Days out in my campervan May 2026

The post this month is about the campervan rather than where I've been in it.

We belong to the caravan and motorhome club. It costs around £66 a year and the facilities are brilliant. We spent the May bank holiday at East Freshwater in Wales and decided to take the blow up awning as there was two of us and the plan was long walks and chilling at the camp site and not taking the campervan off the pitch, plus we knew the weather wasn't going to be the best.

It was one of the smallest pitches we've camped on and a very tight fit.

We were raided during the night by local wildlife. I had a package to send my son in Australia containing a football program, a bar of chocolate and a letter in the yellow bag.

The chocolate was eaten along with a bag of rice out the pantry and the letter was never found.

After that night we put all the food in a sealed box.

The last time we were raided whilst camping, I was in Kruger National Park with the 2 youngest boys and baboons broke into our tent and stole bread and cereal by opening a crate. They also tried to get in the camping fridge, but I'd sealed that with bungie cords, they'd left paw prints everywhere.

We keep meals simple in the van, but we also have a stove that we cook on in the awning. The club house on the neighbouring Parkdean holiday site had an excellent pub/restaurant so we ate there in the evenings and after a cooked breakfast in the mornings, we just had sandwiches or salads in the day.

Next up was my trip to Northern Ireland and half the week camping on my son's drive. My eldest grandson referred to me as 'my granny lives on our drive'

Not the best views, but I only slept in it.

I kept the torch charged but being so far north it didn't get dark until nearly 10pm and was light around 5.30am.

I was running the fridge on low and used the lights when the curtains were closed so had to keep a close eye on the leisure battery.

The can was in use every day being loaded and unloaded, back and forth so I had to pack up every morning. Apart from putting the bedding back under the bench seat and folding the roof down, it wasn't too difficult as I was washing and getting dressed in the house and I was able to keep my day to day stuff in the little cubby hole under the sink. As I wasn't cooking in the van either there was little else to pack away.

I did have some parcels to pack and post and letters to write and I retreated to the van once the grandchildren were in bed for some peace and quiet

I did get the occasional visitor though.

The second half of the week I moved up to the parent in laws. I plugged into the mains and as son's house was now empty and we were now waiting for the keys to be exchanged and I'd woken early I had a chilled out morning.

I was now stealth camping as I was parked on the road. But I had the roof popped upend the van plugged into the mains. The neighbour Dave from BBC Iplayer 'Peelers' had been informed so no one came to move me on. I couldn't park on the drive as it was on a slope and front to back I'd have either slid down into the small space or out the bed. I needed to park on the flat.

I got a rubbish parking spot on the ferry on the way home and once the lane on the right disembarked the van behind me drove into the gap that I was supposed to reverse into. There wasn't as much space as there looks as those ramps are sloped towards the van and my sensors were already beeping and I was told to park that close, so I had to wait for someone to come and guide me out. The van driver behind got told off.

I really don't like the fridge in the van. I can't understand why it doesn't have a door rather than being a cool box. You have to lift everything out and you lose half the surface area once you open the lid so have no where to put stuff. I bought some cheap baskets from B&M and I've declared myself a genius.

I've done my restock and checked dates on the sauce packets and jars of jam and need to buy a new water bottle as I dropped my current one (again) and the lid leaks. I only fill the water tank on arrival at a camp site as it's extra weight. I did travel home with the waste water on this trip as I had no where other empty it.

In the Ford Nugget Facebook group there is a lot of discussion about the best way to fold the pop up roof. I can close the roof in under a minute without trapping any of the fabric or having to use empty Pringle tubes or the top of my head to rest the roof on while I roll up the fabric to stop it getting caught and ripped in the clip. I open the back door and both side doors, start to lower, pull the sides in and roll the back towards me. Our struts support the roof at this height until I'm ready to close.

However the end result is ugly, but I don't care what it looks like.

Next trip is a night or two at the end of June for my birthday, no idea where, probably somewhere in the Cotswolds and a night on my friend's drive.