Too much money

[Forestboy]

I would rather stay at home than go on a package holiday.

I blinking hate them.

Me too just the thought makes me wanna have flu.

 

[MitchandJenny]

Hi UK PETE. It sounds as though you want to do tours to the continent for a relatively "Short" time. We never go over for less than 3 months !! THEN, if you divide the cost by the time spent in the sun, it really works out as a cheap way to do it !!
As Snowbird says "Go for longer"..
Before we retired, we could only go away for a max of 3 weeks, that makes it a dear "do".
Now retired, we reckon we can do 3 months on about £1500 ----£1800..
BUT, we do wild camp a lot in the early Summer..... Thats known as "freeloading tossers" on here (by some).
But when we go down to Spain for our (First) overwintering trip with the rest of the "snowbirds", we will probably be mainly on campsites..
Good luck with your travels.. However long you can go for...
REMEMBER... France is MADE for motorhomes, you can move from free "Aire" to free "Aire" and live well for VERY little !!!!
Mitch and Jenny... (Free loading Tossers) ((Mostly))

 

[Zains Pops]

Its horses for courses. We recently came back from a cruise and will no doubt be going again next winter. A bit of a problem trying to drive the MH to the Caribbean.
We will be off in the van on various trips including France during the year.
However we will not be Easy Jetting to the Costas at any time now or in the future.

 

[Neckender]

I'd love to be somewhere warmer all winter but with elderly parents it ain't going to happen anytime soon (I hope). It's more to do with comfort that cost as far as I can see.

We are in the same boat Puddleduck so we can only manage 6 weeks max as we have Pat's elderly parents to think of. Pat has one son Jason who has a young family of his own, so we make sure that when we leave for our Benidorm trip Jason is at hand for his Grandparents, and when Jason and his family are away we are available at home. We would love more than 6 weeks but Pats parent's come first.

John.

 

[simsy56]

I would rather amble along in our RV, than suffer 'cattle class' on any package holiday.

Craig

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[Puddleduck]

We have managed three weeks away with only two panic phone calls.

Our son is great but has his own life and has two jobs so can't drop everything to drive 150 miles to go and find Dad's hearing aids (just an example)..... daughter is in Glasgow and can't get to them in less than 4 hours - on a good day.

Since they both ended up in hospital over Christmas (when with my sister) they have become much more frail and fearful. One of my nephews is engaged to a lovely Roma girl and they are sooooooo negative about it. The other nephew is starting to make a start in the world of acting (has done a few films including a small part in the new Star Wars) and again they are negative - too risky, goes to to many foreign places, Fuji might be dangerous (he did a nature film there- yet to be released).

Well we will call in tomorrow on the way down to Centre Parcs to remind them we are away for the week.

 

[Alan]

I travelled back from Beni to brighton last week using toll roads all the way and the Dieppe ferry with two pets.
The total price was £409 + a 50€ speeding fine,Julia flew back in December,Alicante to gatwick with Norwegian airlines for £20.30 so certainly much cheaper to fly but with pets it has to motorhome or caravan.

 

[bernardfeay]

We buy 3 return season tickets each year with P&O. That gives us the advantage of flexibility. We turn up when we like and come back when we like. You have to ring P&O to book it. The cost is about £280 for 3.

Other than that, the journey to our destination is part of the holiday. We pretty much follow the sunshine by looking at weather forecasts.

If the weather is nice we do 50 to 100 miles per day in the right direction. If it's chucking it down we eat the miles and make serious progress.

We have our lunch in the town centres, ride our bikes and supper on the BBQ.

We never, ever stay on a camp site. Just not our thing.

 

[GeriatricWanderer]

I know it wouldn't suit everyone but for those who are on a tight budget but would still like to enjoy the pleasures of the road - touring, camping, aires, campsites, wilding, or just roaming as the fancy takes you, there is a way:

Downsize to a vehicle that doubles as your "day car".

OK, sure there would be compromises to make, some compromises that would be unacceptable for many but if you are a bit stuck for pennies and you could make those compromises, now you can immediately save the cost of your dedicated motorhome insurance ( £300?), road tax (£250?), MoT ( £45?), habitation service (£200?), the base vehicle service (£200?) and of course, the cost of the motorhome (£??), and it's depreciation, in the first place.

Those of us who can afford the dedicated motorhome and the cost of using it, might well cringe at the thought of no shower, no TV, no fixed bed, no air con, no microwave etc - but it's still very possible to enjoy the hobby without all the gizmos.

 

[cruiser]

mine being 25 years old. no longer going down in price.. and it is under 6 mtrs long , we can get into most places. we have parked in leisure centre's , car parks. super markets. and in one place in spain. at the back of a old peoples home.[with their permission] we go when we can for about three weeks to four weeks. we normally spend about £1.800. that is all included .

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[DP+JAY]

I know it wouldn't suit everyone but for those who are on a tight budget but would still like to enjoy the pleasures of the road - touring, camping, aires, campsites, wilding, or just roaming as the fancy takes you, there is a way:

Downsize to a vehicle that doubles as your "day car".

OK, sure there would be compromises to make, some compromises that would be unacceptable for many but if you are a bit stuck for pennies and you could make those compromises, now you can immediately save the cost of your dedicated motorhome insurance ( £300?), road tax (£250?), MoT ( £45?), habitation service (£200?), the base vehicle service (£200?) and of course, the cost of the motorhome (£??), and it's depreciation, in the first place.

Those of us who can afford the dedicated motorhome and the cost of using it, might well cringe at the thought of no shower, no TV, no fixed bed, no air con, no microwave etc - but it's still very possible to enjoy the hobby without all the gizmos.

I'd rather give up my car
Just thinking, when I retire how many places do I need to go that I can't in a 7m+ motorhome?

 

[Deleted member 29692]

If you stuck to France instead of going to Spain then the only real additional cost when compared to touring in the UK is the ferry or tunnel and there are ways to minimise that. Tesco vouchers or the frequent traveller scheme for the tunnel for example. Once you are in France diesel is cheaper, there are far more and IMO better places to stay in the Aire network that are either much cheaper than most UK options or in many cases free.

 

[colinw]

Yes thanks for the replies, TBH it shocked me the price of it all just shows how green i am to it all, i have been pvc camping on and off for over 20 years and in all honesty have looked at it as a cheap way of having a break especially doing a bit of wilding here and there, and i just love the out door life and being free to do what i want,
the UK can still give me all the above, but i will stick to my two package holidays abroad rather than doing it in a motorhome, i just cant justify it at the moment, perhaps as some have said doing a longer stint is more cost effective , but i dont intend on retiring for a good few years yet so will see what life deals me and if i am lucky enough to retire with spare money then maybe a sunnier climate for 3 months of the year

Pete , you've answered your own question . its all about how we prioritise how we spend our disposable income , which of course some have a lot of , some have very little of . if you prefer to have 2 package hols a year and then camp in your van in UK , then most people will think you are doing OK .
I wish you luck in fulfilling your long term plans

 

[camocam1]

Ha, you wanna be starting out from up here in Scotland

Especially up in the very North. Costs me £100 + just to get as far as Birmingham