We start our Motorhome Adventure Today

[ViciousCurrentBun]

I have been retired a while and was joined at the end of last year by DH. The research and planning for this has taken a year but we collect her today. We are stating off with just a 10 day trip but will be off on trips of up to 3 months at a time. We plan to go to mainland Europe each January for up to 12 weeks to escape the worst of the weather. Eventually if we like it enough we may ship her to Canada for the trip of a lifetime.

It is both exciting and scary

Brilliant - sounds very similar to my dreams! Still in the research and planning mode here, decisions too tough!

Can I ask what size and age van you went for? Where's your first trip - staying in the UK?

Have a fabulous time.

Hello, we did this, after retiring. You will have an amazing time. If you have any questions, ask away.

How exciting! I’d like to do this, but a Campervan as I think motorhomes are harder work to drive. I have all sorts of plans to surf my way down Portugal and to reset our visas spend some time in Morocco, and for some more surfing.

If like to travel around Greece and reset in Albania as they aren’t in the Shengen zone.

What are you planning on doing?

So exciting, we did the same and it's great .. if you've not seen it it's worth checking out sites like Wandering Bird and Motorhome Fun for ideas especially the later for travelling in EU and help with any problems things you might not have though of ..

Also think about folding electric bikes .. you may want to move this over to Camping section, lots of good advice there ..
It takes a while to work out what is the best equipment, best and worst buys and layout for you but you'll find lots of things to consider on MFun and here in Camping section.. good luck with your new van ..
You'll have a brilliant time !

@Chewbecca its 3 years old with just over 5k miles on the clock and a 4 berth. Because we plan long trips we went for a 7.5 metre which means we can have two rooms if the weather is bad for a few days and you are a bit stuck indoors. We are just going tp the Peak District which we know well and live right by it.

I grew up rurally and DH is a mega townie, went to school in London. I considered retiring to the countryside and DH would hate it but it’s not easy as you age so this is a great compromise.

@fruitbrewhaha we will do the 12 weeks in France and Spain and then consider moving out of Schengen zone. DH is retired but can do some work once a year for his old workplace in the foreseeable future in theory it can be from anywhere but does sometimes need an in person visit. I think when used to it he could maybe just fly back and leave me for a couple of days. But that’s a future decision. DH has Irish ancestry but it’s too far back for an Irish passport. There are visas to get round the 12 week rule. They aren’t that expensive but horrendous on the paperwork side, DH speaks very good German and Spanish and we both speak bad French. His sister could assist with Spanish paperwork and lives in Spain, runs her own business.

@Laska2Meryls we have considered electric bikes but are holding off. DH and I both cycled a lot when young. I did my back in last year and just before that could still manage 20 miles in a day. So we will see how we go. Not taking our actual bikes as they are too expensive on the bike rack which the MH has already fitted.

@Annialisting It was a dream and then DH got the chance at a very good severance deal last year so took it two years earlier than he planned to retire. He is just a baby at 56.

I am about to start to pack the car, happy to travel as long as I am stocked up on Yorkshire tea.

My parents retired early and would spend months on the continent in their Moho, coming home for a few weeks and then going again. They bought a new Moho every two years putting between 20-30k miles on each one.
Like us, they liked a large, spacious vehicle with capacity for lots of storage, carrying their bicycles, camping chairs, table etc while being pretty self sufficient for staple foods buying just fresh as they went.
They travelled abroad right up to shortly before my Dad's death although at 85, they bought a smaller vehicle (3500kg) as my Ddad did not think he would retain his C1.
Oddly enough, we never travel abroad in our Moho and are strictly UK based. I did some touring on the continent when I was younger but it holds no interest to me now and besides, we both dislike the heat.

Two friends of mine do this annually, spend three months in Europe in their campervan. They are currently in Bulgaria and loving it. They take electric bikes and find them very useful.

This sounds amazing, I hope you have the most wonderful adventures. I caught the motorhome bug after hiring one and spending a week in Scotland last summer, I really recommend a jaunt up there.

You are right not to put expensive bikes on your bike rack, they are too easy to steal. When we stayed on the Aire at Honfleur, the guys next to us had their brand new e-bikes taken in the night. They were chained on but that didn’t stop the thieves.

When we traded our motorhome in, we bought one with a garage that you could fit in the bikes.

So exciting.
i follow 2 ex teachers who video their motorhome adventures.
They're on YouTube and their channel is called Early Retirement Wanderlust.

Congratulations! We are heading for retirement and recently bought a campervan for this reason. We'll do short uk trips for a year or 2, then planning to head into Europe once fully retired.

Have you seen the Early Retirement Wanderlust YouTube channel? They do lots of inspiring trips in their campervan.

Ha, just seen the PP who recommended them too!

Today feels like the first real day of our trip. We stayed on the dealers site for 2 days.There was a small issue with an outside lock which they fixed plus we had to measure everything and buy some supplies. The dealer gave us £250 to spend in their accessory shop. We also popped home to collect the ramps we had bought online as they wouldn’t fit in the car with everything else and to drop off the car.

So I have woken up in a pub car park having had a very nice dinner in the pub last night over looking a field. Heading off this morning to the farm we have booked in the Peak District. We are both tired though sleeping well and think it’s because of huge amounts of multiple decisions having to be made in the last week. Plus the shock of spending such a huge amount of money, it cost more than when we bought our house.

Congratulations OP. What lovely weather you're having for your first trip!

I have questions nosey!

How much did you pay for the motor home? How much will it cost to pitch (is that the word?). Are pub landlords happy for you to park overnight?

Does it have some kind of air con? I love the thought of spending time in sunny places but also need to escape the heat.

Are you confident driving it yourself? Can you and DH spend 24/7 together without killing each other or will you carve out time apart on your travels?

How much will it cost to ship to Canada?!!

I am very envious!

DH is retired and I really want to do this eventually. But he is totally against the idea as he is a home body. Plus we have Dcs at school still (teens). So I will live vicariously!

Sounds amazing I’d love to do this. DH is super tall though and I worry that he would struggle to be comfortable inside a motor home.

Go to a dealers and your DH can try for size. My DH was 6ft and well built but was fine in the motorhome.

Enjoy yourself OP!

We've had a Hymer for about 7 years. Some things I'd say:

Get very familiar with how your water system works. DH has spent a lot of time ferreting around in the water tank reconnecting pipes and replacing pumps

If you're going to travel in winter, check whether your motorhome discharges the onboard water to prevent freezing (ours does). Take cat litter for emergency grip, and snow chains of course.

Maybe get a Schengen calculator app on your phone to make sure you don't breach the 90 in 180 days rule. The long term stay (6 months) visas you can get relate to individual countries. I've got French 6 months visas 3 times, and there's a lot of paperwork and it's time consuming, but it's straightforward and there are FB groups to help (obviously you won't need external help for Spain!).

Certainly in France, almost all towns, and many villages will have aires, some with hook up, almost all with grey water drain, water refill and loo emptying facilities. Switzerland is great too, in fact that's my favourite place to motorhome.

https://park4night.com/en/search is a really useful site to look at. You can subscribe for next to nothing for extra info.

https://www.campingcarpark.com/en_GB is this, and growing - you pay for a card, and can reserve overnight spots on sites across Europe.

https://www.caravanclub.co.uk/uk-holidays/uk-sites/certificated-locations/ is another useful site (UK). If you sign up, you can stop on small (only 5 caravans/motorhomes) certified sites in the UK. Often it's farmers fields, with a loo and maybe a shower. We've stayed in some wonderful places.

https://www.vicarious-shop.com/products/all-the-aires-france-2025-10th-edition actual paper so a bit old school, but you can buy map books for Europe here, with aires marked.

Re bikes, we dont take them with us (DH has an injury that makes cycling difficult). I'd say that has affected our enjoyment a bit tbh. Motorhomes are such big beasts that taking them into the centre of small towns, and even larger towns with old centres, is stressful, and sometimes impossible. Being able to bike into towns and villages is really handy.

Hope some of the above is useful, and apologies if you're already aware of everything - these are just all the things I wish I'd know at the beginning. Have a wonderful adventure.

Oh and remember to wave to every other motorhome!

Going to jump onto this question as I can answer much of it.
We have been Moho owners for years (long before we took early retirement) and have owned several, always bought new. We don't do long trips (and never on the continent) as we prefer to go away for just 2-3 nights at a time, always mid-week and/or out of school holidays.

Had our current Moho for over a year now, cost was near £100k (with options) so a significant purchase but it is worth remembering that they maintain a certain amount of value.

Pitches can be from free up to around £60/night. Pubstops are becoming more & more popular where you can stay in the carpark FOC as long as you eat/drink in the pub. Website will show you where.
We prefer to say on sites and almost exclusively CAMC which we have been members of for years. A CL with minimal facilities can be as low as £10/night but we tend to go for club campsites with more facilities but cost from £25-£60/night (depending on location, type of pitch, season, number in party etc).

You would be hard pushed to find a MoHo without cab aircon but aircon for the habitation area while parked up is a different matter (we have never had it).
You would need to be on EHU to provide sufficient power or if off-grid, have a significant on-board power source which comes with a cost & weight penalty (generator, additional solar panels, batteries).

I have driven our MoHo's in the past (although never as the main driver) but a medical condition means I have now lost my C1 entitlement and can no-longer drive over 3500kg (which our Moho is).
The size has never been an issue as long as you remember what it is you are driving.
Being classed as a Private HGV we get a lower rate of road tax (£165/pa).

With reference to another PP's question about headroom for their DH.
Most MoHo's have ample headroom for people 6ft+, this is where they score heavily over campers which are often much lower.
Most beds are also suitable but you would need to check the bed size of the specific vehicle you are looking at as they can vary and now & again you will come across one which is a bit shorter (been there, done that).
My OH is 6tf & 16st but sleeps perfectly happily in the overcab (double) bed which he says is super comfortable. I sleep in the rear (double) bed with the two Ddogs where we have lots of space.

You need to be organised to avoid bumping into each other but we have never found it a problem.
I should imagine it could be an issue in a small 2-berth but we tend to go for larger vehicles (6-berth) with our preferred layout of an end-lounge plus a central lounge/diner.
Of course when the weather is fine you can sit (and eat) outside under the wind-out awning which opens up the amount of available space considerably.

Thank you @Nourishinghandcream - very interesting.

@LornaDuh We paid 68k for our Motorhome it’s a very decent German Buerstner 4 berth. The cheapest site paid was £10 and the most expensive was £25 so far but I have been doing a lot of research. It’s getting water plus disposal of grey and black waste that’s the issue. Apparently some campsites may let you dispose and fill for a small charge £5 to £10.

DH is almost 6ft 2 so we have a fixed island bed which does take up a lot of room but it’s as comfy as any really decent bed. We don’t have air con in the main home but do in the cab. We have a solar panel and an external gas BBQ point. I haven’t driven it yet but will be, I want to get used to being in it more first, we both have C1 licences.

It’s about 3 to 4k to ship to Canada. There are 2 ways of doing it, the container way it’s more secure though expensive.

DH and I get on very well and also some evenings did things solo, I was reading as was he plus doing his duo lingo.

@Puttinginthemiles thanks for the apps had the park for a night one but that European one looks great. We have waved at motorhomes, met some very helpful people on one site especially who had the exact model as us.

How exciting! I look forward to reading updates.

Remember that you can extend your 12 weeks by going into non Schengen countries eg we are planning on visiting Bosnia and Albania, only difference is the level of luxury, we have 2 wheels and a tent strapped on the back! Planning on doing turkie, Morocco too