200 Days in, Our Top Ten Things For a Motorhome Tour

On day 100 we wrote about our top then things in Dave our motorhome (that was almost ten years ago folks – please treat this as OLD info!). Those we wish we hadn’t brought, those we wish we had and those we were glad we had. We’re another 100 days on, how do we feel about them all now?  Thought you might want a quick update –

10 things we have which we don’t need

1. An iPad. I loved this when we were at home, but as we hardly ever have WiFi, it’s use is seriously limited on the road. Get a NetBook instead. We still don’t use this as much as we used to at home, it’s main is use is for looking up aires on our downloaded database, so I’d say it’s still on the needed have brought list.
2. A TV. We have a 15″ flat panel 230V TV and an analogue aerial. We’ve never even tried to see what we can pick up, there’s far too much to see and do without it. The TV’s just taking up space and weight. We’ve used it once for about 10 mins at New Year in Portugal, but the three channels it picked up weren’t showing New Year celebrations. Since then it’s not even been uncovered – I’d say this is our number one thing we don’t need.
3. The wind-up radio. The van radio works perfectly well. We bartered with this in Morocco and got ourselves two berber blankets, they’re much more useful!
4. Cycle helmets. We use the bikes infrequently and when we do, we can’t be bothered to dig out the helmets. Sad, but true. Since we also bartered one of the bikes in Morocco we hardly use the other one, we do still keep one helmet in case it’s obligatory to wear them in one of the countries we visit, but the other one has been thrown.
5. The halogen heater. We do use this and it’s nice and quiet, but it’s huge; get something smaller. This comes into it’s own when it’s cold and you’re at a campsite with electric hook up. You can leave it running all night as it’s silent (unlike the fan heater we bought). It is big, but there are nights when I’ve been very glad we’ve had it.
6. The 12V slow cooker. This would be great, but even after 10 hours, diced veg is still uncooked. We have managed to cook something in it, but it was only the meat, not a meal with veggies. So, it does work but not well enough for my liking, so it stays on the useless list. 
7. My ‘Management Consulting’ book. OK, I may get around to reading this at some point but for now it’s taking up too much space on the book shelf. This still hasn’t been touched since day 100 (or even day one I think) – but it’s too big and heavy to post home. A kindle is the way forward for books
8. Charlie’s soft toy. For whatever reason it makes him frisky, and so it’s had to have been removed!  The soft toy is still in hiding – naughty Charlie
9. A bottle jack which can’t be used to change a flat tyre. Yes, I bought a jack which only has enough range to lift the van when the tyre is fully inflated. Oops. We now have an axle stand so I can lift the van, sit it on the stand, fully screw out the bottle jack and lift it the rest of the way. Test you jack works with a flat tyre! We’ve used this several times now while doing work on Dave, it might not be any use for jacking him up with a flat tyre, but it works a treat when all four tyres are OK, so it shouldn’t be on this list any more.
10. A roof-mounted air con unit. We’re not even sure this works, and it takes up cupboard space with a big water bottle. It was already on the van when we got it, otherwise we’d never have fitted it. We have managed to get some semi-cool air out of this, but it’s quite loud. As we haven’t been anywhere too hot it’s never had a really good test, but if we were looking to buy something to replace it I think we’d go for proper air-conditioning.

10 things we wish we’d brought

1. Maps! We have a TomTom GPS, which is great but has some serious limitations. We only had a detailed road map of France, and wish we’d stocked up on maps for each country we plan to visit. We’ve changed our plans a few times, so we’ve been buying maps as we get to each country – a tad more expensive and they aren’t in English, but it’s a decent enough workaround.
2. A double skillet cooking system. This is basically a couple of pans which sit on top of each other, allowing you to make best use of limited hob space. It can also be used as a sort of oven. See: http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=116. Now we’ve discovered that we can use the parts of a safari chef BBQ on our gas job, we’re glad we didn’t rush out to buy one of these, the BBQ gives us more options.
3. A decent tin opener. Somehow we completely forgot to bring one and the one we bought in France is pretty poor at actually opening tins; it’s more of a tin-hacker. Yep, still in need of a decent tin opener but too tight to buy one!
4. An insurance policy with a lower excess. Ours is £350 per claim, which means we had to pay for the skylight we ‘lost’ and we’ll not get much back from our tyre blowout either. I’d add to this a policy that would provide a green card for Morocco as our didn’t do that either – I’m pretty certain we’ll be changing providers when renewal time comes as we’ve met many people travelling whose policies cost way less than ours.
5. An alarm clock. We bought one in France as we found we were sleeping until 10am every day. The French alarm clock goes off every morning at 8.30am – sometimes we sleep through it, sometimes we’re already up – but it’s still good to have.
6. A 12V charger for the laptop. We have to charge it on an inverter, which is a real pain and not very efficient. We’re surviving on the inverter, it’s not too bad, but a tad loud.
7. A bread knife. We found uncut loaves last longer. Ended up buying one, it wasn’t very expensive, but we’ll have two when we get home!
8. Trainers without a hole in the sole. Karrimor? Quality? Not in this case. I’d forgotten all about those trainers, they really didn’t last long. The replacement ones I got from Decathlon are super comfy and still going strong. Lesson learned – when buying footwear, buy the best you can afford – don’t go for cheap stuff.
9. A new leisure battery for the van. Trying to buy one on the road proved a real pain and we ended up buying a 100Ah starter battery; we’ll see how well it lasts. I’ll throw new tyres into this item too – having a blowout wasn’t fun and could have been rather dangerous. Basically, get a new leisure battery and tyres if you’re in any doubt as to how old yours are. The starter battery is still going strong as our leisure battery.
10. More ‘quick dry’ clothing. As I type this the inside of our van is completely full of hanging wet clothing as the campsite tumble dryer is broken. Not great! Quick drying clothes are a godsend, as are camping towels that are quick drying. Jeans and woolies can take ages to dry when just hung up in Dave (if the weather is bad) and sometimes campsites don’t have dryers – or they’re broken!

10 things we’re glad we brought

1. Charlie, our pooch! Having him means we can’t go in to lots of places, or we have to limit our time away from the van. However, he’s a wonderful little companion and we’d not have left him behind for the world. What can I say, he’s still the best!
2. Dave our Hymer van. He’s had a few issues and he’s got limited space, but on the whole the layout and experience works really well for us. Also, he has a large LPG bottle fitted, which has worked really well (no swapping of bottles in the night for us, and the gauge on it seems to work). Considering all the miles we’ve put on him and the hills we’ve asked him to climb Dave has done a sterling job with just a few complaints and requests for TLC. 
3. Sofa covers. Ju made some from Ikea throws. Charlie messes them up in no time and having them means we can keep the sofa cushions reasonably clean. Perhaps cream ones weren’t the best choice, but I was using what we already had. They do get grubby quickly, but are easy to wash in with the laundry – although one now has some yellow dye on it from a laundry mishap – and when clean make Dave look lovely.
4. A spare set of bedding. This allows us to change the bed whenever we want, without the hassle of trying to wash and dry a set of bedding in a day. Top tip for the long term motorhomer, bring a spare set you’ll be so glad you did.
5. Ju’s Nikon D40 camera, or any decent camera. There are so many great things to see and photograph. Some camera cleaning equipment would be a good idea to pack too, the camera is still carrying some sahara sand which likes to make guest appearances on photos from time to time.
6. Vodaphone Data Traveller SIM and Android phone. This provides us with a way to use email and web access pretty much anywhere, anytime. These have been spot on (can’t recommend them enough), they have kept us in touch with family and friends, and enabled us to update this site every day.
7. A dustpan and brush squeegee. Ju sweeps the van floor every day (we took up the carpets, which was a great idea) and the squeegee is great for getting all the condensation off the windscreen in the morning. No longer in daily use on the floors (since I got a bit less house-proud) or the windscreen (since Jay fixed the windscreen heater) but when needed still great. 
8. Webbed matting. We have this in all the cupboards to stop things sliding around as we drive. Things still move, scaring the hell out of us, but it stops lots of rattles. We also use tuppaware to ensure we can efficiently use cupboard space and pack things in tightly. Don’t leave home without the matting stuff, or a few bits of tupperware – they both really help with storage and reducing noise.
9. Blackout curtain lining. Ju fitted a blackout/thermal lining to all of our curtains which cover the windows and pull across between the cab and bed areas. Some of the areas we park in are floodlit and would be hard to sleep in without the blackout linings. £35 from eBay and day’s painful sewing (Ju had sold the sewing machine by this point) and voila, comfort. These have worked a treat, but in places where they have been in contact with the condensation on the windscreen they are developing dark patches. Still they’re saving the curtains from the same fate and can easily be unpicked and replaced if needed at the end of the trip.
10. Our ADAC policy has turned out to be brilliant. For €100 you get peace of mind for every country in Europe, and all their operatives seem to speak English. We’ve used this a couple of times and while it didn’t cover us for breakdown in Morocco, it’s been great in Europe. Also like the fact that they call you back a while after you’ve called to check you’re OK and if there is anything else they can do to help – that’s service!

Ju x