August 2025 - Days out in the camper van

Our camping trip to Northern Ireland continued into August with a night in Scotland on our way home. Our sailing was delayed by 2 hours so I cooked up some pasta for lunch and put the kettle on while we waited. 

We arrived around 8pm after the ferry crossing. We sat and read for the evening after we'd eaten on the ferry we just had some snacks and a couple of drinks.

The van had a full spring clean, bedding and blankets washed, cupboards emptied and cleaned and van repacked. There was quite a bit of stuff we hadn't used so it didn't go back in. There's so much storage in the van with all the bedding fitting under the back seats.

I rewarded myself with a vanilla milkshake with a dash of baileys.

The next camping trip is planned for October back to Northern Ireland. The van is due it's annual service in September and I've a night booked in the Chilterns when I take on my sponsored walk for Bowel Research in memory of Stephanie.

June 2025 - Days out in the camper van

Occasionally I take the van to work, it just depends what is parked where the night before.

I'm careful about where I park and use the staff car park at work.

I'm also cautious about where I park when I go shopping as there are numerous scratch marks on the van, I suspect from trollies and car doors. it's annoying.

We've had a couple of days pout in the van this month, with a picnic on Castlemorton common and I took our granddaughter home and visited Nags Head Nature Reserve for a cup of tea and another picnic.

I've put a stool in the back so I can sit and make hot drinks without breaking my back bending over when we don't pop the roof up if it's raining or we're not staying long.

We also went away for a weekend to Porthcawl, camping in a pub car park on the beach. The views weren't the best and the weather was awful. Back home it was 30c, less than 2 hours away, but we had rain most of the day Saturday, but that did mean it was much cooler and we were able to sleep.

We're happy with the set up we've got and we do have a drive away awning for longer trips.

We have to play Tetris with going to bed, the washing up has to be done straight away and everything put away.

We do have a portable toilet, but prefer to use the ones on the camp site. Peter will use the showers but I tend to just wash in the van and we do have running hot and cold water.

There have been a few housekeeping issues. Peter fitted a new water pump. We bought a new washing up bowl that collapses so we can empty the grey water without having to drive home with the extra weight. And we finally found the source of the rattle. Table legs, simple fix with a cloth shopping bag.

There are a few trips planned for July and August, need to get sites booked with the school holidays. We're lucky we can go off grid which gives us more options.
 

April 2025 - Days out in the camper van

 Picnics and chilling out with mugs of tea and reading books after a walk on the Malvern Hills.

Finding new camp sites in the Forest of Dean - St Briavels. Close enough to walk to a local pub for the evening.

Bottled water for this trip as the pump has broken.

After a visit with a friend in Much Wenlock, I found a camp site rather than driving home so I could chill out for the evening and spend the following day meandering home visiting National Trust and English Heritage Sites.

Fab washing up facilities, including a dishwasher, normally the sink areas are just under a cover, this was fully indoors.

The site had had problems in the past with travellers so everywhere had CCTV cameras which meant you had to use the cubicles for all dressing etc, which made things a little uncomfortable and awkward.

A nice quiet site with plenty of space around the pitches.

Packing up time, making sure the nothing rattles on the journey.

Pulling the mat out over the edge makes for easier access in and out the back of the van.

Bag bought for me by DIL which I use to pack up everything that is to go back into the house when I get home. I then put in clean t towels, more tea bags/sugar etc for going back into the van ready for the next trip.

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Narrow country lanes in a van, not a lot of fun when meeting tractors and other vehicles.

Friends kids exploring the van after a day out.

Next up. I'm off to Northern Ireland for the Whitsun week on my own to help DIL out with the new baby and the 3 year old grandson. There will be lots of days out and I'm hoping grandson and I can have a night away.

August 2024 - Days out in the Campervan

We were in Turkey for 12 days in August, then I travelled to Northern Ireland for a week to visit our grandson, so that only left us 12 days in August to get out and about.

I visited Glastonbury for the day with a friend. There was a day at a spa with colleagues from work, a hospital appointment and dog sitting for a friend over the bank holiday weekend.

We bought a drive away awning last month to give us some extra room when the weather isn't as nice and to enable us to cook more food, but we discovered our goal cooker wasn't compatible with UK gas bottles so we needed to purchase a new one. A new regulator wouldn't solve the problem, it was something to do with the pressure/bar and by the time we sourced buying an actual gas bottle and new hose and regular it was cheaper to buy a new one, which runs off gas bottles and saves space without lugging another gas canister around with us.

We managed one night away last weekend to the Forest of Dean. We visited our granddaughter on Friday and rather than drive home late we camped up for the night, we took the contents of the fridge with us for dinner and breakfast and just used the van, no need for the awning for just one night.

We've been struggling with all the bedding. It's such an inconvenience to keep putting the table up and down in the van to get the bedding in and out from the bench seat. As when the bed is raised during the day we can't clip it in place with the bedding up there. I had two S hooks in the garden and decided to give it a try. It's been a game changer. They're strong enough to hold the bed in place.

All the bedding is stored under the back seat, there's room in there for two sleeping bags, the covers for the front windows, 2 blankets, the sheets and towels.

Another tip we've found really useful is to move the back carpet over the plastic cover and to save stepping over it onto the step stool and it's made it much easier to get in and out of the van at the back.

I'm away on my friends drive this weekend, in Monmouth and I'll be using her facilities and the leisure battery and the following weekend back to Lydney for our Granddaughters birthday weekend.

A driveway awning for the camper van

We purchased a camper van in November 2023, it was something we'd wanted to buy for years, but with a family of 5 children it was never practical, or affordable, so on our return to the UK in June 2021 it was top of our list, but with Covid restrictions in place it still was practical. Then we had our aging dog to consider and the arrival of grandchildren meant we didn't have the flexibility to adventure further afield and our son settling out in Australia saw us visiting him for 2 consecutive summers once covid restrictions on travel were lifted as it had been 4 years since we'd been able to see him.

Once the dog had passed, the grandchildren were now a few years old, and the cost of camper vans stabilised, the time was right and we purchased the Bobster, named in honour after our beloved dog Bob.

Bob was a well travelled dog, having started life with us in South Africa in 2013 moving with us to Dubai in 2015 then in 2020 he relocated with us to the UK spending his last 3 years doing what he loved the most, walking the Malvern Hills.

Our first few trips away were one or two nights down to Brighton, the Forest of Dean and mostly days trips, where we could pop the roof and brew up a cup of tea, have a picnic and mostly, due to the British weather, shelter from the rain, turn the heater on and dry off after a walk on the beach or along the cliff tops.

Our granddaughter decided she wants to join us for the odd trip now and we decided to purchase a drive away awning to give us a bit more space.

We were getting fed up of playing Tetris, rearranging the van every time we wanted to pop out somewhere once we'd parked up. Having to pack everything away properly for a trip to the shops or visit somewhere. Even at night time we were having to bring in the table and chairs due to the rain and we had no where to sit other than inside the van when it was raining. The odd night was ok, but two nights was getting a bit cramped.

We also didn't want to be cooking anything more than soups, pastas, beans on toast in the van. You don't want to be cooking bacon, then sleeping in the same vehicle. So we thought a drive away awning would give us somewhere to sit, store things when we went out and we could cook more foods in for longer periods away.

We've noticed that during the school holidays and over bank holidays are now asking for minimum two night stays, especially over weekends and the prices have shot up dramatically. Campsites near beaches with access to nearby shops, restaurants are now at prices similar to hotels, with one place we found in the Forest of Dean at over £100 a night for pitch and a charge of an additional £20 per person per night. This would have given us access to electricity, water and a communal toilet and shower block. But they had a restaurant and shop on site. It also meant we wouldn't have to leave the site during our stay. But at those prices it made more sense to purchase an inflatable drive away awning at £600 and stay at another site that costs £29 a night with the same facilities, minus the restaurant and shop.

The town is only a 45 minute walk away from this site, it also where my mother lives and only a few miles from our granddaughter and set in lovely grounds with a fishing lake and lots of open space in which to play and also benefits from being quieter with less pitches so more relaxing without the additional night life that we are trying to escape from when we go away.

Pitching the awning was supposed to take 8 minutes with two people according to the instructions, but it took us 53 minutes. I guess we'll get quicker the more we do it.

The drive away part was simple. I just held the kaddor strip that slides into the side of the van before inflating the tent and Peter drove out slowly.

On arrival, he drew up level with the grass and I inserted kaddor strip and he drove into position slowly. 

It took around 2-3 minutes to complete each way. I'm not sure if it's something that could be done on our own, we're going to give it try next time we use it which we will be mid September, but if we do go away on our we won't be needing the additional space and it would only be for a night anyway and when I have gone on my own, I usually camp on a friends drive.

June 2024 Days out in the camper van

We visited Brighton the middle of June to attend my Uncle's funeral.

We stayed at the Caravan and Motorhome Club just up from the Marina. If we're staying away for more than one night we like to be within walking distance of a town or on a bus route.

Our first pitch had no 3G signal but we just put up with it for the night as the following morning we had to pack up to drive to the crematorium and attend the wake afterwards. If we hadn't had to leave the site by car, we'd have just stayed and put up with it.

 The van looks so small in the pitch.

We haven't seen another Westfalia Ford Nugget conversion yet. All the vans we've seen as so different.

Our first pitch also had no evening sun, so we didn't sit outside for long.

I love the fact the roof pops at its highest at the back, where the kitchen is, it gives us so much more room than the vans with the kitchens along the side. Plus we get two sliding doors.

The day after the funeral, we caught the bus into Brighton and back and enjoyed a day exploring.

I also spent a night on my own in the Forest of Dean at the beginning of June. Once we got to grips with setting everything up and packing it all away, it is a one (wo)man job.

I travel with my milk brother and espresso machine so I can make a latte on the go.

We discovered this month that the grey water tank hadn't been emptying and we'd been driving around with a full tank, having mistaken it emptying with draining the fresh water tank before leaving the previous site.

It was easily remedied with a cable tie to push debris out the way. We discovered a snail shell in the tank. It was a dirty, smelly job.