Colin Leake Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 After 12 years of happy motorhoming and more than 20 with a caravan time has caught up with us in our mid seventies. We used to travel all over the place and go out exploring on foot with a packed lunch and the dog. Now I have a bad back amongst other problems and the wife has a bad knee. We can still manage about 4 miles on foot but it's a struggle and not very enjoyable, Plus if we overdo it it can take days to recover. Many people with greater problems than us keep going but sitting around on site all day does not apeal to us. With what we would have spent on site fees and vehicle running and maintenance plus the money we got for selling our Warwick XL we can easily afford a budget of £10,000 pa over the next ten years. We going to be exploring new areas staying in cottages, log cabins and boats (preferably on waterways with few if any locks) plus on one very secluded site in very posh static. Finding places to stay has taken considerable time. We don't want holiday camp cramped type mmlocations. Hoeseasons seem to dominate with four pages of very onerous conditions in very small print. So far we've booked direct with a number of small well run and rather exclusive sites plus in some cases directly with property owners. What we will miss most is the sense of occasion when we drive away from home, the freedom, the magnificent views on some pitches, sitting inside with the side and rear doors open and most of all the friendly and interesting folk we enevitably used to meet on site. What we won't miss is arriving our leaving site in the poring rain, taking the dog out and trying to keep the rain out when the big sliding door is open, cleaning the damn thing especially the roof and the rear door with the bike rack on, winding the awning back in if the wind suddenly gets up. The other benefit will be having the use of the car to extend our range and enable us to reach locations we would not normally be able to We will keep in touch on the forum to let you all know how our plans work out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starvin marvin Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 It comes to us all......if we live long enough! Best wishes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Good luck Colin ! I can quite understand your situation as I can see it coming myself. I've been used to a lot of walking / rambling / climbing on holidays but now I'm paying for it with dodgy knees ! Luckily I have found that cycling is easier than walking these days so we still get about quite a bit. But - for how long ? All the best with your new adventures ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david lloyd Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Hi Colin, Let me be the first to wish you both well in your new adventures. Sometimes change is unavoidable and the most important thing is to be able to recognise when changes have to be made. Please do keep,in touch on the forum (if it doesn't being back pining for the motorhome life) as I, for one, have valued your input on more than one occasion. Good luck with the search. Regards David Oops! Obviously not the first - and I'm sure not the last to wish you well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colin Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 When we had the VW and winter camping was not on agenda we would often stay at NT cottages, not cheap, but some interesting places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brock Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Good luck to you both. You've had a good, long spell and I hope you enjoy the alternative lifestyle just as much. It will be good to hear how you get on because as has been said, we'll all face the same change in time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Hi Colin, I wish you both a great future in your retirement from motor homing and hope you enjoy your next ventures. I know how you must feel, I'm going to be 80 in a few weeks and the boss will be 75 but we feel very blessed to be in good health and still be able to follow our pursuit. We walk and do a lot of hill climbing and sometimes cover up to 15-20 miles a day. We also take our bikes but last year we invested in a couple of lecky bikes and find, with some peddling, we can get up to 35-40 miles without having to put in too much effort. So I know how you must feel when the unsuspecting happens and we would no longer be able to carry on. So best of luck to you both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 RETIREMENT ... what a terrible word. Its certainly not part of my vocabulary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ron. Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 All the very best in your 'new' life Colin, I will miss your posts. We are both approaching eighty now and about three years ago did roughly what you are about do. Sold the van, bought a flash car and set about touring Europe in good hotels whilst we still had the energy and ability to do so, in comfort with no hassle. However, we hated it! I cannot really put a finger on why other than it was a mixture of things. The loss of the sense of freedom and relaxation was one aspect we noticed, or was it just that we were out of our habit zone. Perhaps I really like to keep emptying toilet cassettes, dumping and taking on water, etc. Or was it the shut in feeling of hotel rooms? Anyway, after a year we could stand it no longer and sold the car (at a huge loss) and bought back into the pastime. We are now as happy as bunnies again. I know that you are not going the whole hog, accommodation wise, and here's hoping that it works better for you. Enjoy. Ron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flicka Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 The main thing is finding something you can enjoy to fill the void, Colin. Something you seem to have well in hand. So best wishes with your future travelling, which ever mode you use. No one can take away the memories you have stored up over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Good Luck! (Whatever will the bear do?......) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikebeaches Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Good luck for the future Colin! It will come to all of us one day... In addition to using our van, we enjoy super holidays with the Holiday Property Bond (HPB). https://www.hpb.co.uk/ About 35 locations in the UK and around Europe - super quality upmarket self-catering. We sometimes mix and match with the van & HPB, other times use the car. Hope you'll keep in touch on here. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laimeduck Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 Cheers Colin - see you on the ski slopes next year then?! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Collings Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Best of luck Colin, I seem to remember you contacting me back in the days of Interchange. when you first started. give us a toot if you see our trusty now twenty year old A/S Medallion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Sorry to hear the news Colin...... Have you ever tried heading South for the winter sun?.......Its amazing how much your aches pains improve B-) ......... Although you do need a strong liver :D ........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PJay Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Good luck in your new life style. we are in the same situation, but are already in our eighties! We are playing it one year at a time, now, so not giving up this year. Gave up sailing at 70, due to knee problems! so came to MH later than you. You need a hobby to keep going, otherwise it's sit in front of the TV!! OH still plays golf 3 days a week , when not away in van! PJay Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartO Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 My best wishes for the next phase of your lives; I hope it gves you lots of interest and pleasure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 May I add my best wishes also, and trust that you get much enjoyment in the future from your new approach to retirement It might not be too long before we decide to change direction .. My other half has strongly indicated that south bound is a nono this year, because of ages, health issues, and what if the worst should happen leaving her stranded in a foreign country not understanding the language. I did make a preliminary enquiry as to van value via local dealer, but was unimpressed. Potential heavy loss , so didnt pursue it. One more season this year then reconsider. Current idea is to go north right to the top before falling over the edge, and wander left hand down a bit for 4 to 6 weeks. Tonyg3nwl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tonyg3nwl Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 May I add my best wishes also, and trust that you get much enjoyment in the future from your new approach to retirement It might not be too long before we decide to change direction .. My other half has strongly indicated that south bound is a nono this year, because of ages, health issues, and what if the worst should happen leaving her stranded in a foreign country not understanding the language. I did make a preliminary enquiry as to van value via local dealer, but was unimpressed. Potential heavy loss , so didnt pursue it. One more season this year then reconsider. Current idea is to go north right to the top before falling over the edge, and wander left hand down a bit for 4 to 6 weeks. Tonyg3nwl Sorry, double post..wobbly digititis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will86 Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Sorry folks but another awful "Retirement" thought. Just a change of direction but please do not ever "Retire "... that's the end of all life, so you may as well order your box now. Every day is a new day ... look forward to what is available, the sun is up and if not what's a drop of rain and cloud. Enjoy all the comments from those who still look for the green fields as a way of life. I'm aiming for 120 and will be hopping mad not to reach it. So why not all of you? Look up not down, that's poor thinking. Yesterday a daughter said "what's that spot it could be cancerous" My answer "So what I'm not interested in the word I have more to do than think of that" You are a dismal lot at times. Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
malc d Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 Will86 - 2017-03-08 11:37 AM Sorry folks but another awful "Retirement" thought. Just a change of direction but please do not ever "Retire "... that's the end of all life, so you may as well order your box now. Will I dunno what dictionary you are using Will - but retirement has got nothing to do with " the end of life " - it simply means stopping what you are doing. Many footballers retire in their thirties but that is not the end of 'em. ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robinhood Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 malc d - 2017-03-08 1:22 PM Many footballers retire in their thirties but that is not the end of 'em. ;-) ...exactly....... Quite a few of them were finished well before that......;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 malc d - 2017-03-08 1:22 PM Will86 - 2017-03-08 11:37 AM Sorry folks but another awful "Retirement" thought. Just a change of direction but please do not ever "Retire "... that's the end of all life, so you may as well order your box now. Will I dunno what dictionary you are using Will - but retirement has got nothing to do with " the end of life " - it simply means stopping what you are doing. Many footballers retire in their thirties but that is not the end of 'em. ;-) Retirement to me means I no longer "have" to earn a living B-) .......... Although its not something to be rushed ;-) .......ie work today retire tomorrow...... because in my view becoming a member of the idle classes requires years of practice, before one takes on full time unemployment 8-) ........ Its a skill I believe I have at last mastered B-) ............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete-B Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 malc d - 2017-03-08 1:22 PM Will86 - 2017-03-08 11:37 AM Sorry folks but another awful "Retirement" thought. Just a change of direction but please do not ever "Retire "... that's the end of all life, so you may as well order your box now. Will I dunno what dictionary you are using Will - but retirement has got nothing to do with " the end of life " - it simply means stopping what you are doing. Many footballers retire in their thirties but that is not the end of 'em. ;-)Exactly, on my original post I said " retiring from motor homing" in my book that doesn't mean giving in on life in fact quite the opposite, the start of something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallii Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 I am in my mid 70s, if I take my 7 pills a day I am fit and healthy. My wife has some health issues and we won't go as far in future "expeditions". I was coerced into selling my motorbike (I am to old I was told), my Morgan sports car has gone, and I too have given up dinghy sailing (to cold when I fell in). I am hanging on to motorhoming with gritted teeth, I will not give up easily! I have had to accept that I am not allowed to buy a newer M/H so I will have to make this one last a few more years yet. Good luck Colin, I have booked a coach and hotel holiday for a week in May, just so we can give it a try, we might do a few more if we like it. Cruises on a boat have been mentioned, I have resisted so far but maybe in the future. Off to Spain (North) in late March until the end of April and we will visit some old haunts, maybe for the last time? Sad eh? :-( H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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