In our twenties, we dreamt of owning a camper van and exploring the world.

We even got as far as wandering along the South Bank in London one Sunday where, at the time, people would try to sell their ’vans.

We didn’t commit then and were soon overtaken by marriage, children, mortgages and work.

Over the years, we still liked to browse magazines and visit motorhome shows, never in a position to buy.

Dipping a toe in

By 2013 our children had left home, so we decided to hire a motorhome to see if we liked it.

We booked a panel van conversion and headed off for a week in France.

We weren’t interested in staying on campsites, so armed ourselves with All the Aires, intending to move every day to experience as many places as possible.

We spent a week in Normandy, with beautiful weather.

On our first night at Le Touquet we were identified as new motorcaravanners by some others, who helped us park up and invited us into their ’van for a drink.

We found camaraderie and lots of good advice from other motorhome owners.

We were seduced by the ability to stay or go, and the excitement of spending the evening planning the next day’s moves.

Left wanting more!

On our return home, we agreed this had been a life-changing tour.

We couldn’t imagine taking any other kind of holiday and had learnt a lot about the sort of ’van we wanted.

It needed to be bigger than our hired vehicle, with a large lounge, and we didn’t want a fixed bed.

We started our search, looking at several ’vans until we came across ‘Frank’, a 10-year-old Frankia A-class with a front lounge and a drop-down bed.

It was immaculate and we were smitten.

Thinking big

Frank has taken us on four big trips and many short stopovers.

We have travelled thousands of miles around Europe, becoming more adventurous with every trip.

Frank has also made it easier to visit family in the UK, and to participate in our new hobby (triathlons) – he even hosted our silver wedding anniversary trip to the Christmas market in Cologne.

We are now planning our next tours, when we hope to head further afield.

Our desire to travel and explore is nowhere near satisfied yet.