So...... How has it been over the two years that we have been fulltiming in the Eriba ?.....
I will tell you..... The good and the bad........
Well it certainly hasn't disappointed.......
Our choice of caravan has proved to be right for us.... It's a caravan for people that don't want to follow the trend...people that want to be a bit different.....people that don't want to be tugging a giant white box around the country....
In bicycle terms it's for people that would buy a Tifosi instead of a Giant or Trek.....
It's for people that are a bit individualistic....which is what fulltiming is all about anyway....
Living outdoors throughout the year has put us more in touch with nature...wildlife and the changes of the seasons.... The weather has become a really important part of our lives as it can affect when we put up or take down our awning or indeed when we choose to move on to another site.....
The whole way of life is very relaxing with very little stress....after all people choose to do this for their two or three week annual holiday and we are doing it every day.
As I've said before "Every day is a holiday".
No house maintenance... No commuting......No bills..... Just a very relaxing lifestyle....
We can choose to get up whenever we want and plan our own days free from many of the restraints that so called 'normal' living can place on us..... Yes it is an almost stress free way of life... If we don't like a location or have had enough of that particular area we can simply move on.........
So in short...We love it....
We don't regret the decision to try it and we would recommend it to any one who would like to try a slightly more adventurous way of life instead of conforming to what is expected.
Most importantly we have no plans to stop doing what we are doing anytime soon....
I just wish that we could have done it years ago like my old walking buddy Gideon has done.....
Now for some of the downsides......
Doctor and hospital appointments....
You have to get things well organised so that regular things like appointments etc can all be completed during a stay at your home base campsite.
The same applies to caravan and car service...MOT etc.
This is why we always touch base with the Bournemouth area twice a year...spring and autumn.
It's not really a downside as such only a slight restriction on the freedom that we now enjoy and as such more noticeable to us than when we were living a 'normal' existence....
Multiple Children.....
You can always tell when the school holidays are on us because the toilet areas on site look like a bomb has hit it.... Toilet paper left all over the floor...toilets not being flushed.... showers left in a state of flood.....etc....This makes a lot of extra work for campsite staff.....
Although there is a 5mph speed limit on most sites this does not seem to apply to children who race their bikes and scooters around the sites like bats out of hell and then leave them lying around for some unsuspecting pensioner to trip over them.....
As for ball games.... most sites have areas for children to play and often ban ball games around the caravans themselves but that doesn't stop parents and their children ignoring the so called site rules which are for the benefit of everyone...
Kids will be kids and I probably did the same when I was their age but as I'm not anymore I want things to be a bit more peaceful....
Solution....
We now mark on our yearly planner when the school holidays are and on those dates make a point of booking in at an 'Adults Only' site or a site that has an Adults Only area away from the mayhem that is the school holidays.. :-)
Multiple Dogs.....
As with the children one or two are not a problem.... but some people will turn up with multiple dogs.... I have seen up to seven quite large dogs in one caravan.... When one 'pack' meets another group of dogs the barking can drive you mad... Why some people feel the need to have such a large number of dogs in a confined space like a caravan or motorhome I will never know. The owners seem to think everyone loves having dogs jump up at them and enjoy hearing the sound of a dog barking at eleven at night or six in the morning.... Funny thing is that the owners themselves don't seem to notice them barking....
Don't get me wrong...this is NOT a constant problem as it just happens occasionally but no less annoying when it does happen....
Solution.....
I haven't found one yet..... We have not come across any 'Dog Free' campsites and I doubt that I would want to stay on one as I actually like dogs. I suppose what I don't like are rubbish dog owners who fail to keep their dogs under proper control.....
Friends and Relatives....
I miss being able to see friends and family on tap....
When we come back to the Bournemouth area I am able to catch up with friends and also my daughter and family and when in Devon Anne can catch up with her family.
It is an odd thing with friends as some of them keep in touch when we are travelling and with some I don't hear a thing until we next meet up but such is the way of friendships I suppose.
The other day I had a bike ride with my old mate JD who I hadn't seen for about eighteen months but we just picked up and carried on as if we had seen each other a week ago....as I say such is the way of friendships....
These are the only downsides we have found whilst we have been wandering around with Eva the Eriba....
We love it.....We don't want to change it and we don't have to suffer that feeling of deflation that most people have at the end of their holiday.....because every day for us IS a holiday...
I will tell you..... The good and the bad........
Well it certainly hasn't disappointed.......
Our choice of caravan has proved to be right for us.... It's a caravan for people that don't want to follow the trend...people that want to be a bit different.....people that don't want to be tugging a giant white box around the country....
In bicycle terms it's for people that would buy a Tifosi instead of a Giant or Trek.....
It's for people that are a bit individualistic....which is what fulltiming is all about anyway....
Living outdoors throughout the year has put us more in touch with nature...wildlife and the changes of the seasons.... The weather has become a really important part of our lives as it can affect when we put up or take down our awning or indeed when we choose to move on to another site.....
The whole way of life is very relaxing with very little stress....after all people choose to do this for their two or three week annual holiday and we are doing it every day.
As I've said before "Every day is a holiday".
No house maintenance... No commuting......No bills..... Just a very relaxing lifestyle....
We can choose to get up whenever we want and plan our own days free from many of the restraints that so called 'normal' living can place on us..... Yes it is an almost stress free way of life... If we don't like a location or have had enough of that particular area we can simply move on.........
 |
| Taking in a sunset on site....very relaxing.. |
So in short...We love it....
We don't regret the decision to try it and we would recommend it to any one who would like to try a slightly more adventurous way of life instead of conforming to what is expected.
Most importantly we have no plans to stop doing what we are doing anytime soon....
I just wish that we could have done it years ago like my old walking buddy Gideon has done.....
Now for some of the downsides......
Doctor and hospital appointments....
You have to get things well organised so that regular things like appointments etc can all be completed during a stay at your home base campsite.
The same applies to caravan and car service...MOT etc.
This is why we always touch base with the Bournemouth area twice a year...spring and autumn.
It's not really a downside as such only a slight restriction on the freedom that we now enjoy and as such more noticeable to us than when we were living a 'normal' existence....
Multiple Children.....
You can always tell when the school holidays are on us because the toilet areas on site look like a bomb has hit it.... Toilet paper left all over the floor...toilets not being flushed.... showers left in a state of flood.....etc....This makes a lot of extra work for campsite staff.....
Although there is a 5mph speed limit on most sites this does not seem to apply to children who race their bikes and scooters around the sites like bats out of hell and then leave them lying around for some unsuspecting pensioner to trip over them.....
As for ball games.... most sites have areas for children to play and often ban ball games around the caravans themselves but that doesn't stop parents and their children ignoring the so called site rules which are for the benefit of everyone...
Kids will be kids and I probably did the same when I was their age but as I'm not anymore I want things to be a bit more peaceful....
Solution....
We now mark on our yearly planner when the school holidays are and on those dates make a point of booking in at an 'Adults Only' site or a site that has an Adults Only area away from the mayhem that is the school holidays.. :-)
Multiple Dogs.....
As with the children one or two are not a problem.... but some people will turn up with multiple dogs.... I have seen up to seven quite large dogs in one caravan.... When one 'pack' meets another group of dogs the barking can drive you mad... Why some people feel the need to have such a large number of dogs in a confined space like a caravan or motorhome I will never know. The owners seem to think everyone loves having dogs jump up at them and enjoy hearing the sound of a dog barking at eleven at night or six in the morning.... Funny thing is that the owners themselves don't seem to notice them barking....
Don't get me wrong...this is NOT a constant problem as it just happens occasionally but no less annoying when it does happen....
Solution.....
I haven't found one yet..... We have not come across any 'Dog Free' campsites and I doubt that I would want to stay on one as I actually like dogs. I suppose what I don't like are rubbish dog owners who fail to keep their dogs under proper control.....
Friends and Relatives....
I miss being able to see friends and family on tap....
When we come back to the Bournemouth area I am able to catch up with friends and also my daughter and family and when in Devon Anne can catch up with her family.
It is an odd thing with friends as some of them keep in touch when we are travelling and with some I don't hear a thing until we next meet up but such is the way of friendships I suppose.
The other day I had a bike ride with my old mate JD who I hadn't seen for about eighteen months but we just picked up and carried on as if we had seen each other a week ago....as I say such is the way of friendships....
These are the only downsides we have found whilst we have been wandering around with Eva the Eriba....
We love it.....We don't want to change it and we don't have to suffer that feeling of deflation that most people have at the end of their holiday.....because every day for us IS a holiday...
4 comments:
What i like about your posts are the honesty of them all, the good, the bad and downright ugly. It would be so easy to gloss over everything and make believe in a life of perfect bliss.
I look forward to hearing this year';s travellers tales
*Peter Roberts*
Thanks Peter...
I always like to tell it as it really is.
Not a life of perfect bliss but as close to it as possible for a lot of the time :-)
Great post Trevor. We miss friends and family more than anything thing else in this our transient lifestyle but continue to make new ones. Eventually we will have friends everywhere perhaps. By the way Theobalds is like a adult only site very few children so we look forward to working on kid full sites and cleaning the loos (not) as you have painted a great picture.
*Gideon Howe*
Thanks Gids...
The point you make about making new friends is something that I failed to mention... It is true that after a couple of years of this lifestyle if we revisit a site there is usually someone there that we met on an earlier visit.....
With the information that Theobalds is like an adult only site I am looking forward to our visit later in the year even more.. :-)
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