This weeks inspiration comes from Kat, who in 2018 quit her job to travel the world with her husband. Three months in to the trip and haven’t killed each other, so I guess things are going well. When they’re not touring in the motorhome, they can be found riding motorbikes, eating cheese or kicking the fridge (which is lazy & keeps switching itself off).

1. Tell us a little about yourself, like what is your name and where do you come from.

Hi, I’m Kat and I’m from Portsmouth, England (….annnnnnd now I feel like I’m on a game show! 😊) At the beginning of 2018 I quit my secure and well-paying job to travel the world with my husband what could possibly go wrong?!? *Gulp*

2. What sort of motorhome traveller are you? Full time / part time / short breaks / long stay

We’re ‘as-often-as-we-can’ travellers. Our daughter is just finishing college and hoping to start University, so that will leave us plenty of time to travel more extensively. At the moment we’re experts at cramming an entire country into two weeks!! We also love exploring the UK over long weekend breaks. This summer we’re heading up to Denmark, Sweden and Norway for 6 weeks, which I’m very excited about!

3. When did you first start motorhoming and what inspired you to start?

We’ve lived on boats for 14 years, but weirdly never made the connection to motorhomes. In 2017 we bought two motorbikes and wanted to start exploring Europe with them, but we struggled to find Motorbike friendly accommodation, so we decided to buy a motorhome!

Now we get the best of both worlds- we can bring a lot of kit with us and have a comfy bed, yet still tow the bikes to incredible places where we can explore.

4. Tell us about your current motorhome like make, model, name, age and why you chose it?

Our first Motorhome in 2017 was an older McLouis Tandy, we bought something cheapish (without any research!) to test the theory of Motorhoming. We loved it, despite the fact that the only seating for three of us for two weeks was a tiny dinette! We upgraded a few months ago to a Swift 496, with a rear lounge and a drop-down bed which is magical!! There’s so much space- we love it. Here’s a video tour if you’d like to see it: https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=McJtlKa6qf8

5. Where is the best place you have ever been and why?

Tough one! In 12 months we’ve travelled to England, Wales, Scotland (and Orkney), France, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Leichtenstein, Belgium and Luxembourg!!! (Over 17,000 miles- we really need to figure out ‘slow’ travel!!)

I think my favourite was wild camping in the Swiss Alps and seeing the Milky Way for the first time ever!! It was a dream come true and it was just incredible to stand underneath it.

6. Where is the worst place you have ever been and why?

I hate to say it, but Isle of Skye didn’t match our expectations. It rained solidly for four days and there were STILL midges.  I didn’t even think that was possible!! We ran away to the North Coast of Scotland instead, which was amazing.

7. What 3 places are on your bucket / wish list?

Norway (summer 2018)

New Zealand (early 2020!)

Canada and America (that’s a big one… hopefully we’re going to ship our van over in a few years time.)

8. What things (apart from the obvious) do you always travel with?

Wifi! I have a husband who works from the van and a teenager. Forgetting the wifi dongle is NOT an option!!!!!

We also LOVE our collapsible sofa, so much more comfortable than a chair and perfect for curling up in to read a book.

Lastly, we highly recommend our BBQ/ campfire. Many places don’t allow a campfire, but do allow an ‘off the floor’ BBQ. This is both and we use it constantly.

9. If you could share one handy motorhome hint or tip, what would it be?

Be kind to yourself. Don’t plan to cook a gourmet meal on the first night after you’ve been driving a long way. Setting high expectations will only make you feel miserable when you can’t meet them. Plan and pack something easy and quick which everyone likes. And be kind to each other. Living in a small space is not always easy, so try and be patient…. (I am NOT always good at this!! )

10. And finally, whats your funniest motorhome moment?

I’m not sure about funniest, but our stupidest was arriving in Europe… and realising we’d forgotten to install our refillable gas tanks (Don’t ask- it was a really busy month!!)

Not only had we not installed them, we didn’t have any gas in our normal tanks…. And it was Easter Bank Holiday weekend in France so everything was shut!! To make matters worse, you can’t just exchange a UK gas bottle for one in France or Germany- the connectors don’t fit! So things were a bit worrying for a couple of days until the local caravan shop opened and sold us the correct connectors! Doh. Even after all the miles we’ve already travelled, there’s still so much to learn!!