Vagueness and the Aftermath - A sporadic diary

[Karabiner]

Didn't you two do a French language course a couple of years ago?

I hope it's etched in the memory-bank and coming in handy when ordering from those Le Routier menus.

I'm definitely a little envious

[RED-DOG]

It was Spanish we did Ralph, during lockdown. I gave up as soon as Boris said I could go outside and play.

Language isn't a huge barrier though, I speak poor English into Google Translate on my phone, and it comes out again as understandable French. They speak French back and it comes out as English. Voila!

Mrs Red is much better than me, she has a decent smattering of French, Spanish and Italian. She's also fluent in total bollocks, but she practices that every day.

[typhoon13]

Mrs Red is much better than me, she has a decent smattering of French, Spanish and Italian. She's also fluent in total bollocks, but she practices that every day.


Says Mr Perfect

I am on Mrs Reds side all day long

[RED-DOG]

I am on Mrs Reds side all day long

Very sensible Trev.
So is everyone else who likes to be able to chew things and walk without a limp.

[MANTIS01]

My friend is teaching his 4yr-old to speak Spanish

But he can’t even say “please” yet

I think that’s poor for four

[RED-DOG]

Lol. I'm embarrassed to admit how long it took me to get that.

Nice of you to pop in Mr M.

[RED-DOG]

I'm definitely a little envious

This trip wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea Ralph. I think most would enjoy the traveling around part, but only a certain type would enjoy the other stuff.

We like to be as self-sufficient as we can, which means cooking, eating, relaxing and sleeping in a tiny space.
In our case, the space is especially tiny, no bigger really than a two man tent, but we have plenty of experience having spent a lifetime in caravans. I guess only the seasoned campers amongst you, (Geo the Sarge springs to mind) will understand the pleasure to be had from the forced discipline of, "A place for everything and everything in it's place".

On the flip side, our van is so small that it doesn't LOOK like a camper, which means we can park overnight virtually anywhere without attracting attention.

We like to be "Off grid" as much as possible so we try try to avoid campsites. We have an axillary battery, (a big one) that powers our fridge, light, phone chargers, laptop etc for a couple of days, if we don't move on by then, we have to run the engine for a while but it's rare for us to stay longer.

Things are much easier these days than they used to be. It's much easier to find toilets, showers and drinking water than it used to be. That said, we still occasionally have to resort ti a strip wash with a bowl of water, some soap and a flannel, or, the old, "Wire brush and Dettol treatment" as Mrs Red calls it.

[RED-DOG]

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[Geo the Sarge]

I'm definitely a little envious

This trip wouldn't be everyone's cup of tea Ralph. I think most would enjoy the traveling around part, but only a certain type would enjoy the other stuff.

We like to be as self-sufficient as we can, which means cooking, eating, relaxing and sleeping in a tiny space.
In our case, the space is especially tiny, no bigger really than a two man tent, but we have plenty of experience having spent a lifetime in caravans. I guess only the seasoned campers amongst you, (Geo the Sarge springs to mind) will understand the pleasure to be had from the forced discipline of, "A place for everything and everything in it's place".

On the flip side, our van is so small that it doesn't LOOK like a camper, which means we can park overnight virtually anywhere without attracting attention.

We like to be "Off grid" as much as possible so we try try to avoid campsites. We have an axillary battery, (a big one) that powers our fridge, light, phone chargers, laptop etc for a couple of days, if we don't move on by then, we have to run the engine for a while but it's rare for us to stay longer.

Things are much easier these days than they used to be. It's much easier to find toilets, showers and drinking water than it used to be. That said, we still occasionally have to resort ti a strip wash with a bowl of water, some soap and a flannel, or, the old, "Wire brush and Dettol treatment" as Mrs Red calls it.

Hi Tom,

Good to see all is good in your world, not posted for some time but remained a bit of a lurker. As you gave me a mention thought it only decent to reply with a wee update.

As mentioned a couple of years back, I left work, moved out to the sticks a bit and got myself a canine companion, I now spend a lot of time in our wee self built micro camper (Ford Transit Connect.) Bradley and I have covered most of the Highlands and a few of the Islands and had a fantastic trip in Ireland driving the Wild Atlantic Way. I need to find aan easy way to upload photos to the forum as I previously used photo bucket but they want paying now and it was quite a clumsy operation

Even in the few years I have been doing the van life, so much has changed. Would you mind If I used this thread to highlight my travels and thoughts on camper life and campers in general?

Geo

[RED-DOG]

Hi Geo, really great to hear from you.

Some camper stuff would be fantastic but please post anything you like. These days I'm thrilled if Booder posts "Meh".

[booder]

Meh.

Please post Geo.

[RED-DOG]

Meh.

 

[RED-DOG]

As we made our way South, more by accident than design we found ourselves passing through the Somme area.

I've read a lot about the battle of the Somme but I realise that it's impossible for me, or anyone else who wasn't there to grasp the true horror of it.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Somme

It is now as it must have been before the war, beautiful green rolling hills and meadows, trees, wild flowers and timeless little villages.

It's over 100 years since the war to end all wars, and it has now gone from living memory but it's definitely not forgotten.Throughout the Somme there are hundreds of beautifully kept graveyards where the fallen are buried. Some are big, with several hundred graves, but many are small, with just a couple of dozen men, more often than not buried where they died, on the hill or in the wood they were fighting for.

I couldn't drive by them without stopping to pay my respects to a few.

Lest we forget.

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[booder]

Forever grateful for their sacrifice.