Chris, Melle, Homer and Roxy on Tour

Some of you might know that part of the way we are funding our trip is by Melle teaching English as a foreign language on an online platform (Preply).  Melle has about 10 students and teaches about 8 lessons on average a week - most of whom started with her over the last year i.e. before we came on the trip.  One of these students, Markus from Switzerland, is very enthusiastic and friendly and once he heard of our Alpine adventure he was keen for us to come to visit him.  Although we were originally skeptical (it's quite a long way as he lives in the north of Switzerland) after our positive experience in Geneva we thought it might be quite fun and arranged to visit for 4 days from Tues 21st to Fri 24th Feb.  And what a time we had. It's so great visiting a place with local guides and enthusiasts so here is what we learned. 1. There are three main regions of Switzerland, i.e. Italian, French and German, each related to and speak a Swiss version of the language of thos...

Out of the blue about 2 weeks ago I got a Whats App message ‘We’re going to be in La Clusaz on weekend of 18/19 Feb if you fancy a ski with us’ said Dave. Dave is a good guy I knew from work and his wife, Suzy, was also good fun when we played mixed doubles tennis for Woodfield so I had a quick look on the web and La Clusaz was a place we could ski for a day with our Grand Massif season pass. So let’s do it!! Melle, being Melle, was up for it too and so we started planning to go over on Saturday 18th Feb. This might sound easy, and maybe for French mountain people it is. But although we could see there was a place we could park Homer for the night we didn’t know if it would be free or how accessible it would be - i.e. how high or mountain roads or temperature etc. Also we would have to pack up Homer and refill the gas and diesel and do some shopping and laundry and never mind getting the ski passes sorted.  The website suggested, in French, that they could be either free or 50% o...

  I've been scared quite a few times on this trip.   😱 First, making the decision to leave our perfectly comfortable life behind , albeit only for a few months but still, as I think I've said before, it felt like a big decision to make. I'm very close to my children, my Mum and step-mum and of course my friends and I was scared about leaving them all behind, will they be ok?  Will we be ok without them?  Will their lives move on without us?   Second , living in a motorhome for three months in the wintertime with each other.  Could we do it without arguing, annoying each other?   Would we get cabin fever living in a confined space?  Would we be able to manage living in a foreign country for an extended time with very little French language? What about the cold climate?  Would we get bored - I do like to keep busy and at home have many hobbies and like to do something different most weeks with Chris, Zo, friends, Mum.  Thi...

So you've heard all about the adventures so far and the skiing videos but what about Homer, what's he been up to I hear you all say?  This post isn't perhaps the sexiest but hopefully it gives an idea about what it's like to live in a motorhome in the Alps and shares the day to day activities.  Maybe, as well as recording these activities for us it's of interest to some other readers too and possibly even inspire you into the wonderful life of motorhoming (or camping car as they say in France).  P.S. it's a bit easier when not in sub zero conditions!!!! Firstly I thought I'd tell you all a little about Homer.  He is a 2.8 litre diesel engine left hand drive Hymer with Fiat Ducato base.  He was first registered for use in England in 2002 so he's now 21 years old but still going strong.  We bought him from Colin and Shelna who kept him in great condition and are now our good friends and often help us with questions we have about him.  To help with tips w...