newcomer

[The Southerner]

Me and the wife are selling up next year and plan to spend a year on the continent. The only thing is that we have never done anything like this before and to be honest it seems to be a minefield of problems just to get started. One of our biggest worries is finding good sites for the motorhome, one that will take dogs and that arent to expensive. We have given ourselves a year to get everything into place and sell up but we really want to be on the road by the end of next April. Any advice, tips etc. that anyone can give us will be really appreciated.

[david lloyd]

Hi and welcome to motorhoming I wouldn't worry too much about finding suitable sites (or places to go) in Europe - they are much more geared up for motorhomes than the UK. There are lots and lots of different publications with sites, also the internet is a good source. We are members of the Caravan Club (there are additional benefits to being a member of one of the recognised clubs) and use their network of sites quite a lot in the UK. We also use their Europe Guide (comes in two parts covering all of Europe) for sites in France and Spain, together with the Camping Cheques sites and the Aires de Services in France particularly. Some useful places to visit to get you started are: www.caravanclub.co.uk www.campingcheque.co.uk www.campingcar-infos.com The latter will show you the network of Aires in France. If you have never heard of these they are places specifically set aside for motorhomes (camping cars in France) and are provided by the local towns or villages in order to attract the many motorhomers that pass their way to stop over in their locality. They vary in size from perhaps just a couple of pitches to hundreds in the larger, more popular areas. Some provide facilities to refill fresh water tanks, empty waste tanks and sometimes even an electric hook-up. Occassionally there may be a small charge for the services - say a few euros - sometimes they will be provided free. Mostly they are within walkng distance of the village or town centre and will usually have a restriction on how long you can stay - maybe one or two nights. It is a great way to tour France and we hope to use them for the first time this May/June in a three week trip when we will combine staying at Aires with a few campsites every so often - the main thing is we will not be booking any sites in advance. There are similar systems in place elsewhere - Germany, for instance, have a network of stellplatze that are run along similar lines. One of the best ways to prepare for your new life is to read one of the motorhome magazines - my personal recommendation would be MMM. No doubt you will get plenty more advice and pointers in the coming weeks but if there are any specific things you wish to ask about just do a posting and someone is usually able to point you in the right direction. Good luck with it all and in particular on the search for the right motorhome - I think you will find that probably harder than finding suitable places to stay!! Best regards, david

[Mel B]

Using the search facility - cut and paste in the following titles (remember to set the search date limit to one year): Aires in France. How do we know? French Passion ACSI Camping card The first will take you to another posting from March 2006 which mentions French Passion and ACSI camping discount cards as well. Just have a good rummage through, you'll get lots of info, suggest you make yourself a big cup of coffee first as you'll be there a while!! Enjoy

[Mel E]

You say you plan to 'sell up'. Does this mean you are planning to sell your own house/home? I would very strongly advise you NOT to do so. You will be transferring your money from an asset that appreciates (the house) to one that depreciates (the motorhome). If you ever plan to get back into the UK housing market, you will find a big gap has opened up. If you need the funds from the house sale to finance the motorhome, then I would suggest you consider mortgaging the house to raise the funds and then renting it while you are away. The cost of the mortgage can be set against the rental income as can the costs of any necessary repairs/redecoration when you return, so you will probably end up having no net taxable income from the rental. You will still have the full appreciation in value of the house and only the mortgage to pay off. Even if selling the van does not cover it fully, you will be a lot better off than selling up now.

[Mel B]

Must agree with Mel E, I wasn't clear if you were selling everything up or not, but would suggest that you don't. If you find for some reason that you don't like the roaming life you'll really be stuck with a motorhome in the UK but no-where of you own to park it! If you need to sell up to use the capital in your current property to buy a motorhome I'd suggest getting another, less costly, property that you could live in if you needed to so that you still keep a foot-hold in the British property market. Alternatively, do as Mel E says and get a mortgage advance to buy the motorhome and rent out your property but do some research into renting out first as it's not for the faint hearted and there's a lot to think about. I'm not personally up to date with people who have had to come back to the UK after not being able to continue with their motorhome living lifestyle change, but there are definitely plenty of people who have had to do this who have bought properties abroad and then come back to Britain only to find that they area in a real mess financially. You really need to talk to people who have done what you propose to see if it is really for you and more importantly is viable - if you're only wanting to do it for a year what happens after that?

[The Southerner]

Thanks very much for the info. Its a great help. All I have to do now is decide when and how.