By keef and annie hellinger, Nov 20 2021 18.11 pm Not The Motorhome trip No16 : February 1990 (a retrospective hence number out of order) A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog This is a retrospective blog to specifically feature one of our early, and I mean really early , family breaks during school half term way back in 1990 to the wonderful Isle of Man We would like to start revisiting some of the earlier islands we have been to as a family but this time in the motorhome, it will need a little research Examples would be Shetlands, Orkneys, Skye , Harris & Lewis as well as the Isle of Man SLIDESHOW

By keef and annie, Nov 16 2021012 06:45PM This is what we said back in 2012, we say it again in 2021 Greetings from Keef & Annie. We plan to use this blog to document our travels in our Motorhome documenting via photo and video what we have seen but also sharing hints and tips along the way. We have already spent a lot of time in motorhomes travelling The Pacific Islands, NZ & Australia for almost a year in 2007/8 and from one side of Canada to the other in 2010. All of these trips were in "hire" motorhomes, but now we have embarked on getting one of our own. The world, well most of it, is our oyster. Stay with us, register using Facebook or your own login and come on our fascinating journey. We have relaunched 16th November 2021 See Blog 1 for further details Old Summary Pre November 2021 What you might call the "small print" details, ignore if no interest and why would you have? #deeplytechie #sorry #not 😉 Blogs 1-67 are under motorhome-travels.net, I don't have the energy to migrate , sorry Blogs 68-145 are in old HTML5 format using Moonfruit' s proprietary Blog functionality Blogs 146-158 were written in Moonfruit' s responsive code Technically a mish-mash of formats Yell who own both Moonfruit & WIX decided to close Moonfruit migrating (although very inefficiently) all websites to WIX This afforded me the opportunity / requirement to redo all my past motorhome blogs in the same format using WIX, it should be noted that the functionality on this web site development tool is much more modern, intuitive and faster #tick #greatnews #joined Historically from 18/8/2016 website development was converted to HTML5 so will run without the need for Flash on all devices. Blogs 1-67 were initially flash but then converted Historically from 16/12/2020 website development was upgraded to the more modern responsive coding but HTML blog functionality remained the same and so did blogs 68-145 , at this point blogs 146-158 were written in that new code Historically from Blog 159 15/11/2021 all blogs were written in WIX's responsive code and all blogs converted / rewritten in that Associated Blog 160 marks the relaunch #motorhometravelsblog #motorhome #rv #campervans #hintsandtips #usefulblogs #travel Advice for use of site The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔

By guest, Feb 22 2012 06:45PM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog Greetings from Keef & Annie. We plan to use this blog to document our travels in our Motorhome documenting via photo and video what we have seen but also sharing hints and tips along the way. We have already spent a lot of time in motorhomes travelling The Pacific Islands, NZ & Australia for almost a year in 2007/8 and from one side of Canada to the other in 2010. All of these trips were in "hire" motorhomes, but now we have embarked on getting one of our own. The world, well most of it, is our oyster. Stay with us, register using Facebook or your own login and come on our fascinating journey. Note no need to do this now, ANYONE can read our blog, it is entirely open YOU ARE MOST WELCOME MENU Intro Travel Blog Route videos, an introduction History of our travel Blog How to use the blog That's all Folks This blog features an image from our very first big trip away down to Dorset and Devon and is covered in full by BLOG 37 but our very first short weekend break just to try it out after we bought it was to Clumber park in Nottingham, so not very far away, that is covered retrospectively by BLOG 60. Here are some travel route videos using a clever phone app to illustrate those journies, please enjoy, thanks for looking. Return to MENU HISTORY Old Summary Pre November 2021 What you might call the "small print" details, ignore if no interest and why would you have? #deeplytechie #sorry #not 😉 Blogs 1-67 are under motorhome-travels.net, I don't have the energy to migrate , sorry Blogs 68-145 are in old HTML5 format using Moonfruit' s proprietary Blog functionality Blogs 146-158 were written in Moonfruit' s responsive code Technically a mish-mash of formats Yell who own both Moonfruit & WIX decided to close Moonfruit migrating (although very inefficiently) all websites to WIX This afforded me the opportunity / requirement to redo all my past motorhome blogs in the same format using WIX, it should be noted that the functionality on this web site development tool is much more modern, intuitive and faster #tick #greatnews #joined Historically from 18/8/2016 website development was converted to HTML5 so will run without the need for Flash on all devices. Blogs 1-67 were initially flash but then converted Historically from 16/12/2020 website development was upgraded to the more modern responsive coding but HTML blog functionality remained the same and so did blogs 68-145 , at this point blogs 146-158 were written in that new code Historically from Blog 159 15/11/2021 all blogs were written in WIX's responsive code and all blogs converted / rewritten in that Associated Blog 160 marks the relaunch Return to MENU ADVICE FOR USE OF BLOG #motorhometravelsblog #motorhome #rv #campervans #hintsandtips #usefulblogs #travel Advice for use of site The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔 #timeline Return to MENU THE END

By keef & annie, Feb 23 2012 06:07PM This is currently the worlds most expensive motorhome at £1.9m (2012) over £2M by 2016. We have been looking to buy for almost 2 years but I must confess we didn't even look at this one. Couldn't find the right butler ;) Enjoy The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔 #vanswelove #expensive #luxury #wow #fab #motorhome #rv #campervans #5thwheelers #highend

By keef & annie, Feb 24 2012 12:40PM Even if these just need washing to freshen them up after a few years of travelling taking down your curtains in a VW motorhome and /or van can be a nightmare. Even delicate female fingers found this a challenge and as for my porkers well I wasn't even at the races. We had had some advice from a guy who worked on upholstery for auto sleepers for a long time and his advice was DON’T or be very very careful, the track holders are fiddly, small and inaccessible and each end has 2 minute fitted metal screws to hold the last one from either sliding off the rail or right across when you pull them. So we approached our new VW Autosleeper Clubman Anniversary with some trepidation. He was almost right, DON’T but we had to as we are replacing the fabric covers in the van as well and need something to match. Sure enough one of the little metal ends fell on the green carpet at the front and was hell to find, we did eventually. So getting them off was hard. Putting them back on eventually we guessed would be a breeze, nope almost impossible. I was hunting the internet to see if it was possible to find a replacement set of hook & eyes to make the job similar to hanging normal house hold curtains and low and behold l found VW curtains dot com, we have compared the two side by side and tried them out, perfect and although we haven’t made the new curtains yet or hung them in the van my guess is we won’t be calling up the divorce lawyers *smile* We will let you know here via commentary how it went when they are finally up. Does anyone else have any experience of this ‘problem’, if so we would love to hear from you. One of our aims of this website is to start meeting more people and sharing ideas for a better ‘motorhome’ life. i.e. more time to enjoy the travel / place than concentrating on the motorhome, which of course is fun anyhow. PS Regal furnishings in Ilkeston, Derbyshire can help with all manner of fabrics that match your auto sleeper internals, have a look at Blog 19, see associated The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔 #timeline

By keef & annie, Feb 24 2012 07:55PM It took us well over 2 years to chose the 'right' motorhome as well as having lived and travelled in them via hiring for quite a while. It is not an easy choice. there are so many pro's and con's to consider... size, manufacturer base vehicle, beds, price, warrenty, location, layout etc etc I found this blog article which really helps encapsulate some of the key issues BUT when all is said and done we passionately believe you will instinctively know WHEN IT IS RIGHT FOR YOU and above all go and see LOTS of them first, if you are like us you will be surprised at how often you change your mind on the last 'this is certainly it' *smile* #humour Have fun, but don't have sleepless nights over it... it will eventually happen as we have discovered Here is a SUMMARY of the article just in case But for many first-timers, the prospect of buying a new Motorhome or RV can be an overwhelming process. What do you look for? What are the best models? How do you know you’re getting the best deal? These are just some of the questions that pop up every time. So Sureterm Direct, the UK’s largest specialist Motorhome and RV insurers, have come up with this simple 10-point plan to help you through the Motorhome buying maze. 1. Before you set out to see some Motorhomes or RV’s on a dealer forecourt, make a comprehensive wish list of the things that you want. In the excitement of buying your first Motorhome, it’s easy to forget exactly what you want – and having a checklist to hand will keep you focused. 2. Be flexible. Unless you’re on a substantial budget, it’s unlikely that you’ll find everything on your wish list in one Motorhome or RV. So be clear about what are ‘essentials’ and what are ‘desirables’. 3. See if your local dealers offer a ‘try before you buy’ service. Hiring a Motorhome, even for a weekend, will help you decide if you’re really into the Motorhome lifestyle. It’s also an opportunity to try out various layouts, and this will help shape your wish list. At the very least, take some test drives in various models and make sure you get the feel of the vehicle on country roads, A roads and motorways. 4. When you do decide to take the plunge, always buy locally if possible. Buying from a dealer on the other side of the country is great if you get the deal of a lifetime – but no so great if you have to drive over there every time something goes wrong with your Motorhome or RV. 5. If you’re buying a second-hand Motorhome, make sure you give every vehicle you look at a thorough inspection. Definitely check for signs of accident repair, leaks and signs of mould or damp. And if you’re very inexperienced, take along a qualified mechanic or vehicle inspector (the AA and RAC sometimes offer this service to members) just to make 100% certain the vehicle is clean and roadworthy. 6. Motorhome and RV shows are an excellent way to help you identify models you like. And taking along a digital camera, or camera phone, allows you to take pictures of the motorhomes you like, or features that impress. You can then use these pictures when you start looking at models to buy. 7. There are thousands of experienced motor caravanners out there who are happy to help people who are new to Motorhome ownership. So ask them for their opinions. Visit your nearest caravan sites and talk to owners, visit local shows and events, and use the internet as a valuable resource. www.sureterm.com is building up a community of Motorhome and RV owners and others sites like www.motorcaravanmagazine.co.uk and www.motorcaravanners.org.uk will help. 8. Once you’ve found your perfect Motorhome, you need to be 100% certain it’s exactly what you want. Spend a few hours trying it out – making the beds, setting up the tables, moving chairs around. Setting up the Motorhome will let you decide if there’s really enough space, and whether you can live with any minor niggles. 9. Always ask the dealer, or seller, to demonstrate everything for you. If there are extras, make sure all of the accessories like awning poles, hook-up leads, filling hoses and water bottles are present and in good working order. 10. And finally, don’t forget to get adequate insurance. Driving a Motorhome or RV on a standard car insurance policy is unlikely to give you the best cover. Companies like Sureterm Direct have been providing specialist Motorhome and RV insurance for 10 years, and have policies to cover every Motorhome situation you’re ever likely to encounter. #buying #motorhome #motorhometravelsblog

By keef & annie, Feb 25 2012 02:01PM A KeefH Web Designs Travel Blog There are supposedly two major changes for us Brits travelling in our Motorhomes / RVs to France from this year. It is hard to prove conclusively that they are now law but it would be sensible to know about them. 1. The need to carry a breathalyser kit for each person on your Motorhome with you 2. If you have speed camera detection on your Satnav under POI (points of interest) you will have to disable it. You can order a twin NF pack of personal breathalysers here from Alcosense. Just make sure you get the ones that conform to the supposed new French law. We are not sure what you do if you cannot disable the POI function on your SatNav but from things we have read that under the new french law they can fine you up to Euros$1000 and impound your motorhome. This is in line with them ‘hiding’ speed cameras and ensuring being aware of them is illegal under french law. We will continue to research and update the Blog when we know more definitively. If you know more please let us know in the comments. Thanks UPDATE: 8/3/12 Assuming your Satnav is a TomTom when you plug it into TomTom HOME there is an option to exclude POI for France. May be worth selecting this option! UPDATE: 12/8/13 latest views on breathalysers are that this will no longer be enforced by the French but suggest checking the latest website bulletins before travelling, there are definitely some grounds for confusion but we would hate you to be caught out. The satnav advice is definitely current but TomTom etc. give you the option when you connect your device The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔

By keef & annie, Feb 26 2012 03:25PM Came across this interesting images of very old motorhomes Can you imagine being in one of these today? Suggestion use the classic and vintage tabs #enjoy UPDATE November 2021 it should be noted that this board now has much more that very old motorhomes so you may want to look at motorhome-travels blog on pinterest and especially this OLD MOTORHOMES board, click HERE Enjoy, haha The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔

By keef & annie, Feb 26 2012 03:59PM This one is not quite as expensive as the worlds most expensive Motorhome but its getting there. Why not take a look in more detail at the Futuria (<-just click here). Here's the SUMMARY just in case If you like to travel in style, then the Futuria luxury motorhome is for you! The latest in highest quality motorhomes is Futuria’s "Sports and Spa" caravan, which was recently unveiled at the Caravan Salon 2010 in Dusseldorf, Germany. This mansion on wheels contains everything for luxury travelling: bathroom, bedroom, roof terrace with Jacuzzi and even sports car garage. Not only does it feature a Jacuzzi on the roof, but also a 36ft terrace leading to it - lots of room to set up the tables and chairs and a barbecue then! The 49ft-long, 6.5-ton vehicle has a built-in electrical generator meaning you don't have to stop your partying whilst on the move. Inside it has a full-sized living room and bed area, as well as a 'kitchenette' . Outside you'll find the reason for the 'sports' moniker, a garage which you can access from the side, or rear, perfect for parking your latest Lamborghini or Ferrari. The Futuria only has a top speed of 55 mph, so if you are in a hurry, you may wish to let down the ramps and let your supercar out to drive to your destination separately. And it's a bargain, with many other additional features, this luxurious motor caravan will only cost you $840,000 ( around £550,000 ) And just think about it, as they say "you wouldn't get much change from your house, if ANY, for this one" The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔 #expensive #futuristic #motorhome #fab

By keef & annie, Feb 28 2012 01:14PM motorhome-travels now has a community page on Facebook so you can join us there as well and share any of your thoughts to the 300+million people , some of whom other than just us, we would hope are rv/ motorhome enthusiasts, lol! we will attempt to hook up with all that is best and most useful to motorhome / rv travelers there as well LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board Note we currently have this many followers on Facebook #facebook #motorhome #fab #fun #followers The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔 faceache page logo 2021, with humour

By keef & annie, Mar 1 2012 09:32AM The Snakeliner Presidents Suite could well be that. It has 969 sq ft (90m²) of living space, plus "The President-Suite", which we’re assuming should be the Presidential Suite but is a victim of poor translation, it is german, measures 18m (59 ft) long and 2.5m (8.2 ft) wide - not including the driver’s cabin. But if that wasn’t big enough, both sides can be extended outward a further 1.125m (3.7ft) to make it 5m (16.4 ft) wide when fully set up. Enormous but could you drive it? even with your long distance lorry drivers license our guess is maybe! If you want to see it in more detail read the full article, it was on display at the Dusseldorf show recently. Comments left on old site pre Nov 2012 The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔

By keef & annie, Mar 8 2012 09:07AM UPDATE retrospectively numbered as a Recommended Leisure Van trader by us in November 2022 Because they were very good to us when we broke down in 2014 in France, but times have moved on and with the cost-of-living crisis our loyalty has had to be dispensed with in favour of price, so we are now with Performance Direct for both our insurance and breakdown cover but (if price didn't win out over Service) we would still highly recommend Safeguard. Performance Direct are however not bad either and covered our relay back when the van's cambelt went in BLOG 152 Previously Here in the UK, we did an enormous amount of research whilst trying to select the right insurance for our Motorhome. Our lovely Wendy house, VW auto sleeper clubman anniversary which we adore, by 2021 had her now for almost 10 years, and 46 trips in her. There are lots of factors to consider. price, cover, breakdown assistance, excess, value for money etc. etc. We found that many of the normal car insurance companies just don't do cover for motorhomes, and you may well have difficulty getting your no claims discount statement from your car insurance company, even though they don't offer the service, as they try to protect what they term 'their business'. You will probably need it as on the basis of your car no claims you are generally given a discretionary 4 or 5 years no claims for Motorhomes. Anyhow after some extensive research and asking friends & family we would recommend SAFEGUARD Comparable on price, if not a little cheaper, but the unlimited mileage (many charges are by the miles you do in the year and frankly we don't know the answer to that question yet) and AA European breakdown cover made it right for us. What do you think or recommend. Have your say in the comments box below. Let's get a discussion going for the good of all of us motor homers / rv-ers / campervanners We used them in France, and they were wonderful when the starter motor went on our van See Blog 71 By 2020 however we had swapped to use Performance Direct as in the growing health & economic crisis that is the global pandemic Covid-19 cost was important to us but I will still continue to champion them for the wonderful help they gave us in 2014, thx again folks The INDEX page has TAGs for all Blogs and by year or month, A-Z INDEX alphabetically or just using the LETTERs in the Tag maps, or you can use the SEARCH page to look for something or just use the search facilities here on the BLOG or the associated Blogs attached to each Blog, entirely up to you, there is a wealth of ways to find what you want, thanks for looking motorhome-travel blog, LIKE to join our Facebook community or have a look at all our great "motorhomes" on our pin board, why not, join the conversation “motorhomes R us” 😉 🌠 ✅ 🤔