So I want to drive to Greece this winter....

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Hotel Tarifornia, you can checkout any time you like,
- but you can never leave...

I see that the UK is having a basking weekend, most unusual but most welcome I'm sure. - Enjoy.

Hola Dear Reader, Many Thanks to the few dwindlers who check in here occasionally to enquire of my fortunes.
(They are pretty fookin good as it happens, Thanks for enquiring.)

Well, sometimes in life, something, somewhere or someone gets well absorbed into your inner fabric, under your skin..ay?
Right now, it's a somewhere.

I am gazing over the Strait of Gibraltar at the Atlas Mountains of North Africa, watching the ships heading to and from the Med and the horses on the beach. Last week a Russian Galleon type of Sailing ship went past me and into the Med.

18-20 outside with a warm breeze coming over from Africa. Only downside to the African winds here is the effect they can have on Dave, my Jack Russell, he sometimes catches a whiff of a seasonal prospect wafting in the air.. He becomes distracted and goes off his food...

Apparently dogs can whiff a mate in season who is miles away. Well I reckon that somewhere over the water there is a female camel who is wafting her offers to the winds, if Dave ever meets his amore, it'll be fun to watch hime working out how to get up to that height, prolly try to hump it's leg.

A single Kite surfer is over near Tarifa, usually there are dozens, must be the wrong Levante or Penientes for today.
One is good for kite surfing and the other is better for wind surfing, apparently.
The wind Poniente and Levante in Tarifa

I've been on a campsite since January with direct access to Playa de los Lances, I've moved around the campsite to get different outlooks and views, right now, my windscreen is facing the beach and Africa beyond, I leave the cab blinds open 24/7 just to catch the ever changing scenery.
Playa de los Lances Surf Report, Surf Forecast and Live Surf Webcams

I've had a couple of loose Tarifa departure dates planned, which have now passed, Easter weekend is my current rationale keeping me here, not wanting to scrounge a parkup during a Grockle Puente weekend.
I have another excuse planned for early May, a mate of mine spends his winters in his Concord, surfing off the beaches down in the Western Sahara somewhere.
He lives off the grid every winter for 5 or 6 months. He has a roof full of pv panels and a couple of extra stand-alone panels which get plugged in to his system. He is all 12v and LPG. He uses municipal waste facilities in the nearby town. A rent free winter on the beach, near the Equator.Nice.

He'll be landing at or near Tarifa in a couple of weeks or so, en-route to the UK, to work his summer to enable his winter.. Prolly hang about here some more, once he's passed through, I'll be looking north, possibly via a bit of the west first.

I am wondering about Scandinavia for some of the summer. So I'll be looking at which route appeals to my chakras at that point in time.. Could go along the Western route, up the Atlantic coast or perhaps up through France and Germany. Then, there's the eastern option, via Germany, Poland, Latvia, Estonia and a ferry crossing to Helsinki.

I am working on the assumption that I will be off-grid for most of my route north, unless I get distracted or the tanks/laundry need attention

I have to get back to the UK to get a new small van, with a wheelchair ramp arrangement and another car trailer.

My passport expires during Q1.20 so I'll be getting a replacement - colour unknown, possibly blue.

A new summer MOT on the Hymer (currently November, which is not the best time for a return to the UK just for an MOT) then back to sunny climes with decent aux transport in tow.

I'm ignoring the effects/non-effects of ****** or not, until something compelling is announced.

I am truly blessed to have such options.


james

End of update
 
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another update

Addendum...

I was going through my documents yesterday, checking dates for vehicle insurance, mots, passports etc. Seeing what I had to get done to keep me at liberty.

Saturday was 420 day, so I had to participate in the usual celebrations while I waded through the pile of paperwork and documents.

I had a new MOT done on the Hymer during November. I have driven a total of 6282 km since then. A large chunk of that was getting down to the heel of Italy (Bari) and then back up to the Frejus tunnel and down to southern Spain. Also a trip to the top of Mont Blanc and back down again due to the snow blocking the roads up there.

The majority of the miles were done between late November and Early January, most of this time was off-grid. Since January, I've been on campsites with a weekly short hop to Tarifa Lidls to re-provision the choklit and coffee supplies.

I had upgraded the 12v electrics last summer. A new Victron MPPT controller for the aux batteries and a Sterling B2B for the engine battery.
2 new Victron deep-cycle AGM batteries giving me 460 Ah of reserve. Even during the grey months of November and December, I always had plenty of 12v.

I took some flack in a thread on here last year, about the madness of using a Sterling B2B hanging off the MPPT solar controller.
It was insisted (often in an animated and excitable manner) that this would not work because.... (waffle and BS).
https://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forum...rminals-what-practical-use-mh.html?highlight=

Apparently these Sterling units will ONLY work when they are hanging off the engine alternator.(plain wrong advice)
Well I've proven that this is simply incorrect and the Sterling unit will operate with ANY nominal 12v input, whether it is an alternator, MPPT solar controller or even another 12v battery.

Thankfully, I have a highly accurate BS-ometer with a supplementary Dogma-ometer, both of which went off the scale on this issue.
Both meters where ignored and were replaced with Science, Physics and Logic, this combination always leads to a desirable outcome, especially when supported with experience.
And, LO, it was so.

Enjoy the easter weekend dear reader.

Here's my thread discussing which batteries I should buy:

https://www.wildcamping.co.uk/forum...batteries-if-money-not-factor.html?highlight=

james
 
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Russian Galleon

The Shtandart Project - The Official Authorised Website of the Frigate Shtandart

Not 100% sure, as I didn't bookmark the entry when I first looked it up, but this vessel The Shtandart, was the galleon type of tall ship that sailed past me last week, heading into the med. It reminded me of HMS Victory. A beautiful sight to see.

From their web site:

The Frigate Shtandart is the exact replica of the man-of-war built by Peter the Great in 1703 in order to defend Saint Petersburg.
Modern Shtandart was built in 1999 is a functional training tallship.

Update,
Lots of pictures here:
SHTANDART (MMSI: 273452840) Schiffsfotos | AIS Marine Traffic

It's currently moored at the Spanish navel port / base of Rota

Vessel details for: SHTANDART (Sailing Vessel) - MMSI 273452840, Call Sign UAEM Registered in Russia | AIS Marine Traffic

james
 
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Hi James, just caught up with this thread. Wow, you really go for it - I thought 3 months doing Spain and Portugal was adventurous! Do you full-time or are you just away a lot?
 
carol said:
Hi James, just caught up with this thread. Wow, you really go for it - I thought 3 months doing Spain and Portugal was adventurous! Do you full-time or are you just away a lot?
Click to expand...

Carol, 3 months doing Spain and Portugal IS adventurous! FIFY

I've been living in vans and caravans since 2009 ish. I've managed 3x previous long adventures 3x 6 months sojourns to France, Spain & Portugal.

I am now on my 4th whimsey. As you can see from the title of the thread, I was initially planning to winter in Greece, instead, I ended up with the hots for Italy after a month long whirlwind romance (with the country - alas) in December.
I've been chillin' in Tarifa since January. I'll likely be here for 3 or 4 more weeks then I'll be heading generally northwards.
As I mention earlier in the thread, I like to keep my plans to a minimum, with maximum flexibility.

I have a few things that I need to do in the UK and lots of other things that I WANT to do elsewhere - a balance will prevail.

I am hoping to continue to travel around Europe indefinitely or until some official taps me on the shoulder and dictates otherwise.
This ****** clown show outcomes will no doubt have a direct influence on my plans. Most directly on Insurances and pet travel.

I'd like to obtain legal resident status in any EU country, to enable me to still enjoy travel freedom across the EU.

The are complications ahead for all of us who like to roam in a van. Worse case scenario is that Brits will have to buy visas. Visas can usually be extended.
There will be hoops to jump through, as there are now, the future will give us a different set of hoops to jump through.

We wo't be imprisoned inside fortress UK, tourists are essential to many EU countries, the tourist's money will make most things possible, I'm hoping anyways.

I'm using the ****** extension as "free bonus time" to travel Europe as much as possible, while it's on offer.
If the extension to Halloween is honoured, we should start seeing details coming out of the various government departments, regarding passports, driver's licenses, border and customs procedures and limitations etc etc. Until this happens, I'll be ignoring it all and just drive on.

Keep on trucking

james
 
Well Done - Now its May - So have you gone North?

I was hoping to have possibly met you during our travels through Portugal and Spain this spring, but we had to bypass Tarifa going direct to Alicante from Seville.
Anyways seems you've got your house in order and have developed a taste for writing. Good.
Scandinavia requires some planning, beware the temperature does not get much above 18 degress, also to stretch your budget it is a good idea to pre-register your vehicle for cheap tolls through tunnels and ferries.

Lots of advice on here about it - I recall MossyPossy is visiting currently.

Wishing you the best of luck with ****** - we are off to Italy in a few weeks, only our second time and some research to do and hope to return by September before the ****** finallee.
 
update 31st August

After returning to the UK in late June, I booked into a "national club" campsite in Wickham Hampshire for 3 weeks.
I departed that boot camp after 2 nights and wild-camped around the Portsmouth area for a couple of weeks.

I had offended their rule book on at least 6 occasions within my first 24 hours. Way to regimented for my liking.

One example of their anal retentive attitude is that dogs leads must be no longer than 2 metres so the retractable lead was "illegal"
Another is that all vehicles must be parked within 12 inches of a white post, which is planted on every pitch, I was about 2 foot from the post to accommodate a LH drive vehicle with the habitation door on the opposite side to most UK vehicles. This was also deemed illegal.

I was so far from the electric post that I had joined up 2 orange cables, also deemed illegal by the brain-dead moron that was patrolling the site looking for offenders. A fire risk apparently.
There were several other illegal acts (according to brain dead bloke) so I told them where to file it and departed.
The prospect of regular and fractious interactions with zombies was not very appealing to my free spirit.

I have never felt so unwelcome at any place, in any country in over 12 years of almost full time motor-homing.
I may have been my beard, which I wear in a plait, or the whiff of me after 10 days of travel and wet wipe administrations,
I was looking forward to a hot shower, which were out of service because of ..... wet wipes blocking the camps drains.

Found a much more informal site near to Littlehampton and have been more or less static since early July.

I plan on returning to Spain within the next 3 weeks or so after upgrading my travel arrangements.

I've bought a Citroen Berlingo with a fitted ramp in the back to allow easy access for a mobility scooter.
My only transport when looking at cars was the Hymer, which I used to travel to west London to view the Berlingo...
Huge mistake on my behalf, I got caught up in the Low Emission Zone near Twickenham, which cost me a penalty of £500.
****! Transport for Londonn you are evil.


I also bought a Electric golf buggy rather than a mobility scooter, which looks a lot less naff that a standard mobility scooter.

Patterson Products – Manufacturer, Wholesale & Resale

Missing link is a twin axle car trailer, which is my priority for the coming week.

So I'll be hauling a car-on-a-trailer down to Southern Spain before the end of September.

I had a new MOT on the Hymer this past week, passed with an adviisory that I am overweight by 300 kilos. Looking at my plate I seem to have a 4.6k vehicle with a max weight of 6.0k so where the 300kilos excess comes from I haven't a clue. The loaded weight is 4.5k. I'm ignoring it anyway.

Had new shoes on the rear axle and freed up a sticky caliper on the front. 4 new tyres on the back - Dunlop ecocoline.

The Hymer is going to be hauling around 2 tons behind it down to Spain.

I'll not be doing much wild camping for the foreseeable as I intend to camp in Tarifa and see what residency tickets I can obtain that will allow me to stay after ****** and possible buy an acre or several.

I am so sad after wiping my phone, which lost me my travel history and hundreds of photos. including all of my stopovers in France, Belgium, Italy, Spain and Portugal. c'est la vie. I'll be trying some of those undelete programs when I have some loafing time available.

There are still plans to tour Scandinavia and Italy, I may even make it to Greece but I want to secure legal residency in Iberia as a first priority.

Being badly handicapped with a lot of pre-existing conditions is the major hurdle to clear before I'll be given residency.
Depends on how ****** addresses reciprocal health care, which will determine my health coverage in the future.

In the extreme, I could always marry a Spanish girl... bit of an overkill though.

Thank you dear reader for staying this far through my rambles, More news as it happens.

james
 
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Hi James,

You might want to have a look at this regarding reciprocal health care between UK and Spain post ******.

Living in Spain - GOV.UK

I’ve been through the process for application for resedencia so if I can help or advise you on the process give me a pm.

Meanwhile if you get down this way on your travels in Spain you’re more than welcome to call in for a chat and a beer, we have disabled access where we live (dependent upon the size of the golf buggy!).

Happy travels,

Pat
 
Thank you for keeping the thread going James.

You write well and it is pleasure to read your adventures, especially as we are stuck for the time being in family related palaver.

Stick with it.

Cheers

H
 
winks said:
Thank you for keeping the thread going James.

You write well and it is pleasure to read your adventures, especially as we are stuck for the time being in family related palaver.

Stick with it.

Cheers

H
Click to expand...

Thank you Harold, I haven't been doing much of interest this summer, my update pretty much covers most events.

I have to say that the weather has been splendid here dahn sarf, the sunshine seemed to follow me over from Spain, back in June and has stayed with me since. Some days recently, it was hotter here than Tarifa.

Thanks for reading my snippets, I'll keep writing them as long as folks enjoy reading them.

james
 
So I am sitting on a farm near Littlehampton, trailer loaded with a berlingo, all strapped down and I'm ready to rock & roll (not too much I hope) I'll be in the tunnel and en route to Calais on Sunday. The only wild camping I'm planning on is evening stopovers in France and Spain, they'll be service areas on the main drag.

This winter is going to be simply loafing in Tarifa and seeing what hoops I'll need to jump through to get a Spanish resident ticket.
I had inquired back in January, at that time ****** was happening in March (or was it May?) then extended to Halloween.
until the details are worked out by the Westminster clown show, the Spanish officials are unsure how to process applications.

So I'll do what I can, staying optimistic. If I fail in Spain, I'll take a look at Portugal or possibly Italy.
I have an urge - (several actually) to explore Italy and Scandinavia also, but my focus and priority is to get a resident's ticket in an EU country so that I can buy an acre or two of heaven and not have to return to the UK every year for MOTs etc.

Early start manana the M25 southern should be pretty light, trafficwise, but the roadworks will still be the same.

Updates luego...

james
 
[QUOTE="iampatman,]
Meanwhile if you get down this way on your travels in Spain you’re more than welcome to call in for a chat and a beer, we have disabled access where we live (dependent upon the size of the golf buggy!)
[/QUOTE]
Nice gesture - give yerself a slap on the back.
 
Greece and Athens 20c at the moment and so is Bulgaria,but forecast cold on the way.Anyone thinking of Greece,consider route Germany,Austria Serbia,Bulgaria Greece,or you can veer right in the middle of Serbia down to Thessaloniki and then on down to Athens and beyond,Another route is Germany.Austria,Romania,Bulgaria...mostly motorways and easy driving,All safe and very beautiful,there's Brit campsites in Romania and Bulgaria :)
 
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