Dougie Brown
Well-known member
After eight glorious, exciting and definitely unforgettable years, we have finally hung up our Passport America discount cards, handed over our lovely Winnie to Bill & Jolene (pancakebill) and arrived back home in the UK.
We started off in 2011 after buying the RV, believing we'd be able to zoom round most of America and half of Canada to see it all in two 6-month trips. Well, it didn't seem so big on the map!! :
After quickly realizing how dumb that idea had been, we settled down to reality and came back for eight 6-month trips, exploring both the US and Canada, seeing some amazing things and of course meeting some amazing people. (We met a few crazies too but they're also part of the memories... )
We travelled 40,000 miles in the coach and another 38,000 in our trusty '99 Ford Escort toad. We had no major disasters, only a couple of near-disasters, and the rest consisted of some challenges, disappointments, frustrations and incredible joys. So really, just life but on wheels! We've made several friends for life - real ones, not the virtual sort - and have been privileged to spend time in their homes and meet several of their families. I know without doubt that the friendships are real and therefore will be facilitated and continued by email/Facebook/forum/chat rather than based virtually on them. For that, Mags and I are grateful.
Technically, I have a whole lot more knowledge now than when we set out, consequently being much more confident in tackling vehicle and domestic stuff. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!! Also spending 6 months at a time in a confined space thousands of miles across a big ocean from home was a risk, but it was the making of us. Who would've thunk after 43 years that we could still have a good laugh at ourselves and get on with the business of living our lives to the full? That's the way it went though, and I'm more than grateful for that too.
ANYHOO - I wanted to say a huge thank-you to everyone here on the forum for being accepting, warm and always willing to help. That in turn makes one want to pay it forward and that's good for the soul as well as helping those around us when they need it. The bad news though is that I'm not going away. :-* Not gonna haunt you, just will pop in for a chat or throw in two cents' worth now & again.
We plan to travel very little in 2019 and enjoy the four seasons here at home, but I am also planning a project on a large dually trailer (wot we like to poshly call a twin-axle caravan...), rebulding it inside to make it our own AND fitting decent water & waste tanks. Most Euro caravans don't have on-board waste tanks (just a small cassette thing for black and a plastic drum outside for grey) and we're spoiled for life now! So I'm looking forward to finding a caravan & getting all that done and travelling again in Europe, mainly France and Spain where we'll probably spend a couple of months over-wintering on the Mediterranean each year. Oh, and there's our beloved Scotland to rediscover too.
So safe travels and thank you again for letting us visit your two beautiful and diverse countries.
Dougie and Mags
We started off in 2011 after buying the RV, believing we'd be able to zoom round most of America and half of Canada to see it all in two 6-month trips. Well, it didn't seem so big on the map!! :
After quickly realizing how dumb that idea had been, we settled down to reality and came back for eight 6-month trips, exploring both the US and Canada, seeing some amazing things and of course meeting some amazing people. (We met a few crazies too but they're also part of the memories... )We travelled 40,000 miles in the coach and another 38,000 in our trusty '99 Ford Escort toad. We had no major disasters, only a couple of near-disasters, and the rest consisted of some challenges, disappointments, frustrations and incredible joys. So really, just life but on wheels! We've made several friends for life - real ones, not the virtual sort - and have been privileged to spend time in their homes and meet several of their families. I know without doubt that the friendships are real and therefore will be facilitated and continued by email/Facebook/forum/chat rather than based virtually on them. For that, Mags and I are grateful.
Technically, I have a whole lot more knowledge now than when we set out, consequently being much more confident in tackling vehicle and domestic stuff. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!! Also spending 6 months at a time in a confined space thousands of miles across a big ocean from home was a risk, but it was the making of us. Who would've thunk after 43 years that we could still have a good laugh at ourselves and get on with the business of living our lives to the full? That's the way it went though, and I'm more than grateful for that too.
ANYHOO - I wanted to say a huge thank-you to everyone here on the forum for being accepting, warm and always willing to help. That in turn makes one want to pay it forward and that's good for the soul as well as helping those around us when they need it. The bad news though is that I'm not going away. :-* Not gonna haunt you, just will pop in for a chat or throw in two cents' worth now & again.
We plan to travel very little in 2019 and enjoy the four seasons here at home, but I am also planning a project on a large dually trailer (wot we like to poshly call a twin-axle caravan...), rebulding it inside to make it our own AND fitting decent water & waste tanks. Most Euro caravans don't have on-board waste tanks (just a small cassette thing for black and a plastic drum outside for grey) and we're spoiled for life now! So I'm looking forward to finding a caravan & getting all that done and travelling again in Europe, mainly France and Spain where we'll probably spend a couple of months over-wintering on the Mediterranean each year. Oh, and there's our beloved Scotland to rediscover too.
So safe travels and thank you again for letting us visit your two beautiful and diverse countries.
Dougie and Mags
