After 11 years on the road, I am no longer a fulltimer. A few of you know that last May, David and I bought a house in Slovenia. We then promptly had to leave the country as our 90 Schengen days in 180 was about to run out. Returning to the UK in June we had to wait for the house to be entered on the Slovenian land register before we could apply for residency. This took longer than anticipated but finally in mid-October we were able to visit the Slovenian Embassy in London to hand in our application and supporting paperwork. The following week we set off in the motorhome on our journey back to Slovenia to move into our house - at that stage effectively a holiday home. Today we collected our residence permits and identity cards - Slovenia is now officially our home. 
Thinking back on 11 years of fulltiming has brought many memories to the fore. Overnight I went from driving a Honda Jazz to an 8.3m Burstner Elegance 821 called 'The Beastie'. It was both scary and exhilarating to be driving my new home back from Nottingham to High Wycombe - on a day of extreme high winds.
After a few weeks spent in a farmer's field kitting out the van to my satisfaction, I set off for my first Fun rally at the 2011 Peterborough Motorhome Show. As I drove onto the showground, the first Funster I met was the legendary JJ - thank you, sir, for taking me under your wing. At that show I also met Karl Gromett another fulltimer who was to become a good friend. That Fun rally was only the first of many. Over the years I have enjoyed listening to the Funster Band, and Janine & Barry playing ukulele, Elvis, the delicious Jacob's Table feasts and shared meals, group walks with our dogs, playing Tri-ominoes with Amanda Ambilkate, the Royal Wedding Funster Olympics including Fray Bentos Pie Rolling, singing along to 'King of the Road' and 'that other song'
, drowning out Joe Pasquale at Lincoln, the sea of mud that was Peterborough Show in 2012 (and being one of the few to drive off the field under their own steam - and with a tag axle! 
). I am particularly grateful for the social support that has been offered by so many Funsters over the years. There really are too many of you to give everyone a shout out - but special mention must be made of JockandRita who helped me so much when that first Burstner developed a vibration issue, and also Jane catspyjamas who shares my enthusiasm for boardgames. Then, of course, there is our esteemed leader himself Jim 
, who made this great social network possible in the first place and who is a lovely guy (even if we don't agree on a few political issues!).
Throughout the 11 years there have been various trials and tribulations - life on the road is not always easy. Fulltiming offers one type of freedom but also has its own set of difficulties, usually caused by bureaucracy. The nature of fulltiming has itself changed over those 11 years. When I started out, fulltiming meant keeping under the radar, not drawing attention to yourself. Over the past few years 'van life' has emerged with all its attendant social media. Certainly not all aspects of 'van life' are detrimental but it is not something with which I can readily identify. Probably the most difficult period for fulltimers as a group was the first Covid lockdown. Knee-jerk reactions from both the CMC and the C&CC resulted in many fulltimers being told to leave campsites - but where were they supposed to go? A few of us stood our ground and after a while the CMC relented and made special provision for fulltimers. The C&CC never did - and it has been remembered.
So, back to Slovenia. Our new home is in a small rural community called Bizeljsko, set within the Kozjanski Regional Park, close to the border with Croatia. It is an area of rolling hills and vineyards, with views across the Pannonian Plain. Our new neighbours are all kind and helpful, and we have been made to feel very welcome here. I have started to learn Slovenian (a difficult language!) but English is the second language in many parts of Slovenia, so many people here speak that too (albeit mainly those under 40). Obviously it is early days yet but we feel we are going to be happy here. Throughout my life I have always tended to jump in at the deep end (it's what led me into fulltiming in the first place) so a move to a foreign country is not exactly out of character. It is, however, the start of a new era ........
Thinking back on 11 years of fulltiming has brought many memories to the fore. Overnight I went from driving a Honda Jazz to an 8.3m Burstner Elegance 821 called 'The Beastie'. It was both scary and exhilarating to be driving my new home back from Nottingham to High Wycombe - on a day of extreme high winds.
After a few weeks spent in a farmer's field kitting out the van to my satisfaction, I set off for my first Fun rally at the 2011 Peterborough Motorhome Show. As I drove onto the showground, the first Funster I met was the legendary JJ - thank you, sir, for taking me under your wing. At that show I also met Karl Gromett another fulltimer who was to become a good friend. That Fun rally was only the first of many. Over the years I have enjoyed listening to the Funster Band, and Janine & Barry playing ukulele, Elvis, the delicious Jacob's Table feasts and shared meals, group walks with our dogs, playing Tri-ominoes with Amanda Ambilkate, the Royal Wedding Funster Olympics including Fray Bentos Pie Rolling, singing along to 'King of the Road' and 'that other song', drowning out Joe Pasquale at Lincoln, the sea of mud that was Peterborough Show in 2012 (and being one of the few to drive off the field under their own steam - and with a tag axle! ). I am particularly grateful for the social support that has been offered by so many Funsters over the years. There really are too many of you to give everyone a shout out - but special mention must be made of JockandRita who helped me so much when that first Burstner developed a vibration issue, and also Jane catspyjamas who shares my enthusiasm for boardgames. Then, of course, there is our esteemed leader himself Jim , who made this great social network possible in the first place and who is a lovely guy (even if we don't agree on a few political issues!).Throughout the 11 years there have been various trials and tribulations - life on the road is not always easy. Fulltiming offers one type of freedom but also has its own set of difficulties, usually caused by bureaucracy. The nature of fulltiming has itself changed over those 11 years. When I started out, fulltiming meant keeping under the radar, not drawing attention to yourself. Over the past few years 'van life' has emerged with all its attendant social media. Certainly not all aspects of 'van life' are detrimental but it is not something with which I can readily identify. Probably the most difficult period for fulltimers as a group was the first Covid lockdown. Knee-jerk reactions from both the CMC and the C&CC resulted in many fulltimers being told to leave campsites - but where were they supposed to go? A few of us stood our ground and after a while the CMC relented and made special provision for fulltimers. The C&CC never did - and it has been remembered.
So, back to Slovenia. Our new home is in a small rural community called Bizeljsko, set within the Kozjanski Regional Park, close to the border with Croatia. It is an area of rolling hills and vineyards, with views across the Pannonian Plain. Our new neighbours are all kind and helpful, and we have been made to feel very welcome here. I have started to learn Slovenian (a difficult language!) but English is the second language in many parts of Slovenia, so many people here speak that too (albeit mainly those under 40). Obviously it is early days yet but we feel we are going to be happy here. Throughout my life I have always tended to jump in at the deep end (it's what led me into fulltiming in the first place) so a move to a foreign country is not exactly out of character. It is, however, the start of a new era ........
apart from Janie getting very ill trying to drink Lake Bled 
, and its been on our must return list since. 
getting away from the same old day in and day out, we have made and are still making new memories and not a day passes without thinking how lucky we are. 
Bob Janie and Izzy.
