In Pursuit of Spring

In Pursuit of Spring - Field Note

A journey (now complete) on my camper-van-camino from the Scottish Highlands to Cornwall. Each day, I’ll write a short post and produce a watercolour drawn from the day’s experiences.

by Andy Marshall

February 20, 2026 ∙ 2 min read

Camper-van-camino Edition

FIELD NOTE

After spending the evening writing up my digest post and finishing the day’s watercolour, I have a fitful sleep. In the middle of the night I wake convinced that my winter duvet has slipped off me. It is excruciatingly cold. I look down into the darkness of the van - I am still covered.

I switch on the diesel heater. After a few minutes the screen flashes an error code. I look it up. The diesel has thickened in the cold and is blocking the fuel lines.

It is one of the coldest mornings I have had in the van. It feels like an effort simply to get up and get moving - to wind in the electric hook-up, clear the windscreen, and negotiate the snow-covered roads. But gradually it gets done. The engine settles and the glass clears. Then, slowly, the day begins to show itself in the rising sun.

I’m hoping upon hope to escape the jaws of winter and find something of spring as I travel towards Cornwall.