May 2017 Summary

So here we are, at the end of May, and although we haven’t quite done a whole calendar month’s living in the Motorhome I thought I would provide a summary of what’s gone so far. So here goes:

Nights Away

We have spent 24 nights in the motorhome, 16 have been in campsites, one in paid parking and 7 free wild camping spots.

This has made our average cost of camping £11.40 per night. Not too bad in the UK, especially considering the first couple of weeks were spent doing practical stuff and visiting family. Here’s a map of where we stayed.

How far have we travelled?

We have done 442 miles and spent £169 on fuel to do so (although we still have quite a full tank).

Other living costs

We have spent £283 on groceries, and an additional £172 on eating out (including drinks and ice-creams). Despite vowing that I would do all washing by hand, this only lasted one wash, and we have spent £14.50 on washing, finding that campsite washing machines are generally far better value than launderettes.

What else have we learned?

Well, for starters our toilet capacity is not the deciding factor when it comes to the number of nights we can spend wild camping; unless we’re willing to subject each other to rancid B.O our water capacity is going to be the thing that brings us into a campsite until we work out the best places to fill up with water.

Vitally, Lidl cider is beating Aldi cider as best budget cider brand (as judged by Paul), at 50p a can it’s not bad value and is keeping us (mostly) out of the pub – apart from those important sporting events of course.

And a free night’s sleep is not worth it if it’s not a quiet night’s sleep, choosing a parking spot wisely is important. Just as key is somewhere where we have access to either the internet or at least a radio. The campsite in Rhandimwryn, peaceful and tranquil as it was, left us with two nights spent with only the music on my phone to entertain us – and Paul is not appreciative of my music taste (a combination of David Bowie, Steeleye Span, Bjork and Laura Brannigan – don’t ask!). 

Now we’re venturing into flaming June, and we’ll have to see how we fare now that we’re getting into the swing of things.