tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12295787630478680002024-03-18T09:39:23.174+00:00campervanlivingLife on four wheels with Martin Doreycampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.comBlogger144125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-70542203034250969942021-05-19T10:22:00.001+01:002021-05-19T10:22:09.919+01:00 THE INTERVENTION*The story that didn't make it into Take The Slow Road: France
The following year. So good we went back.For many, France has been a proving ground for adventure.
It’s so close, and yet so far, a foreign country that’s next door, a culture
that’s so familiar and yet so different. Getting there is easy, as is escaping
if it all goes wrong. It’s safe, with an edge brought by campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-21767223199010436772020-11-10T15:54:00.001+00:002020-11-16T10:40:47.243+00:00For Sale: The Ultimate Isolation Pod(For your stay-at-home holidays in 2021)FOR SALE : UNIQUE, IMMACULATE, CUSTOM-MADE VW CRAFTER CAMPERREADY TO GO£37,500 ONO (excluding VAT)Call 07973 513 395Email: martin@copymonkey.bizFor serious enquiries onlyHello. Welcome to this ad for my Crafter. This is a truly great van: easy to drive, with a great badge and easily one of the best vans on the market.It was converted in early 2018 to campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-54411764006284769172018-10-18T10:17:00.002+01:002018-10-18T10:22:28.108+01:00What do you call yours? #mycampervaniscalled LOVE!
A few weeks ago I (with the help of my friends at the Caravan and Motorhome Club) asked the good people of Twitter and Instagram to tell me what they call their camper vans. Here are the results! There are so many great names - and so many different names - and it proves to me that you lot really are a funny, creative, soulful and joyful bunch. Thank you!
I will announce the winner incampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com42tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-80993830034924458612017-11-16T17:14:00.000+00:002017-11-16T21:11:02.388+00:00Making dreams come true: another slow road adventure.
When did you last make time to dawdle? Can you remember what
it was like to do nothing more than meander, pootle or bumble along? And when
was the last time you took the slow road, just because you could?
If your answer is ‘too long ago’ then you need to keep on
reading. And then possibly put 3rd May 2018 in your diary. That’s
because it’s the day my new book project, Take
the Slow campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-86372817803204142892017-11-09T14:24:00.001+00:002017-11-10T17:40:01.966+00:00Why I hate the Tegstove. And why I love the Tegstove.
Some time ago I was approached by the people at Tegstove. They asked me to try out one of their stoves. It uses Teg technology (creating an electrical charge by placing hot and cold surfaces together) to charge an internal battery in the stove, which can then be used to charge phones or gadgets.
I said yes, because I like trying out bits of kit, but I did make a point of insisting that I campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-9287540424954277092017-05-05T15:11:00.001+01:002017-05-05T15:17:23.699+01:00These boots were made for…
I went to the Arctic in March this year as part of a convoy of 2 Bailey of Bristol caravans and a Bailey motorhome. It was cold, as you’d
expect. But not the kind of cold you get in the UK. That’s a grubby, unhappy
and hysterical cold that’s usually accompanied by wind and rain and slush and traffic
jams and a partial collapse of infrastructure. It’s not good when the cold
bites in our campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-73200046848255550002017-03-24T13:55:00.004+00:002017-03-24T13:57:36.474+00:00The Arctic Adventure: days 14, 15 and 16
I woke before the sunrise at Sundsvall. I was very glad I did. We had parked the motorhome facing the view, so the minute the kettle went on I opened the blinds to check what the morning was threatening to bring. The timing was perfect. A deep and dark blue sky was giving way to an orange glow from the east, directly opposite our pitch. I got out of bed and walked carefully (it was very icy campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-39972063280221981002017-03-21T10:31:00.002+00:002017-03-21T10:31:29.872+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Days 12 and 13
I had been in Sweden for a few hours when I enjoyed my first interaction with a Swedish person. I'll get to the point in a minute but need to tell you about how I got there first. My contact came on our first Swedish campsite, just across the border with Finland. The site was deep in snow, its glamping pods half buried in white, and the pitches cleared between deep drifts. We had arrived from campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-81002058821583832822017-03-14T20:38:00.002+00:002017-03-14T20:38:25.660+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Days 10 and 11
After our visit to Santa we schlepped through the snow and
ice to Ivalo, our final destination in Lapland. Ivalo is home to Milbrook’s
Arctic Testing Station, a place where winter tyres are tested to their limits
in serious conditions. It was much the same with us. On arrival we met up with
the team from The Caravan and Motorhome Club, the PR company and a couple of
journalists. For us, the campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-75941671905982679582017-03-13T18:33:00.000+00:002017-03-13T18:33:24.081+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Day 8 and 9
We woke up at Kuopio camping to more deep snow. It had
snowed overnight and the skies were still leaden with the weight of more. It
wasn’t a heavy day as far as driving was concerned as we had a crew to pick up
from Bailey and Truma, the heating people. They arrived at Oulu airport and met us at the airport hotel where we had lunch before heading out to Finland’s
longest ice road. It crossescampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-75856885797450140582017-03-10T16:14:00.005+00:002017-03-10T16:15:50.884+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Day 6 and 7
The city campsite in Helsinki was surprisingly busy, considering there were a couple of inches of snow on the ground. Most were motorhomes, perhaps city workers, and a couple of families. We pitched up after 11 and then left early, but not before I had cooked up a full breakfast for all our team. Who said you can't feed 10 out of a van?! So we were in Finland at last! We still had a campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-44288336050290066172017-03-06T19:10:00.000+00:002017-03-06T19:10:18.114+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Day 4 and 5
Being in Poland was like being in a film. It felt familiar, and yet not, like you'd seen it somewhere but couldn't place it. We passed wide open fields, forests of pine and birch, brown fields, frozen lakes and tumbledown wooden shacks and farm houses. We passed through industrial towns with chemical plants, disused railways and blocks of depressing flats. But we also passed picture campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-21436370520560455712017-03-05T07:14:00.002+00:002017-03-05T07:20:11.843+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Days 2 and 3
Day 2 saw the convoy or caravans and a motorhome and campervan leave Bruges early for a 500 mile autobahn slog to Berlin. The roads were really busy, which meant traffic was slow and the day was very long. We can only travel as fast as our limits will allow, which meant travelling often at the same speed as lorries, getting stuck behind arctics or hemmed in. I had imagined the autobhans to be campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-22998278249006101732017-03-02T21:02:00.001+00:002017-03-02T21:04:15.533+00:00The Arctic Adventure: Day 1
Milbrook to Bruges
Ok. The Arctic Adventure got off to an early start at Milbrook vehicle testing station near Luton, arriving just after
8 to make the most of ‘quiet time’. The plan was for our
little convoy of vehicles (a motorhome, two caravans and a campervan) to set
off around 0930 after shooting some stills and video of the ‘big departure’.
But, of course with cameras and action campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-19663918075588878362017-02-27T12:26:00.002+00:002017-02-27T22:27:44.488+00:00A secret squirrel adventure to the Arctic Circle
Okay. So I've been holding out on you. I have been withholding information. It's not my fault. I was under embargo (isn't that exciting!) from Nikki at The Caravan and Motorhome Club not to spill the beans on a project that I have known about for a few months now. Until last Tuesday, when it was finally revealed at the NEC Caravan and Motorhome Show, it was known as the Secret campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-4213523601026664692016-07-26T17:27:00.001+01:002016-07-26T17:48:33.323+01:00Fancy a BBQ this summer? Win a bucket Barby and forget the disposables.
As you may or may not know, I am a tyrant when it comes to being responsible on the campsite. In my books and on the t'internet I bang on about keeping the place tidy and I always make sure that any pitch is left tidier than it was when we arrived. I also like to cook with fresh and local ingredients if I can, not just because of the taste, but also because of the impact of some campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-21692139464102237822016-06-28T09:05:00.001+01:002016-06-28T09:11:24.039+01:00What will Brexit mean for your Euro camping adventure?
Whether you are an innie or an outie, there’s no doubt that this Brexit nonsense will have some kind of effect on your camping plans at some point. In reality it may not affect this summer that much but, depending on what our government (whatever or wherever that is right now) negotiates in the months and years to come it may have some long term resonance.
This week we are concerned about campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-81797830463469566892016-06-22T15:13:00.000+01:002016-06-22T15:40:19.821+01:00Wash one, wear one. The art of packing light.
It’s that time again. I’m flapping like an old fishwife,
trying to work out what to pack for our three week adventure in Northern Spain.
We’re off in less than a fortnight so we’re getting close to the off. And that
means we are getting close to packing time. This year I have given each of my
family a box to fill with whatever they like. They can take millions of pairs
of pants and no hats campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-92023564512641780572016-06-17T10:40:00.000+01:002016-06-17T10:43:39.672+01:00What does a camper van mean to you?
What does a camper van mean to you?
Good times? Camping? The open road? breaking down? A love affair? It was a simple question that I asked as many people as I could get hold of (including the good and great of the camper van scene as well as a few van owning 'slebs) when I was writing my new book 'The Camper Van Bible'. I wanted to find out what people thought of their vehicles andcampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-38098696235512742502016-06-07T15:34:00.002+01:002016-06-07T15:34:19.697+01:00The best books to take camping this summer.
We are off on a big adventure to northern Spain this summer.
It’s been 4 years since we ventured across the channel to mainland Europe and
I, for one, can’t wait. It’s the promise of getting away from the PC and the
DIY and the mortgage and all the everyday trappings that excites me most. We’ll
have three weeks to meander around Spain and France doing the things that make
us happy. We’ll camp, campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-78353151646574954922016-05-31T15:09:00.001+01:002016-05-31T15:19:17.487+01:00The Vango Air Hub: a weekend on a cliff top
We’re off to Spain in a few weeks’ time. It’ll be the first
time we’ve headed to Europe since our big 10 week tour of France and Spain in
2012. Our kids are that bit older and will be up for as much fun as they can
get their hands on, while Jo and I are that bit older and wiser, but still want
to have as much fun as possible. We’ve also got some new kit on board – and that
includes our new campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-81266838603821009792016-05-12T14:22:00.000+01:002016-05-12T14:24:41.035+01:00BIG QUESTIONS: How can you be a camping eco hero?
It isn't easy being green.
But, as campers, campervanners, motorhomers and lovers of the great outdoors, it is our duty to take care of that which gives us so much pleasure. So, I'd like to propose (again) for 2016, the mantra for all camping trips. This is simple. It's also easy. And it's a recurring theme for me.
LEAVE IT NICER.
What I mean by this is that we should leave anywhere we staycampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-18185293489973299292016-05-09T18:00:00.001+01:002016-05-09T18:04:11.809+01:00BIG QUESTIONS: if you had all day, what would you cook at camp?
This is a recipe from my new book, The Camper Van Bible. While the book isn't exclusively about food it does contain a section about food. The section lists some of my favourite and go to recipes. There are some classics in there as well as a few new bits and pieces and even some thoughts on smoking oysters... wooo!
But, given the big question of what I would cook if I had all daycampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-85810755164768402322016-05-05T10:05:00.000+01:002016-05-06T08:36:33.905+01:00BIG QUESTIONS: what's that under your arse? FOAM!
What is that under your arse? It's foam, of course. But it is the right type of foam? And did you ever imagine there could be a right and a wrong type of foam? Well, there is. I will go into the whole shebang in quite a bit more detail (but not too much detail, honestly) in my new book, The Camper Van Bible, so this is just a taster of the delights to come...
Let's begin with the day you campervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1229578763047868000.post-17706479115718517852016-05-03T15:31:00.001+01:002016-05-03T15:31:49.411+01:00BIG QUESTIONS: is a camper van better than a tent?
The simple answer, if you must know, is yes. Every time. I have camped all my life and have seen it all, from high winds and baking heat to torrential downpours and snowy deposits. It's why I choose camper van over tent almost every time. Unless of course I am visiting Lundy island or somewhere equally inaccessible by road....
Anyway, in my new book, The Camper Van Bible, I set out my stallcampervanlivinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07634781825504241156noreply@blogger.com8