- Aug 22, 2017
- 829
- 1,946
- Funster No
- 50,136
- MH
- Wildax Europa PVC
- Exp
- Since 2014 -- cycle-camper before that
After lurking for many a while soaking up all the fine advice on this forum -- and the little bit of poor advice 
-- it is time to pony up (as they say in the capital, I believe).
Following many years as devotees of the canvas, three years ago we decided we were getting a bit long in the tooth for such deprivations and a motorhome beckoned.
For a while we would just strap a ridge tent to the push-bike and ride onto the ferry bound for France -- for the occasional trip further afield we bought an ex-Gas-Board van for £700 and slung the tent and a barbie in the back.
Mind you, having said we'd given up the canvas, we did spend a night in a ridge tent at minus 20 degrees C on an Icelandic glacier just a couple of years ago, so we are not quite cured of the habit. We survived thanks to our Norwegian army sleeping bags (good down to minus 30). And we have had a few trips to the Arctic at about minus 40, so we are not exactly sunseekers.
Our preference for more rufty-tufty holidays also informed our choice of van. We decided on a panel van conversion so that it was narrow enough to get to most of the off-the-beaten-track places we could reach in a car. It would also be easier to park at home. However, it also needed to be large enough to live in for at least a month without us killing each other. Given our penchant for cold holidays, it also needed to be relatively well winterised.
After a fair bit of online research and visits to a few shows, we opted for a Wildax Europa -- based on a Renault Master base vehicle, 6.128 meters in length. We did look at the German Globecar/Poessl range (the sliding door flyscreen was good!), but we prefer to support the UK economy. We buy UK-made furniture -- twice the price of Chinese-made but it lasts forever and the makers will re-cover when you wear out the fabric. However, as a country we don't seem to make a lot of things these days, so the white goods have to be German! The choice of a good UK van converter also gave us the advantage of choosing the base vehicle options and allowing us to tweak the design for the conversion to better suit our needs. They did also put up with some last-minute changes of mind like adding solar panels (and an alarm to satisfy the insurers). Dealing with the converter directly also cuts out a level when it comes to snagging and warranty fixes. On handover day Wildax book you into a local campsite so that you can identify any issue/questions and get them sorted immediately. We only discovered one snagging issue that day, which they fixed straightaway. We had a couple of minor issues that surfaced in the next few weeks that were also sorted quickly.
Still being employed, unlike all the retirees we have met on our travels, it can be hard to find the time to get out in the van. For the past couple of years we have managed to save up all our holidays to allow us to spend a month travelling over the Christmas / New Year period when business is slack. On both of those occasions we have taken the ferry to Bilbao and toured Spain and Portugal. Last time we did about 3,000-odd miles. We tend to spend most of the time in the mountains at sub-zero temperatures hiking and biking with the occasional descent to the coast to bask in the circa 20 degrees C!
When abroad we tend to use aires (both free and payable) for one-night stays and campsites for stays of two to three days, the latter especially when travelling into cities by bike or train (or doing the laundry!).
When travelling in the UK we like to use the 5-van CL/CS type of sites (we only need a field!) and have used a few Britstops too. Our trips in Britain usually have a purpose in mind, like attending a music event, sporting fixture, museum, etc.
-- it is time to pony up (as they say in the capital, I believe).Following many years as devotees of the canvas, three years ago we decided we were getting a bit long in the tooth for such deprivations and a motorhome beckoned.
For a while we would just strap a ridge tent to the push-bike and ride onto the ferry bound for France -- for the occasional trip further afield we bought an ex-Gas-Board van for £700 and slung the tent and a barbie in the back.
Mind you, having said we'd given up the canvas, we did spend a night in a ridge tent at minus 20 degrees C on an Icelandic glacier just a couple of years ago, so we are not quite cured of the habit. We survived thanks to our Norwegian army sleeping bags (good down to minus 30). And we have had a few trips to the Arctic at about minus 40, so we are not exactly sunseekers.
Our preference for more rufty-tufty holidays also informed our choice of van. We decided on a panel van conversion so that it was narrow enough to get to most of the off-the-beaten-track places we could reach in a car. It would also be easier to park at home. However, it also needed to be large enough to live in for at least a month without us killing each other. Given our penchant for cold holidays, it also needed to be relatively well winterised.
After a fair bit of online research and visits to a few shows, we opted for a Wildax Europa -- based on a Renault Master base vehicle, 6.128 meters in length. We did look at the German Globecar/Poessl range (the sliding door flyscreen was good!), but we prefer to support the UK economy. We buy UK-made furniture -- twice the price of Chinese-made but it lasts forever and the makers will re-cover when you wear out the fabric. However, as a country we don't seem to make a lot of things these days, so the white goods have to be German! The choice of a good UK van converter also gave us the advantage of choosing the base vehicle options and allowing us to tweak the design for the conversion to better suit our needs. They did also put up with some last-minute changes of mind like adding solar panels (and an alarm to satisfy the insurers). Dealing with the converter directly also cuts out a level when it comes to snagging and warranty fixes. On handover day Wildax book you into a local campsite so that you can identify any issue/questions and get them sorted immediately. We only discovered one snagging issue that day, which they fixed straightaway. We had a couple of minor issues that surfaced in the next few weeks that were also sorted quickly.
Still being employed, unlike all the retirees we have met on our travels, it can be hard to find the time to get out in the van. For the past couple of years we have managed to save up all our holidays to allow us to spend a month travelling over the Christmas / New Year period when business is slack. On both of those occasions we have taken the ferry to Bilbao and toured Spain and Portugal. Last time we did about 3,000-odd miles. We tend to spend most of the time in the mountains at sub-zero temperatures hiking and biking with the occasional descent to the coast to bask in the circa 20 degrees C!
When abroad we tend to use aires (both free and payable) for one-night stays and campsites for stays of two to three days, the latter especially when travelling into cities by bike or train (or doing the laundry!).
When travelling in the UK we like to use the 5-van CL/CS type of sites (we only need a field!) and have used a few Britstops too. Our trips in Britain usually have a purpose in mind, like attending a music event, sporting fixture, museum, etc.
& welcome to fun. 
