Anyone else not left the UK yet? (And fab news for September)

[Pitstop Penny]

We got our glorious VW Cali Ocean T6 in September 2019 and the intention was to try out the UK first and then do an epic Europe trip the following May. Arghhhh. The pandemic changed all that. And nearly three years later and we’ve still not left the UK.

We work for ourselves and our businesses got super busy so escaping for anything more than a long weekend has been impossible. Sometimes I’d visit this forum and see so many of you getting over to France or Spain and I was gutted we couldn’t do the same.

But we actually pay off the van this September. Wooohooo! One of the blessings of the last few years was that we were able to save so much money so that we can do that.

And the van was a lifesaver during the pandemic. As we were able to get away quite often. Just for little weekend trips here and there as it was all we could do.

This year? No Europe once again. Our businesses have grown and so we are fixed to our desks. Again, thank goodness for the van. Lots of weekend breaks are keeping us sane.

So even though we’ve not yet left the UK, we still adore our van and know that we’ll keep it for many happy years to come. Work is crazy right now but at least we can escape and get some rest. And there’s only 15,000 miles on the van. It’s our main and only vehicle (we live in a city). Plus the utter joy we feel when we make it to the Lakes or Wales or Devon and roll around in the great outdoors We love the van so much.

Maybe we’ll do an October trip. Maybe. Fingers crossed. We just know that even though it’s been a real slog, we feel incredibly lucky to be part of this club and are looking forward to enjoying our first BBQ in a French campsite, sat under a shady tree and enjoying a glass of red.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or are we the only ridiculous idiots who have been chained to their desks and unable to get fully away?

 

[Hawthorn37]

Yep - same here. Had planned a trip to Italy Q3 2021, but our van didn’t arrive till Q1 2022. Now we’ve a week in France in August, and planning Italy for September. It’s what we bought it for - so you have to, don’t you??

 

[Wildcamper]

We are dipping our toes into our first European adventure with our van very soon, been in the car before. Restricting our first foray to Normandy and Brittany. In the autumn we plan to go much further, all being well.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Totally bonkers.
Nobody on their death bed ever wished they’d worked more…
I went part time 6 years ago and prioritised travelling and spending time with little ones over what I could potentially earn.

Close shop and get away. If you’re good at what you do, the work will still be there in two weeks time

 

[Jay586]

We're a bit odd in that we managed to retire early but are really bad at organising holidays.

Not helped by endless national & local lockdowns. I pretty much struggle to leave the house. Still, 3 vans & one caravan (take of woe) later, hopefully we'll get a grip.

 

[AlleyDaniels1]

We have just picked up our van 6 months earlier than expected. We are also dreaming of trips to Europe but at the moment our two little ones can’t make it more than an hour without tears starting for one reason or another so we’re stuck to local trips for the foreseeable. Fingers crossed for next year

 

[The Tall Luthier]

Just enjoyed steak au poivre cooked on our barbecue washed down with a bottle of Merlot, under the cypress trees in a vendee campsite. We’re currently on day five and loving every moment.

As soulmateDevon said, nobody’s does wishing they had worked harder. Obviously that’sa simplistic view la being self employed is hard. The point is valid though.

Life is about the smiles, not the miles. That said UK is great too, especially when the sun shines.

Best of luck.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Totally bonkers.
Nobody on their death bed ever wished they’d worked more…
I went part time 6 years ago and prioritised travelling and spending time with little ones over what I could potentially earn.

Close shop and get away. If you’re good at what you do, the work will still be there in two weeks time

It’s not really about making more money. It’s a brief push for survival and then we’ll be back to a more balanced life. Just ‘needs must’ right now.

We’ll get there. I’m sure of it!

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Just enjoyed steak au poivre cooked on our barbecue washed down with a bottle of Merlot, under the cypress trees in a vendee campsite. We’re currently on day five and loving every moment.

As soulmateDevon said, nobody’s does wishing they had worked harder. Obviously that’sa simplistic view la being self employed is hard. The point is valid though.

Life is about the smiles, not the miles. That said UK is great too, especially when the sun shines.

Best of luck.

That sounds so lush! And we’ll be there too soon. Enjoy your holiday!

 

[Pitstop Penny]

We're a bit odd in that we managed to retire early but are really bad at organising holidays.

Not helped by endless national & local lockdowns. I pretty much struggle to leave the house. Still, 3 vans & one caravan (take of woe) later, hopefully we'll get a grip.

Thanks for the kind reply. We all are on our own paths. If you book a holiday, I will too!

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Yep - same here. Had planned a trip to Italy Q3 2021, but our van didn’t arrive till Q1 2022. Now we’ve a week in France in August, and planning Italy for September. It’s what we bought it for - so you have to, don’t you??

Love this! I wish you many happy European trips.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

We are dipping our toes into our first European adventure with our van very soon, been in the car before. Restricting our first foray to Normandy and Brittany. In the autumn we plan to go much further, all being well.

Sounds awesome. I wish you a wonderful trip!

 

[Pitstop Penny]

We have just picked up our van 6 months earlier than expected. We are also dreaming of trips to Europe but at the moment our two little ones can’t make it more than an hour without tears starting for one reason or another so we’re stuck to local trips for the foreseeable. Fingers crossed for next year

I’m sure you’ll get there. I love taking the van around the UK. It’s good enough for us. We’ve had lots of fun adventures here. And we get away often. We take what we can! I’m just super stoked that we have such an amazing van! Aren’t we lucky

 

[soulstyledevon]

There’s plenty of places in Northern France, Belgium and Holland, all which aren’t to far to drive. Within 6 hrs of our house in Warwickshire, which is the same as getting to Cornwall with half term traffic.
Last week, we did 4 days around Cadzand and then onto Brugge.

I got to Holland faster than my buddy got to Cornwall

 

[Ting Tong]

Can’t you work from abroad? We’ve been on two 6 week trips in the last 12 months and worked as much as we needed. More trips planned too. All we need is a good data connection and the right IT to access our server.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

There’s plenty of places in Northern France, Belgium and Holland, all which aren’t to far to drive. Within 6 hrs of our house in Warwickshire, which is the same as getting to Cornwall with half term traffic.
Last week, we did 4 days around Cadzand and then onto Brugge.

I got to Holland faster than my buddy got to Cornwall


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Oh wow! Wow wow! These pics are amazing. I might try and see then. A week we can definitely afford. And I am so excited about visiting the Netherlands! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Can’t you work from abroad? We’ve been on two 6 week trips in the last 12 months and worked as much as we needed. More trips planned too. All we need is a good data connection and the right IT to access our server.

Alas, no. Client meetings! Usually we can do what you’re suggesting so don’t worry! Usually we have a very privileged life. We have loads of freedom most of the time. But this year is just crunch time! There’s a big project underway and by September/October, we should be out of the woods. If there hadn’t been a pandemic we’d have been all over Europe by now

 

[Snoopy23]

Just done our first week in europe, eurotunnel was a breeze, through france, belgium camped in Gent 2 nights great site then up to Nijmegen for 4 nights, this is were it goes sideways had to use a pre covid Centreparks voucher up so son joined us in chalet, was a great stay with amazing facilities cycling etc. Then back in van and down to floriade Expo which only happened every 10 years camped near by, then back through to Belgium france stopping off to stock up on very cheap wine before back in tunnel. Only 8 days in total but had forgotten what driving on continent was like and first time in van. So now can plan a long trip down france and spain. later this year.
Just a note of caution there was still a french checkpoint in operation from Belgium to France on main route causing very slight delay coming back though was not stopped.

 

[Joker 1299]

It’s not really about making more money. It’s a brief push for survival and then we’ll be back to a more balanced life. Just ‘needs must’ right now.

We’ll get there. I’m sure of it!

We got our glorious VW Cali Ocean T6 in September 2019 and the intention was to try out the UK first and then do an epic Europe trip the following May. Arghhhh. The pandemic changed all that. And nearly three years later and we’ve still not left the UK.

We work for ourselves and our businesses got super busy so escaping for anything more than a long weekend has been impossible. Sometimes I’d visit this forum and see so many of you getting over to France or Spain and I was gutted we couldn’t do the same.

But we actually pay off the van this September. Wooohooo! One of the blessings of the last few years was that we were able to save so much money so that we can do that.

And the van was a lifesaver during the pandemic. As we were able to get away quite often. Just for little weekend trips here and there as it was all we could do.

This year? No Europe once again. Our businesses have grown and so we are fixed to our desks. Again, thank goodness for the van. Lots of weekend breaks are keeping us sane.

So even though we’ve not yet left the UK, we still adore our van and know that we’ll keep it for many happy years to come. Work is crazy right now but at least we can escape and get some rest. And there’s only 15,000 miles on the van. It’s our main and only vehicle (we live in a city). Plus the utter joy we feel when we make it to the Lakes or Wales or Devon and roll around in the great outdoors We love the van so much.

Maybe we’ll do an October trip. Maybe. Fingers crossed. We just know that even though it’s been a real slog, we feel incredibly lucky to be part of this club and are looking forward to enjoying our first BBQ in a French campsite, sat under a shady tree and enjoying a glass of red.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or are we the only ridiculous idiots who have been chained to their desks and unable to get fully away?

Scotland?

 

[Ozzy Pete]

We got our glorious VW Cali Ocean T6 in September 2019 and the intention was to try out the UK first and then do an epic Europe trip the following May. Arghhhh. The pandemic changed all that. And nearly three years later and we’ve still not left the UK.

We work for ourselves and our businesses got super busy so escaping for anything more than a long weekend has been impossible. Sometimes I’d visit this forum and see so many of you getting over to France or Spain and I was gutted we couldn’t do the same.

But we actually pay off the van this September. Wooohooo! One of the blessings of the last few years was that we were able to save so much money so that we can do that.

And the van was a lifesaver during the pandemic. As we were able to get away quite often. Just for little weekend trips here and there as it was all we could do.

This year? No Europe once again. Our businesses have grown and so we are fixed to our desks. Again, thank goodness for the van. Lots of weekend breaks are keeping us sane.

So even though we’ve not yet left the UK, we still adore our van and know that we’ll keep it for many happy years to come. Work is crazy right now but at least we can escape and get some rest. And there’s only 15,000 miles on the van. It’s our main and only vehicle (we live in a city). Plus the utter joy we feel when we make it to the Lakes or Wales or Devon and roll around in the great outdoors We love the van so much.

Maybe we’ll do an October trip. Maybe. Fingers crossed. We just know that even though it’s been a real slog, we feel incredibly lucky to be part of this club and are looking forward to enjoying our first BBQ in a French campsite, sat under a shady tree and enjoying a glass of red.

Anyone else in the same boat? Or are we the only ridiculous idiots who have been chained to their desks and unable to get fully away?

Being self employed has its benefits and it’s pitfalls. Only you can choose when to take a break. I ran a business for 15 years which was motorcycle related so my sales took off at Easter and continued like that until the bike season ended in October. I had to make the same choices of loosing many thousands or go on holiday in the Summer. So ended up going away between October and March. Not in the van we didn’t have it then. Now we are retired so can please ourselves when we go and where.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Being self employed has its benefits and it’s pitfalls. Only you can choose when to take a break. I ran a business for 15 years which was motorcycle related so my sales took off at Easter and continued like that until the bike season ended in October. I had to make the same choices of loosing many thousands or go on holiday in the Summer. So ended up going away between October and March. Not in the van we didn’t have it then. Now we are retired so can please ourselves when we go and where.

Thanks for the lovely reply. I don’t think it’s something many people can understand unless they run a business or have had experience in doing so. It’s a very rare crunch time for both of us. We’ll make it out the other side. Both of us are confident of that.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Scotland?

I’d rather go to France. Nothing personal. Want the better weather

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Update: F**k it! We're booking a trip to Europe for the end of June. Sod it. We'll make it happen. Now we've just got to figure out roughly where and for how long. Realistically, a week. Possibly two. Laptops packed. Co-working spaces located. You've made me realise it's got to be done.

 

[Joker 1299]

I’d rather go to France. Nothing personal. Want the better weather

I wasn’t suggesting that you go there. My post was an answer to the question posed in the title of the thread.

 

[altvic]

Update: F**k it! We're booking a trip to Europe for the end of June. Sod it. We'll make it happen. Now we've just got to figure out roughly where and for how long. Realistically, a week. Possibly two. Laptops packed. Co-working spaces located. You've made me realise it's got to be done.

We are going end June until end second week in July. Going to catch some of the East France sections of Tour de France. All very doable from Calais area and weather appears to be good.