Travel to Europe, should we shouldn't we

Ian.s

Ian.s

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We have a trip planned June, July and August. France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Holland and home. With the war, possible fuel shortages etc would you go. We have until the middle of May for balances to be paid on some of the pre booked destinations. From a moral point of view should we go and support the local economies or stay. Before anyone says "stay and support uk campsites and economy" thats not going to be an issue, uk parks will be booked main season twice over. I suppose its a moral dilemma..............
 
Life is short.
If budget it tight then reconsider, if not do it when you can.
We've had a s*t two years, and who knows what is round the corner. IMO its time for "me time" - next year it could be a lot worse, so do it when you can.

However pre booking (!) whats this madness?! Long trips where you get to the mainland then consider which direction you are heading is more the way to go :)
 
LesW said:
I would go, the beauty of motorhome travel is the ability to change or alter any plans made.

Other than the Channel crossing, we never book anywhere.
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Same here, just have a rough idea of where we want to go then head that way.

Not sure why the OP is in a dilemma life is to live, a lot of people are not here after the last 2 years and you never know if you will be here next year, we certainly are going unless things change drastically and even then its only the Ferry fare we would lose.
 
We are going to Spain, with the motorhome, for six weeks starting tomorrow.

We have a further m/h tour of Italy booked for September/October.

We also have a “fly off” hotel holiday to Croatia booked for June.

Life is too short not to take the opportunities when they arise.

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All we need now is for Europe to remove all the remaining covid restrictions. We travel 1st May to Spain. Can't be doing with landing forms, masks etc. Rumour was it would all end for Easter but so far it's very quiet.
 
activecampers said:
Life is short.
If budget it tight then reconsider, if not do it when you can.
We've had a s*t two years, and who knows what is round the corner. IMO its time for "me time" - next year it could be a lot worse, so do it when you can.

However pre booking (!) whats this madness?! Long trips where you get to the mainland then consider which direction you are heading is more the way to go :)
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I agree with the point south and go method and have in fact done that on all other trips. The problem now is the number of MHs doing the same thing. We struggled back in February in Spain. This will be the first pre booked trip in years. I hope the sun follows me round
 
Ian.s said:
I agree with the point south and go method and have in fact done that on all other trips. The problem now is the number of MHs doing the same thing. We struggled back in February in Spain. This will be the first pre booked trip in years. I hope the sun follows me round
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Problem is if the sun does not follow you??? Thats why we never book, off Ferry/Train then look at the forecast and head for the sun.
 
Never book anything and don't pay too far in advance if they insist on payment when you have tunnel or ferry reservations. Choose your first destination as you drive onto the other side.

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The only sites I book are in the UK and Paris, they get busy at the times I want to be there. Otherwise we just wing it, don't usually know where we are going anyway.
 
gpat said:
All we need now is for Europe to remove all the remaining covid restrictions. We travel 1st May to Spain. Can't be doing with landing forms, masks etc. Rumour was it would all end for Easter but so far it's very quiet.
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Check Spanish restrictions right up to departure day...the Government has not relaxed as much as the UK has..
 
Ian.s said:
I agree with the point south and go method and have in fact done that on all other trips. The problem now is the number of MHs doing the same thing. We struggled back in February in Spain. This will be the first pre booked trip in years. I hope the sun follows me round
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Was an exceptional winter here in Spain...
 
Ian.s said:
We have a trip planned June, July and August. France, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Germany, Holland and home. With the war, possible fuel shortages etc would you go. We have until the middle of May for balances to be paid on some of the pre booked destinations. From a moral point of view should we go and support the local economies or stay. Before anyone says "stay and support uk campsites and economy" thats not going to be an issue, uk parks will be booked main season twice over. I suppose its a moral dilemma..............
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I am not sure what is the problem: you mention war and possible fuel shortages, which is a remote possibility; then moral point about supporting the local economies.

The fuel is a consideration aside from any moral dilemma.

I do not think that the economies of the countries you mention need any support at present and wonder why you think that?

Therefore I cannot see any 'moral dilemma'

Geoff

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WESTY66 said:
I know you’re right, but for those of us still grafting it seems light years away👍
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We've all been in your position... grafted until retirement....it soon passes as does our retirement years.....followed by a really long vacation in a place not known to any of us...😀👍🇪🇦
 
nicholsong said:
I am not sure what is the problem: you mention war and possible fuel shortages, which is a remote possibility; then moral point about supporting the local economies.

The fuel is a consideration aside from any moral dilemma.

I do not think that the economies of the countries you mention need any support at present and wonder why you think that?

Therefore I cannot see any 'moral dilemma'

Geoff
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There is no problem, I suppose my consideration was living a gin and tonic life style while others struggle. All countries require support all the time and every little helps. Even our very own affluent country will require continued support. although you have answered my original thought and don't see any moral dilemma.... Off I go then
 
Although we usually consider our eventual destination (if we have one) plans are usually limited to making sure things like car MoT/servicing and bill payments are sorted, then the only booking is for the Chunnel crossing. When we first started Bren was very nervous about "where are we going to sleep tonight/" etc. but after the first couple of stops that went away and now every trip is an adventure.

ADVENTURE BEFORE DEMENTIA as our bumper sticker says!
 
We are doing more or less the same trip starting end of April but adding in Holland to see the bulb flower show. During the planning stage before the break out of the Ukrainian war, we were looking to head to Poland and Hungary. We took that off the list, not because fearing the war but those countries have enough on their plates helping those getting out of Ukraine, they will not want a guy with a camera walking round, so another year for that trip.You must go, you will be able to adapt to any changing circumstances. Yes fuel has gone up. I have worked out the approximate milage that we intend to travel and priced the milage with the fuel at around £1.75 per ltr through the trip. So that is around a 25p increase since prices started going up. So that's the inflation, the price of groceries are the same wherever ever you go. Everywhere needs a injection of spending from the tourist, wherever we go ~I am sure we will be welcome. Only run your tank to half that way if you need to up sticks to get somewhere you normally will have ample fuel to make the trip.

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Ian.s said:
There is no problem, I suppose my consideration was living a gin and tonic life style while others struggle. All countries require support all the time and every little helps. Even our very own affluent country will require continued support. although you have answered my original thought and don't see any moral dilemma.... Off I go then
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Its a tough call, we love Asia and spend months backpacking, and next trip is India.
Look at the news at what is happening in Sri Lanka. We were there for a month a couple of years ago, and used homestays - and 90% said they used our money ($10-15) for a good ensuite room with food etc to pay for their kids private schooling. So the money you spend does real good. 2 years of shutdown and I fear how they all are now and the news suggests major struggles without foreign money.
As for EU, I'm not sure they are quite in the same bracket, but they all love tourist money!
 
Go. Definitely go.
It is so tempting to follow the advice and wing it, but our experience so far, is that many sites in France (less so in Italy) are already pretty full. We always use sites and we always book in advance. We have one site booked for Whitsun and eight sites for a long trip in August.

Re : derv. As said by funsters above, fill the tank when it gets down to half.

But definitely go! :hot:😎☀️🍺🍷🍹
 
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I don't see why you wouldn't go. You can always find a reason not to travel.

We set off 24th June. 89 days wandering France 1 day spare incase we forget to come home.

1 campsite booked for most of August mainly because most of that is paid for from 2 years ago before we gave up work and they have honoured the payment we made pre covid otherwise we would not bother booking.

Go and enjoy. No pockets in shrouds:france: :sun:
 
GO!

We have been in France / Spain since November, whilst prices of fuel have risen in that time, we have not experienced any issues with supply, even with the hauliers strike here in Spain. The Spanish govt. have just reduced the fuel price by 20c a litre, so lets hope others follow suit too
 
MichaelT said:
Same here, just have a rough idea of where we want to go then head that way.

Not sure why the OP is in a dilemma life is to live, a lot of people are not here after the last 2 years and you never know if you will be here next year, we certainly are going unless things change drastically and even then its only the Ferry fare we would lose.
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We do exactly the same apart from one difference - we have a rough idea of where we want to go but invariably as soon as we get off the Tunnel it all changes and the whole holiday becomes a mystery tour😂. Have missed this freedom soooo much over the last two years.
 
maison said:
We are going to Spain, with the motorhome, for six weeks starting tomorrow.
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It's been snowing around Malaga, coastal damage around Torrevija due to high winds and is currently pouring with rain where I am at Bigastro, although it's due to clear up a bit over the next few days I would keep a keen eye on the weather forecast and be ready to change plans at short notice if I were you.
 
ChrisL said:
It's been snowing around Malaga, coastal damage around Torrevija due to high winds and is currently pouring with rain where I am at Bigastro, although it's due to clear up a bit over the next few days I would keep a keen eye on the weather forecast and be ready to change plans at short notice if I were you.
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I don’t know if that deserves a thank you or a two finger salute.:cool:

We land on Thursday and are going to take a week or ten days to reach the Malaga area where we will visit friends.

We are really looking forward to the trip and promise we won’t blame you for any adverse weather conditions…..



…….we’ll not much, anyway.;)


Enjoy the rest of your trip!(y)
 
maison said:
I don’t know if that deserves a thank you or a two finger salute.:cool:

We land on Thursday and are going to take a week or ten days to reach the Malaga area where we will visit friends.

We are really looking forward to the trip and promise we won’t blame you for any adverse weather conditions…..



…….we’ll not much, anyway.;)


Enjoy the rest of your trip!(y)
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Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, I can imagine how much you're looking forward to your trip, but on the bright side i'm heading back North from Monday and if my luck so far is anything to go by the weather will follow me home so you should be good :giggle:

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