Earlier today, we realised that we have been ‘on the road’ now for 8 months. It certainly feels like it’s been longer! That is meant in the good sense though.
Mostly.
Evenings like this when we are sat researching places to stay for our upcoming visit to our home County and not having much luck, we would probably say it’s meant in the not so good sense. It could just be because it’s the run up to Christmas and so, suddenly, everything has more of an urgency about it and there is this idea that we don’t have enough time to cram everything in. We are planning on being back there for a week so we can see family and friends and also carry out chores and make routine visits with various establishments (doctors, dentist, chiropractor) before we head off again.
Why are we finding it so hard though? Isn’t ‘full timing’ about finding great park ups? Waking up next to beaches or forests after a peaceful nights rest? Well, no actually. There are lots of different interpretations of ‘park ups’, based on various factors including the size of your van, the look of your van and whereabouts you are staying (or trying to stay!).
For us, we don’t always find it that simple. This could be down to our experience. Yes, we have been motor-homing for 5 years but that was purely for leisure. That was how we holidayed and so we would naturally be staying on campsites, never wild camping or trying park ups. As time goes on, we are starting to get more savvy and get used to it (I, Tash, don’t think I slept the first night we tried a park up, constantly jumping at every single noise and waiting for someone to knock on the door) but we are still not at a point where we feel comfortable parking anywhere.
We did actually wild camp a lot when we were touring Wales but it felt easier, there were a lot more open spaces to comfortably park and most were quiet. Our fear is always upsetting people, we never want to cause a nuisance and as our 7.4m long, 2.3m wide motorhome is not that discreet, we are very conscious of doing just that. We are also very aware that the van we are currently in is not ours. We would not want to draw the wrong kind of attention, we are after all, representing the brand.
Being in the South, space is at a premium
So why can’t we just find campsites to stay on when we go back? In this case there are a limited number of sites near where we are going to be staying and they all full already. Then there is the biggest factor: Cost! We try to balance our use of sites, pub stopovers and park ups to keep costs down and so even if there were sites available, to stay on a campsite the whole time would be fairly costly. The option of parking on someone’s drive is also not possible; being in the South, space is at a premium and we don’t have any family or friends with enough space for us to park up.
This scenario got us thinking about travelling full time and how you have to constantly plan where you are staying the next night. We then start to wonder, would it have been easier if we had toured Europe instead of the UK?
Based on firsthand feedback from fellow travellers and what we have seen online, the answer is undoubtedly yes. It seems that majority of the roads are wider, the car parks are more accommodating of larger leisure vehicles and of course, they have Aires. Aires provide a place for motorhomes/campervans to park over night either for free or for a very reasonable price and most even have facilities such as electric and water. We also hear that they have a good selection of vineyards where vans can stay and they make you try loads of wine, shame!
This is where England is seriously lacking. Whilst we do have an extensive network of campsites & the Briststops scheme has been great, places that leisure vehicles can stop for a night are not as easy to find. There are parking restrictions and height barriers in most car parks and service stations will charge for 24 hours parking.
We understand that there have to be regulations in place otherwise, sadly, the situation can get out of hand. Not everybody is as thoughtful of their environment and sadly some people don’t follow the ‘leave no trace’ ethos. On the other hand though, it’s a shame that there can’t be a way to introduce more leisure vehicle friendly stops. Perhaps being allowed to have somewhere comfortable to park up, people might respect it a little more?
Do we regret choosing to tour the UK then? Absolutely not! There is more history here than you can shake a stick at and we are loving every minute of learning about it. Plus the fact that this country is stunning and there are so many hidden gems that sometimes, you could forget that you are in your home country. It’s also enabled us to go and visit people that we haven’t seen for a while, make new friends and basically given us the flexibility to go where we please (for this year at least!). Full timing has it’s up and downs just like anything in life but if its what you want, you make it work and it is so worth it. We are living a life we are happy with and thats what’s important.