Longest time spent in a Cali!

[BerndRos]

No need to sleep down below....I slept up top every night and you don't need a ladder.....

I even slept right outside the Reichstag in Berlin for a couple of nights and put out the table and
chairs on the grass in front of it .....

When in cities my view was to head right to the centre and set up camp and sleep by government buildings shock likely have an armed guard....like having my very own guard if you like......

 

[PatH]

I meant the ladder with the Maggi, like this -



Looks great in a field, can't really be doing that next to the Reichstag though, or even at truck or casual stops really (would worry about someone pinching the ladder), plus it's a giveaway...

How do you get in 'upstairs' then? Also, if not sleeping up there does it offer extra headroom?

Taking something without indoor cooking facilities would mean lots of eating out, which, if not too expensive, is something that is part of the trip, but I am beginning to see the attraction of the built in cooker for week in week out living.

 

[777111]

All very interesting. Think a month was my maximum single trip in a basic T5. No bother in a country with decent sunny weather and only work commitments got me back to the UK. Certainly never felt anything of a hardship that is for sure.
I am planning a European trip 2014 route unspecified as yet was considering Scandinavia but likely Italy or Croatia, Greece for some sun. Am traveling alone but would welcome some company for at least some of the trip if anybody is doing similar and would welcome a companion (male, married, 50,) .
Bit of a broad offer but don't ask don't get!
One way or another I plan some serious mileage and use from my Cali which as yet, and frustratingly has not been used yet .

 

[PatH]

Croatia looks good, I will be passing through Bavaria at some point to hook up with a friend there for a week or so then onto the Balkans, will mostly be travelling solo, I'm 46, I have the chance to do this extended trip, so just do it (note to self)! Worry about 'stuff' later.

Hoping to meet fellow travellers along the way, there are tons of online resources for networking and arranging meet ups, and of course there is the camaraderie that just happens.

Dunno what I'll do when I get back, perhaps I won't come back, heh!

The initial outlay is high, but life on the road should be economical in a mobile tent, some people reckon 60 Euros a day, I plan on half that + contingency. Could be way out, see how it goes. Hope to be off sometime before summer. No rush, got a lot to organise.

 

[Andy]

How do you get in 'upstairs' then? Also, if not sleeping up there does it offer extra headroom?

To get up to top bed stand on either seat, then on the top of the seat by the head rest & up. DO NOT STAND ON ARM RESTS, THEY WILL BREAK !
Yes when top is up the bed pushes up & out of the way allowing you to stand up.

 

[GrannyJen]

No need to sleep down below....I slept up top every night and you don't need a ladder.....

Did you use a topper, all the time, some of the time, ?

 

[Alan]

Really impressed with these adventures going on here.
Especially Berndros's own way of getting a security guard
I was planing 5 weeks traveling through France and Spain for 2014 seems a bit tame now, guess I'll make it 2months instead

Great topic

 

[BerndRos]

Did you use a topper, all the time, some of the time, ?

In the whole 15 months I used the Pucer less than 10 times.....only as I was dropping down through Bulgaria into Turkey.....in late October 2011......when it was getting rather cold. Plus later on in the higher parts of Sicily. That winter I was in Turkey, Greece, Sicily and Tunisia and was OK without.

 

[Californiaman]

PatH - have you thought about something like a Navara with a demountable?

http://northstarcampers.co.uk/used-camp ... amper.html

 

[aventuras]

I spent 7 months travelling from Canada to tierra del fuego and return about 60k km total, I traveled alone in 1995
diesel eurovan camper I slept only about 6 times in an hotel during the shipping from panama to Colombia.
from sea level to 5000 meters the truck ran flawlessly
I plan to leave again in september 2014 from canada to redo the trip with a special time for Brazil

see some pics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dJHjtUkEr4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4V9rDZkS1gg

george
95 diesel westphalia camper

anyone interested on my trips please write

 

[Combi74]

I am impressed by long stay in the van in a row. Not so much by the length in fact but more by the free time people might have to tour with their Cali. I should say jealous instead of impressed!

As far as we are concerned, we spent 3 weeks during summer holidays in 2012 with our Cali. We feel already privileged to do that! Of course it was during summer and during holiday season (when we are not retired).
We should try 3 weeks during winter time in mountains... :idea:

 

[GeoffB]

Seemed to have missed this discussion - our longest was 10 weeks last year, just after we had bought our Cali. We slept 'upstairs' the whole time and slept well, thanks to Nick's mattress topper. France, Italy, Switzerland, Leichenstein, Austria, Germany, Holland, Belgium and France again. This year we only managed 4 weeks in France.

 

[andyhull]

hi
my wife and i bought our california last week and are heading to france switzerland italy austria slovenia and croatia for two months and then back to jersey where we live it's great to hear about other people using their vans for what they are designed
some of these trips sound amazing

 

[Autonaut]

Now I'm envious! We thought we would spend weeks and weeks away when we first bought the Cali about 18 months ago but work has continued to intervene.
We loved camping, being outside and under canvas, but our last camping trip we nearly froze to death in Northern Portugal in late June. Enter the Cali and have to agree you can live in it. Longest we have managed is just over a month and could have carried on. With camping our limit was just over three weeks, then we would have to go home. It just got wearing.

 

[Chinny]

hi im new here just seen this post ive spent over 3years in my t5 convert mainly during the week for work I contract all over Britain and like to take my home with me I join gyms or go swimming in the evening to use there showering facilities plus I enjoy sport spent hundreds of nights in all manner of places thank god for eberspacer worked in London for 6 months never spent a penny on digs cheers

 

[acer]

You really can live in these things. A bit cheaper than a studio flat and a lot more fun. Probably as much floor space too! We did 6 months around Oz in a Toyota Hiace 16 years ago in considerably less comfort than a Cali.

 

[Billabus]

3 months straight, the year we bought our T4 -2007. That year, we spent a total of 32 weeks away in it. :hello