Motorhoming: it’s brilliant! – Who knew?!!!

If you’d said to me three years ago that I’d be driving a 3.5 tonne, right-hand drive, 7m long vehicle on the ‘wrong’ side of the road around Europe, I’d have laughed & laughed & laughed.

However, that’s just what I’ve been doing with my husband & 2 dogs for around 12 weeks every year for the last 3 years — & we love it!

Initially the dogs were not so keen, but they’ve grown to love it too. Bumpy roads & tight corners can lead to crockery sliding around in cupboards, making it a little noisy for them. Not to mention my driving over an unnoticed speed bump far too fast, when everything in the van leapt up a foot before crashing back down! Well, you live & learn — so now everything is carefully stacked by shape & size to keep movement to a minimum, with any gaps plugged with tea towels.

Motorhomes are so well designed, with nooks & crannies into which you can put so many things. We even have a second double bed that the uninitiated would never find. All in all, motorhomes make a very comfortable living space with virtually all home comforts, & once you learn the ropes of travelling in them, it makes a great holiday. In fact, once you’re packed up & drive away from your front door, the holiday begins straight away. There is a calmness, just gently driving along. There is no option to be a boy racer in a motorhome, so you keep to the inside lane, don’t get stressed, & arrive at your destination whenever you get there.

Adding to the mix the privilege of being retired, when time is not short, we are able to spend many weeks away with just a meagre plan that slowly unfolds as we go along.

Our aim on buying ‘Priscilla’ (Queen of the Desert!) was to see more of the UK, but after 223 nights away we’ve actually spent 83% of our time in Europe: France a lot, but also Germany, Holland, Luxembourg, Spain & Portugal. We’ve also done the mandatory North Coast 500, circling the coastlines of Scotland. It’s all beautiful, interesting, different & exciting — & all from the comfort that Priscilla provides.

The initial romantic idea of driving along the open road with only freedom on your mind quickly passed. It’s too difficult to just park up somewhere & sleep the night away. Priscilla does her best when plugged into the electricity grid & we like that. Nonetheless, we only plan 2 nights ahead, which means if we find an area we love & want to stay longer we can, or if the weather is unexpectedly good, then we don’t leave.

Life is relaxed with some sightseeing, lots of reading, home cooking & dog walking. There might be the occasional glass of wine, but we’ll make that our secret.

We’ve met many different people, as you can imagine. Some UK couples we met have sold their homes & travelled to many different countries, juggling their 90 days in a rolling 180 days — the rules imposed by Brexit. Consequently, they just pop over to Morocco for a month (€9/night), & return to Europe for more excursions. We’ve met Dutch folk who live on a barge in Amsterdam, a Londoner whose father’s pallbearer was a famous bank robber(!), & lots of French, Dutch & Germans.

In Barcelona, whilst having a pavement café lunch, we watched countless people of countless nationalities walking by. Initially it was interesting to guess their country of origin, but what struck me more was how different people look from each other, & how they share similarities with their fellow nationals. These looks are so different from people in the UK: different sizes, different shapes & very different colours — but all diverse. You cannot assume to know anything about any of these people, but of course God sees them, knows them & loves them just as He does us. We are all part of His creation.

After all this travel I was hoping to be multilingual, but most people prefer to speak English rather than have the pain of listening to my broken French. My linguistics are improving, which is necessary, as not everyone in France speaks English — especially away from the cities.

On many occasions we’ve arrived in a French town only to discover that there is some kind of fiesta happening. We’ve enjoyed a medieval celebration in Rouen where the whole town dresses up, dances, shows medieval-style building, sells jewellery & medieval clothes, & just has fun. We’ve been to food festivals, music festivals, & châteaux with music in their grounds. We are often surprised. It’s a great spontaneous experience.

We thought we’d be bored with this form of travel after a couple of years, but we’re now into our fourth year. We’ve upgraded the motorhome (still called Priscilla), & we feel like we’ve not scratched the surface of places to go. Maybe Italy next year, then Croatia perhaps.

It can be a little bit disjointed for home life when being away a lot, & often I miss things happening in church & other aspects of life, but it’s important to have a varied experience of the wonderful world we live in.

All in all I’m ‘living the dream!’

The fraternity that is motorhoming results in the mandatory wave to other passing Moho’s, so feel free to be an honorary member & give us all a wave as you pass by!!

Got to go now — the ferry is about to sail!