campervanliving

If I had a penny for every time I get asked when 'One Man and his Campervan' is coming out on DVD I'd have about thirty pee by now. I know. It seems that, for some reason, my TV show, which first aired on BBC2 in February 2011, has proved quite popular among campers, dreamers, outdoor lovers and VW fans and drivers. I get lots of tweets and emails from all over the world to say how much they enjoyed it. It's such a nice thing to happen. So thank you everyone. Now I'm not saying it's cult viewing or anything like that, rather that I appreciate the fact that so many people enjoyed it and want to see it again. Lots of people recently discovered it for the first time on Quest too. The only thing about that was that they had to cut a lot out to fit in the adverts, which meant that some classic moments were missed. My friend Justin, who had all the best lines in the first show, lost his moment to the cutting room floor, as did Steve Bell, from Cookin' Camper ...

I have been thinking about perfect weekends. I've been trying to think about what would make up the perfect mini camper van break. My first book 'The Camper Van Cookbook' was set out like a weekend, with recipes and ideas for cooking and camping from Friday to Monday morning. It all seems rather perfect. But anyone who knows camper vans and camping knows that it hardly ever turns out like that. But what if it could? What if you could organise a weekend with wild camping, foraging, surfing, fishing and singing songs around the camp fire as part of the deal? What if you could just turn up and join in the fun? What if you could have all the good stuff without having to go searching or doing loads of research? I've done just that. I know it's not easy to find perfect pitches if you don't know an area well. I know that it's hard to forage if you are unsure of what you're looking for. And I know that it's very difficult to find a wild camping spot ...

My rubber hammer is getting a lot of use this year. It lives in the van, under my seat, and gets used to give the rear brake drums a quick knock if I haven't driven it for a few days. After a little while sitting idly on the drive during damp weather with the handbrake on, the drums can seize up quite easily. Sometimes they will free themselves when I drive off but, from time to time, a little extra help from the hammer is what they need.

No one likes washing up. Or am I alone in thinking that? Maybe I am. But washing up is the dark side to cooking, and unless you eat off disposable plates every night, it's something we all have to go through at some time or other. And never more so than when camping. It's one of those awful realities. Washing up on the campsite is harder than at home, especially if you are wild camping. There are no dishwashers out there in the countryside, only plastic bowls and dishcloths. Kettles must be boiled, bowls filled, tea towels sought, dryer-uppers cajoled. And woe betide anyone who uses all the pans when they cook tea. Especially when it's my  turn to rub a few miserable and begrudging suds into the melamine. Yup. I hate washing up.

I'm not one of your grease monkey VW enthusiasts. I'm not the sort who can strip down a bus and put it back together again without any more than a few bits left over. Actually I'm not the sort who can strip a bus full stop. And I am certainly not the sort who knows how to tune up a flat four engine, knows which order the pistons fire in (the what?) and I am definitely not one of those under-the-van owners who could tell you exactly where the thermostat is on a type 4 engine. At least I never used to be. However, today I am one of those VW owners who can do just a little more than kick tyres and chat about interior conversions. I can tell you what a condenser does and I can happily (with the greatest authority) explain what checks you should do if you break down at the side of the road BEFORE you call your old friends with the yellow truck. I am a new man. And it's all because I attended a Bus Boot Camp at the workshop of The Type 2 Detectives this weekend. Bus Boot C...

December is childhood cancer awareness month. So I thought I'd write a little bit about CLIC Sargent , one of  the country’s biggest childhood cancer charities. CLIC Sargent are my charity. Recently they asked me to make a speech at a fundraising dinner held by Holborne Holiday Parks. I talked about my experiences camping, cooking and campervanning as well as my first-hand experiences of CLIC Sargent – because my family and I have first-hand experience of childhood cancer.

I have noticed twitching activity on twitter in the last couple of days. A few people have posted pictures of swarms of starlings making beautiful shapes in the winter sky. Twitchers call it a murmuration. It's one of those most lovely of winter spectacles and is truly mesmerising.