Motorhomes

[libspero]

As other have probably said, I think you will need to upgrade your license to a C1 (3.5 to 7.5 tonnes)

I'm not sure how involved this is.

I have some friends who are in the process of converting a transit van into a motor home.. looks very good. Not sure I'd want to live in it more than a month or two though.

[jimmyblueeyes]

Yes go for it, life is too short to think 'what if'. You can always come back.

We have spent lots of weeks in Scotland, Wales and Cornwall and two months in a campervan from Uk to Croatia. Currently prepping the van for another two month trip to Spain and N Italy, cant wait to leave.

We had a friend who took his young family to India and bought a campervan, traveled for weeks around the country - crazy roads but what an adventure!

Personally I would definitely reccomend a 'practice' weekend or two before you go just to iron out any niggles. You will have a long list of stuff to buy and it can add up but this can be done slowly. Amazon will deliver to campsites etc

I have never found England that great for 'wildcamping' but one or two nights by the coast or near National Parks somewhere is normally fine, especially outside of weekends.

Bon Voyage!

[Rave]

As other have probably said, I think you will need to upgrade your license to a C1 (3.5 to 7.5 tonnes)

I'm not sure how involved this is.

I have some friends who are in the process of converting a transit van into a motor home.. looks very good. Not sure I'd want to live in it more than a month or two though.

From my initial research it looks as if you can get a modest 4-berth motorhome within the 3.5t limit. I would like a 4-berth just so that any friends or family who fancy a weekend away can come and join us on the train wherever we may happen to be, there'll obviously just be the two of us in it most of the time. I don't want anything too massive as it will be a pain to park up in town. My initial thought was to do a home-built van conversion but I think that would be just a little too small for living in full time, and the depreciation on motorhomes seems to be very modest once they get to being 8-10 years old.

If I do end up having to get a C1 licence I'll just go straight to a proper Cat C, and I daresay it'll be the same as getting my Cat D- get a provisional, do some practice, then take theory and practical tests. As I say I'm a former bus driver so I'm used to driving a large vehicle.

Thank you everyone else for the helpful and encouraging posts/links!

[long time lurking]

\Worth looking on the continent for second hand vehicles http://www.mobile.de/?lang=en

[MrPin]

Looky here! If you can drive a bus, a van should present no challenge. I want a 40 foot Winnebago now!

[CunningPlan]

Handy hint. Get some golf clobber. If you look the part you can walk into most clubs and no one will notice you. The advantage is that most of them have very nice shower facilities - some even provide fluffy towels. I understand they have big mirrors and hairdryer etc in the ladies for a cheap spa day experience!

[Rave]

Handy hint. Get some golf clobber. If you look the part you can walk into most clubs and no one will notice you. The advantage is that most of them have very nice shower facilities - some even provide fluffy towels. I understand they have big mirrors and hairdryer etc in the ladies for a cheap spa day experience!

LOL thanks for the tip but blagging is not and will never be my forte, and TBH nor would I want it to be. I had a girlfriend in the sixth form at my private school; I was there because my mum was a teacher and got a 50% discount on the fees, she was there because her parents were loaded. Her mum was the lady captain of their posh golf club. I went there having gone out with the daughter for a year and grown my hair into curtains all the while, and it was pretty excruciating. I never got a proper explanation of why she dumped me 3 months before our A-levels, but I saw her looking pretty downcast with her one B and two Es on results day.

So sod golf people, I'd rather tip my cassette toilet down a roadside drain and shower under one of those 'leave them in the sun to warm up' shower bags. My wife won't like it but I quite fancy a return to my bin raiding days, TBH...hordes of desperate immigrants have completely ruined it in London but who knows what I'll find round the back of a charity shop or M&S Food in some posh provincial backwater...

[kevinl]

Have you thought about a narrowboat (barge) on the canal system, I've just go back from mine and sitting on the water with a log fire burning away is a much better proposition in the winter than a motorhome, much as I like motorhomes they can be difficult to keep warm. Marine diesel is only about 75p a litre (less if it's for heating) and mooring is free unless you go in a marina.

Have a look at Apollo Duck there's plenty on there for sale.

[CunningPlan]

Nothing wrong with blagging. When younger on very cheap holidays in tenerife we would walk in to a posh hotel and take the stairs to the first floor. Find a room with a 'do not disturb' sign up and note the room number.

Take lift down, stroll into restaurant announcing room 118 (or whatever) and have a very nice breakfast. Obviously only do this if breakfast is included - don't ever charge something to someone else's bill!

And I think you may have some golf issues... did you fancy the mother?

[Rave]

Have you thought about a narrowboat (barge) on the canal system, I've just go back from mine and sitting on the water with a log fire burning away is a much better proposition in the winter than a motorhome, much as I like motorhomes they can be difficult to keep warm. Marine diesel is only about 75p a litre (less if it's for heating) and mooring is free unless you go in a marina.

Have a look at Apollo Duck there's plenty on there for sale.

Thanks for the suggestion but no, far too restrictive. I'd quite like to spend this summer solstice (which is my birthday) at the tip of Scotland watching the sun just dip below the horizon, can't get to there or much of the rest of the beautiful bits of the UK on a canal boat.

In the medium term I'd love to own a modest house with a garage where I could install a home cinema and work on my trackday cars and bikes. In the short term it just is not going to happen hence my desire to bin the rat race for a bit and sod off.

[Rave]

Nothing wrong with blagging. When younger on very cheap holidays in tenerife we would walk in to a posh hotel and take the stairs to the first floor. Find a room with a 'do not disturb' sign up and note the room number.

Take lift down, stroll into restaurant announcing room 118 (or whatever) and have a very nice breakfast. Obviously only do this if breakfast is included - don't ever charge something to someone else's bill!

And I think you may have some golf issues... did you fancy the mother?

Eh, I don't know, my maternal Grandad was a farmer and my mum was their youngest and most spoilt kid. My dad used to go out and shoot us a rabbit for dinner when we went down to visit, I don't know what would have happened had he failed...I don't think he ever did but I guess it would have been boiled potatoes all round. My dad for all his faults was good with a shotgun.

I guess my objection, having rubbed up against the nouveau riche, is that I'd rather eat food out of a bin than have to put on a facade to fit in.

Blag them with my blessing; it's just not for me.

[CunningPlan]

You don't need to talk to them (in fact I would recommend keeping a healthy distance from most of them) but after a few weeks in a motor home a decent shower might be nice.

[MrPin]

Have you thought about a narrowboat (barge) on the canal system, I've just go back from mine and sitting on the water with a log fire burning away is a much better proposition in the winter than a motorhome, much as I like motorhomes they can be difficult to keep warm. Marine diesel is only about 75p a litre (less if it's for heating) and mooring is free unless you go in a marina.

Have a look at Apollo Duck there's plenty on there for sale.

Yes Kevin. I have thought about one many times. They are quite an expensive toy. One of my mates bought one new and fitted it out himself. I wouldn't buy a ready made floating gin palace for a bogload. Same with camper vans. A friend of mine bought a Volkswagen transporter van, and had it fitted out. Much cheaper than a ready made one, and you only pay for the facilities you need.

[Turned Out Nice Again]

Yes Kevin. I have thought about one many times. They are quite an expensive toy. One of my mates bought one new and fitted it out himself. I wouldn't buy a ready made floating gin palace for a bogload. Same with camper vans. A friend of mine bought a Volkswagen transporter van, and had it fitted out. Much cheaper than a ready made one, and you only pay for the facilities you need.

I've had a hankering to go travelling in a van since I was 17 or so. Never happened. Then I contemplated a vw transporter but if I was doing it now I'd probably plump for high roof Mercedes sprinter as there are a number of "stealth" conversion guides for these online. I'd keep it Spartan - simple captain's bed with ladder access, chemical portaloo, no kitchen /shower or built-in furniture - but a strong emphasis on insulation, heating and battery power for devices. Exterior decor would be some kind of bogus international courier branding with the aim of being invisible. Think TARDIS.

[winkie]

Traveling throughout Europe with a motorhome.....top of my to do list?

[MrPin]

Traveling throughout Europe with a motorhome.....top of my to do list?

Do it!

[winkie]

Do it!

I really do hope to do it.....in the not so distant future, an open road where everyday meet new people and see new places, do new things.....lots of research to do, but that is all part of the fun of doing it.....websites like the one mentioned earlier all help.....nothing ventured nothing gained.

[Turned Out Nice Again]

I've been thinking/ researching more about the whole stealth freedomVan concept and found this guide on converting your own Sprinter with just basic DIY skills:

http://www.sprinter-rv.com/sprinter-rv-conversion-sourcebook/

Although it's US-authored, it occurs to me that maybe that the UK climate is just about perfect for camper living - neither too cold in the winter nor too hot in the Summer (what summer?).

[Frank Hovis]

I've been thinking/ researching more about the whole stealth freedomVan concept and found this guide on converting your own Sprinter with just basic DIY skills:

http://www.sprinter-rv.com/sprinter-rv-conversion-sourcebook/

Although it's US-authored, it occurs to me that maybe that the UK climate is just about perfect for camper living - neither too cold in the winter nor too hot in the Summer (what summer?).

That looks like a brilliant book. I will remember this thread for the next time somebody asks what I want for a present.

[MrPin]

That looks like a brilliant book. I will remember this thread for the next time somebody asks what I want for a present.

Aren't you fed up with trucking, Frank?

[Frank Hovis]

Aren't you fed up with trucking, Frank?

Now, now Mr Pin.

I'd much rather buy an old van and have the fun of converting it than buy a £40k one with everything done. But I need an idiot's guide like that to tell me how to do it as I am.hugely impractical.

[MrPin]

Now, now Mr Pin.

I'd much rather buy an old van and have the fun of converting it than buy a £40k one with everything done. But I need an idiot's guide like that to tell me how to do it as I am.hugely impractical.

You are right there. You just need a bit of carpet and a bed! I am practical I am. You probably don't need an on board digital bidet,or a trombonium , which is a Latin word, for a place where you store brass instruments.

[long time lurking]

Now, now Mr Pin.

I'd much rather buy an old van and have the fun of converting it than buy a £40k one with everything done. But I need an idiot's guide like that to tell me how to do it as I am.hugely impractical.

https://wordery.com/build-your-own-motorcaravan-john-wickersham-9780857332813?currency=GBP&gtrck=dDkydnZ1UDBTRjhtY2VOb3MvUFBaRVhFSEg1UVhud1JJWXQ1ZDJkcUIrN0hiMkpuZ1Y4WHdYL3hLcU1SZU9kdldNODZIcVZ6c3lraVMrNDlleVNwaGc9PQ&gclid=CLWZ7YbMh8wCFcSRGwodyJEBAQ

Plenty of info here http://sbmcc.co.uk/build-info/plan-your-van/

[SNACR]

I've been thinking/ researching more about the whole stealth freedomVan concept and found this guide on converting your own Sprinter with just basic DIY skills:

http://www.sprinter-rv.com/sprinter-rv-conversion-sourcebook/

Although it's US-authored, it occurs to me that maybe that the UK climate is just about perfect for camper living - neither too cold in the winter nor too hot in the Summer (what summer?).

I think the stealth van has got more than a bit of a paedo vibe. Didn't Jimmy Savile like to live in a campervan in the BBC car park?

I think boats are where it's at. I suspect most women might view a bloke living on a boat, with his dog, as romantically appealing whilst similalrly viewing a bloke living in a van, with his dog, as a filthy gyppo barely better than a Big Issue seller.

[SNACR]

Aren't you fed up with trucking, Frank?

He can combine the two with a cheap ex retailer double decker trailer. Huge duplex apartment motorhome with electric lift as standard. I used to have some where the whole top deck raises and lowers which would make for interesting ground floor furnishing choices.