After deciding not to commit ourselves to one location, we started thinking of other ways to travel with more flexibility. In 2005 we downsized the house & considered that perhaps we could travel the UK after selling up and get B&Bs/ hotels wherever we fancied & then travel to Europe & beyond.
However, when we did the sums it proved that this was a wholly impractical solution except for lottery winners – so we binned that idea.
Next we thought of medium term renting on the continent. Choose an area and stay for 6 months & then return home with no ties. We made a couple of trips to sothern Spain but concluded that this was no different to the US idea. We’d be stuck in one place for too long. And we’d need a car as well. Also, the administration if we stayed longer than 6 months gets tricky.
We really want to travel & SEE places. Although we have visited over 70 countries, there are many. many new places to experience & that means being mobile.
Then, quite by accident, we discovered the Motorhome. 
We had never camped at all before & towing a caravan never appealed, so the Motorhome seemed the perfect solution. So in late 2008 we started our search for the ideal wag.
Having made the decision to get a motorhome , lots of planning was required. We spoke to friends with ‘vans & bought up every magazine we could. We looked on the net, joined the CC and Motorhome Fun. We got loads of good advice and so we set about looking at vans.
Luckily (?) we live near Brownhills in Newark so we drove over and walked thru dozens & dozens of ‘vans. We took our daughter for a neutral, dispassionate & moderating view. We also visited Lowdhams & several other small dealerships in the area. Finally, after several weeks of determined searching, we drew up a shortlist of must-haves.
A rear fixed bed & a large garage were vital. All of those shoes to be stored!!!
2/4 berth would be ample. Since we were going full time, good, strong leisure batteries were a must & a reasonable kitchen & shower room. We soon realised that a non-smokers van was necessary due to lingering smells. Also, was it necessary to buy new? Not so, we discovered as we realised that pre-used vehicles normally had all the problems ironed out & were about 50% cheaper.
Our budget was around £25-£30K so that was limiting to an extent. Then we found a wag we liked, quite by accident. A small dealership in Southwell had a lovely RIMOR. Merc engine & automatic – which was a must for me.
We arranged a test drive for the following Sunday and full of excitement with finance sorted we turned up to find we’d been gazumped.
No explanation – no phonecall to give us an option – nothing. In hindsight probably a good job, as their aftersales would have probably been as disappointing.
Anyway, we kept looking & we saw a wag on eBay. It was in Hull & after some arranging we drove over one Saturday morning. The wag itself was not any good & overpriced & not as described. However, as luck would have it the dealer gave us a couple of mags which we hadn’t seen before, and on the drive back Mrs E spotted a company in Newark – SMC. They had a Dakota for sale at the right price. This was handy as we had been looking seriously at a similar model from a private sale in MMM.
So we drooped into SMC to find that they were at the Newark show. So we waited til the Sunday and with moderating daughter in trail set off.
We found SMC and what a refreshingly nice bunch of chaps they were. No pressure sales & after a short time looking over the ‘van, we struck a deal which suited us both. 
The 02 plate Dakota had everything we wanted except it was a manual gearbox. We arranged for solar panels to be fitted, plus a TV, Microwave and a few other goodies. We paid a holding deposit & went for a test drive. Excellent vehicle with real power in the Merc 130 BHP 313CDi engine.
We finalised the deal and arranged pick-up for 14 April.
We arrived at SMC in Newark full of trepidation & excitement at picking up our new wag. We were not to be disappointed. SMC were excellent in every respect. All of the pre-delivery jobs had been carried out to a high standard. The ‘van was spick & span and many people have commented since what good condition it is in & cannot believe that it is 7 years old.
With 17000miles on the clock and a 313CDi Merc engine – it is hardly run-in & goes like sh*t off a shovel!!
We were shown round the van and every working part demonstrated & we took notes to remind us later. This took a full 2 hours. Nothing was too much trouble. ( I know they made their profit – but we were happy with the price as we had shopped around).
Next hob was driving it to our storage area. Luckily Mrs E has a friend with an area at the back of her house where she stores her ‘van – so she had agreed to let us keep ours there. Power & water available & secure.
So we drove the 20 odd miles without incident – (almost took out an overhanging traffic light) and parked up. We spent the rest of the day going over the wag & familiarising ourselves with the working parts. Great fun. Over the next few weeks we loaded up with food, kitchenware, toiletries etc etc & also made sure that the awning worked. That was a bit of a nightmare but we got there in the end – good old Fiamma
We then decided that it was time to take her out for a drive & then to book some weekends away to train ourselves up. We plan to go full time in Mar 09 so we needed to ensure that the wag was up to it – and also that we knew what we were doing.
We’ve been to Rutland Water, Skeggie, West Runton, Billing, Doncaster, Skipsea, Oxford & Wetherby. Met loads of nice people, been on a couple of rallies, stayed at CC sites, a CL, a CS & a big commercial site. Also tested out the solar panel for a weekend with no problems. We can now almost reckon we can call ourselves properly trained up.
We have put the wag to bed this week till we come back from Cyprus in January & we will give her a brief run out a couple of times before we set off on Mar 3rd.
We need to get her serviced & MOT’d in April, so we will get some extras fitted then ( Gaslow system, a front blind & a TV aerial). Then with any luck we’ll be ready to cross the channel on May 6th heading for the Garda meet with fellow funsters.
What about our house?. We have a good friend living in it & paying all the bills & so we dont have to store all our kit and have access at any time. So that takes care of that.
Well, we are back from our Christmas break to Cyprus having missed all the snow. We decided that a quick visit to the ‘wag was needed and were very pleased to see that it was in fine fettle.
Although completely covered in snow, it was dry as a bone inside and relatively warm. The good old Merc engine started first time, so we ran it for 30 mins as we couldn’t drive it anywhere due to the slope up to the storage point.
We are setting off on 3 March, so there are a hundred things to do. We have got our house sitter / tenant living-in now and he is learning how the house works. We needed to arrange a small repair on the boiler and to get the windows at the front painted in the Spring – so both of those have been arranged.
Also, we have contacted SMC in Newark and arranged for the annual service, habitation & MOT for early April. We will get it weighed as well. We are also converting to Gaslow based on advice from other fulltimers. A couple of minor repairs and all should be well for the channel crossing on 6 May heading for Garda via France, Luxembourg & Switzerland. 
We popped over to the ‘wag again last Sunday, & now the snow has gone we gave it a quick run out. No problems. Although, we are lucky as the van stored next to ours had a flat tyre.
So, now we are slowly getting stuff sorted around the house. We sent over a few boxes of junk to my daughter for a boot fair she was doing. I’ve boxed up a load of knick-knaks, photo frames, old LPs & scrapbooks. Next week we need to re-stack our gear stored in boxes in the cellar. We are getting our doctor/dental loose ends tidied up & we will be disconnecting our landline with Virgin & reducing the TV package to the absolute minimum. We are also chopping down a tree in the garden so that it doesn’t fall down whilst we are away. I’ve also sent out Mrs Eaton to Currys to pick out a new washing machine so that if ours conks out, we can just order a new one with no faffing.
We have also sorted out Skype & a webcam, Windows Messenger & Facebook so that we can communicate with daughter & friends whilst on the road. We plan to do about 7-10 years, coming back every April 1 for servicing & R&R!
Other jobs to do are to sort out insurance – vehicle, medical & travel. Get about Euro1000 as a float & to pay fines & bribes if necessary. Mrs Eaton needs to sort out her wardrobe which will probably take a week. I’ve sent most of my stuff to charity shops. We have taken delivery of a years worth of Vitamins we must have every campsite book ever published. Must remember to cancel subs to mags as we will not be able to read them. Meeting up with friends for last lunches & dinners before we go. Also arranging for visits out to the wag whilst we are away. Must tell the bank & CC companies we are in Europe so they dont block our cards.
We are going to the MotorhomeFun meets at Scunnie & Newark so we hope to meet up with funsters their & get a few more tips. So much to learn – although we are slowly getting there.
Things are starting to come together, & touch wood, we’ll get away on schedule.
Well, the big day is almost upon us. 
We’ve more or less handed over our house to the ’sitter’. Gas & electric meters read and full handover/takeover completed this morning.
We went out to the wag this lunchtime and started the big load-up. All done except clothing. Amazing how much space there is. The ‘garage’ under the bed is invaluable as it takes just about anything & everything & still space to spare.
Sorted the bikes out & affixed them to the rear rack & covered them up. Also used the Aldi alarm padlock. Great piece of kit.
No water on board yet – do that tomorrow. Brought the toilet cassette home & serviced the seals. All seems OK.
So just the last minute stuff to get done & we set off on Wednesday morning to see the outlaws in W Sussex and then on to Brighton via Crystal Palace.
We cross the channel on May 6.
