Visiting The Motorhome Mums At Their Mystery House

[@chrisstokie2361]

The Climate is always changing Steve. Always has done and always will do. 😉👍

[@wanderingbychoice]

Absolutely Chris, hate keep hearing about something that has gone on for centuries, hope you are well buddy and had a good Christmas and new year, safe travels 🙏👍👊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚌

[@Kimberley-Z]

I would pay 3 quid to persevere the land for the generations to come. Hello motorhome mums, great home 🏠. Glad you all hooked up. 🐄🐿️🐏🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@wanderingbychoice]

Hi Kimberly, it’s great there, and we are looking forward to seeing it again later this year, such lovely people the mums, we are very lucky to call them friends, stay safe 🙏🥰👍👊🚌🇬🇧🚌🇺🇸🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐕🐕

[@Kimberley-Z]

@ 🤗nice to have good friends, they got your back!!! 🖐️🇬🇧🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐏🐿️👍

[@wanderingbychoice]

@ most definitely, met some of our good friends since doing KZbin, 🙏🥰👊👍🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚌🇬🇧🚌🇺🇸🐕

[@grapesodatravels]

We love Loch Garten! It's not far from where Neil's dad is at rest so we hope to return sometime soon. Glad you all had a lovely time together. What a marvellous spot they've got! Such lucky ladies! N&Nx

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@grapesodatravels what a beautiful place to be laid to rest, you should stay where we did, it was awesome, feel so lucky to have made the friends we have, especially you guys ❤️👊👍🙏🚌🇬🇧

[@grapesodatravels]

@wanderingbychoice that's kind Nx

[@maryfennell9672]

Lovely forest to park in. Good that you were able to visit Cath and Sue!

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@maryfennell9672 Hi Mary it’s so beautiful around there, really enjoyed the Cairngorms and having friends like Kath and Sue is a real blessing, safe travels 🙏🥰👍👊🚌🇬🇧

[@chrischris5656]

The travelling and always looking for somewhere to camp does get a bit tiring and we only do it for 3 months at a time. It’s great to get parked up for a while to relax and unwind 🎉😊🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿👍

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@chrischris5656 Hi guys absolutely, maybe we are just getting old and forgot to tell our brains lol, had a nice break now and raring to go, well raring might be a bit strong, safe travels 🙏👍👊🥰🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚌🇬🇧

[@grahamgetsabout2672]

Hi Steve, that forest park up was fantastic but think you’re ready for a rest. One spot and day trips would give you all a break. The motorhome mums have got a lovely place. 👋👋👋👋👌👍

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@grahamgetsabout2672 it’s a beautiful house mate in stunning area, Kath and Sue are so nice ,well the break is about to be over mate at the end of the week, we did nothing for a whole month.. 👊👍🥰🚌🇬🇧

[@grahamgetsabout2672]

@ hi Steve, I bet your all ready to set off again now after a break. We hope all the family are well and now it onwards and upwards again. 👏👏👏👏👍

[@vanandrewschrisanddione]

Hi Steve and Lorna. We totally get it, the moving on constantly. We have a 6m motorhome but rely on our car for storage and getting us around the areas near campsites. I follow Chris in the car when we move. We have had to stay locally many times due to health issues, but we have loved being in Shropshire and Somerset on a small campsite, having the car to go all over the area and find places we would never find if only in the motorhome. Going further than we could if we had ebikes. Also, we start to feel like part of the community as we stay for a month or longer. I think a lot of youtubers may get burned out eventually when they're constantly moving on, having to find park ups. Your content is great, regardless of where or how you are parked up. We've been watching you since the beginning. We hope to get to Scotland in the spring and hope to meet up with Kath and Sue, as well as our daughter, who lives in Glasgow. Since we do slow, slow vanlife, it may take a year to get up there 😂. Just do you and enjoy! 🙏✌️😁❤️ Dione

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@vanandrewschrisanddione Hi Dione you and Chris do it the same way we used to and will be doing it again for sure this year, having the car is a godsend isn’t it, we have had a very lucky break. Rena the owner of the site at Abington has given us a place to store some stuff which we have jumped at, so life just got a little easier, no more putting up a little tent to store the bits from the car in, and the car is a car again yay 🎉 Be nice when you get to Scotland to meet up if we are there too, currently in Worthing West Sussex visiting family before heading to Dorset and Devon area for a while. A good site in Somerset for you guys is Dene hollow cl, it’s grass and offgrid only but it’s £8 pn with toilets and lovely walks and location is perfect for trips out in the car. Thanks for all your support guys and stay safe out there 🙏👍👊🥰🚌🇬🇧🐕🐕

[@vanandrewschrisanddione]

@wanderingbychoice So pleased you have a place to store things! We still have a storage place in Redditch and as we've been around here so much, we've been able to store and then pull things out we need. It's a godsend! Would be so wonderful to meet you guys! We could spend days talking vanlife 😂. Thanks for the tip on the cl. I usually put all the CLs you stay at in search for sites 😂 for the future! Have a great week and thanks for being so genuine. ❤️

[@wanderingbychoice]

@ Thanks guys really appreciate that, it’s always great when we meet up with nice people and we love it, safe travels guys and hope to meet up soon.🙏👊👍🥰🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🐕🚌🇬🇧

[@denisscott3073]

HI Steve and Lorna 👋 just us 2 saying hi 👋 great video as always 👍 hope your setel on your campsite .den and sue 👍👍👍🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧🚐🚐🚐

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@denisscott3073 Hi Den and Sue, all good now, had a nice break from everything and raring to go now, hope you had a good Christmas and new year’s 🙏👍👊🥰🚌🇬🇧

[@MotorhomeMums]

We recognised a couple of dodgy girls this week. 😂. It was lovely looking back at this. We had such a great time when you were here and I still have all my fingers. 💪 Looking forward to our next catch up. 🤗❤️🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@MotorhomeMums Good news about your fingers Kath, we loved coming to see you all, hope you didn’t mind the title, currently in very wet and flooded Sussex weather has been awful, we want to come home 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❤️🙏👍👊🚌🇬🇧

[@MotorhomeMums]

@ didn’t mind at all. Thought it was quite ingenious. I am rubbish at titles and Thumbnails. Always need inspiration. Come home soon. Xx🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚌❤️

[@wanderingbychoice]

@ me too Kath, ❤️

[@joolz401]

Sorry I never comment but I play your journey on my t.v and no way to comment . Anyways happy new year to you, Lorna and woof woof to chancer xxxx

[@wanderingbychoice]

@@joolz401 That’s ok Joolz, lovely to hear your still watching, we will be coming to kent on may the 19th so hopefully get to catch up, booked car in mot in Dymchurch on the 21st, hope you’re well and have a great 2025 ❤️❤️❤️

[@theamateurboater5892]

Really interesting vid, as usual, thanks very much for sharing. There were two things that really struck me from hearing your words this time: 1. You can't fit everything you need for an 8 to 10 week trip into a large 8 metre motorhome, so that you have to use the towed car as a storage trailer. 2. You were finding the wild camping a bit stressful at times, what with finding big enough parkups that felt safe and comfortable. You also mentioned an incident getting stuck for a while in a supermarket car park. Now I must start by saying that I dont mean any disrespect or offence at all by saying this- I love the channel and I think you're both very decent and likeable folks. But I feel it must surely be possible to strip away some of the stuff you're carrying? Surely you can fit enough gear into such a big van for an 8 week trip? Are you hoarders by nature maybe? My ex was a hoarder, and she found it very difficult to let go of possessions, so the place eventually started to fill up to an uncomfortable point. If you do have those sorts of hoarding tendencies (even slightly), you will have to address that somehow before you can be happy living in a motorhome and./or caravan. And I cant remember you saying anywhere in the video "we just have to stop carrying so much stuff". And that might be the real answer. You were also saying you are looking to get a caravan, mostly for storage? So why not move into the caravan, and get a small shed on-site for the storage space? Why spend a lot of money on a caravan with facilities when you only need a large storage box? The thing is, if you use the caravan as a semi=permanent base, in future you will be using the MH only for trips. And you can tow the caravan to new site when needed. So you could downsize to say a 7m MH, and you might find the whole wildcamping experience much less stressful. You shouldn't feel tired and stressed after a two month wild camping trip - not ideally. It should feel like a holiday trip. Maybe just get a smaller MH, and leave the car parked next to the caravan? You could use ebikes for short shopping trips into local towns. Imagine how free you'd feel driving a 7m MH with no car, and the extra places you might get into? I hope you will forgive my presumption in saying all this, and my apologies if there are aspects of it I dont know or understand, but I say it out of a sense of wanting to be helpful, not to criticise- and because I am inclined to hoard things a bit myself, and these are similar issues that I'll face maybe next year.

[@wanderingbychoice]

Make no apologies buddy what you say is absolutely correct, I will answer you best I can, definitely a hoarding mentality with me which has done me well over the years with repairs etc, but not good for living in a van, Most of the extra bits we carry are tech bits and craft bits, so not good in a shed, we have stuff in sheds at our daughters and it’s ruined quite frankly, Although we are on a 10 week trip it’s still living the same way we have for 2 and a bit years, so I guess we just like to have the stuff with us in case we need it, we couldn’t live in a smaller van we would get cabin fever, a lot of time spent just in the van rain etc, The idea of the caravan was purely for storage and occasionally if the van had to have repairs But we have realised our budget will only get a crap heap with damp issues, a caravan on the site was the cheapest option for storage at £1 per day instead of £140 per month, So for now the search goes on but we had a bit of luck, Rena the site owner has given us some space in the portacabin on site which we jumped at, so now we have lots of space in the garage and the car is a car again, so we are so thankful to her for that, but will still look for a bargain caravan just no rush, as for getting stressed that is a trait of mine, short fuse and don’t like continually moving on as much as I thought I would, Hope I’ve answered you and I enjoy our interactions, take care and have a very happy new year 🙏👍👊🚌🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🚌🇬🇧

[@theamateurboater5892]

Thanks for that detailed reply Steve, it really helps me to clarify my own thoughts about long term living in a motorhome or caravan. I already know from living in a boat that clutter is a killer. It kills your space, it blocks your easy access to items you need regularly, and ultimately it spoils your mental health through the frustration of living in a space that is full of objects. I am absolutely determined to strip down the travelling items to the stuff I would take if I was on a holiday (apart from some key tools). But I have a new idea - I am now considering buying a cheap static caravan (about 15k). It will cost about 2k in annual site fees, but that's not much more that I would get charged for seasonal pitches for a smaller touring caravan in many places. A static would be a very big and very comfortable living space, with plumbed-in running water, full toilet and shower, and and it would act as a permanent home base- and all for just 2k per year on some sites (and bear in mind a small storage unit would cost about 1k per year). With a home base that has all the storage needed, I could go travelling in a smaller motorhome for 2 or 3 months at a time, carrying only food and clothes with me. You have to price in the depreciation of the static unit, but if you buy at 15k and it lasts 10 years, that's not too different from buying a touring caravan - but its a lot bigger. Just a final point re MH size: I think if I get a MH with a big front lounge (such as the Autotrail tribute) I wont get cabin fever so badly. My boat lounge is only 6ft wide so I'm used to the narrow space. It does mean a drop down bed, but in most models you can leave the bed made up, so it only takes seconds to drop down. And that saves you having a MH that is 2m longer just so you can have a fixed bed. Its all about what compromises each of us is prepared to make, and I think I am starting to get clearer about my own areas to compromise, with the help of real life, honest vlogs like yours.

[@wanderingbychoice]

@ That’s good to hear that you’re getting some clarity, I lived in a static for 7 years and honestly loved it, so that sounds a great idea, it might be the way we end up going as we get older and can no longer get in and out of the van so much, Lorna has crippling pain from arthritis which is in her hips and shoulders, she grins and bears it at present with help from pills, but I see what it does to her in real life and it’s devastating for her, especially her mental health, so a static could well be the answer for us too along with a smaller camper, having the storage we now have has changed everything, my mood is lifted and quick set ups are now possible, like today we are visiting our son, staying the night on a campsite and we were set to go within the hour, that’s a revelation lol, anyway keep researching and if you can try out different vans and I’m sure you will get the right one. Take care buddy and safe travels 🙏👍👊🚌🇬🇧

[@theamateurboater5892]

Oh no! I'm so sorry to hear your lovely missus is having to suffer like that. My ex partner had bad arthritis in her foot, and her daily suffering was all too obvious. Its so distressing to see someone that you love suffer in that way. But I do feel that we are both looking for a similar lifestyle eventually - i.e. a semi permanent (and affordable) base location, but also the ability to tour and travel. I'm doing my planning in two phases. Phase one is the next 4 or 5 years. For those years I have to rent out my small house to get some extra income, to add to my small NHS pension. During those years I'll live in a 7 metre motorhome full time, and I'll use a small storage unit for the stuff I dont need to carry with me. Phase 2 will be in about 5 years from now. I'll then be close to getting a state pension, and I'll be able to sell the house, and at that point I'll have the extra money to buy a static in a nice location. When I've got the static, I'll downsize to a 6 metre van conversion, or a 6 metre MH that has a big front lounge, and preferably a drop down bed. I dont care much about the storage space, because it will effectively be a holiday trip vehicle, and not for full time living. My thinking is that under 6 metres will be loads cheaper on the ferries and much easier to park, so I wont need a small car to get into town centres, and I can do European trips. I'm told that the warm dry climate can really help to ease arthritis symptoms. If you can, I'd try to arrange a 3 month trip to southern Spain in our coldest months. It might ease things for Lorna's arthritis. Lots of older folks used to spend 6 months of the year down there for that reason, but unfortunately brexit has made it more complicated, and in some cases the medical/insurance cover isn't as good as it used to be. But if you can get medical travel insurance at an affordable price, southern spain could be great for the winter months.

[@wanderingbychoice]

@ That sounds a great plan to me, I think your right about Spain, maybe in a few years we might give it a go, take care buddy and safe travels 🙏👊👍🚌🇬🇧