My Solo ‘Challenges’

After the first 3 months of travel, I’ve been on my own for up to 6.5 weeks at one time – the first 3 weeks I was with my sister, and for one of those weeks with other extended family also, followed by the week visiting Lisbon and Porto, when my sister again joined.

The following are my reflections (not complaints) on how I’ve experienced this time and its content – for other travellers some or all of this may not of course be applicable:

Mentally and physically tiring – having observed the arrival/set up/take down/days out/departure activities of fellow motorhomers in couples, it occurs to me that doing the whole thing on my own has an impact for example on whether I want to make the effort to use the van as a vehicle for days out from a site rather than as a caravan, or even simply set up the outside table and awning, if I’m only going to be in a place for one or two nights;

to get to every new place, I’ve been the solo navigator, the solo driver of a heavy, 7m long vehicle, the solo motorway toll payer

to set up in a location, I make the arrival contact, select the pitch, determine the positioning of the van, negotiate getting it into/onto a pitch, and the use of ramps to level it, sussing out the services on the site etc

to visit/explore, I am mostly the sole ‘resource investigator’, the bus/train coordinator, and very importantly the KEY HOLDER.

Doesn’t sound like I’m selling this, but becoming mindful of it has enabled me to pace it, and hence enjoy it all better.

Neighbours – these are certainly more impactful I feel than if I were travelling as part of a couple; there have been two specific occasions where I’ve felt distinctly uncomfortable for completely different reasons, and which would not have arisen in my opinion had I been with others; the discomfort may not even have been justifiable – but given my subjective perception, was ‘real’ enough; the beauty of travelling like this is of course that one can move the vehicle even within a location, or simply drive onto the next one, which I duly did.

Both of the above two themes will result in my ‘hiding’ in my wheeled apartment, where I would therefore confirm a perceived british motorhoming stereotype – see post ‘Cock of the Aire’ 🙂

Particularly stressful events – these have been few – from the mountain drives, to equipment repair, but the one that tops it all sits in a continuing context of lack of practice and hence confidence in filling the LPG tank – see separate post. This is necessary to run the fridge when not on hook-up, and cooker, particularly in the latter case given that I damaged my portable induction ring.