Long European Tour

brettandsandra

Guest
Hi everyone.

Assuming our house sale doesn't fall through (fingers crossed) we are planning on going on a tour of Europe of indeterminate length, starting in September/October. Probably 6 months to a year in length, we don't know, taking in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy etc.

The longest we have ever spent in our van is 2 weeks in one go. Does anyone have any advice or tips relating to "long term" wildcamping that we may not have come across on our shorter trips?

Another worry of mine is losing our van keys when out and about abroad, has this happened to anyone and what did you do about it? Does my idea of somehow having a spare key hidden under the van somewhere sound like a good idea?

We are open to all suggestions regarding our trip, including routes, sights to take in etc. Any advice and tips you might be willing to share will be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Brett and Sandra
 
Try and do it without selling the house.....


Lorry :drive:

Take plenty of tea bags, and porrage
 
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A hidden key is a good idea. In any case, have a second line of defence in case a thief gets hold of your keys. Hidden switch, or even just a steering lock with the key hidden in the van, not on your key ring.
 
brettandsandra said:
Hi everyone.

Assuming our house sale doesn't fall through (fingers crossed) we are planning on going on a tour of Europe of indeterminate length, starting in September/October. Probably 6 months to a year in length, we don't know, taking in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy etc.

The longest we have ever spent in our van is 2 weeks in one go. Does anyone have any advice or tips relating to "long term" wildcamping that we may not have come across on our shorter trips?

Another worry of mine is losing our van keys when out and about abroad, has this happened to anyone and what did you do about it? Does my idea of somehow having a spare key hidden under the van somewhere sound like a good idea?

We are open to all suggestions regarding our trip, including routes, sights to take in etc. Any advice and tips you might be willing to share will be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Brett and Sandra
Click to expand...

Start with MagBaz Travels

AndyC
 
brettandsandra said:
Hi everyone.

Assuming our house sale doesn't fall through (fingers crossed) we are planning on going on a tour of Europe of indeterminate length, starting in September/October. Probably 6 months to a year in length, we don't know, taking in France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Italy etc.

The longest we have ever spent in our van is 2 weeks in one go. Does anyone have any advice or tips relating to "long term" wildcamping that we may not have come across on our shorter trips?

Another worry of mine is losing our van keys when out and about abroad, has this happened to anyone and what did you do about it? Does my idea of somehow having a spare key hidden under the van somewhere sound like a good idea?

We are open to all suggestions regarding our trip, including routes, sights to take in etc. Any advice and tips you might be willing to share will be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Brett and Sandra
Click to expand...

Don,t do what I did when I came over to Spain for 2 weeks wildcamping 13 years ago and thats forgot the way back still here looking for it with a bit of luck I will find it soon. Just dont worry about it make no planes just go where you want and if its safe stay till its time to move on you will have lots of fun I am sure, Good luck to you and if your every near Alicante and need any help just let me know. ken
 
We have done three trips of 3 months each during the last 18 months and have found this to be enough in one go, but that's just us. You are going at at a great time as kids will be back at school and if using the ACSI card, you should get some good deals if staying on sites. We jumped in at the deep end and learned as we went along, taking advise along the way (people love to help).

We found the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides to the countries we visited to be of excellent use, also looking at other peoples blogs very helpful.

Would agree about the teabags and not selling your house!

Have a brilliant trip and set up your own blog as it's great to look back on.
 
Thanks for the helpful comments so far. The reason our trip is open ended is that we will be house hunting while we are travelling. We have sold our smallholding but kept a small cottage on an acre of land as a "bolt hole" if we want to come back. We haven't burnt all our bridges! To be honest, we don't know how well we will cope with a prolonged period on the road, but we are excited about giving it a go.
 
We did it many years ago and we have now owned 2 properties in Spain and 2 in France, in Spain owning property can be a nightmare and we were lucky to sell when we did.
The first French house was a beautiful farmhouse, but you must have seen the television programme's about people buying old properties in France, it's all work and no play! plus you need loads of money to renovate, so we sold the old house and bought a large modern home which we both love and it's in a beautiful area, we have a wonderful life here and I feel so lucky to be spending my twighlight years appreciating what we worked hard for all our lives, I still enjoy going off on a trip in our old Hymer, but it is also lovely to come home here to france.
Enjoy your trip Bambi 2
 
House sale

If the sale falls through why not rent it out with a reputable agent. That's what i am doing. I then have the rent as an income.
Val
 
Most of the breakdown insurances I have seen usually have cover for lost keys. We always leave one ignition key well hidden in the van, worst case we would have to break a window or lock to get into the van but know we won't be stranded.
 
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