the flip side to ..why do you like wild camping?

[Channa]

I have read some interesting comments re wildcamping, but to most people here any type of camping is a pastime and they have the retreat of a home built from bricks and mortar.

So a little twist to the tale and a seperate thread, What are the benefits if any of having the bolt hole of a bricks and mortar home?

More importantly how important is it to have roots?

Channa

 

[Kontiki]

When we retired we considered renting out the house & going full timing, but for us trips of about 3 months work out well then it's nice to come home for a bit. Motorhoming is something we enjoy but not having our 'bolt hole' to come back to any time we like then full time motorhoming is just a way of life & I don't think we would enjoy it as much. That said after being back home for a week we wondered why we bothered & have the maps out again planning the next trip.

Everybody is different & has to do what suits them or what they can afford.

 

[biggirafe]

Something I said when we got our van, 'do you know Nic this is bigger than my first bedsit and its got more facilities'

Keeping that in mind I have every respect for those that choose too or perhaps have too full time but lets be honest a decent MH is a long ways away from camping or roughing it. If your single or maybe a couple who won't kill each other after a week of being in the same space then I can't see why not.

I think I would miss the feeling of being on holiday if I full timed, for us part of the fun is the anticipation and planning. Working out the mileage and saving the money for diesel, its all part of it for us. Then returning home tired but happy ready to plan the next one and carry out the fixes and repairs resulting from the previous trip

 

[Kontiki]

I think that most of the European vans aren't built for full timing, to full time in comfort I think you need an RV. The furniture & fittings are the same as you find in a house, because of the 3500 weight restriction many of the European vans have to use lightweight materials to keep the weight down & as a consequence some of the internal furniture is not that robust. The toilet cassette, water & waste aren't big enough you need to be looking for somewhere to empty your toilet every couple of days. In some vans having to make up your bed every night would drive you mad, I found it bad enough on an A class just having to fold the front seats down then lower the bed got on my nerves after 3 months. You have to consider the weather if you are staying in the UK, being stuck in the van can be claustrophobic after a few days. I know you can go out but then you end up with where to put the wet shoes & coats when you get back.

We have met quite a few people though full timing in vans we would consider more suited for using just for holidays but they seem to manage. I envy people who have the guts to full time (as long as they are doing it by choice) but for me I like to know that I can drive home & put my feet up anytime I want.

 

[Tigatigatiger]

Dear Channa

As someone who at time "feels" homeless-not because I don't have a home, I am lucky enough to have a lovely house in lovely part of the UK. But because I live 250 miles from where I feel is home (the northeast-tesside/north yorkshire).

Last year my Dad died-bless him he funded my motorhome and my sisters etc. He was the last link to the village I grew up in, I have no reason to visit there now no base to which I can pop round old friends, my brother lives in the next village (Saltburn-by-sea) and my sister lives 10 miles away. Now more than ever I want to move back North, my hubby comes from Seaham and he too wants to move-we've had enough of the south?

What I am trying to say is different people feel differently about having a base or not.

I met a lovely old bloke a few years back, he had sold his large house bought a small flat and a motorhome. He told his kids complained in the summer they never saw him-to me he had good balance of life.

A place to call home but freedom travel as well. I only hope I can live his sort of life one day.

Paula

 

[Coolasluck]

For us we want to full time and that is even though we have a really nice house with fantastic views over the bay and sea.My wife is a Lancashire lass and i have more or less grown up down here in devon.I have always had a bit of a nomadic spirit in me which felt so right when i toured america for 6 weeks on my mountain bike years ago,it was great all i had was a bivvy bag and a tent and rucksack with bike panniers,it was brilliant i remember camping at the grand canyon beautiful!!Slept off the roads in bushes e.t.c a great time.I have a free spirit,and feel i have spent my life here too long,we just wonna rome and live freely.I was fit as a fiddle when i came home.I was sad to be back and only missed what was happening in the sporting world.
Now of course i want to do it in a bit more style my wife loves the motorhome more than the house and we find we just want to try and live an exiting and active lifestyle whilst we are relativly young,as when you retire if you get there you could be too late.We both dont have any kids and as far as we are concerned we were born with nothing and will we hope leave this world having lived life ,enjoyed it, with no regrets and leave not a cent behind.

 

[barryd]

Some interesting comments and I agree with most of them. We are lucky to live where we live in Teesdale. Lovely house in a small village with great views and no crime. We have virtually no family anymore and there is no reason for us to stay here other than its a nice place to live. I would rent the house out and go tomorrow but Mrs D is more caucious. We have done three months in one stint last summer in the van and we get on better in the van than we do at home! We also did a month over Christmas and New Year. To me the home is just bricks and mortar. To Michelle its more than that. I think we will go, probably early next year and it will either be the best thing we ever did or a disaster. Who knows. One things for sure its in my system now and its all I dream about so it has to happen I guess. Will I miss having a house? I really dont think so. As to full timing in a Euro van I really dont see a problem. Its so easy to empty the loo and fill up with water in Europe. As for making up a bed everynight. It takes 2 minutes and it never once bothered me. If your feeling lazy just leave them down! I do worry about stuff breaking or wearing out as parts for the van will be difficult to locate abroad but if the above is all you have to worry about in life when full timing then flipping heck so what!