7 November 2022

Our First Year in a Motorhome – 2022

In February 2022 we drove out of Marbella in an eight-metre motorhome we had barely learnt to drive, with a two-year plan, a dog called Asha and absolutely no idea what we were doing. Nine months, six countries and 123 blog posts later, we came home a lot wiser and only slightly poorer.

The Mediterranean coast

We started slowly, hopping up the coast: Nerja, Almería, Murcia, then Albir, where on our very first morning we met our neighbours, a Dutch couple called Mariana and Cor. We had no idea then that we would still be meeting up with them years later.

In Cullera we made friends with Andreas, a German travelling on his own, and went with him to the Fallas in Valencia: giant effigies, fireworks, the mascletà and, at the end, everything burnt to the ground. Asha hated every firecracker. Cristina celebrated her birthday in Peñíscola, and then we followed the Costa Brava up to Dalí's house in Cadaqués.

Oko in the right, and the brown the suitor

France, England and Scotland

In the Dordogne we danced at a campsite party, where Cristina's sevillanas with Ben as her partner were a total disaster. Then it was up through the Loire, a trip to the vet in Boulogne for Asha's passport, and through the tunnel to England.

England meant family: Ben's brothers, his mum in Welford-on-Avon and a proper Jubilee street party in Alcester. Then north, through the Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District to Scotland, where people were swimming in the North Sea while we stood on the beach in coats and hats.

The whole route had been planned around one date: the Red Hot Chili Peppers in Glasgow. On the morning of the concert we got an email saying it was cancelled. So we spent the day in Glasgow with Cristina's old friends Fiona and Danny, who turned up in chilli-pepper earrings to support us.

Holland, Belgium and home the long way

We took the overnight ferry to Holland, in a cabin so Asha could stay with us, and met Mariana and Cor again at the windmills of Kinderdijk. Then came Bruges, and back into France, where Ben was made to change into borrowed Speedos at a public pool and Cristina twisted her ankle photographing a château.

Northern Spain was Cristina's family in Orduña, seafood all along Asturias, and Asha's first ever boat trip, in Ferrol: terrified but brave. In Portugal we got our first flat tyre, in the middle of the Peneda-Gerês National Park, with a screw in it. The lady at reception called her mechanic friend and we were on our way again. Then it was Braga, Coimbra, Lisbon, the Alentejo and the Algarve, and a last stop in Jerez to get the motorbike repaired before "next stop Marbella!"

What we learnt

We were a disaster when we started. Getting used to driving something that big took time, and there were a few arguments along the way, mostly stress-related ;-). Ben learnt to work from wherever there was a socket, even a beer bar. Most of all, we learnt that the best part is not the places but the people you meet in them.

Countries: Spain, France, the UK (England and Scotland), the Netherlands, Belgium, Portugal

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