happilyoverforty Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi there I am new to the forum so not sure if this the right place to ask questions. We (wife ,2 kids 9 & 11 and dog) are thinking about taking a year out and buying a MM to tour round Europe. Do many people do this ? Is this a daft idea? What is the maximum size of MM you can drive with a normal DL. Thanks for any help. Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordThornber Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi Graham & welcome. Apart from not putting anything into the subject box, you've picked the right place for your query. You may want to write another to get max response, e.g. Euro trip query in the subject box? Anyway, Yes people do this, no it's not a daft idea, unless... You set off "blind", i.e. little or no planning, (that said it might suit you) You don't have go before you go, i.e. by hiring a van or borrowing one Have you camped in any form before? Budget, do you have one in mind? That's just a few of dozens of possible responses you may get. I would urge you to use the search facility, using a few buzzwords like, newbies, first timers etc and you'll find all sorts of guff. Good luck and keep us posted. Martyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Graham, if you passed your test before about 1997 you can drive a 7.5 tonner on your licence, if post 97 it'll be 3.5 tonnes and then a separate test IIRC Going for a year, you will require a motorhome with a decent payload - holidays of two weeks are OK but you will need/carry a lot of stuff that you will need over the year - a garage model may suit you best and I would recommend a six berth for four people. Everything else is up to you! It's your holiday so go for it and make it fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happilyoverforty Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi there Thanks for that. Sorry about the subject it makes it quite hard (lol) Yes we have camped many times, sail on small yachts and my wife and MM'd in New Zealand for 2 weeks. The reason we are not looking at sailing is the dog!! My wife doesn't want to leave her behind. We will have approx £60K to spend on a MM and about £20K for living expenses. Regards Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi your budget sounds good to me, lots of younger people are taking time out of the rat race,we met a couple in Morocco this year, they had two children with them and were in a self converted Merc van and loving it, you dont really need a big fancy van just something you feel comfortable with and its all a great learning curve, for example you can spend time in France and Germany at very low cost as these countries have specific places for Motorhomes to stay virtually free and often free with water and toilet dumps. The only downside for you will be when you rejoin the rat race , will you have a base? Good luck, it's a great life. (lol) (lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
messerschmitt owner Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Graham I'd tone down the purchase cost and buy a two year old van - the euro is rubbish at the mo and every dealer is upping the price of imported vans from Europe. My rimor has gone up from £50k to £63k new due to the euro-pound exchange rate but a 2 year old one would be £40k approx or less)! You'll then have more spending money and still have a well-equipped van. I don't mind having little space but there's no way I'd do a trip like that without some creature comforts and some storage space. Do be mindful of the payload - a bit like the plimsoll line of a boat/ship - you can overload and it causes all sorts of problems - mainly legal I hasten to add! Last thing you want is to be stuck at the side of the road, removing 1/4 tonne of stuff before you can drive off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happilyoverforty Posted May 20, 2009 Author Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi there Thanks for that I assume that the sensible thing to do is buy a left-hand drive MM. Does this have any implication on costs when buying in the UK? I assume that 30ft is the max size as quite a few MM seem to be this size. Regards Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JudgeMental Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Welcome!:-D Even with the poor euro rate it still makes sense IMO to buy a LHD van in Europe as you can still save money. I was quoted a £10.000 saving on a hymer recently from Belgium. Or buy one here if the price is right... www.mobile.de is a good source of new/nearly new and older motorhomes from Germany. Good deals can be had in Belgium as well and it’s not so far. Pointless looking at 3.500kg vans you will need a bigger van. But as others have said the devil is in the detail. Don’t assume that a 4500kg van will have a bigger payload as they don’t always! Many are poorly construceted and overweight, it is a minefield! Many buy "family" vans which don’t have the capacity to carry said family and stuff on a holiday, let alone away for a year.........caveat emptor! Also stay clear of the latest Fiat chassis as there are ongoing problems with it, just read the many other threads on here and other forums. Personally, I would shoot the dog:-D and buy 4 round the world tickets and get as far away from Europe as possible *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stelynn Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Hi, Would love to do what you're doing. Just a quick point when looking at vans ~ don't be misled by the 2 or 4 or 6 berth labels ~ you will need one with the right number of seatbelts. Many vans labelled 4 berth only have seatbelts for 2. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spospe Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 I am not being a wet-blanket, but my wife and I have met some people doing just what you propose, on the ground that it will benefit the children and they were NOT 'loving it'. The main problem area in this case seemed to be that the father was all for it and the mother was a little diffident (not keen), the children were completely happy. The idea sounds grand and it can undoubtedly be a wonderful experience, but you must plan it properly, don't go in a blind haze of optimism with no clear objective in mind. In addition, make sure that all parties are 100% keen on following the grand plan. An obvious point is to ensure that your children do not miss their education during the trip and assuming that you are returning to the UK, that they will be able to slot into the right year group without any problems. It's a mundane point, but make sure your insurance covers you all and that you have arrangements in hand to look after the children if you both should become incapacitated for any reason. Good luck :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 JudgeMental - 2009-05-20 12:35 PM Personally, I would shoot the dog:-D and buy 4 round the world tickets and get as far away from Europe as possible *-) Judge - I think your dog would happily shoot itself rather than face spending a year in your motorhome with you! Only joking m'lud!!! ;-) Hi Graham - welcome to the nut house! It’s not a daft idea, we’ve met a few people who have done this, albeit they were couples rather than families and they were loving it. With children in tow though you’ll need to be much more organised, eg what about schooling etc? To sum up some of what has been said/suggested and a few bits I’ve added (in no particular order): 1) Purchase of motorhome - Get a nearly new van rather than new if possible - less initial outlay and much less depreciation, if you can get one with a low mileage then your 'high' mileage should to some extent be offset. 2) Base vehicle - Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen are all basically the same vehicle, just with different engine options. I would strongly suggest that you DO NOT buy a motorhome based on the latest versions of these - there are a lot of problems and there is no way of knowing which ones are affected and you seriously do not to end up spending your year out going back and forth to the garage or worse, have it sitting on your drive being too afraid to use the ruddy thing. 3) LHD or RHD? - LHD should be cheaper to buy, both new or second hand and with your intention of using it in mainland Europe it makes sense if you can get used to it. Be aware though that subsequent re-selling when you've done with it may be a bit more difficult. 4) Layout - suggest you look at something with a good (probably rear) lounge area for general use and a separate dinette area too, that way you and the kids can have your own space otherwise you're all likely to be biting each others heads off! It will also give them somewhere to work on their schooling which I assume you will continue to do. There are quite a few layouts of this sort, with overcab beds so the kids can sleep up there and you can just make up the rear lounge bed. Fixed beds are good but I think that you'd benefit more from the lounge space than just the one seating area. You can always add a topbox for any other bits and pieces (make sure you get a 'van with a full roof rack and ladder). 5) Payload - this is vitally important, there are lots of vans that are meant for families that are quite restricted, that’s for normal holiday use, for a full year you'll need to be very careful. Even if the payload can be uprated, the axle weights usually can't so be careful. 6) Build quality - this really does vary from maker to maker. If there are any particular vans you are interested in buying put a posting on the forum and you’ll get some good feedback about their longevity etc. Don’t be tempted to go for some bargain basement van just because it’s got lots of toys etc, if the basic van is badly constructed (and badly insulated) you’ll regret it! 7) Seatbelts - you definitely need to watch out to make sure you have enough 3 point seatbelts for all occupants - don’t settle for lap belts in the rear (you’re unlikely to get this on larger family vans but best to make sure). 8) Dog - you’ll need to get your dog’s Pet Passport sorted out - if you need any info on this do a search of the forum as there are quite a few previous threads about it, or just PM me about it. 9) Other van equipment - As well as the van, think about what bits and pieces you’ll need on it - I’d suggest a solar panel and refillable gas set up as a minimum to be more self-sufficient and keep your costs down as you’ll then be able to use some of the free stopping points rather than campsites, and just use sites when you need to. Also, a bike rack too. However, I’d recommend getting a copy of the Motorhome Manual (2nd edition) by John Wickersham, it’ll give you an insight into how much of the equipment in motorhomes work as s*ds law says something will go wrong when you least expect it and can’t get it sorted so will have to try to do it yourself! 10) Non-van equipment - A dongle! To keep in touch I’d strongly suggest you look into getting some sort of mobile broadband set-up. This will allow you to let people know what you’re up to, check if there’s anything you need to know about as people can email you rather than ring you, and your kids can use it for the schooling and keeping in touch with their mates etc. You also need to consider what things you all want to take with you for ‘fun/relaxing’ - do your kids like electronic games? What do you really want to take and is it practical? Is there an alternative? Info books, maps and the like can take up a lot of space and weigh a fair bit so being able to use the internet for practical stuff saves you carrying more than is really necessary. 11) Insurance - Make sure that (when you get to this point!) you have full cover for your trip to Europe, for the motorhome, breakdown and travel. Some policies restrict you quite severely to 30 days, others don’t. 12) Home - Don’t forget to look into the implications of leaving your ‘earth bound’ home - such as insurance, maintenance (grass cutting) etc. Also, if you have a mortgage you may need to inform the mortgage company of your intentions. If you intend to rent out your property there are implications for this (it can be a real pain in the bum too!). I’ll leave others to add to the list now. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tof Posted May 20, 2009 Share Posted May 20, 2009 Why is anyone even mentioning education? We are full timers for one year up to now with a 4 year old on our second marriages. We home educated our youngest's from our previous marriages (how we met) Children, especially the ages of your two will get a much more rounded education by travelling for a year than they ever would in school. An hours tuition at home counts for an entire day in school one on one, this can be just a conversation over lunch. There is no curriculum to keep to and a huge amount of subjects can be covered in one conversation. With regards to education relax and have fun and the children will learn all by themselves. Our son went in to schooling at 9yrs and was 2 years ahead of his peers, after a year he had started to lag behind, obviously we took him out again.With regard to motorhome you have to learn to live with the bare minimum of everything, 5 tops and 3 bottoms maximum with regard to clothing. Shop regularaly as and when passing supermarket and don't buy two for one offers or large packs at discounted prices.We have a CI Mizar with the bunks on the side, we only needed one bunk so installed a mini automatic washing machine and a tumble dryer on the bottom bunk and used the rest of the space as storage. I wash once a week, the washing machine is half the size of a household automatic.You tend to use the great outdoors more when full timing so inside space is not as important as you may think. Try not to think of it as a small house but rather somewhere that you need to sleep as you will probably be out and about during the day a lot. So long as you have enough space for you all to eat comfortably that will be fine. Have you got long to research your motorhome needs? Maria :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Don Madge Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 happilyoverforty - 2009-05-20 10:32 AM Hi there I am new to the forum so not sure if this the right place to ask questions. We (wife ,2 kids 9 & 11 and dog) are thinking about taking a year out and buying a MM to tour round Europe. Do many people do this ? Is this a daft idea? What is the maximum size of MM you can drive with a normal DL. Thanks for any help. Graham Hi Graham, You will find more info at http://www.magbaztravels.com/content/view/80/27/ Good luck. Don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vindiboy Posted May 21, 2009 Share Posted May 21, 2009 I don't agree that you SHOULD get a left handdrive vehicle, {better to drive in Europe} My Hymer is right hand drive and we spend as much time "over there " as we do in Engand and right hand drive is no problem for us, left or right, it's down to CHOICE. *-) *-) *-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happilyoverforty Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 HiThanks for that. If anything my wife and I are very keen but as the kids are old enough to understand we have been discussing everything with them and we would not go unless they were happy. My wife and I went walk-about before the kids came for for a couple of months so we probably have never lost our wander lust :-> :-> Graham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
happilyoverforty Posted May 21, 2009 Author Share Posted May 21, 2009 Thanks Mel That has given me plenty to think about. RegardsGraham Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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