Longest time spent in a Cali!

[Silverfox]

Hi All:

Just a general view from you:

What is the longest time spent away in your Cali or similiar(not a motorhome) - I have just spent three weeks by myself with no problems, just a little claustrophobic when it rained, but it didn't rain too often fortunately - perhaps sides on the awning would address that little problem or a drive away awning!

Intend going to Spain and France for an extended time of upto 3 months, maybe next year now.

Look forward to comments or experiences.

Cheers

Kevin

 

[calikev]

Hi I think kevin( berndros ) holds the record for that can't quite remember how long he was away
But I'm sure it was several months. I'm sure he will correct me when he reads this post
Interesting question though

 

[BerndRos]

Mid Jan 11 till end March 12......20 countries and about 25000 miles......

 

[Silverfox]

Berndros

Wow! that's some feat, no need to ask if you enjoyed yourself! if you did it again, would you prefer to be in a medium motorhome! I've seen comments from other owners and ex owners, that they believe 4 weeks to be about the max for the Cali, I had no such thoughts with three weeks and sure I would've lasted longer if family matters hadn't been an issue(missing my grandaughter)

Kevin

 

[T5WOB]

3 weeks euro trip .would like to do 6th months . :boohoo

 

[BerndRos]

Well I bought the Cali to keep long term and it will fit in with my future plans. Re my ' trip ' I wanted to be able to go anywhere and not worry about getting out again, it fitted the plan perfectly. Think I slept in about 238 different places so often moved on daily and rarely stayed in a place for more than 2 nights. Slept in some pretty odd places and in the centre of major cities, Berlin, Budapest, Bucharest, Sofia, Istanbul, Tunis, Warsaw etc....and never felt threatened in any way. 78% of nights were ' free camping '........

But if a person was retired and going off travelling I have no doubt that a motorhome would be best.

 

[BerndRos]

And every night of those 238 places slept ' up top '.........

 

[KernowLad]

Wow!

Three nights is our record so far. More than that and lack of sleep gets to us (we have two young children!)!! :lol:

 

[Silverfox]

Blimey! I'm still getting my head round Jan 11 to March 12, fantastic effort - going back over to france and Spain in early October, going to just book one way and see how long I last, have some friends who live in France and Spain(I'd love to do a winter in a warm country, being able to get up every morning and be ableto go out on the bike without thermals), so if feeling home sick, should be ok - hoping for at least ten weeks(may go mid September)going to practice my cooking on the Remoska nd Cobb, for last 40 years depended on my late wife, classic case of should've paid more attention when she was cooking!!!!!

Think I understand why three nights is enough with two small children, don't wish their lives away, but it'll probaly get a lot easier as they grow older - I was tearing my hair out with one day of rain in France! next tiem it rained I just packed up and travelled a little, so easy in the Cali to do.

Hope you all had a good Bank Holiday

Kevin
PS Just been past E S Hartleys of Staveley Cumbria, they have a new Yellow Beach on the forecourt

 

[jts46]

Just returned from 42 nights with wife, touring Spain & Portugal and it was great

 

[RawRob]

We've just passed the 2 year point (June 1st) living in our Cali! (Ok, not quite, we rented a cottage in southern Spain for 2 months for the first winter, and have had I think 3 approx one month periods back in London).

 

[aileen]

We've just passed the 2 year point (June 1st) living in our Cali! (Ok, not quite, we rented a cottage in southern Spain for 2 months for the first winter, and have had I think 3 approx one month periods back in London).

Hi Raw Rob, I am planning to be a long time traveler too and am researching where to buy a Cali as they don't seem to have one any where near me in Ireland and I don't want a very old one. Since you are based in Greece please can you tell me if you have any problems staying away and wandering for long periods in regard to license plates, insurance etc???
Aileen in Ireland I will be traveling alone.

 

[RawRob]

We move too much for me to keep changing my profile - we're in Portugal now! With a lot of European countries you can keep your vehicle in that country for 6 months of any one year without having to change to local plates - we've never exceeded that, most probably 3 months at a time in any one country.

There are two insurance companies I have used that will allow you to be out of the country for the whole year - Comfort Insurance and Safeguard, as long as you have a permanent residence in the UK.

We come back to the UK at least once a year for MOT and to get a tax disc.

Rob

 

[Silverfox]

2 years and still going, WOW! that's what I call getting ya monies worth out of your investment

 

[hedy1962]

We have just purchased our new California and have only spent the one night with the two beagles in Olivet on the way to the South of France where we have a house.
My husband has taken early retirement and we are planning in Sept to do Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Prague, Vienna and then somehow work our way back to the South of France in Carcassonne! How it all works out is a mystery but looking forward to it.
On the search of the internet we found this blog which is worth a read
http://www.mytripjournal.com/bigtrip-nick-ange&p=1

 

[malc]

Kev great subject!

 

[aileen]

We move too much for me to keep changing my profile - we're in Portugal now! With a lot of European countries you can keep your vehicle in that country for 6 months of any one year without having to change to local plates - we've never exceeded that, most probably 3 months at a time in any one country.

There are two insurance companies I have used that will allow you to be out of the country for the whole year - Comfort Insurance and Safeguard, as long as you have a permanent residence in the UK.

We come back to the UK at least once a year for MOT and to get a tax disc.

Rob

Thanks a lot RawRob, it is good to know that one can stay in a country for 6 months in a year without changing plates. That would be about right for me as I live in Asia about 5 months each year and would not be bringing the Cali there. I won't have a permanent home any more so cannot use those insurance companies. I am thinking of going to Germany to buy the Cali and will try to get plates and insurance there since I plan on mainly going slowly through Europe (a different country each year) and a left hand drive will be fine.

 

[marmorino]

Since i got it i've been spending more and more time, last summer was 3 month in the south west of France, and last winter 2 month in Morocco, but that was defintly my last trip with the Cali.
I've booked a big motorhome, as i'm a musician with too many instruments and the kiddos are way too grown up now!!
But it's been a great experience, living in such a small van, the best of it is that you're very close to the people around you.

 

[RawRob]

I won't have a permanent home any more so cannot use those insurance companies. I am thinking of going to Germany to buy the Cali and will try to get plates and insurance there since I plan on mainly going slowly through Europe (a different country each year) and a left hand drive will be fine.

You'll probably have a problem with that too. Best bet would be to find a friend or relative you could use the address of to register your vehicle to and get insurance. (Unless of course you speak excellent German and have friends there too - for most countries in Europe you need to be a resident or at least have an address before you can own a vehicle.)

Rob

 

[KernowLad]

Definitely a great thread - we are vaguely planning a fairly big Euro tour next year in ours - our little ones will be 2 and 4 years old. We hope to get a decent trip (say a few months) work permitting before the eldest starts proper school.

Only done 11 nights so far and they little lines definitely take a while to get the hang of sleeping (little sleep first night, exhausted for the 2nd so usually better!) but the benefits outweigh being a bit tired!

 

[aileen]

Thanks again Rob. I do have friends in Germany so can use their address and I also can speak German. I have not yet found prices for Cali's over there and need to know where some are in stock. Settling down this week to do some research. Buying there means that I will have to return for inspections and to the dealer if there are problems. It would be closer to my travels than the UK. Aileen

 

[KernowLad]

Saw a German Cali yesterday - they get a nicer dashboard than us and a proper front blind!

 

[PatH]

Hi peeps, newbie here, just bumping this thread as I'd be interested in hearing about experiences of long distance and long term travel in a Cali, in particular vehicle preparation. Did you take spares? What about repairs/maintenance/servicing in foreign countries?

I hadn't even considered the Cali until I browsed a LR site and read about a guy chopping in his 110 Defender for one, looks sweet!

My shortlist up until this moment includes a Defender 90 with a Maggi pop up rooftent (they are the biz). Plus overland prep such as leisure battery, invertor, side awning, etc. etc. A late model specced up as I want it would cost about 35k. (Think tons of soundproofing, improved lights, decent stereo, it adds up).

Other option is a Freelander, again with a Maggi up top, this is the soft option, luxo overlanding, but less customisable, probably do away with 240v which limits the amount of electronics I can use without being near civilisation (laptop, etc).

Why Landrover? Europe wide roadside assistance and high residuals (plus if I'm honest, the Defender looks the part). I doubt I will encounter anything that would be anywhere near the offroad limits of these 2, but Morocco could get interesting...

Both would require outside cooking, improvisation wrt to domestics but that's part of the fun. There is a budget for hotel/B&B stays maybe once a week. Campsites and wild camping the rest of the time.

Which brings me to the California, with my all-in vehicle budget of 32-35k I could probably go a bit higher as I have seen a few nice looking vans at near 40k. Lot of money but essentially ready to go, and a high residual although part of the plan is to keep the vehicle after the trip is over.

Aiming to be away for about a year, no real route plan, muck about in Spain and France for a couple of months first.

Defender - Can go anywhere (noisy, characterful, tons of fun). Infinitely customisable.
Freelander - Can nearly go anywhere (and a practical car when put back to normal). Lots of
comfort)
California - Most comfortable by far, offroad an unknown (although I've driven 2wd vans in
Bavarian winters with no problems, just need winter tyres).

I'm going to be really struggling to make a decision. Would welcome comments and thoughts on long trips and how the van would stand up to rugged use.

 

[BerndRos]

Yep it's ok for this......in my facelift Cali I set off in January 2011 and came back at end of March 2012.....those 15 months I slept every night in the Cali.....and went through 22 countries and covered about 28000 miles......80% was free camping and I slept right in the middle of every capital city I visited.....

 

[PatH]

That's quite a trip.

I guess my decision will somewhat affect the nature of the overall plan, but from reading a ton of overlanding blogs it seems that route taken is only partially dictated by the choice of vehicle. It's a holiday really, I'm not planning Africa (not yet!). I must admit I like the roof top tents but using a ladder every day could get annoying, plus can't really do that if parked up in a city street for the night.

Plan is similar, don't hang about too long in one spot, unless it's feeling right, take in a few cities, just relax and have an open ended experience.

Think I will go and look at some Cali's in the new year, couple of places in Bristol seem to have a few.

Equipmentwise I don't think I would need much for the Cali, just common sense really, if I'm not in a Landrover then I won't be going up some rutted track just for the hell of it, I've got hiking boots for that .

Just need to get my head round spending 40k+ before even leaving :crazy but every single overlander when asked how much the trip costs says "more than planned...".