Roula (00:01)
Okay, exciting because in this episode I might not have anything to say, it's all gonna be yours.

Rosie (00:09)
God.

Roula (00:22)
So my question for you, is there a van life etiquette?

Rosie (00:29)
You love your etiquette. I think the first thing that came to mind when you asked that, right, if you go to ⁓ a caravan, well not a caravan park, but if you go somewhere to park up, like it might be somewhere in nature, a beautiful block of land or a paddock or something like that. Don't you dare park next to me. Don't you dare. If there is room elsewhere, you go park somewhere else.

Why are you parking next to me? I'm in nature because I want my own space and you're going to two metres less right next to me when you could have gone on the, hundreds of metres away.

Roula (01:11)
What if the spot you chose is so gorgeous?

Rosie (01:15)
Well, it's mine. Find your own.

Roula (01:19)
But this is like an unspoken rule. Is it broken?

Rosie (01:23)
⁓ everyone breaks the rule. Yes, all the time. Nobody

does this, like, you got a good point though. If it is a good spot, then of course everyone's going to want to be there, but like, come on. It pisses me off. It's happened before. I think one of the reasons why people might do it is for safety. Maybe they don't feel safe by themselves, but I like my personal space.

Roula (01:48)
Hmm.

Rosie (01:51)
bugger off and it's one of the reasons I tend not to stay in caravan parks because you're packed in like sardines there's no personal space.

Roula (01:59)
So is it, let's say someone parked, whether you like it or not, they're there. Is it that every time you get out of your caravan and they're outside, you have to say hi and have a small talk? How does this work?

Rosie (02:04)
⁓ huh.

Yeah,

I'm not good at that. I just don't like to look at people. I just want to go get on with it. But yes, the etiquette when you're living on the road, you say g'day, you have a chat. Where are you from? Where are you going? How are you? How's the weather? Where do you recommend we go? It's definitely a thing.

and I never know how to answer these questions.

Roula (02:38)
Okay, so this can

Mm.

If it was for you, wouldn't be, if once the van is working again and you're on the road, ⁓ you won't be parking next to people.

Rosie (02:47)
huh.

You're not if I can help it. Like it's okay to have people around but don't park so close if you don't have to.

Roula (02:55)
Yeah.

And what else? What are other weird things or etiquette things to do and don't?

Rosie (03:09)
The do's and don'ts of van life. I don't, like I don't even know if there are any others. Don't, don't, don't go to the toilet outside and leave your toilet paper there. People do that. It's gross. Don't do that. Like number ones and number twos, Rula. Gross. And there's a lot of, in Australia, like, ⁓

free camps, like it's on the side of the highway and you might get tired and you can pull over and you can sleep in the car or whatever. Always covered with rubbish and toilet paper, it's feral. I seem to be saying things, etiquettes that aren't followed, aren't I?

Roula (03:56)
Yes, you know, also when we travel within Eurobike Car, we also stop at some places. Some places are organized and clean, et cetera. And in between distances, you have this public toilets on the sides of the roads. And yeah, gross. But this is this is how people are. We're gross.

Rosie (04:05)
Yeah, yeah.

Uh-huh.

It's disgusting. Ugh.

Roula (04:19)
Can you believe during COVID people were taught how to wash their hands? Can you believe that with big papers hanging all over the place that when you use the toilet, wash your hands?

Rosie (04:24)
Yeah.

True, yeah and it has the steps

on how to wash it and how long you should be washing them for. That's a good point. Yeah.

Roula (04:38)
Can you imagine? The remarkable things after COVID stopped, there are people who stopped washing their hands after the toilet. And I know that because when I use the toilet in public places or work, et cetera, I keep my ears open to see if these people inside are washing their hands. So I know, I touch the door handle or do I just pull it? ⁓

Rosie (04:52)
Listen ⁓

⁓ no! Yeah, I try not to touch anything

in public toilets. Elbows and yeah. I don't like using hand dryers either. They feel unhygienic. Do you like hand dries? Yeah, that blow the hot air.

Roula (05:12)
The one you put your hands in them.

Rosie (05:16)
Do you like them? Ugh, yeah, ick, yuck, mm.

Roula (05:16)
I hate all this stuff. I hate them. I hate them. Yes.

Yes. Okay. So another thing about Van Etika, so you're driving, you're on the road and you see other vans, lifers also. Yeah. Okay.

Rosie (05:31)
you gotta wave. Yes, you have to wave. And

if someone doesn't wave, I'm like, ⁓ that wasn't very nice. And what's interesting is the closer you get to cities or towns, busier places, it's as if the rules change, the etiquette changes. You don't make eye contact with other drivers, you don't wave, but as soon as you get a bit further out, ⁓ hi, wave, smile, know, flash the lights.

Roula (05:59)
It's common when we live in big cities, we don't greet people on the street, but in villages and small towns, people, greet each other on the street. I have this here where I live now, when I was living in the big city, no one greets anyone. And here everybody on the street is greeting, even when I'm driving my car and someone passing by and they greet me.

Rosie (06:09)
Why is that?

Yeah.

Yeah. Wow. Do you like it?

Roula (06:28)
Yeah, I do. I always have my smile on my face ready to greet people because I don't want, I don't know, should I greet or should I not greet? So I always have a smile. Maybe this is why they feel they have to greet me.

Rosie (06:30)
Hmm

Ugh!

I remember when I moved to England I found it very odd that people didn't seem to make eye contact when you're walking down the street. was just mind your own business, look straight ahead, don't make eye contact, don't nod, don't, and nothing. Whereas here, you at least make eye contact even in the city. It was just such a stark difference. I was like, wow, this is weird.

Roula (07:10)
my kids and myself. know, not only the connection, I want to be aware of everything going on around me. I want to know what's going on, who are these people, not know who are these people, but just see what's happening around me. And I learned this, I was watching program about, well, it's a program where people

Rosie (07:20)
Yeah?

Mmm.

Roula (07:39)
did crimes or stole or whatever. And then they ask people, have you seen this in your street? Have you do you recognize this person? And they triggered me to look around, see who's around me. What are the people? So I could catch criminals, but also I like it because makes me feel alive.

Rosie (07:47)
Mm-mm.

so can catch criminals.

Right! I agree! I agree!

Roula (08:07)
I don't stare, but I look, I watch the people around me. And sometimes there are beautiful people to see. There are people I've noticed, for example, someone carrying too many heavy bags and walking. I notice all these things. Well, I said yesterday to my husband, I was yesterday like a llama coming out of the supermarket. I had a big Ikea bag on one shoulder full with stuff. Another big bag on this shoulder and my tote bag.

Rosie (08:09)
No.

I love people watching.

Roula (08:37)
across my body and I'm walking like this to the car. I feel like a llama. Like, you know, I imagine.

Rosie (08:44)
seen a llama carrying

a pack but I know I can envisage it that's hilarious

Roula (08:48)
And then, oh yeah, like Peru,

think of Peru, a llama with this bag on his alpaca, alpaca llama. Don't they look the same?

Rosie (08:52)
Alpaca, is it in there? Yeah, yeah, Was your hair all frizzy too, because

it was humid?

Roula (09:01)
Ugh, yeah.

Rosie (09:03)
Yeah!

Roula (09:05)
So this image came into my mind like watching in Peru, Alpaca with this bag and they're climbing the mountain and full with stuff. And I thought, is this me coming out of the supermarket?

Rosie (09:16)
And you're

quite short, aren't you? So the bags would have been like really low down and...

Roula (09:21)
⁓

did you have to say that?

Rosie (09:24)
I'm sorry.

It makes it funnier though. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.

Roula (09:29)
But I don't want you to make it funny because I'm short and carry in bags. That's hurtful. Don't do that. I don't know why people like to make fun of short people.

Rosie (09:34)
I'm trying not to laugh.

I'm I'm imagining because IKEA bags are huge so they would have been quite close to the ground or am I exaggerating? How?

Roula (09:51)
No, no, close

to my ties. So when I'm walking and I'm like walking and they're like, do do.

Rosie (09:56)
to your thighs okay

banging on your hips as you walk

Roula (10:04)
blue spot on my head because of it.

Rosie (10:07)
You're bruised. I'm sorry I mentioned your height. It was an irrelevant factor. That's a funny image.

Roula (10:12)
Well, you know, my son went

to sleep over in the weekend and when I picked him up, he was upset because the person he was sleeping over at was continuously making fun of him that he's short. He's not short. Who determines who's short and who's not short is 10 years old. And he found it really upsetting that the other child was continuously telling him how short he is.

Rosie (10:26)
⁓

Yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

Roula (10:40)
And I kind of feel it because in Lebanon, everyone had to tell me how short I am and how... And here you are mentioning it. I don't understand. I don't understand this obsession with people to shame short people. Why?

Rosie (10:44)
And here I am mentioning your height. Extra, you're extra sensitive to it. No, you're right, I...

it's not nice. No, I agree. And I'm sorry it came across that way, because I hate that rubbish. It's ridiculous. And we spoke about it in an episode, didn't we? What episode was it? I need to know. It was within our first 100 episodes, I think. Let's see. Where was it? I'm trying to look through our spreadsheet. Where is it? Does height really matter? It was episode... What number episode is that?

Roula (11:06)
I know, it's not you. Yeah.

Was it?

can't remember

yes, it was a popular

episode too.

Rosie (11:29)
Episode 23, does height really matter? Go listen, it was a popular episode. Because why does our self-worth revolve around our height? It doesn't. That's not nice that people make fun of it. And it does seem to be aimed more towards short people.

Roula (11:34)
Yeah!

I don't know.

Yeah. Well, I mentioned it in the other episode and I mentioned it now when I have told people, because in the Netherlands, a majority of the Dutch people are so tall and I fear mostly men taller than women. feel I'm continuously talking to their penis because my face is at the height of their penis. It's quite interesting. Yeah, I mean, I'll look up to but.

Rosie (11:50)
Mm.

Lots of people at all, aren't they?

⁓ my god! ⁓

Roula (12:16)
Sometimes

my neck hurts so I look down and then I'm like, okay, I can talk to your penis too, that's fine.

Rosie (12:20)
my god.

Well I guess you'd see all sorts of interesting things depending on the trousers they're wearing and the underwear and whatever. Wow. That's an experience I have not had.

Roula (12:32)
So yeah, you see,

exactly what I want to say is that also short people have thoughts about taller people. But we haven't found jokes about them yet. Yeah.

Rosie (12:40)
Yeah.

Really? Hmm. Hmm.

Let's not be mean about height, that's silly. Yeah.

Roula (12:50)
No.

And that was our episode about vanity cats, you still remember what we started with.

Rosie (12:54)
Yeah, we didn't talk about van etiquette

very much, but that's how we roll around here. But let us know. Do you travel in a caravan? Do you go camping? What's some etiquette that people don't follow and pisses you off? I want to know. And please send some love into Rula and say how dare Rosie mention her height because she thought it was funny for the joke.

Roula (13:17)
Maybe, maybe, but it's okay. I love you, Rosie.

Rosie (13:21)
and I love you. Height does not matter. Goodbye.

Roula (13:23)
Ciao!