In Between Motorhome Tours – Costs to Prepare
Our only certainty is we’ll arrive at Calais and want to reach North Cape – in between who knows!!
I often wondered what fellow motorhome travellers did when they came back to the UK with the intention to head out again in a few weeks. Now I know, well, for us at least! This is what we’ve been up to since new year, getting ourselves geared up for a tour this year which should see us from the Alps to the Med and up to the North Cape in Norway:
- Zagan (our 2001 Hymer B544 motorhome) has been fettled. Full service and MOT, replacement cambelt and water pump and fixed temperature gauge. Total cost £1150. Not cheap, but the next 2 or 3 annual services should be much cheaper now the timing belt’s out of the way.
- After a bit of a saga choosing which tyres to go for, four Michelin Agilis Camping M+S-marked tyres are on order and will be fitted on our way down to the ferry next Wed. Cost including fitting: £499.
- We’ve replaced one of the freezer door hinges, which had cracked and was causing my beer to freeze. Unacceptable. Cost: £22.56.
- We’ve bought a set of ten G4 LEDs to replace some of the high-wattage bulbs in Zagan. I originally ordered 6W ‘bulbs’ but these turned out to be physically too big (my error – didn’t read the eBay details fully) so we’ve sent them back and gone for 2.5W LEDs. Cost including p&p for the return: £9
- I’ve varnished the table a couple of times to help seal the custom paint, and will have another crack at it tomorrow to get plenty of coats on it.
- We’ve gone through everything in the van cupboards and lockers and removed and sold most of the things we didn’t need, which included: half the set of spanners I took first time around (oops), the Remoska, a large woven ground sheet, spare hook-up lead and connectors (we infrequently hook-up anyway) and an awning tie down kit (the awning goes away overnight or in the slightest breeze after we destroyed one in Scotland!)
- We’ve bought new travel insurance from Alpha Insurance. We got the Long Stay 250 policy for Europe (oddly including Morocco) which came to £300 for 21 month’s cover (after 12% cashback from Ju’s Utility Warehouse Discount Club)
- We’ve also bought some new clothes as ours were worn out: a new winter coat for Ju, new jeans for both of us, new walking boots for both of us and a few bits and bobs from the local charity shops.
- Charlie’s been to the vets, been checked over, had his booster jabs and has been given 12 month’s medicine for his arthritis.
- We’ve both been to the doctor and dentist to get checked over.
- And finally we prepped and sold our Smart Car, which should mean we avoid £600 to £1000 a year in associated costs (service, MOT, tax, insurance, depreciation, fuel and repairs) until we get another car.
As you can see, we’ve seriously burned through some cash getting ourselves geared up, but these are one-off costs which, although a bit higher in some places than we expected, are about par for the course. Now we’re gearing up to enjoy our mates’ wedding this weekend, then Ju’s head will be shaved for charity shortly afterwards and finally we’ll fill the van with stuff and head for the Alps next week.
As ever, at this stage in the game there is a hump to get over. Saying bye to friends and family doesn’t get easier. Stepping out of ‘normality’ is a little easier for us now as we’ve got the Cooler to come back to with as the remains of our stuff stays in here. But it’s still not a joyous time for us, the last few days before cutting loose. Can’t complain though, much wonder awaits.
Cheers, Jay
Good luck to you all on your new venture. Having to make do with the Lake District and Scotland until I can get my wife to finally hang up her school pencil. Will be following you all the way, as I quiet fancy doing the Arctic Circle some time.
Cheers Eric. The Arctic’s waiting for the both of us fella. :-) Jay
Good luck to you both iam so looking forward to hearing all about this trip as its on our bucket list , also to Ju for your up and coming head shave ,tip for Ju due to ongoing treatment iam also hairless at the monent make sure you have some little sleep hats for your travel,my head gets chilly even in the house . Good Luck 😀
Thanks Val. Sleep hats sound like a good idea as I’m not convinced I’ll get Charlie to snuggle up and keep my bald noggin warm. Ju x
Hi Jay, congrats on a superb website. Many of us ‘tourers’ would give a limb to have the know how in order to document our travels in such a way.
Our Lulls between trips are somewhat longer than yours, even though we are free to go. I have been fascinated by your ‘how we finance our lifestyle’ piece because it is similar to our situation. Myself and Louise cut free from our careers in 2010 and have travelled extensively in our van. As you say…cost cutting and income generation is the key!
I can report however that in our case, the comforts of our home are relatively expensive and keeping that home has compromised some of our travel budget. So presently we aim for two 5-10 week tours each year. We are constantly on the brink of downsizing, to enable more travel, but haven’t reached that stage, mentally, just yet.
It’s interesting that every time we pull out of the drive to head off somewhere in the van, we always say “we should be doing this 6-8 months a year!
Question…how did you finally arrive at the day when you said “let’s sell up and do it”? Your comments would be greatly appreciated.
Best wishes
Geoff and Louise Rowlinson, (and Clive Hymer.) Lancaster UK
(53 and 44!)
Thanks Geoff and Louise!
Two long trips out like that a year sound pretty fab to me, most folks would be very envious, but I do like cutting loose for daft lengths of time, really gives me a sense of freedom.
We never actually sold up, but we did make a decision about 2 years before we finished that we’d downsize to the point we could travel more. Eventually we ended up with a small part of a house here, with the bedrooms leased out and managed by an agent, so we still have a UK base, but all of the costs and then some are covered by the lease of the rooms. If we hadn’t done that, we’d needed to have worked a fair few more years to keep our UK base available to us.
Cheers, take it easy! Thanks again for your kind words, much appreciated, Jay
Good choice of tyres, same as I had fitted last year, real good ride etc, I did check the year of manufacture on the side walls though and got one replaced due being 18 months old!
Have a real good time and will be following you ( still no new notifications to date) and a safe trip.
Richard/Frankie and Jack
If in Belgium, welcome! You know our email address to contact us. All the best. We’re happy to travel with you … ;-))
Really looking forward to reading about your 2016 adventures. Congratulations on what must be the best motorhoming blog (and I’ve read a lot of them!).
We’re about 15 months away from a life on the open road.
Way hey! Cheers Tim, just a few days for us but those months will be passed in no time for you guys. Enjoy ’em and enjoy the roaming once it comes. Thanks! Jay
We have a 2003 N & B very similar to your Hymer which had a SOG unit fitted when we bought it. It is operated by a switch by the thetford but not sure how long it should be left on for to be effective?
Good luck with the trip. Enjoy. Look forward joining you out there by the end of this year but probably heading for sunnier climes first!
Hi Joanna
We switch ours on when we enter the bathroom and turn it off when we leave, so just a few minutes. We’ve heard of people leaving them on for long periods, but we’ve not found that to be necessary. My guess is it just needs to be long enough to refresh the air in the cassette.
Cheers! Jason
Hi
Julie/Jay we met you a few years ago in Belgium,[we were in the big Concorde] Angus was planning this trip for us this year. This will not happen now, as he died at the end of April 2015. [Surgery went horrible wrong] So I am look forward to reading about your adventures on this trip.
Have a safe journey with your new Motor Home.
I have sold the motor home, it was too big for one person.
Hello Helen
We remember you guys, we were at the aire outside the campsite in Delft I think.
I am so sorry to hear about Angus, I only met him for a short time but he was a wonderful and kind man.
I hope you find a way to carry on with your adventures, perhaps in a smaller van. If there is anything we can do to help, please get in touch – Julieandjason@ourtour.co.uk.
We’ll be thinking of you as we do this trip,hearing of people’s passing always makes you appreciate what you have so much more.
Take care of yourself and please keep in touch.
Ju x