Our Year off to Travel

We left our house on 4 December 2013.  It was a strange feeling leaving behind the routine and familiarity for the unknown ahead of us.  Two months preparation, our feet hardly touching the floor and now we were off.  We had taken one year out of our lives to travel.

 Our first stop was the Black Horse Caravan Club Site in Folkestone, before we caught the Dover to Calais Ferry the next morning.  Our dog Zac, didn’t think much of travelling in our motorhome with all its noise and bumps on uneven roads, but was fine when we stopped.  I hoped he would improve!

 As we were going to be away for a while, we purchased a 9.5 metre long American Trail-lite Motorhome with an LPG conversion and three slide outs to give us plenty of room, although the first words from a friend of a friend who goes abroad every year was “You’re not going to like this, but you’re too big”. Oh well, each to his own and too late now. We also purchased a Caravan Club Snooper Sat Nav for the journey and this proved to be something we could not have done without, seeing as we took no maps!  Yes, it did take us down a few small roads as it does not account for parked cars and some of the new roads were not programmed in, but all in all it was a fine investment.  We named her Sally.

 The ferry crossing was rough and it took 3 hours instead of the normal 1½ hours to land in Calais.

 The following is only a very shortened version of our travels, but I did keep a diary where I wrote a page every day.

 We travelled through France in December quite quickly as it was pretty cold and we wanted to get to the sunny South of Spain as quickly as we could.  Gary, my husband, felt at home almost immediately, but I was a bit stressed.  We had booked campsites through France and one campsite in Spain, otherwise we had no plans. There is not much open at that time of year through France and the experience was not as nice as I would have hoped.  There were not many people about so it felt a little lonely and the weather was quite cold, although this feeling may well have been due to the fact that I was still unsettled.

 We have friends who live near Angouleme in France and we stayed with them for three days on the way through.  The weather improved and was warm during the day. The dogs played together, we had a wonderful time with them and I did have a few tears when we left on 12 December.  On to Figurotta CC site near Narbonne which was ok. We stayed two nights and then drove on.

 Our next stop was Villanova Park, past Barcelona.  A huge site, but really well organised.  I bought a bottle of Amaretto for 7 Euros – bargain. We did not know what standard to expect of sites at the beginning of the journey, but had learned loads by the end.  We then travelled on to the only camp site in Spain that I had booked prior to leaving England.  We arrived, walked around the site and hated it.  Needless to say, we did not stay.  I think that was the moment that I realised that our plans could go ‘out of the window’ at any time in the future and we just had to get on with it.  

We then travelled on to Alcossebre for a few nights and then on to Benicassim.  We stayed at Alcazar campsite, which was like going back to the 30’s.  They even had a mangle which was very useful, although I laughed every time I used it.  In the end we stayed two weeks only because of the nice English people around us and because the pitches were spatial and the price was only 16 Euros per night.  The most popular site in Benicassim was Bonterra Park, but a bit busy for us.  No Perro signs everywhere along the beach here (no dogs) so I kept to the promenade for the first few days and Zac was very disappointed that he could not run on the beach.  After speaking to one of the staff at Alcazar who had a dog and who said the Spanish all walk their dogs on the beach, I decided to try it.  A police car cruised down the promenade and I thought, here goes, but it sailed past and I breathed a sigh of relief.  I found out afterwards that people were being fined so I only went there occasionally after that.  It spoilt the beach walk though, as I couldn’t relax.

 We travelled on and our next stop was Kiko Park in Oliva. A lovely site, right by the beach, but not much else there unless you have a car.  The weather was now getting warmer and sunnier and we met an English couple, who we met up with again in Benidorm and have kept in touch with since.

 We have a friend who lives in the Altea Hills near Benidorm, otherwise I do not think we would have arranged to stay there.  Saying that I loved it!!  The weather was warm, I found a nice dog walk and was joined by a gentleman called Tommy every morning at 10 am, who was 77 years old and a real character.  The old town is lovely.  I could people watch all day on the promenade and you could get very nice coffee and cake (sort of a tart to us) for only 2.50 Euros.  We ended up staying a month as we found that sites were very expensive if you stay a few days and get cheaper the longer your visit.  We were also recommended a Chinese restaurant.  A beer, or half a bottle of wine, a starter, a main course with rice or noodles and ice cream or coffee to finish was 4.95 euros.  It was also lovely for me as I could meet up with my girlfriend who lives out there and have some girl time.

 We drove on through Spain staying at some nice sites and some not so nice sites, until we had a gas problem.  We drove out of a site with quite a gradient and by a fluke hit one of our grounding legs that buckled and hit the gas valve and broke it.  We didn’t realise until about one mile down the road when I heard a hissing and then the gas warning lights came on.  We got out and realised the danger of 100 litres of LPG gas hissing out the back end so we gathered up passports, money and the dog and got clear.  We phoned the police and the breakdown people, but then Gary, being a bit of a wizard stopped the leak before we lost all the gas and we drove on petrol to the nearest beach (500 yds away) and wild camped for a couple of days.  We loved the wild camping and as we began to feel more comfortable in Spain we decided we would try more of it. We were recommended a garage to fix the valve, but had to drive about 50 miles back where we came from.  They could not do it, but knew a man who could, so another 40 miles away and with a bit of translating on the computer the second garage were great and had the part we required.  They fixed it very cheaply and we were on our way again.  We found the Spanish really helpful and friendly. 

 We stayed at more sites along the coast of Spain, but decided to go up to Seville from Malaga and miss out the corner of Spain.  We went from Seville to Monte Gordo just over the bridge into Portugal and met friends who were also taking a year off.  They came down the coast of Portugal from San Sebastian in Spain and we met up for four days.  This was wonderful except the weather was awful, rain and cloud and wind.  I had imagined meeting up, sitting in the sun and having BBQ’s, but this was not to be.  Our motto turned out to be ‘expect the unexpected’, everywhere we went!  Again a few more tears from me when we had to part.

 We travelled along the Algarve staying on a mixture of Aires, camp sites and some wild camping.  At no time did we feel threatened in any way by the people.  Was it because of Zac maybe, our German Shepherd, although I don’t think so.  We saw lots of stray cats in Spain and stray dogs in Portugal, which I found a little frightening – not towards me, but towards Zac.

I remember one particular Aire in Portugal called Manta Rota which was only 4.50 euros per night including free wifi  and was adjacent to a fantastic beach. I would definitely return there. There was also a lovely beach café where they played Zero 7 – Gary’s idea of heaven.  The stray dogs appear to be adopted and looked after by the people staying on the campsites and I was told the story of one little friendly dog who had belonged to an English owner who had died and the dog became one of the strays who lived on the campsite. 

 By this time I was a lot more laid back, while Gary was positively horizontal.  We moved on through Portugal and stayed at some Baragems. We had some really special moments, memories that I will never forget.  One special memory is when we pulled up at Baragem Santa Clara and there were two really hippy vans there and no one else.  We were not sure we would wild camp overnight and were considering it until an English van pulled alongside with a very friendly young English couple.  We said if they stay – we will.  Then I heard some music and I went out to walk Zac.  If you can, imagine this powerful and dramatic scene by the Baragem (dam) with a glorious view and the sun shimmering over the huge lake. As I walked past the hippy van the guy started playing his acoustic guitar and singing the song by Kansas called ‘Dust in the Wind’.  It happens to be my favourite song containing emotive words.  He had a fantastic voice and played well and my eyes misted up.  It was a surreal moment – a delightful memory that I will never forget.

 We then made our way back through the middle of Portugal to Northern Spain.  We stayed on Aires in many of the towns on the way and were very impressed with the Spanish architecture.   Yes it did rain rather a lot in Northern Spain.  Back along the west coast of France and then inland slightly to stay with our friends again in Angouleme, this time for a week and I was very relaxed.  Carrying on along the west coast of France we stayed at some beautiful Aires right on the beach for only 5 Euros a night – our nightly fee went down tremendously as we travelled.  Wild camping is so easy over there – at least in low season. 

 It was now May and I found myself beginning to get homesick, missing friends, family and well, English things.  We had hardly seen any English for the past couple of months as most go home in March, so I suggested we come to England for July and August as it would be too busy and too hot abroad.  This also contained a sweetener for Gary as he could attend his Corvette Club Nationals in Huntingdon at the end of June.  Gary was disappointed to return though as he felt we would just be biding our time once we got back to England and the adventure would be over.  I did try and last out for his sake, but we talked about it, he said all the right things and I booked a ferry on 18 June for our return.

 Once back in England we stayed at a caravan site near our family and met up with as many friends and family members as we could before going to the south coast to stay at Northbrook Caravan Club site, which we like.  We then started exploring England and loved Kent.

 After further discussions about returning to our house, Gary agreed to let me terminate the contract two months earlier than originally planned.  I loved our travel experiences and have wonderful memories, but 6 months for me would have been perfect.  We now move back in to our house latest, 18 September 2014.  After speaking to other couples who have done the same thing as us, it appears that generally the men are happy to carry on travelling and it is the women who miss their homes.

 When we planned this time away, it was a huge undertaking for us emotionally and we were slightly anxious.  When we arrived in Spain we realised that there are thousands of people doing it.  They winter abroad and even live in their motorhomes full time.  Now that we have experienced it, it is no big deal.  Sometimes there are challenges, but we coped and never found the motorhome to be too big to site.  It was cosy and not too small to live in.

 At the moment, I do not know how I will feel when I move back into the house. It has been a great time in our lives and has been thought provoking.   Has it changed me at all? – I like to think I have more patience and am more relaxed. I do appreciate my friends more. When we return we will be reviewing our life so I suppose the journey still goes on.  Moving back into the house is just the next step.

 Carol and Gary White