Why We Do what We Do...A Small Rant...

[PsychoticBadger]

Do you find yourself...trying to explain to those that cannot grasp the delight of jumping in a trip ready CV/MH as to why you have spent such money on what is essentially a vehicle ? Do you try to make them grasp that 10 £7000 or 20 £3500 holidays per year over 10 years just doesn't compare? Meeting a nice family abroad you may stay in touch with for a few years is in no way comparble to being part of a community of like minded folk who, if you are on site and think "bugger i forgot...."...will lead to offers of "i've a spare"? How a "wotcha" can lead too a sharing of thoughts and ideas?

I think the one of the best parts is leaving home, not in a taxi to waste a few hours at the airport suffering stress and worry but, as soon as you start the engine, in the van or MH that you are free. Free to go where you like, stop where you like, drink in the sights sounds and culture where you like, not be tied by expectation or convention. Having tickets and transfers and an itinerary seems as though you've surrendered eveything to someone else and i prefer to see what happens, what's around the corner, or hey, that looks fun.

Be it Europe or the Isles...be it 5 in the morning or afternoon...passing each other with a wave of the hand or a lift of the finger will speak volumes. It speaks of an idea, a thought, a minset. We are tavellers, the wanderers, the unfettered. Not for us the must go places but for us the places we want, the places that
will in one way or another make us feel a litle bit more complete.

So rejoice. Those that understand will nod and agree, those that don't will, though they will never know or understand though you explain will not listen nor understand if you do. The road is open, you're free to roam, go and see where it takes you.

 

[Northernraider]

Too many sherberts?

 

[Googlebot]

I was either getting a new tow car, or flogging the caravan and getting a Motorhome.

A decent newish tow car was 30k+, I flogged the caravan and got the current motorhome, never looked back.

Couldn’t find the tweezers the other day though.

 

[Nanniemate]

Too many sherberts?

My thoughts also . And on a school night

 

[Lenny HB]

Too many sherberts?

But a lot of truth in it.
130 nights in cheapish hotels plus all the other expenses that go with it probably about £15k a year, double that for decent hotels.
Motorhome depreciation and running costs around £3k to £5k a year.

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[Nirvanauk]

As someone said recently, owning a motorhome is a very expensive way of having a cheap holiday.

 

[Just smiffy]

I think that for the last 5 months I’ve been sitting in my little home on wheels on the sofa watching a TV travel program and now and again I immerse myself into the tv and step out of the van into a world away from my main home, if it’s not what I expect then I just travel onwards like fast forward to the next destination….

This trip has only really cost me the extra diesel and some cheep nights parked up and not much more then staying at home, what I’ve saved on electricity every day covers my nightly campsite fee at the moment, you’ve got to eat wherever you are so that expense cannot be taken into account…

Ferries are the only real cost but for the time I’ve spent away are fairly insignificant….

If I really added up the true extra cost in the last five months then if I stayed at home it’s probably cost somewhere around £2500…

 

[Lenny HB]

you’ve got to eat wherever you are so that expense cannot be taken into account…

Relavant though if staying in hotels you need to buy lunch and dinner out every day which ain't cheap. Last year we flew to Spain for a week, hotel served breakfast until 12 so only needed to buy one meal a day, still spent over €300 on food.

 

[Just smiffy]

Relavant though if staying in hotels you need to buy lunch and dinner out every day which ain't cheap. Last year we flew to Spain for a week, hotel served breakfast until 12 so only needed to buy one meal a day, still spent over €300 on food.

Yes mate and I’ve been eating out a fair bit too but only because it’s been so bloody cheep, at home one meal out pays for 4 here…

 

[Lenny HB]

Yes mate and I’ve been eating out a fair bit too but only because it’s been so bloody cheep, at home one meal out pays for 4 here…

We eat out a lot in Spain & Portugal because it's so cheap compared to the UK but even then if its every day it gets expensive.

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[Just smiffy]

We eat out a lot in Spain & Portugal because it's so cheap compared to the UK but even then if its every day it gets expensive.

I usually eat out around 2 times a week when away…

 

[nicholsong]

Too many sherberts?

My thoughts also . And on a school night

Well, 10 people have appreciated the OP's post in just a couple of hours, whereas you two have had no likes, so far.


I could have written similar to the OP about my boat. I had it for 28 years and the MH for 16 years(some 6 years overlap ) - both cost around £25K and both have given me enormous pleasure, especially because of the freedom.

 

[Lenny HB]

I usually eat out around 2 times a week when away…

Used to be 1 to 2 times a week but seems to have gone up to 3 to 4 times now, except in France where it's flipping expensive.

 

[Just smiffy]

Used to be 1 to 2 times a week but seems to have gone up to 3 to 4 times now, except in France where it's flipping expensive.

Yeah although I love France I’m finding it very expensive there now, it’s a good job accommodation costs are zero…

 

[sedge]

Me? I'm on holiday when I slam the house front door to leave for wherever we're going this time, ie pretty relaxed.

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[EuroTrotters]

You forgot all the arseache that goes with it.

Jealous neighbours at home, or on site. Storage problems. Motorhome haters on the road. Constant leaks, breakages, technical issues. Insurance costs and issues. Poor availability of parts. Parking issues, height barriers, reduced ferry routes, increasing ferry/crossing costs. European access limits….UK Site fees !

It’s not as enjoyable for us as it was 20+ years ago.

 

[L' Hobo]

You forgot all the arseache that goes with it.

Jealous neighbours at home, or on site. Storage problems. Motorhome haters on the road. Constant leaks, breakages, technical issues. Insurance costs and issues. Poor availability of parts. Parking issues, height barriers, reduced ferry routes, increasing ferry/crossing costs. European access limits….UK Site fees !

It’s not as enjoyable for us as it was 20+ years ago.

No-ones jealous of us poor Hobos!

(I wouldn't have it any other way!)

 

[Jane NotRog]

For us, going away in winter can be very cost effective - not having to heat a large, old house is quite a benefit!

But the real benefit to me is having your own place with you all the time. Your favourite tea, with your favourite fat-level of milk, made by your favourite husband. A decent mattress, rather than some awful hotel relic. The only pillow you can actually sleep well with.

And then you can open the door to this home from home to be in the mountains in Slovakia, or on a beach in Estonia, or to walk out to dinner in Cadiz, or go food-shopping in Beaune, or see the sights of Marrakesh, or, or, or…

Also, the van is somewhere we can leave the dog in the evening and he’s happy because it’s home and he knows we’ll come back. Flynn is a rescue and was abandoned many times as a pup. He used to scream the house down if we left him alone for just a few minutes, Hotel rooms remained a nightmare even after we’d cured his separation anxiety at home

Once in Scotland, we were sitting having breakfast in a B&B when I spotted a dog very like Flynn heading up the street to the harbour. Oh, it was Flynn! He’d walked out of the first floor bedroom onto a ledge and then jumped to the ground!

 

[Northernraider]

But a lot of truth in it.
130 nights in cheapish hotels plus all the other expenses that go with it probably about £15k a year, double that for decent hotels.
Motorhome depreciation and running costs around £3k to £5k a year.

Well, 10 people have appreciated the OP's post in just a couple of hours, whereas you two have had no likes, so far.


I could have written similar to the OP about my boat. I had it for 28 years and the MH for 16 years(some 6 years overlap ) - both cost around £25K and both have given me enormous pleasure, especially because of the freedom.

cmon eh .

I bought my first camper aged 18 , in 1991.
I've had a camper,caravan,motorhome in my life ever since . ....and now I live in one the last 7 years. I'm now 52 so that's 35 years.



I didn't say there wasn't any truth in anything the op wrote .


But it was a bit gushy or emo as the young uns say now



But I have to admit I don't get the same feelings or enjoyment out of it like I did years ago. It's different when it's not just a holiday

 

[Nanniemate]

cmon eh .

I bought my first camper aged 18 , in 1991.
I've had a camper,caravan,motorhome in my life ever since . ....and now I live in one the last 7 years. I'm now 52 so that's 35 years.



I didn't say there wasn't any truth in anything the op wrote .


But it was a bit gushy or emo as the young uns say now



But I have to admit I don't get the same feelings or enjoyment out of it like I did years ago. It's different when it's not just a holiday

We all.use them differently 10 x £7000 holidays a year when the average UK wage is under £30,000

They say if your hobby is your job you'll never work a day

When a Hobby becomes a perminate lifestyle its no longer a hobby.

I think full timing must be hard work.especally with the weather lately. I don't think.i could do it. I like my tumble dryer too much ....

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[steve69]

Some things in life just cannot be measured in mere money.
Motorhoming is one of them.

 

[Nanniemate]

Some things in life just cannot be measured in mere money.
Motorhoming is one of them.

I've never worked out how much it actually costs. I don't know what it does to the gallon
I do know I can afford it , not have to worry about depreciation and don't know which of will last longer me or the van.
When it falls apart or I decide I've had enough the fun had, places and people that I have met priceless
The van will be just another vehicle i owned the registration number I won't even remember..

 

[bobnick]

If we go to any one place for more than 3/4 days we go apartment self catering whenever possible.

 

[carolyn]

For us having a Motorhome is great but it hasn’t stopped us doing other sorts of holidays at all and I don’t look at it as a way of saving money. We’re on our 4th van in 14 years and 3 have been brand new so I don’t think I’ll look at how much we’ve spent! We don’t eat out every night when we’re away. Just a mixture like always. Prices have gone up like at home.

Travelling in the van is certainly more relaxing than Airport travel but even that is worth the hassle. I always pay extra for decent parking & airport lounges to take the stress out of it. It’s always worth those extra few quid, especially when you get back to Heathrow and don’t have to start catching buses to hunt your car down.

 

[bobnick]

Airport, flying time etc etc is a very small percentage of a lets say 4/6 week "holiday".
And with a rental car or indeed if you have travelled to your destination in your own you can "get about".
BTW i hate airports.

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[dunnah01]

We just enjoy the fact the motorhome is the cheapest way of life for us right now. We have saved about £100k in house rental since we moved full time into the Moho so it's more than paid for itself but it also now serves as a mobile hotel when we feel like a break. It also allows us to renovate our house at our own speed so we stay on the ladder and hopefully add significant value to it.

 

[nicholsong]

You forgot all the arseache that goes with it.

Jealous neighbours at home, or on site. Storage problems. Motorhome haters on the road. Constant leaks, breakages, technical issues. Insurance costs and issues. Poor availability of parts. Parking issues, height barriers, reduced ferry routes, increasing ferry/crossing costs. European access limits….UK Site fees !

It’s not as enjoyable for us as it was 20+ years ago.

Fortunately almost none of those things apply to our MHoming.

 

[Gaston aires]

You either like the life or you don’t. As for us I like waking up in a different and sometimes beautiful place taking in the view first thing. The greatest view we ever had was in Arizona, see photo. This was just a small part of gooseneck canyon it was so vast I couldn’t get it in the photo. We were the only ones parked up for the night.
Phil melens

 

[L' Hobo]

You either like the life or you don’t. As for us I like waking up in a different and sometimes beautiful place taking in the view first thing. The greatest view we ever had was in Arizona, see photo. This was just a small part of gooseneck canyon it was so vast I couldn’t get it in the photo. We were the only ones parked up for the night.
Phil melens
View attachment 1030276

Strange how pictures remind one, I had taken a group on a January Ski trip to Val-d'isere and, while they were having lunch after a hard morning on the sloped, I decided that I would tackle a Black route without them.
Most of the slopes were devoid of people and I was by myself, surrounded by silence and mountains.
I stood at the top of this route, contemplating IF I should do it by myself when this strange feeling came over me.

Surrounded by all this mountain majesty, I felt about 6 INCHES tall!
All it would have taken was a chunk of rock, or avalanche, to breakaway from above me and I could have been lost forever.

Your picture reminds me of that experience.

Nature had gouged out that canyon and left it fascinating, could man I wonder?

 

[Oldrat]

“Do you try to make them grasp that 10 £7000 or 20 £3500 holidays per year over 10 years just doesn't compare?”

Hmmm
That’s £700,000 and £700,000 in 10 years.

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