first extended trip for new motorhomer

[Wellington]

Hi all, looking for some advice and reassurance. I've just bought an Autocruise Stardream. We've had a few weekends away in it, and its going well, except for a few teething troubles. I'm planning to take my eight year old daughter away for most of the summer holidays and am wondering what I haven't thought of yet. We've caravanned for years, so I'm not a complete newbie, but for some reason I feel very unprepared for going away for six weeks in a motorhome.

I plan to start on the Isle of Man to visit a relative, and finish up in Falmouth with another one. We will stop in Whitby, Herefordshire, Cheshire, Somerset and Dorset along the way, and would like to visit Jersey as well. We will mainly stay on campsites, as we have a small dog who is too old to come out on excursions with us, so he needs to be left in the MH with the windows open in the this sort of weather and I worry about security. As it will be just the two of us, we won't be doing any wild camping or similar, although we may stay in a few Britstops to break up journeys.

 

[Flatlander]

Hi all, looking for some advice... ...and would like to visit Jersey as well.

In regards to Jersey, there are one or two things that you must be aware of.

First, ferries both to and from the island must be pre-booked. Second, the campsite must be pre-booked. Third, you need a permit to take a Motorhome onto the island. Normally, this will be arranged by the site you will be staying on. That you have a permit will be checked upon arrival. Fourth, although I doubt this applying to you, there is a maximum width limit of 2,3 metres. Finally, although you are allowed to fill your fuel tank on Jersey, you are not allowed to take extra fuel off the island in a can.

 

[StitchesnFluff]

Sounds that you’ve got a great trip lined up! You’ll find that you’ll get used to Motorhomes very quickly.
Enjoy

 

[Carol]

Hello

 

[Lenny HB]

2 weeks or 6 weeks no difference really may need to take a few more clothes and you won't want to come home.
As for the dawg, fit a vent fan in a rooflight you can then leave the side windows closed, open all the rooflights and the dog will love sitting on the floor with a cool breeze blowing on him.

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[WynandJean]

Hello Wellington. It looks like you will be a regular user of this site. To get the most from the forum you will need to subscribe. It's well worth £15 and will allow you to continue posting beyond your initial five free posts as well as letting you into areas that non members can't access. Look for the Subscription link

https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/portal/subs/

And good luck with your forthcoming trip.

Wyn

 

[Wombles]

Hi & welcome! If you have paid for subscription you can also book the great value rallies & meets listed in calendar format under "Rallies" at the top of this web page. At these there will always be plenty of Funsters to give advice or maybe help if needed There are lots to choose from but here's a few (some in/near the areas you have mentioned) to tempt you!
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...y-29-june-2-july-book-now-almost-full.156238/ - 5 places left
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...-park-bridport-12-16-july-booking-now.169467/ - check with campsite for availability
https://www.motorhomefun.co.uk/foru...-available-message-now-for-your-space.157555/ - good availability
Lots more on the Rallies calendar too.

 

[Neil Bedwin]

I think it is important to remember that you are not heading to Outer Mongolia, you are in the UK. Any problems can easily be sorted locally, there are plenty of supermarkets to top the essentials up from and most campsites will have electric hook-up incase of dodgy batteries. Relax and plan for the fun.....

 

[Spriddler]

After having a caravan I guess you are suspicious that going away in a m/h can be so simple!
Good advice about Jersey - I didn't know that.
As said, you're not going to be far from civilised and English speaking help..............(although Cornwall might be a bit challenging )
Enjoy!

 

[autorouter]

Don't forget the bike/scooter/skateboard/football etc so that the eight-year-old can explore the campsite and make new friends. And maybe annoy old fogies like me.

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[Bailey 15]

Don’t forget to keep your blinds closed on a hot day especially for the dog
The amount of people I see with dogs being left on a hot day and all blinds up is amazing it’s much cooler with them closed
Have a good trip, Cornwall great choice

 

[Rolyan]

Hi all, looking for some advice and reassurance. I've just bought an Autocruise Stardream. We've had a few weekends away in it, and its going well, except for a few teething troubles. I'm planning to take my eight year old daughter away for most of the summer holidays and am wondering what I haven't thought of yet. We've caravanned for years, so I'm not a complete newbie, but for some reason I feel very unprepared for going away for six weeks in a motorhome.

I plan to start on the Isle of Man to visit a relative, and finish up in Falmouth with another one. We will stop in Whitby, Herefordshire, Cheshire, Somerset and Dorset along the way, and would like to visit Jersey as well. We will mainly stay on campsites, as we have a small dog who is too old to come out on excursions with us, so he needs to be left in the MH with the windows open in the this sort of weather and I worry about security. As it will be just the two of us, we won't be doing any wild camping or similar, although we may stay in a few Britstops to break up journeys.

It sounds amazing.

The first time I ever went away in a motorhome/camper van (in fact I had never even stepped in one before) was in New Zealand. We turned up, she briefly showed us the van and facilities and off we drove down the road for a month.

Same in South America. The Wicked Camper turned up, 10 minutes later we set off down the road, in a country that does not speak English.

As long as you've got money/credit cards in one pocket, and a sense of humour and adventure in the other, there's not much that life can throw at you that you wont be able to solve. Plus, the memories that you'll create with your daughter will last forever.

 

[Wellington]

Thank you all for the advice. I'm all paid up now. I didn't know all that about Jersey (although I had planned to pre book everything there anyway). That's more the sort of thing I mean, rather than supplies. Ocado delivers to most places, so it won't be much different to home, in that respect. I just need to remember to order extra prescriptions. I won't even take extra clothes, just wash the ones we have. Neither of us are particularly extravagant in our wardrobe!

We've just been away for a week, and following the storms had dreary, drizzly weather all week. All three places were various water activities, and I couldn't get the towels dry! Usually I leave them in the car, and they dry while we're out, but I leave the blinds closed for the dog, so they don't dry in the MH. I've now bought us microfibre towels in the hope that they will dry quicker. Bit of a Newbie fail!

I was thinking of just booking a few sites as fixed points and meandering around in between as the mood takes us, but I'm concerned that we might not be able to find places to stay as its school holidays. It's quite time consuming being a lone adult, if you are making arrangements, driving and doing all the chores, as nothing can be done simultaneously, so a lot of arranging on the go means very little downtime for me. It might make getting about easier (it's proving more expensive in taxis than I expected, because we go from place to place so much).

 

[Southdowners]

Just a thought... have you considered going to France. Its fabulous for motorhomers. If you don't want to drive too far you could stay in Brittany which is very much like Cornwall but without the crowds! There are plentiful aires and campsites if you need them. We use park4night and campercontact. Just go onto either and you'll see hundreds of stops to choose from.

Don't overthink things.... Have fun!

 

[Wellington]

We will go to France, but not on this trip. My parents live there, so we often visit them. I have no problem at all with driving long distances (I towed the caravan to Alnwick on my own when my daughter was three. It was certainly an experience and took us about nine hours, but we made it!) but being organised and well prepared makes all the difference to how much fun we have.

Last time we went away for an extended trip, we accessed emergency healthcare in every county we visited. I'm hoping not to repeat that experience!

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[Wellington]

Updating after a distracted winter!

We had a blast (especially in the Isle of Man). The bike rack was a pain, and we had a problem with the fridge we kept us mostly on hook ups initially, but mostly we had a great time. I thought of most things in advance, which made a huge difference in how smoothly things went.

It so great, I’m braving Europe this year. But that’s another thread....

 

[denisejoe]

You can get up to 3 months supply of medication from your GP before you go so you won't need to visit when you're out and about. Well worth doing. We do it several times a year as we often go away for a month at a time and it always seems to be over the period when we'd need to get the next months supply! In fact we've had to do it this month as we're off to France next week and won't be here to get our March supply.

Glad you had a good trip. Enjoy Europe this year too. Much more user friendly than the UK. As you use campsites look out for the municipal sites as they are cheaper and usually closer to towns.

Denise

 

[simsy56]

Let us know when you are on the Isle of Man next time, we will get the kettle on!

Craig

 

[trophychap]

If it's France in UK school summer holidays then be aware that the main French holiday month runs from Bastille day to the Fete de St Jean in August - hence campsites in holiday areas get choc-a-bloc and are one helluva lot more expensive from the Saturday before 14 July till the Saturday after. Inland not quite so frenetic although the snag there is - one can find any number of local shops attractions and amenities closed because THEY go on holiday too! But you probably knew that anyway as your parents live there.

Re prescriptions (Sedge is diabetic so has to get them before we set off if she wants to have a relaxing holiday) at our GP surgery it's virtually impossible to obtain more than the set 'month' - which may be 28 days depending on the multiples the actual drugs happen to be packed in - at any one time, so much less of a hassle when the holiday is planned in advance, to start ordering 'next month's' - earlier than usual from about now and stockpile a bit - otherwise she has to order 3 separate scrips on the trot with a gap of a day in between each one. You need to investigate what particular arrangements your own surgery happens to have for 'multiples' well in advance of actually needing them, so as not to get caught out at the last minute. So - please do that NOW !

Being as we do not actually know if there will be any problem getting insulin from eg Denmark(in her case) after 29th March, please don't get leaving it !

 

[Wellington]

@trophychap Our gp is happy to dispense two months worth of scripts for holidays as usual, so it’s no problem for us. We are restricted to six weeks away by pesky schools! I must start a new thread about Europe soon though. I have, um, some concerns.

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[Wellington]

@trophychap Our gp is happy to dispense two months worth of scripts for holidays as usual, so it’s no problem for us. We are restricted to six weeks away by pesky schools! I must start a new thread about Europe soon though. I have, um, some concerns.

 

[Stealaway]

Download Camper Contact to a sat nav. Easier when solo.