 2016 was too good to not jump on this trend.

It was the year we moved to Scotland for Jay to start physio school.

It was also the year we bought our first van, bringing with it some incredible adventures all over Scotland and beyond.

As we work through this first month of 2026, we’re hopeful our new van in Europe will bring on adventures like our first one did.

Exploring new places, creating new memories, and being able to move about with decisions we make together, not with ones other people have made for us.

Now… to get the van back from the mechanic 🤞🤞🤞

26/01/2026

Did you know, in Belgium there’s a different beer glass for every beer.

You don’t drink beers out of cans or bottles, instead you pour it into a beer glass (preferably the one made for that beer) and enjoy it that way.

While we wait for the van to be done in the shop, we’re thrifting in hopes of coming across our favorite glasses — mini La Chouffe glasses!

25/01/2026

Brake cleaner fluid to the rescue! Oh, and did you catch the clip showing the literal air bubbles in the gas line??

Yesterday, we pushed the van from storage to our friend’s house.

Today, we sprayed the air intake with brake cleaner fluid and bam 💥 the van started — and drove like a champ all the way to the garage!

Pierre (our van) will be living at the garage until he’s up and running — without brake cleaner fluid to start it 🤪.

The van is getting looked at tomorrow — so more to come! But the air in the fuel line is a definite problem, so we know that’s where the mechanics are going to start!

Diesel owners… any thoughts on what could be the problem (especially given this van sat at the car lot and then in storage for 9 months).

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