It’s all a big faff a friend told me when we were speaking about motorhomes, and it’s true. It is almost too boring to talk about but this will be kept short and sweet – just so you know. I now compare having a motorhome to having a baby, there is always something to do, and she definitely keeps you up at night. Will the wind tear solar panels off, will the trickle charge catch on fire if the battery over heats, will it get mould over the winter.
Our first real trip in September 2026 will make these smaller trips look like a gentle stroll around the m25. We have planned 10 weeks travel through France, Belgium, Germany and Spain. Although I am a confidant driver, driving this 7.5m long motorhome will be a “fun” challenge. The motorhome is fairly new and is very easy to drive, however, I am having some mild anxiety about changing a spare tyre on it in a remote location, plus getting stuck. I jumped at the chance to change a friends spare tyre only 3 weeks ago – always good to get another tyre-change in the back pocket. The travel part is the fun part of owning a motorhome – this is not to be confused with other 75% of owning a motorhome, storage.
We have planned to have about 3 months of each year in the motorhome over the next 5 years. This allows us to travels fairly cheaply during peak holidays seasons. For example a month around France / Spain during summer in Sassy can cost as little as £200-£400 accommodation a month. In the UK or abroad in an Air BnB this can be £1500 a week. Whereas we have already booked out of season to stay for a month in the Alps in Austria for £2000 and Florence £2000 for a month (air BNB’s). Also to note we have booked Wales for a month for £1000 and Croatia for a month for £800 on Air BNB. The difference between out of season long stay and peak season is crazy.
A lot of the issues with owning a motorhome are only found out when you own one. We are planning on spending a couple of months a year in it – so, the more you know the better. The more mistakes, the better – perfect learning. As Mark Twain said its not the things you don’t know that cause problems “its the things you know for sure, that just ain’t so” that do. Like a diesel engine can be left for a couple of months and it will be fine – not true. Storing on a bit of land is a cheap way to store your motorhome – not when a garden bonfire nearly burns the cover and the motorhome with it (motorhome covers are not fire retardant). I was certain our battery would last for 6- 8 weeks, sadly it didn’t. Batteries go down quick, especially when it is cold, and once ruined, they are difficult to get back.
The motorhome purchase was to enable us to travel cheaply for a couple of months a year, while still visiting some fun destinations. Plus we love it, and the kids do too. For example, travelling through France will enable us to spend next to nothing on accommodation. The Aire-System in France is a state sponsored motorhome stop-over network where motorhomes can park and stay the night. Many are free, they are well maintained and in some great locations. Germany has Stad-Platz which is very similar. Many European countries have these systems. Our rough plan is to have 2-4 days using these stop-overs, then check into a more conventional site. These quick stop-overs offer a zero-fuss option for quick travel.
As a father of two children (H-9/B-11), I only feel like I can relax when we are at the destination, the electric on, the heater working and the hot water and shower functioning. So, strangely once fully packed up, I get a little nervous and really I just want to get there. The motorhome with the bikes on the back is 8 metres long and quite wide. It is quite loud when travelling at low speeds, so we bought the kids some noise cancelling headphones to help with the travel. They like audible, podcasts and duolingo. We do not let our children play games or watch youtube unsupervised, but for some of the longer road trips we are quite relaxed about them listening to music and other multi-media.
Arriving at a destination is normally the best bit about the travel, and in a motorhome it is no different. However, pitch location and sub base can offer some different opinions, the water needs filled, the direction of door-opening decided, the under-tyre mesh plates and chocks (levelling wedges) inserted. Again, I go back to the word faff.
This is all in jest, but once all is set up and everything working correctly, the motorhome is great. The layout in the Roller-team 707 is great. We wanted the more casual dining/ lounge set-up, as the satellite is super enjoyable with the kids in the evening. Letting the kids play outside, waking up in different locations and being around nature was well worth the financial and time investment.
