The Motorhome Touring Handbook
Thinking of buying a motorhome, but don’t know where to start?
Planning a first trip abroad in your motorhome?
Want to know how to tour Europe in a motorhome, RV or camper van?
Dreaming of a long-term tour but not sure if it’s possible these days?
All the answers are here, in The Motorhome Touring Handbook.
Included in Practical Motorhome’s 21 Must Read Books – August 2020
Available from Amazon as a paperback, hardback or eBook
Why did we write The Motorhome Touring Handbook?
We’ve enjoyed over a decade of short campervan trips, and long term (multi-year, full-timing) motorhome touring in the UK, Europe and North Africa, and we’ve learned a lot doing it! We’ve made plenty of mistakes, and have tried over the years to use this blog to document practical tips, costs, tricks and advice for anyone wanting to do something similar.
As our blog has grown over the years though, we’ve found it increasingly difficult to track down the nuggets of wisdom we’ve picked up over time. It’s easy to see why so many folks get in touch with questions, they (and we) can’t find the information on here. So, we’ve put all those nuggets and our experiences in one place. We wrote the book as a helping hand to anyone starting their motorhome journey or wanting to expand their adventures to somewhere new.
What’s Inside?
The Motorhome Touring Handbook provides practical advice for anyone who wants to tour the UK and continental Europe by campervan, RV or motorhome, gleaned from years of hands-on touring experience. It is available as an ebook or a paperback (with black and white images to keep the price down) from Amazon. The book is split into three parts:
Part One: Your First Motorhome
This part gets you up to speed on all the confusing terms used in the motorhome world. It gives guidance for choosing and buying your first van, takes you through the process of a first trip in the UK and provides a ‘survival guide’ introducing all the systems in a motorhome: fresh water, grey water, black water (the toilet), 12V electrical system, gas, water and air heating and so on.
Part Two: Your First Time Abroad in a Motorhome
Heading out of the UK is a nerve-wracking experience for many motorhomers, us included. We remember what it was like (and still is like!) to be planning a trip abroad, and this part of the book takes you through the process of sorting your paperwork out, packing your van, booking and taking a ferry or the Eurotunnel, driving on the right, finding places to stay, buying food and fuel and eventually coming back home, triumphant and ready for your next tour!
Part Three: Your First Long-Term Tour
And finally, this is the big one. Should you fancy a months-long tour of continental Europe, this part’s for you. It covers the kinds of topics this level of touring throws up: selling or renting out your house, handling post, long-term living budgets, dealing with breakdowns abroad, crossing borders, travelling with a pet and so on. A brief overview’s provided for a number of European countries, along with some sample year-long tour routes, that comply with the 90 in 180 day Schengen rules, to fire up your imagination.
You can see much more of what is available in the book if you use the ‘look inside’ feature on Amazon.
Where to Find the Handbook
The Motorhome Touring Handbook is only available from Amazon. Click here if you are based in the UK, otherwise please search for it on your local Amazon site.
The Perfect Companion Guide – The 200
If you are seeking inspiration for your next motorhome adventure, look no further than The 200. The 200 guides you across 34 countries throughout Europe and North Africa, showcasing 200 of the most memorable, fun, varied, interesting and inspirational places we’ve stayed, in over a decade’s campervan and motorhome touring, as well as offering advice on how to find your own amazing places to stay.
We’ve been asked many times: ‘what’s been your favourite place?’ Each time we struggle to answer the question, simply because we have so many favourites! We’ve managed to choose 200 of them (it was a challenge to whittle them down to that!) and filled this book with them to inspire your motorhome or campervan adventures, hoping to show you the fantastic types of places available to you.
We’ve also written several other books about motorhoming and financial freedom, you can click on the image below to find more information about them.
Congratulations! Fantastic work and achievement :)
Thanks Gilda! :-)
We just got our copy last Thursday. We are thinking about getting a motorhome early next year and this book has already helped us answering so many questions. It is well written, down to earth practical information. It got us even more excited and sure about buying our first motorhome. It is a treasure trove of information, thank you so much Ju and Jay for your efforts 😄
That’s really great to hear Gilda. :-) If you get a minute, could you do us a really big favour and pop your review on Amazon too for us? Many thanks, Jay
Just ordered the new book, looks great. Well done.
Thanks Fay!
Its on my christmas list, can’t wait to read all the tips and advice, all the best to you two hope your working on your next super tour,
regards Linda
Great stuff, thanks for the support Linda! Jay
Well done guys and I can’t imagine a better gift for those looking to follow in your tyre tracks and enjoy life to the maximum!
Fantastic stuff, I’m sure it’ll be a great success!! We’ve used loads of your tips and suggestions over this last year. I doubt we’d have had the confidence to start our own trip without you guys and your website, so thank you!! :) I’m sure the book will give many more people the help they need..
The book arrived today – I can’t wait to read it cover to cover!
I am about to embark on a van conversion, starting tomorrow when I pick up the van. Our aim is to take our first holiday next May – your blogs have been an inspiration and your book will be invaluable for planning our trips.
I’ll maybe order this, is it available on kindle?
Hi Beth. Just click on the link to Amazon and you’ll find the kindle version there. Cheers Julie
Great resource, Your website & Book have been a great help. We have purchased our Van now & are putting plans in place to take a year out of work and travel Europe (leaving May / June). Lets hope brexit doesn’t put a big spanner in the works
Keep up the excellent blog, look forward to reading about your future adventures
Dave
Thanks Dave, appreciate the feedback. Happy travels mate, Jay
Got my copy for Christmas. We are planning to buy a used motorhome in the next few weeks as we are going to leave work early next year and travel. Your book is so good, thanks I have learnt so much already
Fantastic, thanks Graham and happy travels! Cheers, Jay
Loving our second book the 2020 edition thanks ever so much.
Smashing, thanks Sue and happy travels, Jay