Long post alert...
So we have just returned from our third overseas trip in our first year of MoHo ownership. Our first trip was a week to northern France last autumn, our second was a week to the Swiss Alps in June.
This trip was a longer trip (18 days) with the Memsahib, and the 19 and 16 yr old gene puddles. We intended to get to Dubrovnik via Italy and return via Austria. In the end we spent more time island hopping than we planned and didn't get further south than Plitvice national park.
So we offer a few (hopefully not too self-evident) lessons these newbies have learned. But first, the trip in numbers:
Road trip 2019:
3,000 miles driven.
In 72 hours.
Over 18 days.
Across 12 borders.
Through 9 countries.
Over countless bridges and through innumerable tunnels.
Via 4 bikes, 3 ferries, 2 trains, 1 gondola, 1 vaporetto, 1 kayak, 1 cable car, 1 funicular railway, 1 tram, 1 paddleboard, and a toboggan.
At an average speed of 41mph.
And 25 mpg roughly.
Lessons:
1. France is always closed. Whenever you go.
2. Our plastic footprint is huge and worrying - mostly from water and soft drinks. We've now bought a soda stream to eliminate soft drinks. We've bought a container to fill with drinking water so as not to use the tank water.
3. Stop worrying about the MPG. It is what it is. But check websites such as fuelshare for the cheapest diesel in town. In France it is always at a Carrefour.
4. Put a multimeter in your tool kit. Most useful tool after a roll of gaffer tape.
5. Autoroutes are quicker but pricier - especially in France.
6. Watch out for the vignettes in places like Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Buy in advance as you can't be sure of getting one at/just over the border. Austria are very good at extracting fines at the first motorway on-ramp.
7. Plans change. Roll with it.
8. Wilding/Aires is possible pretty much everywhere if you plan ahead... Park4nights is our preferred app for this.
9. Sygic Truck is our preferred satnav. We have it installed in an Android head unit with a ten inch screen. Works well for us.
10. Take all the instruction books with you...we left ours behind to save weight. And then wasted an hour fiddling with a simple problem with our awning.
11. Four adults living in a four berth van is do-able but intimate.
12. Teenage boys produce an incredible amount of hair, dust, skin flakes and grit. The 12v rechargeable handheld Hoover was one of our best purchases.
13. Make a note of all the things that need fixing or improving in the van as you go...you'll forget at the end of the trip.
14. We used 14l of LPG in our 18 days... We had EHU on possibly fix or six nights. We drove on probably a little more than half the days. So we used 14l to heat showers and run the fridge, plus four or five BBQs. It wasn't even a full tank...so my planned capacity-upgrade to the GasIt system I installed has been put on hold. Ditto the solar panels...but I may fit a second leisure battery.
15. No matter how many USB charger sockets you install, it's never enough.
16. We have a 15m electric cable... Wish we had 25m or 30. We also need to take an European socket to EHU adapter ... Some sites in Croatia were running off what looked like domestic plugs!
17. France is always closed. Whenever you go.
We had a blast on this trip. Really got on with the van, and with mohoing. Every trip just gets better and better. Seriously thinking of ways to do this for extended trips/semi-full time...
So we have just returned from our third overseas trip in our first year of MoHo ownership. Our first trip was a week to northern France last autumn, our second was a week to the Swiss Alps in June.
This trip was a longer trip (18 days) with the Memsahib, and the 19 and 16 yr old gene puddles. We intended to get to Dubrovnik via Italy and return via Austria. In the end we spent more time island hopping than we planned and didn't get further south than Plitvice national park.
So we offer a few (hopefully not too self-evident) lessons these newbies have learned. But first, the trip in numbers:
Road trip 2019:
3,000 miles driven.
In 72 hours.
Over 18 days.
Across 12 borders.
Through 9 countries.
Over countless bridges and through innumerable tunnels.
Via 4 bikes, 3 ferries, 2 trains, 1 gondola, 1 vaporetto, 1 kayak, 1 cable car, 1 funicular railway, 1 tram, 1 paddleboard, and a toboggan.
At an average speed of 41mph.
And 25 mpg roughly.
Lessons:
1. France is always closed. Whenever you go.
2. Our plastic footprint is huge and worrying - mostly from water and soft drinks. We've now bought a soda stream to eliminate soft drinks. We've bought a container to fill with drinking water so as not to use the tank water.
3. Stop worrying about the MPG. It is what it is. But check websites such as fuelshare for the cheapest diesel in town. In France it is always at a Carrefour.
4. Put a multimeter in your tool kit. Most useful tool after a roll of gaffer tape.
5. Autoroutes are quicker but pricier - especially in France.
6. Watch out for the vignettes in places like Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia. Buy in advance as you can't be sure of getting one at/just over the border. Austria are very good at extracting fines at the first motorway on-ramp.
7. Plans change. Roll with it.
8. Wilding/Aires is possible pretty much everywhere if you plan ahead... Park4nights is our preferred app for this.
9. Sygic Truck is our preferred satnav. We have it installed in an Android head unit with a ten inch screen. Works well for us.
10. Take all the instruction books with you...we left ours behind to save weight. And then wasted an hour fiddling with a simple problem with our awning.
11. Four adults living in a four berth van is do-able but intimate.
12. Teenage boys produce an incredible amount of hair, dust, skin flakes and grit. The 12v rechargeable handheld Hoover was one of our best purchases.
13. Make a note of all the things that need fixing or improving in the van as you go...you'll forget at the end of the trip.
14. We used 14l of LPG in our 18 days... We had EHU on possibly fix or six nights. We drove on probably a little more than half the days. So we used 14l to heat showers and run the fridge, plus four or five BBQs. It wasn't even a full tank...so my planned capacity-upgrade to the GasIt system I installed has been put on hold. Ditto the solar panels...but I may fit a second leisure battery.
15. No matter how many USB charger sockets you install, it's never enough.
16. We have a 15m electric cable... Wish we had 25m or 30. We also need to take an European socket to EHU adapter ... Some sites in Croatia were running off what looked like domestic plugs!
17. France is always closed. Whenever you go.
We had a blast on this trip. Really got on with the van, and with mohoing. Every trip just gets better and better. Seriously thinking of ways to do this for extended trips/semi-full time...
