By way of an epilogue, I thought it might be useful to summarise some of our findings and document some thoughts about our trip. So, here we go...
Things we learned:Loads. We learned loads. Some before we went, some whilst away and some after we got back. We didn't realise that there was so much to take on board (so to speak). We thought that having a tent on wheels would be as easy as just driving, parking, shopping, eating and sleeping. We were wrong.
First of all, we had to find out about travelling abroad and where to stop overnight. This involved buying books and asking people
questions. Estimating mileage times between stops is an art especially when you are travelling with children and trying to have a holiday too and especially if you have no idea about the geography of your route. Not learning this before we left was a mistake I wished we knew we were making. Not taking a map and relying on satnav to navigate was also a mistake like allowing your fuel light to come on believing there will be a garage around the next bend. We then had to learn to live with each other in a very small space for long periods of time, but that wasn't something we could really prepare for.
The weather was cold but dry and most places were closed. Those that were still open didn't have much in the way of facilities so the only entertainment available to us was already in the van. That involved dvd's, board games and foreign tv. Surprisingly, this was enough although before leaving we didn't think it would be.
In the few weeks leading up to our departure, I spent a huge amount of time getting prepared. I thought I had over-planned but, on reflection, I could have planned better. When travelling with
children on your first trip abroad, I don't think it's actually possible to plan enough although the bits you don't or can't plan for can be dealt with through experience. For example, sleeping arrangements. I thought we had done a good job of preparing the sleeping plan but found that we had to change it at least twice whilst we were away to accommodate changed minds. When we all go away in the summer, we'll have to change the bed arrangements again because the weather will be warmer and the nights lighter which means me and Mrs. F will probably take a wander to the local local and turn in later than the children which means them using the front of the van and us using the back. Probably. In hindsight, I just wished I had invested more time into planning the stops. If we hadn't had the children with us and had it not been winter, it might not have been such a worry, but as it was, trying to find a suitable place made for a bit of a panic rush towards the end of each travelling day. Overall, however, we just about got away with it and found somewhere safe to stop when we needed to.
As our trip progressed, we realised that there were things we thought would be essential (or should I say were told were essential) and there were things we didn't think we would need at all or just left behind. Here are a few examples:
Things we needed but didn't take because we didn't know we needed them:
A dustpan and brush - this was probably the thing we would have used the most. We didn't take one because we took the hand held Dyson but that was just as useless before it broke as it was after it broke (actually, after I blew it up). If we had had a broom, that would have been almost as good because we could have removed the carpets and just swept up.
CD's - somehow, we managed to take just one CD. OK it was Christmas time, but why we only took 'Now that's what I call Christmas' is beyond me. A big mistake though because the French and Spanish radio stations are total rubbish. At one point, just one and only for 15 minutes, I treated myself to my i-pod. It was limited to 15 minutes because I forgot the charger cable and the battery went flat!
Detailed paper maps of France and Spain - we had a Tom Tom and we had AutoRoute 2007, but we didn't have a physical map of anywhere. The technology was excellent at telling us where we were and for being told to tell us where to go next, but there were at least 20 times where a detailed paper map in the lap of the co-driver would have been really, really helpful and where it would have reduced a stress level or two. Certainly, it was difficult for me to plan our next day's driving and stop without a big map to throw open and stare at.
A submersible water pump - I refused to buy one of these before we left against the advice of several people. Mostly, this was because I couldn't be bothered to wire it up, but also because I couldn't see what was wrong with an old fashioned hosepipe. After all, all sites have a water point you just bowl up to and top up your tank, don't they? No, they bloody don't and trying to ferry freezing water into your tank handraulically is 'orrible. Even though this won't be as bad in the summer, I still think I'll look into a solution.
A fold up (or similar) portable water carrier - (see water pump above). Not having a purposely designed vessel for fetching and dispatching fluid meant relying on my enterprising side. I had to be creative twice because Mrs. F confused my first invention with junk and threw it away. Anyway, during the entire trip, the closest I could physically get the van to fresh running water was about 30 yards or to put it another way, about 20 yards further than my hose would reach. This meant having to fill and re-fill and re-fill a 5 litre water bottle and empty it into the van's water tank initially through the screw cap under the seat, but later from the outside. Using the direct approach inside the van meant having to move children who didn't want to be moved and filling up from the outside meant having to (twice) design a funnel and pour icy water over my hands and feet.
A small set of steps - I'm talking here about a mini stepladder, not door steps. The windows and the reversing camera got really dirty and needed cleaning a lot. A small set of steps would have been useful. Might have helped with the photography too.
A teapot - yep, we even forgot a teapot. We bought every type of plastic vessel, plastic plates, lightweight cutlery, sugar and teabag pots, but we forgot a teapot. So we had to make it in the (plastic) cups and after a couple of days turned to coffee instead. Tea in a plastic cup just aint tea.
A windscreen insulation kit - the morning's chores was dominated by the condensation removal performance. By all accounts, this could have been prevented or at least reduced had I installed insulators to the screen and windows. As it was, it wasn't that much of a chore really and I'm not sure I'll bother buying the screens now. They're only (another) 40 quid, but where do I put them during the summer?
Sunglasses - the sun shined. A lot. I didn't take my sunglasses. What a div.
Spanish phrase book - somehow, we didn't have any trouble reading road signs or asking for things in France, but the second we got into Spain, we struggled. There were lots of active road
signs (the ones capable of displaying any message) but we didn't have a clue what they meant and therefore how to react to them. Maybe the French have got it right by just using phrases anyone can understand and maybe the Spanish have taken a leaf out of our stupid road sign's book and were saying things to me like we display to our visitors. I mean, do foreign drivers in our country really know what we mean when we say 'Straddle nearside lanes' or 'Beware, adverse camber'? Probably not. So it wouldn't surprise me if those Spanish signs contained similarly benign messages. Either way, a little Spanish phrase book would have been a great comfort. It would have added to the fun factor too by letting us know how far off our amateur translations were.
A reverse polarity checker - It's a bit embarrassing now to think that I went to the trouble of creating a reverse wired connector but didn't manage to ever put myself in a position of knowing when to use it. Click
here if you don't know what I mean and to see how I ruined the hoover as a result.
Currency - I didn't take enough cash and was surprised by the number of places in France and Spain that do not accept credit cards. Even the largest and most expensive well equipped site insisted on cash which I had luckily topped up the day before.
Things we took but didn't need:
The reversed polarity connector lead - David from Heartbeat would have been proud of me here. It's a bit like building a dart board and forgetting to buy any darts but then still organising to host an episode of 'Bullseye'. I suppose I was hoping that each campsite would tell me if the power was reversed or not so I could select the appropriate connector.
Levelling Ramps - I had a small spirit level so I kept shuffling the van around until I was happy that it was level enough. I didn't need to use them therefore. Thank god.
Toolkit - I didn't need to do any maintenance and therefore the toolkit I had put together was redundant. Shame, it would have impressed the 'Snap-on' man that would. It's one of those Pandora Box type with a torch on the outside and millions of spanners, screwdrivers and all sorts of useful apparatus inside yet still small enough to jam behind the driver's seat. I was desperate to whip it out really.
.
Things that surprised us:
l
Finding appropriate places to stop - we found it very difficult to actually find places to stop overnight during our drive down to Spain. I don't mean in terms of directions, but in terms of actually identifying them. Where are they all? I spent a lot of time planning my route but I thought that any further investment to find, phone and book every stop before leaving would have squandered valuable time I didn't have. It would also have prevented any flexibility for our plans. Apart from two stops, we therefore had to try to find places en route. This was a stressful challenge which wasn't made any easier by the inaccurate information stored in the unreadable guide books. We were lucky in the end so I guess it worked out ok. No one died. However, the combination of our ignorance and the low season meant most places were very closed and those that were open were expensive, out of the way and difficult to find. They were also empty of features and resources making them nothing more than lavish car parks and not really part of the holiday we thought they would be.
.
Sites' pricing structures - every business has to earn its dollar, granted. But I'm befuddled by the basis on which the camping parks release wedge from their ever changing guests. For example, not one single site we stayed at had a 'low season' tariff yet they were all quick to justify the lack of available services as due to the low season. Secondly, they all charge a basic
rate for the 'van then add a fixed price per person on board. If this charging structure was based on fact, then I'd have to principally report that in France and Spain children become adults when they reach about ten. In some parishes, children suddenly become adults when they are only 6 which is a brilliant result for campsites because it means they can charge these vernal adults full whack years earlier than they could in the UK. There was one rare exception when our children were still classed as children until they were 16 which meant they (me on their behalf) enjoyed the benefit of the child rate which was a whopping 75 cent less than the adult rate. So, to set the waffle aside and sum up, the French and Spanish sites we stayed at charged high season rates for low season services, charged per person not per unit and selfishly class children as adults like Hannibal classes people as dinner courses.
.
The Van itself - the performance of the van was astounding both on the road and inside. Absolutely perfect for a family of 6 and absolutely no problems with it at all. The lights didn't play up like they did after initial delivery and the funny oil smell went away too. If I was really picky, I could complain that the blackout blinds don't come down far enough letting sunlight in a bit earlier than I would have sometimes liked, but I guess there's a reason and a cure for that.
Damage to the van - I was surprised when I got back and washed the van (took me four hours!) and noticed three pressure dents on the roof. They definitely weren't there when we left the UK and I've no recollection of hitting anything low so have no idea how they happened.
Wavy Camper Crew - I said before that I wasn't sure what the form was in relation to waving to other campervans. Do you/don't you? What if you do and they don't or they do and you don't? Creates an uncomfortable, awkward post wave moment that does. We were surprised to find that most drivers on the continent either completely ignored us or (if I am being benevolent)
probably didn't see us or maybe thought we were trying to point to a fault with their van when we started wobbling our wrists high in the air as they approached us from the other side of the carriageway. So we did a survey as we went and took a mental note of who did and who didn't wave and what nation they were from. The survey wasn't very comprehensive because we only saw about 30 vans the entire time, but what was clear was that the Germans never waved. Even when a return wave was seemingly unavoidable, we failed to extract a single stroke of the hand making us, staggeringly, more unsuccessful than the English Ashes tour. We saw 2 English vans whose occupants gladly contributed to the wave if you're English and don't know why you're waving appeal and so did a couple of Danishhhh vans. The rest and therefore the majority didn't want to be noticed, or, if they did, they didn't want to wave or be waved to. I'm not sure if the ignorance matters or not really w probably looked as out of place as a dolphin at a Rodeo actually, but so what? we were only being friendly. We thought it was polite to recognise another member of the MH fraternity so felt obliged to gesture, especially as we were told that was normal.
Free information - we were surprised by the availability of information freely distributed by members of a MH website and readers of this blog. We have been helped so much by so many people we have never met or even spoken to before way beyond 
anything we expected. Most of the tips and help has been voluntarily proffered in an email, but where I've needed to know the answer to a question, I've had an answer within minutes on the MotorHomesFacts website. I'm not sure if there are any other similar resources to this website out there because I haven't needed to look, but I am very grateful for the advice, some of which really, really helped us on this trip and some of which helped us generally.
Final thoughts...
We had a great time in our van and on our holiday. It was a fantastic adventure from the moment we first collected the van to the day we got on the ferry to the day we got home. There were very few scary or stressful moments but several hundred happy moments. On the down side, Christmas wasn't the same and you can't exactly say we chilled out like you would on a beach holiday. But the change was as good as if not better than a rest. The fact we were complete novices never once put us off, it just added to the challenge and made things more interesting really. Anyone wary of taking to the Continent needn't worry at all. If you can drive, stop, get level, keep warm, get fed, be entertained and sleep in your van in the UK, then you can do it in France and Spain. Believe me, I just did it.
Someone asked me the other day what the best bit was, so I told him that the best bit is that our van is still sitting out there on the drive waiting for us to take it on our next trip...
.
This is the final entry of this blog and below is the final video. Crank up the volume for best effect. If it doesn't play for you, please click
here.
.
