Running away from it all!!!

[Sandy]

Hi Folks - if you haven't got more than ten minutes to read this then skip to next thread as I have lots to ask!!! My hubby and I are selling up and down sizing, but before we settle into our new home we are going to up grade out little old banger of a motor home to something more suitable and tour Europe for hopefully a year. Firstly, would it be better to buy a motor home on the continent? we see the advantages being that it will more than likely be a left hand drive, and we have heard - rightly or wrongly - they are cheaper. We realise will will have to sell it again before coming home as we have been told left hand drives over here do not sell well. Secondly, we would like to go to Spain for a holiday before we take the final plunge, to meet up with people over there doing the same thing as we intend to, anyone got any suggestions to where in Spain is popular with motor-homers to be able to meet such folk, and where there will possible be motor home for sale centres. Thirdly, lap top, although I could possible force myself to live without the internet for our time away - though I don't want to! has anyone got any recommendations as to type of lappy set up that would be suitable, bearing in mind I would use it mainly for keeping in contact with the family and sorting out bills etc. Finally, bit off subject this but perhaps some of you have been faced with this dilemma. is it better to rent the new house we buy and put our stuff into storage - or use the new house as storage while we are away - this is looking at it from a financial point of view. Thanking you in anticipation for your replies Sandy :-D

[johnsandywhite]

:-D Hi Sandy. Welcome to Out & About. We ourselves are Full-timers. We own 2 houses which we rent out to family and have spent the last 11 years mainly in Spain. We originally lived on a campsite in Altea just north of Benidorm. Then afte 5 years bought an American Motorhome and went full-time travelling. For the last 6 years we have used a mobile phone to computer connection for emails and the odd bit of surfing. While we were in the USA last winter to buy another Motorhome and tour. We bought a Wifi card for our laptop. It enables us not only to email but to surf easily and also to phone the UK and the USA using Voipbuster (similar to Skype). Happy travelling in whatever you choose to do? ;-)

[Brian Kirby]

[QUOTE]Sandy - 2006-06-26 12:50 PM Hi Folks - if you haven't got more than ten minutes to read this then skip to next thread as I have lots to ask!!! My hubby and I are selling up and down sizing, but before we settle into our new home we are going to up grade out little old banger of a motor home to something more suitable and tour Europe for hopefully a year. Firstly, would it be better to buy a motor home on the continent? we see the advantages being that it will more than likely be a left hand drive, and we have heard - rightly or wrongly - they are cheaper. We realise will will have to sell it again before coming home as we have been told left hand drives over here do not sell well.

Yes, it should be cheaper to buy outside UK, mainly (it seems) because the l.h.d market is much larger than the r.h.d. and this keeps the prices lower.  How much lower depends on what you buy and where.  Get Mel Eastburn's guide to buying abroad, for which see MMM.  Don't see why you should sell before returning, you'll have to bring it to UK to register, tax and insure - unless your downsized house is also outside UK, so selling secondhand in or out of UK won't present much of a different picture.  Prices reflect demand, if you're just selling to get rid of it then no dealer will give you the best price, at home or abroad, because then they'll have to shell out cash - and they much prefer to additional profit from a trade, ideally against a new van.  If you factor in the saving you make buying abroad, the lower UK price for a used l.h.d. is probably no better/worse in value terms than you'd get for a used r.h.d.

Secondly, we would like to go to Spain for a holiday before we take the final plunge, to meet up with people over there doing the same thing as we intend to, anyone got any suggestions to where in Spain is popular with motor-homers to be able to meet such folk, and where there will possible be motor home for sale centres.

Remember, Spain is a long way from the UK if you buy your motorhome there and anything goes wrong.  I'd say buy as close to home as possible.  These are complex vehicles and you need to be able to try things out to prove they work properly, after which you may need to take it back to get things fixed.  You won't have the time to do all that before you register the van in UK (see Mel's factsheet), so you'd have to make another trip back to the dealer for any guarantee work.  If the make is available in UK you should be able to get a UK dealer to fix it, but you're not his favourite customer if you didn't buy from him so he may not be all that co-operative.  If the dealer is in Spain and you live in UK you may have to contemplate a long round trip.

 Thirdly, lap top, although I could possible force myself to live without the internet for our time away - though I don't want to! has anyone got any recommendations as to type of lappy set up that would be suitable, bearing in mind I would use it mainly for keeping in contact with the family and sorting out bills etc.

Mobile internet (i.e. across Europe etc) is vey expensive, but possible.  Most seem to settle for internet cafes, or do without.  We just use mobile 'phone texts for family contacts.  These seem by far the cheapest.

Finally, bit off subject this but perhaps some of you have been faced with this dilemma. is it better to rent the new house we buy and put our stuff into storage - or use the new house as storage while we are away - this is looking at it from a financial point of view.

Only you can decide.  Its a balance of whether your house is readily rentable, to whom and on what terms, against the costs involved, put against the costs of paying the mortgage with no additional income but not having anyone in your home while you're away to cause damage or nick the contents and skidaddle.

Thanking you in anticipation for your replies Sandy :-D[/QUOTE]

You seem to be looking for many black/white answers to questions which have no such answers.  I'm afraid you just have to weigh the pros and cons of each option, accepting that you are, really, the only people who can say what is the best for you.  It's all about what you can live with and where your comfort zones are. 

However, if I might make a suggestion, I think you are at the beginning of something like a year's research into motorhomes that may suit you for such a trip, their prices in UK and elsewhere, vehicle registration and taxation regulations, home insurance restrictions when the house is unoccupied and/or rented (if rented your mortgage lender [if any] may be interested), vehicle importation requirements, dealing with finances while away, medical insurance for long trips, vehicle insurance for long trips outside UK, dealing with postal communications while away, paying for council tax, gas, water, electricity, telephone etc while away.  All those things become quite tricky once you decide to leave UK for 12 months while retaining property in UK.  They can all be solved, but how this can be done depends so much on where your income comes from, who is your bank, credit card company etc, who your insurances are with, what restrictions they place upon periods of travel, absence etc. 

Please forgive me if you've already solved these problems.  I just gained the impression from your post that you had possibly, so to speak, had the idea, but not yet worked out the details.  If you get the details sorted out before you jump too far ahead, you'll be so much more relaxed and able to enjoy to the maximum what should be a highly enjoyable year touring Europe, safe in the knowledge that all is under control at home.

Best of luck

[Sandy]

Thank you for all that Brian, I will digest it at my leisure tomorrow, we have been planning all this for about a year, but the reality only just dawned on us after 26 years of doing our - what was a virtual derelict -house up and reached the last room!!! Now things are really going to happen and you realise just how much you haven't prepared because up until now it was all talk! You cannot learn better than talking to people who have been there and done that which is what we have been doing, but to get a clear picture have been raiding peoples knowledge everywhere. We know we will learn a lot as we go along , but the basics we must know for our own safety and pleasure. So any little gems are really welcome.

[Sandy]

Thsnk you also John & Sandy, I had heard it was and expensive affair using a lap top abroad, perhaps it would be best just to use a mobile, at least I could still keep in touch with our lads - won't they be thrilled - not!!!! (lol)

[Go Motorhoming]

Hi Sandy, Good to see your taking the plunge. We decided to go full timing five years ago, it took us 18 months to get it together. We made some mistakes one of them was selling our house and not downsizing. We have imported two motorhomes from Germany and can say it is worth it, both financially and for the fun of it. Because there are so many questions for anyone going full timing or long term touring, we decided to answer them, all of them. The book is called Go Motorhoming Europe and is available at www.go-motorhoming.co.uk there is also an add in the back of the 3 m's. The book also has in comprehencive import and buying guide fully explaining what you can expect and exactly what you need. All of the add ons and systems are explained even breaking down how much gas you will use at different times of year. The ever asked question of exchanging bottles is answered, the best solution for Internet, and how long your 12v will last. There is a motorhome specific country guide section identifying the best maps, tourist information and whether you can free wild camp. Camper stops are also identified but this is less important now as we have CamperStop Europe an aires book for 14 countries detailing 6200 motorhome only parking/camping areas best of all it's writen in English. Have fun in your Travels Go Motorhoming

[Sandy]

Thank you for that, I started a folder a while back calling it 'Our big holiday' and all the gems of knowledge obtained from folk who had been there and done that goes into it, it is starting to get quite fat now so hopefully we will have learned by other peoples mistakes!! Does anyone out there know how to write 'Caution dogs on board' in French, Spanish and German?, although we sadly lost our last pooch earlier this year I thought I might make some cards to put in the motor home window as a sort of feeble security thing - well it might deter would - be intruders with a dog phobia!!!!

[JohnP]

Hi Go onto goog;le and type in "transallation". This will take you to many free sites which will do the work for you. Just type in the words and select the language eg fFrench, German etc. Sorry to hear about the dog

[JohnP]

Oh dear. Google and translation it should be. Go to the bottom of the class!

[Mel E]

To answer your questions: 1. Yes, most motorhomes are cheaper on the continent and the buying process is easy. For more details see the posyting on Buying Abroad just below this one. And LHDs are not difficult to sell in the country - we've done it twice and got a much better price thatn we would have selling it on the continent. So we kept some of our savings. 2. The Spanish market for motorhomes is tiny. There are a few dealers in eastern Madrid, but the biggest are south of Barcelona. Get 'El Camping Y Su Mondo' from any Spanish newsagent and you'll rapidly get the picture. The best areas to meet up with m'home owners is probably the coastal area west and east of Malaga, as far as Almeria. But there are no big m'home retailers there, and I'm not sure what you'll gain from the trip. 4. Fit your laptop with a WiFi card and you'll be fine. Most decent hotels have a network and some places have free access. Do not use a mobile phone (even GSM) as it is very expensive and very slow. 5. From a financial viewpoint, it's better to rent if you're going to be away for more than about a year. Yes, you'll probably have some redecoration to do when you get back, but the costs can be offset against the rental income (as can mortgage costs), probably reducing your tax bill from the rental to near zero. But this is a very personal choice. KEY THING - Don't waste a year working out what to do. Just get on with it. Just saw a brilliant quote that sums it up: "Death is easy - it will come to all of us sometime. Living is much more difficult but also more rewarding."