What, exactly, is Home Exchange…?

We previously mentioned that we would be welcoming Home Exchange visitors to our French home this July and August.  But what exactly is Home Exchange?  There are several main sites that cater for those who wish to swap their home, but we will concentrate on the one we are signed up to – homeexchange.com.

For the uninitiated, here is a quick overview of how it works.

In the same vein as House-sitting or Workaway projects, Home Exchange is a centralised web-based hub bringing together like-minded travellers and holiday-makers who hope to, well, exchange their homes for short stays.  The concept began as a simple reciprocal swap, stating that you visit my house and I’ll visit yours.  This was a good start, allowing members to search, find and contact others who may be interested to swap their home for a fixed holiday period, allowing both families to experience a different place, an alternative culture.  Through its success, this then grew into non-reciprocal exchanges, sometimes between hemispheres, where each participant would take it in turn to visit the other in the optimum month for their visit.  The flexibility and ease of finding an exchange was growing.

But this still proved limiting; what if I, based in France, wanted to visit Norway, but the Norwegians wanted to visit Scotland?  And the people in the Scotland wanted to visit Japan.  And the Japanese family wanted to visit France?  This was where Home Exchange truly became a global enterprise, opening up a wealth of opportunities for members.  After experimenting with fixed price ‘balloons’, tokens from a received exchange that could later be ‘spent’ on a future exchange of your choice, the Exchange system became value-driven and fully flexible.  Each home, once described in detail by the owner, is given a value rating by the Home Exchange algorithm, listed in ‘Guest Points’.  This depends on location, facilities, square meterage, number of bedrooms, desirability of region etc.. This is tweakable by the owner, within defined parameters, but generally derives a fair figure for the home.  Then other members can search the worldwide database and find a property of their liking, then request an exchange.

In setting up your account and building your profile, you are gifted starting guest points to allow you to participate fully in the community.  From then on, guest points can predominantly be gained by hosting exchanges in your home, or from introducing new members.  Your accumulated points can be spent by finding exchanges that suit your travel plans, contacting the owners to see if they are amenable to the exchange, and finalising through the website.  For full members, the exchange offers advice, insurance and other services that can arbitrate any issues that arise, ensuring exchanges go smoothly once agreed. The value-rating has been a little controversial, but is helpful for us as we are offering a three-bed family home with a pool, but searching for one-bed apartments or small terrace houses that are perfectly sufficient for us, meaning we can often afford two nights away for every one night we host visitors.

All our exchanges to date have been families with children, either four or five visitors on each occasion.  We have enjoyed welcoming them to our home, briefly explaining where things are and how they work, then driving off in Benny hoping they enjoy their stay.  As everyone involved is making the same commitment and offering the same trust to those invited into their home, the community is quite tight-knit and made up of similar-minded folks.  It can be quite a leap of trust to allow strangers to live within your walls, to trust them with your personal items, your private spaces.  You must always remember that the same trust is being offered to you on your visit to another home, and mutual respect for person, property and privacy is paramount throughout.  It is a mindful leap of faith.

The advantages greatly outweigh the potential negatives, as we have already secured six house exchanges for the coming winter, using points gained from our July/August hostings, all in Australia.  We are taking an extended trip to avoid the cold winter months, a slow travel or perhaps more accurately described as an extended residence of a month in each of three cities; Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne.  We hope to secure a couple more house exchanges to complete our plans, ensuring all our accommodation needs are met during the entire period away.  Several of our future hosts have been friendly and open, in constant touch, and we feel already that we have made friends down under.  We are looking forward to getting under the glossy tourist veneer of each city in turn and, with more time than normal, gaining a deeper understanding of each.

Home exchange is the vehicle that has made such a trip possible for us.

A&N x

[PS – If anybody is considering joining homeexchange.com please let us know so that we can formally refer you, as both yourselves and us would receive extra guest points when joining. Many thanks…)

A Liebster Award nomination – Zen and the art of new blog appreciation

Out of the blue we were nominated for a Liebster Award by Jane at bonvanageblog.com

Many thanks to Jane for introducing us to the concept and handing us the opportunity to ramble on at length about things that interest us with no need to feel (too) self-conscious of our indulgence.  Jane & Tim write a travel blog with a similar theme to ours, all about their travels in Europe in a motorhome – please click through and give them a visit.

One set task of the process was to ‘spread the blog love’ and nominate other blogs for the Liebster Award. We are not prolific followers of other blogs, or at least not ones that are just starting out.  There is only one blog that we currently follow that qualifies for being nominated for this Liebster Award – Living this Life Out Loud so we will call out to Julie to see if she is interested in continuing the tradition and passing on the ‘blog love’.  If we come across any other blogs we will return and update this post to expand its reach.

UPDATE 2:  Julie posted her Liebster Award response post here – check it out. 

UPDATE 1:  We’ve spent a lazy morning with a cup of tea and, whilst being lovingly nuzzled by a well-fed cat, managed another look through blogs we follow and discovered a few more worthy candidates to celebrate:

Motorhome Moments  –  Meet Richard & Kate, currently chasing the winter sun

Followourmotorhome  –  Meet Andi & Paul as they motorhome around Europe in Boris

And to finish, here are two other blogs, that we find inspiring and hope you will too

Paddleagainstplastic – Cal, Jack and Zoe

In their own words, they are “Inspiring positive environmental change through adventure”.  We very much appreciate their passion, drive and commitment to their goals and the sentiments behind it as they help clean up the seas around one of our favourite parts of the UK – the Scottish Western Isles.  Please read their blog and support their efforts.

Groundwerk – Heath Johnson

Although this blog doesn’t quite comply due to already having a few too many followers, I’m bending the rules a little to add it in, as the motivation and effort inspires us.  Heath is walking thousands of kilometres across Europe, from Spain to Cyprus, to raise money for three very worthwhile charities.  Have a read, follow and donate if you can.

Thanks for reading.  Our questions and answers follow below:

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What country, city or continent would you most like to visit and why
Continent – Antarctica, as it’s the most inaccessible and the last on our wonderful pale blue dot we are yet to visit.  We love the history of all things related to polar exploration (especially loved a visit to the Polar museum in Tromso).  Seeing penguins in their natural habitat is a long-held dream, a visit to Scott’s hut near McMurdo would be spectacular, along with the opportunity to stand at the South Pole.

Country – Currently we would choose to visit Madagascar, for the varied wildlife, jungle and mountain terrains and the fusion of South-East Asian and African culture.  It has long been on our list, so we’ll hopefully make a visit soon.

What was the most inspirational time in your life so far
This is utterly impossible to answer, even with the benefit of hindsight and time.  Certain individuals from my school and university days taught me the potential for living a life beyond what I originally thought was possible for a poor boy from the backstreets of Northern Ireland.  Growing to understand the size, scale and breadth of available paths through life were the first steps in grasping what is potentially achievable.  Opening up the world, through snippets of conversation, books and old maps led to taking tentative exploratory steps and to daring to dream bigger dreams.  But meeting Nicky on those terrible, rainy roads of Russia, a like-minded partner-in-fun with a similarly deep passion for sporting activities and travel, was likely my most inspirational moment.  She opened up another huge aspect of the world to me, sharing adventures, and has been inspiring and pushing me on ever since.

What are you passionate about?
The values of Humanism; equality, honesty, inclusiveness, critical thinking and the reliance on evidence over wishing.  Being treated fairly and treating others with the same courtesy.  Understanding the obvious fact that we get only one ride, one shot at this glorious, incredible life or ours.  We have the precious gift of consciousness for such a short moment; to miss this single, fleeting opportunity to fully live would be asinine.  Making sure we don’t waste it drives us.  We’re passionate about facts, evidence, reason, logic, truth. We’re fervent about the intellectual simplicity and elegant beauty of science, a guiding light of rationality in the expansive dark sea of superstition and ignorance.

We are passionate about living life.  We love the natural world, its ecology and conservation, and searching for our place within it alongside all other creatures.  We love the open spaces, the wild countryside, and living the active outdoors life the Scandinavians like to call friluftsliv.  We are passionate about reading, learning, seeing and experiencing new things, having an active, inquisitive mind, exploring both the physical and the cultural aspects of any given place.  We love mountains, the buzz of a hard-earned peak or the after-glow from a long trail run.  We care deeply for our fitness and our health, ensuring the longevity of our adventures through sensible body management, exercise and diet.  We love cooking and eating, exercise and resting, reading and writing, playing and listening to music, chilling and dancing.

What is your favourite book and why?
We read so many, in such a range of topics and genres that it’s incredibly difficult to pick out true favourites.  I’ve picked out four that jumped to mind, though I’ll no doubt think of twenty books I prefer more than these just as soon as I post, but here goes:

Paul Auster – New York Trilogy, as a study in timing, threads of coincidence and meaning, of loss and grief, acceptance of fate or driving desires, a complicated, exceptionally written book for those willing to give it the time it needs to sink in.
JRR Tolkien – Lord of the Rings, as the definitive fantasy book, with the history and story and deep characterisation that defines the genre.  A far-reaching story of sacrifice, strength and defiance of evil, the only book I have re-read on more than one occasion.
Paul Theroux – The Happy Isles of Oceania, as both a travel book (kayaking around the south Pacific islands) but also as a study in dealing with grief and loss as he comes to terms with his marriage break-up.  Moving and inspiring on many levels.
Jostein Gaarder – Sophie’s World, as a beautiful, accessible story-telling way to tiptoe readers into the complicated history of developed thought and philosophical musings, assisting future understanding and the development of key thought-processes.

What is your favourite time of year?
Long days of dry, sweet warmth, the summer sun soaking into your skin on long mountain hikes and cooling river swims.  Crisp autumn days, bright with burnt yellows and deep red colours, on leafy paths under empty blue skies.  A hard day’s skiing, followed by a winter-time roaring fire and a glass of warm mulled wine as the snow falls gently, soft and white, outside your frost-marked windows. A budding spring as the weather finally turns, holding the vast potential for growth yet to come, us out cycling under pleasant, clear skies as the countryside awakens from the chilly frost and returns to green.  Each season holds its own wonder, each turn of the clock brings something new.  There are no favourite times, just favourite experiences.

What other interests do you have besides blogging
I’m not sure blogging is a real interest, but more a way to keep in touch with people at home and a vehicle to help us remember where we’ve been and what we’ve seen.  But it has been a good way to meet other like-minded people, and to feel in some small part a member of a large community, from a blogging, a travel-writing or a motorhoming perspective.  There is such diversity across each discipline, and this has opened up a new range of insights, ideas and opportunities to us.

Our main interests are plentiful; cycling, hiking, running, wild swimming, kayaking, sketching, music, movies, literature, cooking, beer, wine and whisky.  We lead a relatively simple life, unencumbered by unnecessary material things but rich with time and experiences.

Do you prefer the beach or the mountains
We definitely prefer the mountains, but sea coasts are a close second.  Mountains can be cycled down, skied across and hiked all over, offering such a variety of vista and experience.  Beaches are, to us, a means to access the sea for swimming and kayaking, rather than a place to linger lazily for a day. We have enjoyed the odd day lying on a towel, soaking up rays and reading our books to the low murmur of gently-lapping waves, but it’s such a rarity when we want to do so.

Wide, flat beaches can be more appealing under a huge, brewing storm, with wild waves crashing high on the sand and a wind that blows you sideways.  A bracing walk in those conditions can shift cobwebs and build appetites.

Where did you go for your most memorable holiday
Even ignoring the last 15 months of travels in Benny, see our page on previous travels to outline how difficult such a question is to answer.  We have had so many wonderful and incredible experiences all over the world that picking just one memory from them all is impossible and would do a huge disservice to other equally-deserving destinations.

If we need to pick just one, we’ll single out our Greenland camping / kayaking trip for its glorious icy setting.

Do you prefer a sunny or a rainy day
Sunny days can be filled with anything, on rainy days you have only a few good options.  Sunny days offer all manner of possibility so will always be our preference.  To temper that, too much sun is beyond my useless, pale celtic skin to deal with, so scorching days in foreign climes can be quite limiting and repressive in many ways.  If I have a long run planned, then a light rain would be preferable to a hot sun, but warm and dry will always win out over grey and dull.

If you had a day all to yourself how would you spend it?
This depends on where we are and what the weather is doing, and what we’ve been up to recently.  Ideally – A lazy breakfast then a long walk or cycle in the morning, followed by a cooling swim in a calm, fresh lake.  Content with the day’s exercise, the afternoon would be baking bread or cakes, and reading our latest books with cups of tea as we awaited our masterpieces from the oven.  A local post-cake walk for some sketching or photography practise and then, with the sun set and dinner eaten, we’d open a bottle in front of a roaring fire and snuggle up to watch a movie.

What books have you been inspired by and why?
Adventure travel books in any genre always leave me wondering about how much more we should be out doing, how much harder and further we should aim and struggle for, before the twin curses of age and infirmity overcome us and deny us the opportunity.  Climbing multiple mountains, skiing across ice sheets, cycling or running around the world, swimming or kayaking around islands; what to do?  Our current life is wonderful, but is lived at a level we could still achieve 20 years from now, so should we now be pushing harder, ensuring we have reached the full potential of what we are truly capable of?  This is the telling question that often surfaces with book-led inspiration.

A short selection of books ranging over different interests:

Fearless –  (biograpjy of Freda Hoffmeister) – Joe Glickman
Blazing Paddles: A Scottish Coastal Odyssey – Brian Wilson
The Worst Journey in the World – Apsley Cherry-Gerrard
Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know – Ranulph Fiennes
Touching the Void – Joe Simpson
White Spider – Heinrich Harrer
Moods of Future Joys – Alistair Humphreys
Arabian Sands – Wilfred Thesiger
Force of Nature – Robin Knox-Johnston
Born to Run – Christopher McDougall

On an entirely different tack, quirky travelogue books of simple adventures also appeal to a different aspect of us, like A year in Provence, or Driving over Lemons.  But there is time yet in our future for such classic, relaxed living.

What would you say has been the biggest challenge of your current lifestyle?
Being patient and accepting of the loss of privacy and the cramped living quarters of a life in a motor-home.  We have daily differences on how things should be, and the sooner I learn to accept Nicky’s way is the right one, the easier my life will be. 😉  We gave up a lot to follow this lifestyle; the comfortable ease of our busy, professional lives and seeing friends and family, possessions and the easy comforts of home.  A large part of the challenge has been in accepting the loss of those things and now learning to ensure we make the very most of every moment we now have.

 What has been the biggest benefit of your chosen lifestyle?
Time; an embarrassment of time, so much that we waste far more than we ever would have before, and often don’t even feel guilty about it.  We can go where we like, or stay still, on our own schedule and daily whims.  It’s so liberating not to be squashing our many interests into mini-chunks of time scheduled in accordance with society’s expectations of us.  We are learning and experiencing more, being healthier and more active with every day we spend away from ours desks.  A life fulfilled.   A&N x

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Liebster Award images appear courtesy of the Global Aussie – thanks.

Seven wild swims: musings on their meaning to us

1: Wild Atlantic Ocean swim, Loch Slapin inlet, Isle of Skye
One Christmas Day, after placing our turkey to roast in our rented cottage’s oven, we quickly drove the short distance to the raging Atlantic coast.  We were on the western edge of the rural coastline near Torrin, on the Isle of Skye, Scotland. We stripped and suited up, then braced ourselves for entering the foaming, coast-battering surf.  We swam short lengths parallel to the coast, through breaking waves and fine, salty spray, feeling the raw power of the sea hit us with every new fold of incoming waves.

Rain began to fall as we swam, adding a new, stinging dimension to our activity. We returned to shore to face a deluge and no possibility of drying off, so drove back still in wetsuits wrapped in sodden towels, dripping and slightly delirious with laughter. Nothing builds an appetite like a hard swim in a wild sea.  With the heat sucked from your very bones you crave the warming caress of excess calories, consumed by the comforting warmth of a log fire.  Our afternoon Christmas feast that day was a study in contrast to our bracing, exhilarating morning. 

2: Refreshing River Dart dip in Sharrah pool, Dartmoor, England.
After a forty minute forest hike loaded with anticipation, we finally arrived at the celebrated Sharrah Pool on the River Dart. We gladly found ourselves alone and changed into wetsuits quickly, with excitement growing for our cooling dip.  The deep pool is easily 80 metres long and crystal clear, surrounded by thin, bowing trees and dark granite rocks. The fast-flowing river makes a strong entrance at one end of the pool, creating an ‘endless pool’ treadmill useful for longer training sessions.

The water soon slows and the central, deepest area of the pool is calmest, allowing for mellow reflection or restful floating. The water enticed us, nymph-like, to remain in its grasp for at least an hour, swimming lengths and playing joyfully, like the free, unburdened children we once were. A few walkers passed us silently, but no other swimmers joined us in the inviting water, and we felt gladly selfish for having the intoxicating experience all to ourselves.

3: Small stream-fed moorland loch swim on the Isle of Arran, Scotland
We swam in a small lake hidden in the mountains, surrounded by tall dark cliffs of granite on three sides.  This was on the day before our wedding, on a chilly afternoon on the Isle of Arran.  Like a required ritual, a physical extension of our vows to-be, taking to the brooding water together became an integral part of the story; our story.

The bracing hike in, the changing into wetsuits, the first tentative dip to the deeply chilly plunge, the tingling relief from the gripping cold on exit; all these actions were complicit in the creation of a personal, meaningful and shared memory for us both.  The chilling water temperature precluded any lingering so our swim was bracingly brief, yet the remembrance of the fading sunlight on the dark water and the silent, personal solitude of the remote loch setting will long remain with us, alongside our committed vows. 

4: Small circular tarn near Wrynose Pass, Lake District, England
We walked one New Year’s Day to Blea Tarn, in the Lake District, where we changed by a stone wall away from the dog walkers.  We slowly, hesitantly, readied ourselves to slip into the reflective darkness. The wetsuits, hats and goggles, once on, transformed us into curiosities, persons of interest, and we were watched by many passing eyes as we made our way to the water.

A landscape photographer setting up his tripod nearby was disappointed by our first splashes as we rippled the silky mirror on the tarn and removed the sharp, mountainous reflections. The peaty water would take hours to reform to the same glassy stillness, and we felt a little guilty that our passion had trespassed into that of another.  But the view from the centre of the lake revived us and reconfirmed our reasons for being here; to be surrounded by wild beauty and enveloped in the masterful, soft embrace of the haunting black masseur. 

5:  Coastal rock pothole plunge pools, Risør, South Eastern Norway
We had three swims in Norway within our first 40 hours after arrival.  The first of these was very special and memorable, if only for the contrasting difference from our wet-suited norm. We parked a few miles away, hiked through sparse woodland and skipped over volcanic rocks to find the pothole-strewn coastline of south-eastern Norway, close to Risør. Skinny-dipping in chilly pools doesn’t lead to lengthy swim times, but it creates a sharp shock in memory of the shared, vital experience.

We felt freedom from convention as we shed clothes, stood naked on the edge of a deep, unknown pool and slowly progressed in, suppressing the instinct to scream aloud as the water slipped around our goose-bumped skin like a coat of ice.  We faced the gripping, tactile sensation of cold water on flesh head-on, exciting nerve endings and chilling blood flow and digits. We kept our heads free and above the surface to avoid deep brain chill as we breast-stroked lengths of the formed pool, breathlessly inhaling and exhaling to repel the deep cold.  We left the water and towelled off, shivering and smiling.  Walking back, we felt so awake, energised and alive; buzzing, readied for anything; a wonderful introduction to our explorations in Norway.

6: Sheltered Atlantic bay swim, Isle of Harris, Scotland
Another memorable New Year’s Day swim, another Scottish island set in bright, turquoise Atlantic waters. This time we hiked from our cottage to a nearby beach, armed with warming flasks of tea and cake to enjoy after.  First we changed out of our hats and winter coats on the empty, misty sand, feeling wary of the chill in the still January air.  But the water surprised us, and we surprised ourselves; the Gulf Stream had gifted us a warmed stretch of coast, relatively speaking.

We weathered the winter temperatures easily and swam long lengths along the shore, enjoying cutting through the low mist hovering just above the calm surface. The swim lifted us, prepared us mentally for the upcoming year, it acting as a symbol of barriers crossed and obstacles overcame. Afterwards we felt ready for anything, the warming tea back on shore creating a deep bubble of happiness and rising contentment inside; a moment of sublime connection to water, and to each other.

7: Fast flowing swim in the river Nene, Wadenhoe, England
We drove from home to the pretty village of Wadenhoe, one warm, quiet weekend morning. We parked at the King’s Head pub, our usual spot, and prepared to swim.  We entered the water and swam right, upstream, in chilly fast-flowing water from the recent rains. We worked hard, a proper training session more than a necessary hit for our swim addiction.  We passed curious cows and tickling trees reaching into the water.

An hour of graft up-stream later, we thought it best to turn and head home, not quite realising the strength of the rain-fuelled flow we had swam against.  We lay on our backs, legs entwined, and floated much quicker than we had swam, reliving the journey with no effort other than holding hugs and smiles of pure joy.  We arrived back, suitably rested from our earlier efforts, in less than twenty minutes, delivered like logs on a flume.  A workout with a built-in reward; the relaxing, current-assisted float an uplifting delight.

80 days around the W…est of Europe

So, we thought it might be interesting to post a quick synopsis of our first 80 days on the road, to capture how we’re getting on to date.  As I’m sure was the same for Mr Fogg, some days it feels like we’ve been on the move for a lot longer than we have, other days it’s like we’ve barely started and have only scratched the surface of our visiting potential.  Our days are still jam-packed with interests and activities, but time is still marching by much faster than we’d like.

Here’s a rough approximation of our route so far;  beginning in Lincolnshire, then heading first down the west coast of France, across northern Spain, into Portugal and zigzagging south until we reached the Algarve, then east back into southern Spain.  We’re currently in Granada as we post this update, on day 80 of our trip.

We’re tracking every penny spent whilst away on the road, because we want to see if it’s a fully sustainable way of life for us.  We can then compare what we spend our money on and track if our outgoings in specific areas need to be tweaked.  Also, because I’m a bit of a statistics geek and like to play with our growing spreadsheets to see what conclusions can be formed from the information gathered, all manner of comparisons of costs across months and countries can be made.

So far we have spent less than our initial projected budget; Portugal has been the cheapest country to date, with 31 days of travelling there with an average spend of just over €25 per day.  This was over 35% below our original budget projections, so we are proving to be more frugal on the road than our starting expectations.  This is definitely a good thing as it allows us a surplus for unseen surprises and unexpected costs if and when they occur.

Unsurprisingly, food and provisions brought from supermarkets is our highest cost item, run close with diesel for Benny.  The percentage spend on diesel will no doubt diminish over the coming months as we covered a lot of miles in France in a hurry, and our pace of moving on since then has dropped significantly.

So, in these first 80 days on the road, we will have:

– Driven in excess of 3700 miles, in three countries (not including England), for an average of 46 miles driven per day.  We’ve split the driving fairly equally ( A-1889, N-1831 to date)

– Had our fuel costs and driving efficiency (27.6 mpg) average out to around €0.17 per mile

– Parked Benny in 51 different overnight stops (39 nights in free aires, 28 nights in paid aires, 6 nights in campsites, 5 nights outside a friend’s apartment, 2 nights at friend’s houses) and many more for local day parking stops

– Cycled over 650 kilometres, mostly off-road, with 18 outings on our bikes (including 7 rides of at least 50km)

– Walked over 340 kilometres (GPS tracked) and probably a lot more kilometres that weren’t specifically recorded

– Swam a lot less than we wanted to / should have, but the Atlantic seas have been wild and pools mostly closed for winter

– Had our sketchbooks out on only four occasions (a figure that definitely needs to change going forward)

– Realised that Portuguese, whilst looking similar to Spanish, in no way sounds like it is written when spoken.  But also, we’ve found that a lot of Portuguese people speak decent French (but not Spanish), so that’s been helpful.

Budgeting

Shopping for food is much the same as at home, with the exception of cheeses, which are sometimes silly expensive and often awful.  We’ve recently found that Lidl stores are the more dependable in terms of cheese supply, and do often stock cheddar, salad cheeses and feta for sensible prices, so we stock up there where we can.

Some other items are much cheaper than at home; for example:

We recently bought a litre of red wine for €0.69, another litre for €0.89 and a third, this one a premium label, for €1.10.  We thought it best to try each of the available levels, to see which is better, or at least our favourite.  That’s three litres of red wine for €2.68, or as that volume equates to four standard 750ml bottles, a cost of €0.67 each.  That is, at the time of writing, a whopping average bottle cost of 57p.  This immediately makes us wonder at both the quality of this product, but also the level of mark-up included on a standard bottle of wine available at home.

The first litre was rather poor; it was 10%, but looked and tasted less, more like a red that had been cut with water to dilute it for volume, with no expectation of taste.  To be fair, we weren’t expecting much, and got exactly what we paid for.  The second was actually a lot better, a 12% deep, fruity red that was reasonably tasty and went down very nicely.  The third, the premium label, was quite different, sharp and bitter, and neither of us were left impressed.  So, we found our ‘everyday’ wine – a €0.89 per litre red from Don Simon (or occasionally Peñasol).  This certainly keeps our costs down, as now our favourite (cheap) biscuits cost more than a bottle of red.  It’s also become a joking marker for any other expenses we have; a €3.50 parking charge now gets equated to 4 litres of wine – is it worth it?  Doing €8 worth of laundry – are you mad, that’s 9 litres of wine, or 12 bottles!  We do occasionally treat ourselves to a posh bottle costing around €3, because, hey, life’s too short.

We separated our running expenses into various categories, described below in words that we shamelessly stole from other long timer motorhome bloggers we’ve previously followed on the Internet.  (Many thanks, Adam and Sophie.)

FOOD – Food bought from a supermarket / shop. This includes wine and beer, but not eating out
FUEL – Diesel for Benny
LPG – Propane gas for cooking, heating and running the fridge when not on sites
TRANSPORT – Tolls, vignettes, ferries, bridges, public transport & parking when not overnighting
EATING OUT – Eating and drinking out in restaurants and bars (also includes snacks & ice creams)
OVERNIGHT STAYS – Cost of sites, aires or parking overnight, where a cost applied
ENTERTAINMENT – Entry fees for museums, galleries, castles, cathedrals, attractions and other events etc..   Note: This also includes personal items such as clothes, laundry & other misc. items

The current ratio of our spending is as per the image below:

This changes a little on a daily basis, but the general theme that feeding ourselves is the biggest expense, followed by fuel for travel, with every other expense lagging behind, is reasonably constant.  As we’re spending a fairly low amount (around €250 / month) on food, this really puts the cost of this lifestyle into perspective.  Other than eating out more, and we love to cook so this is not too much of a hardship, we don’t deny ourselves much at all.

In short, all is going well and looking sustainable going forward.  We’re comfortable with our pace, our spending and our level of activity.  We really need to be running under budget for this portion of our trip, as we will be splashing out for a few weeks of skiing in the French Alps come February, and that doesn’t come cheap.

We do sometimes feel that, even though we have all this time to ourselves and few other external commitments, we don’t quite seem to be achieving all that we’d hoped for in the free time we have.  We’re visiting places and learning their history, reading books, enjoying beaches, cycling routes and trekking mountains, but these are all the expected activities of our trip.  The mundane, everyday things; shopping, cooking, laundry, servicing for Benny (e.g. Emptying waste tanks, filling up with drinking water etc..) all take up a greater portion of our time than we thought they would, and we don’t seem to be able to fit in enough of the luxury extras – playing guitar, writing for pleasure, sketching, learning languages.  Or, it could be that we are falling into the lazy ways of the recently unemployed and time-rich and making the typical excuse of “we’ll have time for all that tomorrow”.  We hope it’s not the latter and that we make the effort and recommit to achieving the goals we aimed for at the outset of our journey.  It’s only 105 days now until our first return to the UK, six months into our trip.

AMEO Powerbreather (Wave edition)

We first took the Powerbreather with us to a beach in Santander.  Our only other proper beach visits previously were in Dinard and on Île de Ré, but as we’d cycled on both occasions, the Powerbreather unfortunately hadn’t made the cut in our rucksacks.  Santander was the first time we’d parked Benny on the coast near the beach, so we carried the Powerbreather down the winding stone path to the inviting blue of the Cantabrian Sea, for its first outing.

After a quick review of the instructions we headed into the surf.  First impressions were mixed as the membranes in the blue horn attachments that protect the user from ever breathing water also provide some level of resistance to the passage of air, thus making the experience of breathing in an effort beyond the norm.  Similar to using a regulator when scuba diving, the discipline of breathing in and out only using the mouth also takes a little concentration and practice at first.  In choppy surf and strong pulling currents, this proved a little too difficult as there were too many variables to overcome to allow a smooth first testing of the device. Plus, there was a level of anxiety associated with breathing; a hesitant feeling that, although the previous breath had been just fine, this unnecessarily existent but constantly nagging doubt that the next breath wouldn’t be so easily available was always there.  Bizarre, but that was the psychological reality of the first outing.

After deciding a vibrant, Cantabrian Sea was probably not the ideal place for a first test for unfamiliar apparatus, we awaited a more suitable time to try again.  As it turned out, our next campsite, La Viorna in the Picos de Europa, had a very nice 25m (or maybe 25 yards – never thought to ask) swimming pool.  As only we and perhaps six other guests in the campsite used the pool during our entire three day visit, this proved a much more suitable location for our product test to proceed.

With the water surface much calmer and the swimming simpler, we were allowed a greater level of control in both stroke and breathing, and thus much more confidence in the use of the device, considering it was firmly strapped to our head.  A few easy lengths of the pool brought familiarity and understanding of how best to regulate breathing levels and how to integrate this into our front crawl stroke without the need to turn our head.  It’s slightly unnatural, swimming straight without deliberately turning to breathe, and the psychological aspect leads one to not breathe when required by the stroke.  There is still a strange and unnecessary fear that no air will be available, even though it is and it will be easily on each reoccurring breath.  It’s a simple trust issue, and took many lengths and many more breaths to finally overcome and accept that the Powerbreather works exactly as it should.  It was only then that we could both settle in and breathe naturally, in time with our strokes as normal.

Much more than a mere snorkel, being able to tumble-turn, breathe and exhale without concern of water ingress is a big advantage, as is the opportunity to concentrate solely on small tweaks to one’s stroke, removing one level of complication until the expected change becomes second nature.

Many, many thanks to MarkP (AKA MP and MtP on comments here) and his wife Sophie for a very thoughtful leaving gift; it may take a while for us to get fully to grips with the best way to utilise the Powerbreather and reap the rewards in our training swims, but we’re both very glad we have the opportunity to practice with it (even if we do look a tad silly with it on).  It certainly raised a few inquisitive eyebrows and queries from other pool users curious in what it was we had, sparking a few interesting conversations at poolside;  all good.

Midsummer Nights in London

One long June day, with plans afoot, we drove under clouded skies to the north of London.  The weather slowly improving with every mile south, and with a promise of better yet to come, we parked up near Golders Green, on the Northern Line, to begin what could prove to be our last visit to London for at least a few years.

With no real route in mind, we hopped off the tube at Goodge Street, near the BT tower, and walked through leafy parks and beautiful Georgian squares to the British Museum. Not wanting to be inside too long, we did a quick loop of the foyer under the spectacular roof and visited a part of the European history display on the third floor (Sutton Hoo) before heading on our way again.

Wandering south we next reached Covent Garden, loud and lively with bustling crowds, live music and street performers.  We paused briefly for a small injection of culture, to watch a lively string quintet play rousing pieces in the covered market.

Our next stop was Somerset House, home of the Courtauld Gallery, an important collection of impressionist paintings.  We sat in the neo-classical courtyard, watching kids (and adults) play boisterously in the vertical jets of the fountain display.

We walked slowly along the embankment to Blackfriar’s Bridge, before cutting left to visit St. Paul’s Cathedral.  A quick explore here then onward south, across the Millennium Bridge to the Tate Modern gallery on the south bank.  Unfortunately the main hall was between installations, so with nothing new to see we wandered on.

We passed by the Globe theatre (more of this later) before stopping in the Anchor pub for a relaxing shandy on the roof terrace.  Suitably refreshed, we passed the Clink Prison museum and Drake’s Golden Hinde (a ship I first boarded over 30 years ago now), before rounding Southwark cathedral and passing under London bridge.

Hay’s galleria was next where more live music greeted us, this time in the form of a duet playing Eastern European accordion music.  The tunes were pleasantly apt in the iron-framed ambiance of the large space housing Kemp’s impressive bronze sculpture ‘The Navigators’.  The views of London’s north bank skyline were nicely framed from here, showing off new targets to aim for in our rambling explore.

 HMS Belfast, a Royal Navy light cruiser permanently moored just beyond the galleria, is now a successful and popular museum.  With its dazzle camouflage patterns and impressive armoury it provides a stark contrast to the glitz of the southbank.  Next on our walk we reached the ‘Scoop’ adjacent to the City Hall, where some festivities were undeway, not least the attempt to bring a Jamaican vibe to the Thames.  Maybe with a few more cocktails and we could have embraced it.

A quick ice cream and we climbed to cross Tower Bridge, heading north side again in the direction of the Tower of London.  We walked along the Thames promenade, enjoying views of the southside again with the Shard behind, to Tower pier then north to Trinity Square gardens. Zigzagging north and a little west, we arrived at the Gherkin and the Leadenhall building, before crossing to Threadneedle street and the Bank of England.  Here I tried to explain the merits of no.1 Poultry (James Stirling’s last completed building) but I failed to convince my dubious audience (Nicky) of the values of Post Modernism.

With time now pressing, we found a pub for a quick bite to eat and wandered back across Southwark bridge to our main goal for this trip – a night at Shakesphere’s Globe theatre. We were here to see Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummers Nights Dream’, a fantastical tale of interwoven lives, lovers and fairies with hilarious confusion and mayhem.

“The course of true love never did run smooth…“

The Globe theatre was a visual treat, helped greatly by the muggy summer weather and a light cooling breeze. The building was rebuilt in 1997 to replicate the original 1599 design; three storey with a circular (actually a 20-sided polygon) plan.  The Globe has no roof over the performance stage and spectator standing area, with only a short thatch cover to the edge tiered seating; an arrangement similar to a football stadium. If it rains, the players get wet but the show goes on. We had seats on the uppermost level of the East Tower, on the front row of the balcony. This offered great views of the action and the crowd below, and a comfortable resting position throughout the performance. The warm night air also assisted our comfort as it afforded the use of coats as makeshift cushions on the hard wooden benches.

“Love looks not with the eyes but with the mind…”

The performance was terrific- a modern interpretation of the classic Shakespeare comedy; high energy with quick humour, contemporary musical interludes and naughty sexual overtones. It even concluded with a Bollywood dance number.

 

The players, especially Katy Owen as Robin Goodfellow, fully interacted with the standing audience, rubbing, squirting, holding, hugging and even kissing audience members during her energetic and mischievous portrayal of the naughty Puck.  The directorial change of Helena (female) to Helenus (male) added another layer of spicy complication to the lovers’ confused infatuations when enchanted by fairie magic. The physical humour and high-energy slapstick farce of it was most admirably played by all, although purists beware.

The play, the performances, the weather and the glorious setting in the historic Globe theatre all combined to provide a night’s entertainment of magical proportions and a very worthy finale to a great day spent in the capital; well met, all.

A&N.