WHY!.....Why am I doing this, and how did you feel when you did it?

Jaws said:
Maureen does not have a C1, and indeed even when he started out and had a 3.5t Hobby she refused to drive the thing even then

But I love driving, quite happy to bang out a 10 session behind the wheel if needs be, so for me the fact Woman will not drive our bus is nowt but a bonus as far as I am concerned !
Click to expand...
So HOW do we get more women driving, my wife needs inspired by another female driver ?
 
596 said:
£100 a day!
Click to expand...

So, am I right then you enter the zone and it keeps charging you £100 a day till you leave the zone. Is that how it works, because your answer was a little lacking in detail. Or just a £100 when the camera spots you.
 
SuperMike said:
So, am I right then you enter the zone and it keeps charging you £100 a day till you leave the zone. Is that how it works, because your answer was a little lacking in detail. Or just a £100 when the camera spots you.
Click to expand...
Sorry no idea but there are cameras where we come in, plus it can’t be taxed to an address in the zone, anyway van is sold, new owner over the moon, and me, well will be legal tomorrow at least ?
 
I don’t only felt positive that I’d done the right thing, happy to collect said motorhome.
I think if you look at it as stress and worry you’ve done the wrong thing and perhaps a static or holiday apartment somewhere in the sun might have been a better choice ? You can always sell a good motorhome though, so if not for you not much lost.
 
596 said:
Sorry no idea but there are cameras where we come in, plus it can’t be taxed to an address in the zone, anyway van is sold, new owner over the moon, and me, well will be legal tomorrow at least ?
Click to expand...

Register it elsewhere then, cousin, aunt etc. What happens if you Sorn it ? If you have no idea how it all works perhaps you jumped too quickly.

Yes, I know it’s toooooo late, but we are in the SoF and my old head is thinking, which is dangerous, ask the VeryOldFella. :emo:

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
SuperMike said:
Register it elsewhere then, cousin, aunt etc. What happens if you Sorn it ? If you have no idea how it all works perhaps you jumped too quickly.

Yes, I know it’s toooooo late, but we are in the SoF and my old head is thinking, which is dangerous, ask the VeryOldFella. :emo:
Click to expand...
Maybe I jumped the gun but it was a 3,850kg (unknown to me downplated to 3,500kg), I could have upgraded by paper to 4,000kg which would still have only given me 600kg, we wanted 1,000kg to take dive gear. So when we came back from France this year and I looked into upgrading it all became apparent apart from the LEZ issue we needed a maxi chassis. Old van sold in a couple of days and search went on for a rear lounge, 8mtrs or less with 1,000kg payload, budget £80k, I went to the Dusseldorf show, nice vans but with maxi chassis out of our budget plus would have been subject to the new VED, came home at 11pm into Heathrow, went on internet and found a van that seems to meet our criteria, left at 4.30am to drive up north, was at dealer at opening time, well a bit earlier 8.30am, got allocated a salesman, he showed me the showroom model, spent half an hour looking round that, told a new one in its plastic was arriving, agreed to buy it and paid deposit. Wife was later passing a week later when ours had arrived after being in York, I asked her to pop in to check it, she refused at first as another hr on her journey but eventually agreed, saw it still in its wrapper in a yard and said yes it’s a van ?. I asked her to take some pics, noticed some sloppy work, that has now apparently been sorted, have had van PDI’d and all accessories fitted apart from air suspension that gets done Friday, so pick up and pay tomorrow then we have a tool for what we require it for, no emotions apart from should we just have rented one, but 42 nights abroad is eye watering plus if anything happens can be a nightmare.

So tomorrow wasted having to drive all the way to get it, only good things is we get to visit north for a weekend ?
 
Bognor Saint said:
This is interesting reading, I hope you're wife reads it too ?
Click to expand...
My wife is FULLY aware of my feelings and appreciated me supporting her, but I see my active life ticking away, maybe I am going through some Men O Pause ?
 
596 said:
Sorry no idea but there are cameras where we come in, plus it can’t be taxed to an address in the zone, anyway van is sold, new owner over the moon, and me, well will be legal tomorrow at least ?
Click to expand...

I lived in the LEZ and still have a house there.

The £100 is for each day you drive in the LEZ, so parked on one's drive is OK, but it is still £200 to bring it in for one night and out again.

My MH was not compliant but I made it under 3500kg in LEZ eyes(don't ask) and it became compliant. However I still could not keep it at home which is terraced with only on-street parking and Residents permits, which can only be issued for up to 3m length. I stored it at the yard for our minibus depot at LHR. (Just outside the Zone)

It was suggested that 596 could store outside the LEZ but that has the inconvenience that, unlike other stored MHs, it cannot be brought home for loading, although I could once the MH was made compliant, because I could get a supply of Daily Visitor's Permits which do not have the 3m restriction to allow builders' lorries etc.

It is all a PITA, and to stop pollution, which is minimal for a vehicle which drives to go out of town - MH owners do not go touring inside London. I know an owner of another Arto who lived 1/4 mile inside the LEZ and sold his house and moved because of it.

Good luck 596 with the new Swift.

Geoff

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
As an outsider my impression from your prolific posts is that it's not the material things (e.g. the motorhome, (not using) the boat, hiring an unnecessary car etc. ) themselves that are stressing you but the associated lifestyle and frustrations that they represent. It might help you to start thinking about how you can pursue the things that you actually enjoy and then discuss with the missus how these can be achieved, or at least find a more favourable compromise.
E.g. avoid the LEZ by moving out of that area?
Consider fewer hours working for the good lady to make more shared leisure time available? You don't appear to need the money.
You seem to be floundering around as a victim of a situation where you can't now see the wood for the trees.
It's pointless to continue to do the same things and expect the situation to change.
I've been there.
 
596

We were posting at the same time.

Had you known it was 3500kg it would have shown up on LEZ check page as compliant, but as you say you wanted 1000kg payload.

I also feel my active life may be limited and we are restricted by Basia's 98 year-old Mother and other family restrictions, which combine to limit time away. The difference is that when we are away we are away from the family. We do manage about 10 weeks away, split by a 4 week 'store and fly home' period to keep Mother company.

I am starting to think of your method of driving the MH to wherever and OH flying to join. It would save Basia sitting on Autobahn for 3 days watching me drive, and would allow me to do the positioning slower, in smaller hops than 400km/day. It would mean we could have all of the weeks in our chosen touring area, without the days wasted getting there, as I have lots of time to spare to do that.

We were going down to Slowakia today in good weather, but have postponed because we both have colds and coughs and had a bad night. maybe tomorrow as weather forecast good all week.

Geoff
 
simsy56 said:
I could sweep into my driveway and had a healthy bank balance a couple of years ago as well. Now we have a beautiful holiday home (to us) anywhere in the UK or Europe, or even further, with a never ending list of different vistas, different gardens, woodlands, sea views, mountain views, harbour views, different neighbours frequently, and the journey getting to our next port of call is always a pleasure. Far better than having 'money in the bank'. Enjoy life whilst you can, it won't last.

Craig
Click to expand...
Exactly why we bought “Hettie” from old-mo

SWMBO has Lymphoma (4 years post diagnosis) and realise we need to live every day like it was our last.. yes the money in the bank was nice to look at but it’s no substitute for having a MH we can get out and use now..

Worst case scenario we can sell it on when the need arises ...

I say live for today (within reason)
 
I think you’d have been better off buying a caravan. The whole point of a motorhome is to travel in it. If you’re stationary for 6 weeks it doesn’t make sense to have one, especially as you don’t appear to even like the one you’ve bought.

You could have bought a large top of the range caravan for far less than your motorhome. You could store it somewhere near to where you stay and save the hassle of towing it down to the south of France.

Anyway, you’ve clearly decided that buying a motorhome is the best option so I wish you well with it. Let us know how you get on.
 
596 said:
I’m older and my parents have both died, my wife still has hers
Click to expand...

I do know a gang of Russian scaffolders that can arrange accidents if you've really had enough

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Last edited:
I’m beginning to sympathise with 596 ?
 
If all else fails try this :coffee::D
I believe they may have had calls in the past from new Swift owners
Les
www.samaritans.org

Talk to us on the phone

Whatever you're going through, call us free any time, from any phone, on 116 123.
www.samaritans.org www.samaritans.org
 
596 said:
So HOW do we get more women driving, my wife needs inspired by another female driver ?
Click to expand...
Send her on a MH manaoevering course to start. Everyone can benefit from a few tips from a professional (not their other half!:)).
Then send her out on her own!
We bought our first in Plymouth and husband immediately drove home in car and I stayed for a week on my own using it to get around.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
Riverbankannie said:
Send her on a MH manaoevering course to start. Everyone can benefit from a few tips from a professional (not their other half!:)).
Then send her out on her own!
We bought our first in Plymouth and husband immediately drove home in car and I stayed for a week on my own using it to get around.
Click to expand...
Maybe we could meet up and I would pay you for a session, less formal more fun ?
 
596 said:
Maybe we could meet up and I would pay you for a session, less formal more fun ?
Click to expand...
Probably better off with a pro and off-road !

Motorhome manoeuvring courses

The Club offers an enjoyable and informative motorhome manoeuvring course perfect for you, no matter what your level of skill or driving confidence
www.caravanclub.co.uk www.caravanclub.co.uk
 
Don’t know what all the fuss is about , get rid of the wife , problem solved ?
 
I think you should stop moaning? & think about all the brownie points you will have earned by spending 6 weeks with your wife's family (again) ?. That must be priceless.

And get your wife to have a go driving ASAP - the longer she puts it off the bigger the van will seem in her head. Oh and point out all the women drivers you will invariably see on your travels. There's loads of us.

.... Even better you should both come on one of the Fun meets ? so you can see for yourselves that we aren't some urban myth?.

Subscribers  do not see these advertisements

 
596 said:
Well at the moment just standard but will making a brand new stainless one as I did for my last van as shown here, I like to get the right tone ?
Click to expand...

Well it stands to reason you made your own exhaust pipe,you are certainly full of gas!! (y)
 
it seems to me that you hate st tropez with a passion as it attracts people of a certain age and demographic like your in-laws, but don't accept they are a similar age to you. spending 6 weeks being overheated and confronted with your advancing years is getting harder to take

pointing out that you have a much younger wife (for the sex) a boat and an £80k motorhome you only have time to use once a year sounds more like willy waving to some people

am I wrong?
 
For someone who has no excitement about owning it, you sure do talk about it a lot!
Are you sure your just not in denial?
 

Join us or log in to post a reply.

To join in you must be a member of MotorhomeFun

Join MotorhomeFun

Join us, it quick and easy!

Join us

Log in

Already a member? Log in here.

Latest journal entries

Back
Top