Today I handed over my home for the last three years, my motorhome Rayquaza, to the new buyers. Whilst I’m very happy she went to a young, enthusiatic and absolutely lovely couple who want to make her their new home, I’m quite sad now!

She looked after me well, and took me from Denmark to Turkey without moaning, ever.

Here’s to you Rayquaza, may you bring your owners the same joy you gave me.

Now for the next big step, getting my new motorhome! I’m expecting to go collect on 21 October in Germany and to be honest, till now I’ve not thought about that much but now I’m getting very excited!

My motorhome, named RayQuaza, will be 12 years old next year. For most motorhomes, that is not too old but for one in which you live full-time, it’s perhaps time to be replaced. It’s still a great motorhome for occasional use and I hope to find a good buyer for her! (and if you know of anyone, let me know…)

So the big question of course was, which motorhome to get? I have a specific list of “must-haves” and then some optional nice-to-haves, and then of course there was the budget. The latter quickly went out the window (!) but I’ll make it work, somehow. I have saved a tremendous amount of money the last 2-3 years living full-time in a motorhome and I have worked out I can part-finance a new one and have it all paid off relatively soon, whilst still saving plenty of money. Ideally my new one will last me at least 10 years, so as an “investment” it’s actually pretty good.

Initially I had my heart set on a Hymer – lovely German motorhomes, but terribly expensive. Then at the campsite I’m now I got some really good advice from a fellow (German) nomad, Ulli, who told me to approach German dealers wanting to get right of demo and rental stock in the September / October period. He was right – there were loads of stock that was relatively new with low mileage, discounted by about 25% off the retail price, and packaged with extras like awning, sattelite TV etc.

And so I saw and fell in love with a Bürstner model “Ixeo”, initially a smaller one (same size as current motorhome) but then I saw the (even more expensive….bye bye budget) longer version at 7.49m which gave me a type of “en-suite” bathroom at the back with a seperate shower. I really like this as it gives you more privacy, it’s safer if parked at night not in a campsite, as you have an extra door between you and the outside and so on.

I also really like the fact there is a seperate shower with air vent and hanging rail – perfect for wet clothes, towels etc and not in the way of the toilet.

Overall what attrached me most to this motorhome (Ixeo I 728 G) was the light colour scheme, and the fact the body has no wood in it (so a lower risk from damp) and the XPS frame which improves it’s resistance to hail damage. She also has a double floor (great for insulation) and the water tanks are in there as well, meaning they are well protected from the cold. The split beds at the back can be made into a huge queen bed, and there is a big drop-down bed in the front. So if you wanted to visit …. now there’s space!

Overall, she’s just super beautiful and quite perfect! I have a lot to do before I can get her (late October) from the dealer in Germany, including upgrading my driving license which I will do in the UK in September, as this motorhome has a max permissible weight of 3 850kg, whilst a “normal” license allows you to drive a vehicle to 3 500kg. But it does mean she can take about 650kg in extra weight, which could mean I don’t have to use a trailer.

I am also keeping a close eye on the outcome of Brexit, especially in a no-deal scenario, as if that happens I will consider registering this motorhome in an EU country in order to avoid disruption at borders or limitations on my allowable stay. Bulgaria is the likely option since I already have residency there.

So I’m very excited at the prospect of getting RayQuaza II – it’s more than a dream come true, and a long long way from my first fold-open small trailer tent I started with!

I’ve managed to get to Budapest where I have about ten days to sort out a few things including a series of follow up visits to a (brilliant) dentist I visited last year. Since her practise is on the Buda side, I decided to try a different than my usual campsite and stayed at “Niche Camping“, which was only about 5 km from the dentist, making for a much easier bike ride there. (Great little campsite btw, even throwing in a breakfast which was unexpected.)

How different the Buda side is from how I generally know Budapest is! Much greener, more spacious and in the area of the campsite, very big houses and lush properties!

Just next to the campsite is a chairlift that takes you up to a scenic lookout, but Ollli and I took to the steps below it for our daily walk. It was a great walk offering some super scenery.

We also made a few new friends on the walk!

Over the weekend I moved to my “usual” campsite in Budapest, Haller Camping since it’s fantastically located providing for easy access to the heart of the Pest side. But we’ve had 3 days of non-stop rain meaning quite a bit of Netflix, reading and the occasional walk, as Olli is a very fair weather dog.

The forecast is looking up though and we should get sunnier weather as of tomorrow. I certainly hope so as I’m quite sure I won’t be able to drive out of the mudpit we are currently in…

I’ve also been experimenting more with quite an alternative diet recently – more vegetarian / Indian / natural and I’ll write a post about this soon, it’s been quite an interesting experience for me to discover new tastes and learn how to cook without meat being the primary element of the dish!

By the end of the week we should be heading to the south of Lake Balaton where as usual I’ll spend the summer months.

It’s good to be back on the road again, though I’ll miss the UK friends and company. I had to be UK based for a bit whilst doing work trips abroad and attending conferences and client meetings.

As per usual I’ll be spending the summer in Hungary, at Lake Balaton. I was going to make it a slow drive with plenty of exploring to get there, but as I’m now quite late… Best just to get there. I’ll make a stop in Pieve di Soligo, near Treviso in Italy where I’ll see my friend Andrea, have the motorhome serviced and stock up on some prosecco, obviously.

It’s been a good day to travel albeit hot! Olli and I stopped in Gouda in the Netherlands to explore, and wow! Fantastic place. There is a superb motorhome parking dead centre of town with water and electricity, called Klein Amerika parking. Deffo worth a stop (can even overnight) and explore this super town.

Ciao!