nowtelse2do Posted April 21, 2013 Share Posted April 21, 2013 After nearly 40yrs on and off, my motor homing days have ended. I sold my Pollensa yesterday and don't intend getting another van, O/H not very happy. I will spend the summer holiday this year in Austria & Germany in a couple of Hotels, but when I get back I might contemplate buying a small caravan (mum always said I was a little *ugger :-D ) The days are gone for me spending a couple of days here and there, I would now sooner camp down for a week and take things a bit easier. Still keeping on here thoe (lol) Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Comes to us all in the end Dave but nobody can take away your years of experience and the knowledge gained which may yet be of help to others! That said I increasingly find my own knowledge lacking in modernity at times and what with the complexity of modern electronics etc. combined with legal issues and political correctness my own old fashioned low cost problem solving methods are not always appreciated! Progress eh? Or not in some cases! Good luck with whatever form of holidaying you opt for and may they all be happy and stress free. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Change is as good as a rest they say Dave - so hope you both end up happy with a different way of doing things. We were pretty much certain that we would move from a caravan to a motorhome when i finally retired - (about five years time) - and then tour the UK and the EU extensively. So we may end up doing the reverse of what you guys are doing. But for now - we have a caravan - but do not tour with it. Strange because we used to tour a lot. But the illness of my MiL made that regular activity non viable. So we left our caravan on a seasonal pitch about an hour from where we live so we could have weekends away but get back in an emergency. So going to a seasonal pitch was not what we felt we really wanted to do at the time - we saw it as a short term solution. That was in 2007 - MiL died in December 2008 - and we are still on the seasonal pitch! Certainly not saying what we do would suit everyone - but having had change forced upon us - the lifestyle of how we spend every other weekend and about 6 weeks a year on a site where we have got to know many new friends and enjoy bbq's etc with them - is one that we feel we do not want to change just yet - despite the attractions of touring again - most likely with a M/H. But for now - the big seasonal awning is up! - the caravan has a nice fixed bed - we can just arrive, plug in and enjoy - so we just crave a good summer! 8-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 CliveH - 2013-04-22 7:06 AM Change is as good as a rest they say Dave - so hope you both end up happy with a different way of doing things. We were pretty much certain that we would move from a caravan to a motorhome when i finally retired - (about five years time) - and then tour the UK and the EU extensively. So we may end up doing the reverse of what you guys are doing. But for now - we have a caravan - but do not tour with it. Strange because we used to tour a lot. But the illness of my MiL made that regular activity non viable. So we left our caravan on a seasonal pitch about an hour from where we live so we could have weekends away but get back in an emergency. So going to a seasonal pitch was not what we felt we really wanted to do at the time - we saw it as a short term solution. That was in 2007 - MiL died in December 2008 - and we are still on the seasonal pitch! Certainly not saying what we do would suit everyone - but having had change forced upon us - the lifestyle of how we spend every other weekend and about 6 weeks a year on a site where we have got to know many new friends and enjoy bbq's etc with them - is one that we feel we do not want to change just yet - despite the attractions of touring again - most likely with a M/H. But for now - the big seasonal awning is up! - the caravan has a nice fixed bed - we can just arrive, plug in and enjoy - so we just crave a good summer! 8-) So why not do both Clive? Could you consider keeping the caravan on the seasonal site and maybe get a motorhome with a towbar so you can shift it if you want to or maybe just pay to have the caravan transported if/when needed? Seems a shame to give up what you enjoy and when retired there may well be time enough for long trips abroad as well as short breaks locally? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Yes we are very much thinking along those lines Rich. But for now - I am sadly still on a treadmill :-( However - we have a couple of projects that we hope will enable us to bring our plans forward and then the caravan will be traded in for either a M/H or possibly a 5th Wheeler. The idea of a slow tour through France, Spain and Portugal to then overwinter somewhere warm is so attractive I find myself daydreaming about it!! But right now - we have fooled ourselves each and every year in that we say to each other "what about taking the cvan down to Cornwall again?" - because nothing stops us from hitching up and going, so we could - but we haven't so far. If we did go back to touring right now I think we would go for a smaller caravan. We have a twin axle Wyoming now that we love and has been pretty much faultless. But it is a bit big for touring. But we have our plans!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 We met this couple at Camping Lo Monte who have a large caravan and a Autosleeper camper ;-)............they leave the caravan in Spain, and when not there the vans put in storage at the site.............seems to be an excellent arrangement, as they spend the winter in Spain, then travel in the camper the rest of the year B-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliveH Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 Actually Dave - that does sound a good idea - not least because you can use a seasonal pitch in France/Spain etc all year. Here you cannot use it for 2 months of the year or else the buggers will want Council Tax off you! Food for thought there. :-D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 nowtelse2do - 2013-04-21 11:43 PM After nearly 40yrs on and off, my motor homing days have ended. I sold my Pollensa yesterday and don't intend getting another van, Still keeping on here thoe (lol) Dave Sad to say it comes to us all eventually. After 40 odd years of camping and 10 years of motorhoming I don't know what I would do for holidays after that ! Tried a couple of ' package ' holidays - but didn't realise at the time that the ' Package ' referred to the plane being so cramped. Then bussed from the airport with one of those dreadful couriers in charge who kept saying " is everybody happy ! " ( I would have been if only she would shut up ). I think the end will come when I have to stay in the U.K and start booking sites ! Good luck with your new ventures. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Thanks for the comments Guys. Its not that I can't do the motor-homing bit, its just that I no longer want to just stop for a day or two then move on. I would be quite happy tugging then stopping for a week then move on somewhere else. My O/H can't ride a bike, she wont go on a scooter or M/Bike, can't drive, hasn't a clue with direction's, she thinks traffic lights are pretty *-) BUT she loves M/Hs. My faults (that I admit to) is that I'm stubborn or pigheaded or whatever and wont get a sat-nav. I rely on some old but still brilliant map's I've collected and love plotting a route when we have settled on a destination. This has led us to some great offbeat places and some bad ones (can't win them all) I will read a map book like some will read a novel. I will not fly had two terrible experience's and vowed never again. The rest of this years hol's are sorted so I have plenty of time to decide about a caravan for next year but then again I have to consider what Eve wants to do as well. I'm happy in a static providing its in the right area home or abroad. NOT..!!!! leaving the forum though.......it's a bit like an addiction. I'd miss the banter and scraps :D:D Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tracker Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 nowtelse2do - 2013-04-22 2:39 PM My faults (that I admit to) is that I'm stubborn or pigheaded or whatever and wont get a sat-nav. I rely on some old but still brilliant map's I've collected and love plotting a route when we have settled on a destination. This has led us to some great offbeat places and some bad ones (can't win them all) I will read a map book like some will read a novel. When no destination is set, I use the sat nav as a rolling map and it gives me a reasonable idea of where I am and upcoming junctions whilst still giving me the option of shooting off at a tangent whenever the need takes me which is quite often! The real benefit especially when a route is set is that Mrs T no longer has to have her head buried in an atlas to warn me of the next turn and is free to admire the scenery and pass comment on my driving! We too have found some great locations but with the benefit of being able to blame the sat nav when they are not so great after all! Come on Dave - they ain't expensive - unlike wives - give it a go! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted April 22, 2013 Share Posted April 22, 2013 nowtelse2do - 2013-04-22 2:39 PM BUT she loves M/Hs. Well get a sat nav.........and a nice classic camper :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nowtelse2do Posted April 22, 2013 Author Share Posted April 22, 2013 Rich......one woman nagging me is enough :-D Dave....... use to have a 1994 Duetto on the Transit chassis....great panel van, then a little granddaughter started growing faster, so changed to a coach built in 2010. Now granddaughter is 5' 2" and bigger than grandmother and starting to notice she is changing 'FAST' so she is loosing her childhood innocence, a bit sad really because we don't want to let go of our little gem but that's life:'( , nothing we can do but watch her grow into a young lady now and hope she can keep a sensible head on her. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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