Campervan Therapy

We’re ten days away from our 34^th year of European road trips. Seán, my partner-on-wheels, chauffeur, photographer, bottle washer, oh and husband, is up to his eyes in two screened computer life. He’s finishing his marking contracts before we hit the open road. I’m planning… and oh how I love planning. Plans, by the way, which can change in a micro-second.

Last Year’s Touring Plan Change

Let me just tell you about last year’s plan change. The plan was to head to Ireland’s beautiful Glendalough, to see Seán’s mum and dad for four days, before hot-footing it home for a day of grandparent duty and then on to the south of France to do hidden Côte d’Azur – well, I do relish a challenge.

But, as we stand on the ferry deck, in balmy sunshine, looking out at Fishguard’s cliffs, we get a text from our daughter to say we’re not needed for the day’s grandparent duties. Seán scrolls through the news and says we may have to quarantine in expensive hotels on the way back from France.

That does it, the fair island of our childhood calls to us. We cancel the ferry from Dover to Calais, change our Irish return for a month’s time. And I grin at the idea of the sparkly sun dresses packed in the van. At least I’ve got a stout pair of walking shoes worthy of the heartiest Wicklow farmer, so I guess I’ll look a treat pounding the Wicklow Way in strappy dress, floppy sun hat and thumping big boots.

So that gives you a little idea of the erratic nature of our travels.

Our First Campervan Trip –

The start of  a lifelong road-trip bug

Our years of road-trips have inducted me into the joys of camper-vanning, ever since our first road trip 34 years ago in Seán’s brother Michael’s battered VW – bought for a grand total of £100, and half-painted in space invaders, but as the black enamel paint ran out only one side was thus decorated.

We broke down around France, Spain  and Portugal that year, finally Seán fixing the accelerator with an elastic band and a firework display shooting out of the exhaust as we were pushed onto the ferry home. Seán has always been a master bodger – most necessary with the vehicles we’ve owned. My bodger-extraordinaire practised bangernomics for years, driving old vehicles into the dust – so flexibility was essential.

Planning the Itinerary and Keeping an Open Mind

I’m addicted to planning road-trips – but deep down I love the excitement of throwing the itinerary up in the air half way up a mountain or midway cross the sea, just because we can. That’s the joy of motorhoming because an open mind leads to all sorts of surprises and, for us, the unexpected adds to the fun of travel. 

(You’ll have to excuse me as I jump between calling our brand new Fran the Van a campervan and a motorhome. I’m still recovering from the joy of owning a brand new van so I’m not quite sure what she is. Seán says she’s a Fiat Ducato van conversion, Auto-trail Expedition 67.)