And it starts all over again……..

9-2-20

The idea to do another road trip started as soon as i had finished the trip last year, but after that epic journey the big question was where to go.

My original idea was to head back to Scandinavia, preferably Finland, but that idea was put on hold as I had also enjoyed the idea of touring Austria, plus its a little closer and a bit cheaper. The only downside to Austria is that wild camping is prohibited in the National Parks, but as the campsites are readily available, cheap and being in the mountains have stunning scenery around them its not too much of a downer. So its looking like a visit to a few historic sites in Germany then onto to Austria and possibly return via Lichtenstein and Switzerland. No definite route or timetable planned yet but hopefully its going to be a bit more of a relaxing drive than last time.

The next problem is that the van had been having some major surgery thanks to the over complicated emissions system on it, but touch wood thats all been sorted now.

A big thank you goes out to John Paul and his team at John Paul Transport Maintenance, Navenby, for all their hard work servicing and maintaining the van over the last 5 years, its down to them that last years trip involved nothing more exiting than after topping the oil up, a small amount dropped onto the alternator causing it to drop the charge voltage a bit but after a phone call to Johnny, who was in France at the time, ( I was in Bergen sat outside a Mercedes dealership, credit card in hand), I decided to give it a wipe clean and carry on, after another 1000 miles all was back to normal, and is still working well 7 months later, not bad for a 13 year old motor.

Problem number two is that after spending 4 weeks living in such a small space highlighted the need for an improved layout inside the van, and so Ive stripped out the old furnishings and the planning for the new interior is in progress, along with extra ventilation in the form of large roof lights to let some natural light and fresh air into the interior. There will be a new folding bed system and a smaller kitchen area, as most cooking was done outside, usually on the BBQ. Also when the bed is in use there will be a larger area for storage than the old set up where there had been a real shortage of places to put larger items like the table and chairs. (and the crates of cheap German beer ). I’ll be posting pictures of my progress as it happens.

Thats it for now, hope you will all continue to follow this site.