Central Locking problem
From time to time we found that the habitation door won’t lock when you press the central locking key. We found out what the problem was and a quick and easy solution to fix it.
Dometic fridge latch repair
So, we went round this roundabout and the fridge door swung open and a load of salad bags fell out. Good job it wasn’t the greek yoghurt eh? Could have been right messy. We taped it up until we could find a quiet spot to investigate the problem
A letter to Travel
Dear Travel
When you were our holidays, we loved the precious time you gave us, where we had the space to retreat, rejuvenate and reconnect. Into the mix you would offer us a brief glimpse into the culture of our temporary home. Whether that was food from the local hostelry, a street market that would tempt our culinary delights, or perhaps even a regional celebration that honoured a local custom. You encouraged us to dip our toes into a way of life that seemed far removed from our own stressful existence. Returning home we would often recall our experiences and studiously review our photo album, sighing with a longing that accompanies that inevitable back to reality.
Sometimes because of the way our lifestyle panned out, you were simply days out or short breaks away; we loved the escape you opened up for us, which quite simply used to get us away from life’s grind. A day-trip in the car or a city break gave us a destination to blow away our corporate created cobwebs. A rare treat to remove ourselves from the daily routines of professional and domestic chores which, in that moment, made us feel alive. Whilst these may have been all too short, sometimes they were all we could squeeze in amongst the stress ball of life.
And then three years ago, you showed up in all your glory – Travel, the full frontal experience. You gave us a chance to fill our lives with adventure, freedom and choice – riches beyond our imagination. And whilst we look back at our vacations and short breaks with fondness, they neither fulfilled us nor changed our lives. Their healing necessary although their longevity impermanent.
Yet the opportunity to enjoy every inch of your personality has been profound. You are the greatest teacher, the most flamboyant of moments and you provide the most deep-rooted memories that exceed every expectation. We feel privileged to have connected with you at such a deep level. To have shaken hands with your hospitality and ridden the rollercoaster of adventures that have taken us to the peak of joy and the depths of stress. Each one proving that we are alive and free.
You are not, it must be said Travel, always joyful. You are at times like a teenager throwing tantrums that capture us in your trail of destruction like a shoal of fish. Testing, pushing, stretching – although it is in these tempestuous moments that our characters are defined, refined and honed. Our coping mechanisms are so much more resilient because of your challenges.
Travel, you have taken us on a journey that with each step makes our heart beat as fast as a pair of star-crossed lovers on their first date. Around every corner you gift us with fresh vistas that take our breath away. You present us with stunning sunrises that herald a new day and powerful sunsets that gather the joys of that day underneath their rose-coloured veil.
For the last three years you have invited us on your journey of discovery revealing far more than just the cultural uniqueness of the countries we have visited. You have subtly mentored us to look within and understand more about our nomadic selves, uncovering the simplicity of life that exists beneath the stars. With your help, each day we remove ourselves from the corporate and commercial hub that imprisoned us and start to relish the truth that is entwined around life. How little we need to thrive; how little our materialistic possessions define us and how much more freedom we have when we grab the reigns from life’s galloping horse.
With these gifts that sit underneath our eternal Christmas Tree, how enriched our life has become. Each morning we awake with gratitude as the sun dawns and with eager anticipation we await the day’s lesson. It’s not always an easy class, as sometimes you throw a curve ball or two to stretch us. Although thanks to your solid foundation we cope so much more easily with those tests. Our stress from the old days are a dim and distant memory as deep wounds heal themselves and a fresh perspective graces our minds.
Home for us now can be found wherever our tyres stop for the night. That temporary abode is as homely as any brick wall and front door. We have embraced the open road and the wide open spaces that span the globe. And so when our wheels stop from their incessant roll, we breathe in the peace from the sanctuary that you have carved for us; beside the beach, in the bosom of the mountains or nestled beside a babbling brook.
Is this why when we return to the source of our birth ‘home’ that we feel so unsettled?
The girl who was a home-bird, who found the security of her house comforting and stabilising – now craves the open road. The itchy feet syndrome never feels so real as when we are drawn back to UK. Sometimes for three weeks, sometimes for three months, we have pitstops that are always purposeful and necessary although feel so strange. What a dichotomy. Returning to the nest yet not feeling at home.
Travel, this is your greatest puzzle. You have captured our hearts so gently and gracefully that we feel almost lost in the familiarity of our home country. And this is nothing to do with those we hold dear. They remain the same gorgeous and kind-hearted souls that we love unconditionally. No this is more about us and how we have been affected by your infectious path. We have learnt to be mindful in every moment, although I must confess that our minds often wander to the day when we return to the road.
We never really appreciated what it meant to have itchy feet as we lunged from one stressful situation to another in the corporate web of yesteryear – driven only by the next pay check or weekend retreat. Now blessed by a self-generated freedom, the generosity you have shown us makes us crave more. An addiction that feeds the soul, nourishes the mind and nurtures our human instincts for discovery, adventure and evolution.
With every passing day we find ourselves longing to return to your route-map and are thankful for the love and support we have to follow our dreams. Travel, you have enriched our lives and we look forward to our homecoming as our tyres hit the tarmac for yet another new adventure.
Travel, we thank you for the lessons, the discoveries and the personal realisations that have made us grow as human beings and, and with hope as our companion, may it be for many years to come. Draw us further into your web of intrigue and massage our life with experiences that create a page-turning book of intrigue, passion and discovery.
With love and gratitude..
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Travel’s Clouds and Silver Linings
When you’re stuck in the system of life, the idea of travelling seems somehow quite Utopian. Escaping life’s rules and being free from all your worries and strife. Now there’s a dream we can all buy into.
Yet the reality of travelling is that there is no Utopia, no grass is greener on the other side. Don’t get me wrong, leaving the System and travelling full time in our camper has been the best decision we’ve ever made, (second to getting married, I hasten to add) and we’ve never been happier. It gives us an immense freedom, a joy that is indescribable and an inner peace that I’ve never had in my life. More importantly, I wouldn’t swap it for the world.
Although this is not a dream-like state where everything is rosy and where we all live happily ever after. Life still comes with strings attached, with unpredictable challenges and outright trauma sometimes. It is though all about how we handle those situations and which ultimately define us and our life experiences. Living on the road is no different.
As I reflect on our nomadic path, sat on the cusp of a change to our lifestyle, I feel like after 19 months travelling full time that I can, with a degree of credibility, assess life through more realistic glasses. And it is both beautiful and stretching all at the same time.
We have seen fellow nomads get caught up in hurricanes, we’ve seen couples not getting on and heading home, we’ve seen others being offered jobs that they couldn’t turn down or family having babies that draw them home. Sometimes illness throws you off course, the needs of a close relation calls for your support, or children need to return back to finish their schooling.
However we travel, for however long we travel, it is still life and the ups and downs still need navigating. That is something you can’t escape. And if travel feels like an escape, then don’t be fooled by this illusion as you will be disappointed. After all, our taxes still need paying and financial institutions still need interacting with.
A heap of questions danced in my mind about what would happen next
For us, we have recently had an opportunity to put our travel commitment to the test after a financial sideswipe threw us temporarily off course. Our journey so far has been blessed by only a few financial constraints. Whilst we are mindful of our expenses and we have a budget to honour, it hasn’t been, until now, hugely restrictive on a day to day basis. Yet a significant shift in our rental income hit us two weeks ago and sent us, well in truth me, spiralling into a vortex of uncertainty and panic.
A heap of questions danced in my mind about what would happen next as the reality of our situation expanded from just a short term issue to a medium term challenge. Now we’ve had some problems to deal with along our way, so I don’t think for one minute we have been complaisant on our nomadic journey although this change in finances, which came overnight, was a bit of a shock to the system.
I’m a great believer, when I’m not in a state of panic, that every situation offers learning and opportunity, even if it’s not clear at the time. So when the shock wore off, we were able to assess our new situation with fresh eyes. We looked at all avenues; the thought of returning back to UK was the one that filled me with most horror. Aside of that we had two basic considerations – how to generate more money and how to lower our expenditure.
…and from that moment on, drama turned into opportunity.
Given that returning to UK was not a desired route for either of us, we put our rational heads into gear and from that moment on, drama turned into opportunity. Within the space of a day we had come up with a strategy that was full of synergy and positivity where we could both reduce our spends and raise our income levels. It was a strategy we had already built into our vision before we left England and now it was time to initiate our house sitting plan.
What a perfect opportunity for us; a chance to stand still after 19 months of busy travels and working as travel bloggers. A great way to reign in our campsite fees, diesel, gas and general wear and tear on the vehicle. A way of meeting my ‘helping’ gene, allowing others to fulfill their travel needs and an lovely opportunity to experience a new part of Europe from the very heart of its community. Plus on top of all of this, we will have the time to push forward with our Motoroaming venture and expand our offerings, which is important to us both and hopefully generate some passive income.
And a year on we are still housesitting. We have two very special housesits in the South of France, who, when we’re in the area love to have us back. What a perfect symbiotic relationship it is.
We have turned what felt like a storm of travelling doom, into a silver-lined cloud
When we told a few friends about this, they have been gutted for us, as many of our plans for next year have had to be shelved. Morocco postponed, the Baltics rescheduled and generally our European travels restructured for 2018. And yet we are not only excited, we are so incredibly positive about this junction. With four house sits under our belt, secured in just one week, we know that this is what is destined for us – it is our vision coming to fruition and we couldn’t be happier.
We are still nomads, if that label is important, we are still travelling and we are still committed to full time adventures. There is no ending, no grieving, just travelling in a different way. We have turned what felt like a storm of travelling doom into a silver-lined cloud. As a result the Motoroamers will have some alternative travel perspectives and a new take on our destinations that we hope will inspire you and that we are excited to share very soon.
So what’s the moral of this story?
- Travel is just life lived differently to the norm, free from just some of life’s traditional rules.
- Travel comes with consequences and choices just like any other lifestyle.
- Challenges and dramas hit us when we least expect them, it’s how we choose to deal with them that defines us.
- Travel is multi faceted and three dimensional; it’s how we create meaning for our life and how we let labels of ‘nomad’ or ‘full time’ get in our way.
- There’s always a way through when we remove ourselves from fear and the vortex of panic.
So our final thoughts remain; travel when you can, however you can, for as long as you can, just travel.
How we set up our Housesitting
There a number of on line agencies that a show-case sits around the world. These were the three that we initially joined. Each one has an annual membership fee to join.
www.trustedhousesitters.com – become a member £89.00 per year and £30 for a one-off payment for an advanced level Police Check.* For us this is by far the most professional and prolific of the agencies. We get daily announcements of sits around the world enabling us to plan and look ahead. They also have a referral link that enables you to invite friends and acquaintances to join for a 20% discount and in return you get 2 months free membership.
www.mindmyhouse.com – become a member for $15 per year.* We have not continued our subscription with these guys this year despite having one successful housesit from them.
www.housecarers.com – register for free and become a member for £30 per year.* We have also decided not to renew as we have not had one interaction or communication from them in the last 12 months.
* These are the currencies that we paid to register as UK residents.
If you wish to join one of the largest global Housesitting Agencies, Trusted Housesitters, then we can offer you a referral link that will save you 20% on the fees listed above. In return we get two months free membership. Click this link here if you want to join either as a home owner or as a house sitter.
When we joined these three agencies initially, we set up our profiles, giving a strong account of our skills, our lifestyle and information about our characters. When you are presenting yourselves to the outside world where TRUST is the centrepiece, then these profits are really important. To that end, we also decided to submit a Profile Document that gives a lot more detail about us as individuals and a couple and included additional references to those that the agency collect from your testimonial list. On top of that we produced a video that offers a very visual perspective of us and helps prospective house sitters see and feel us, in the flesh so to speak. The video has been one of the most positive aspects of our profile and has secured us eight sits in the last year. So we highly recommend this. Check out our video HERE.
When you find a sit that suits your requirements, then you apply for it and if the homeowner is interested in your profile, then they get in touch and generally suggest a Skype interview and ‘Getting to know you’ Session. This is important for both parties as you need to feel comfortable with the sit requirements as much as the homeowners need to feel trusting of you.
After that we then stay in contact prior to the sit to ensure that they always know we are still committed to their dates and we generally suggest arriving the day before their departure so that we can do a handover and get to know the animals that will be under our care.
Remember that housesitting is a symbiotic relationship – it is not a paid contract.
We hope this information is useful. Very happy for you to get in touch if you have any more questions about our experiences.
Our Leap of Faith
“One day I’m gonna write,
the story of my life,
I tell of the night we met…”
My God, I had the Marty Robbins classic stuck in my head for the whole day after I met Myles and Karen, The Motoroamers, whilst sat on a cliff top overlooking the Black Sea. It one of those infectious songs you just have to hum along to and that can’t be done without a smile on your face.
A few months back I’m not really sure if I had a smile, it could well have been a grimace.
A bout of stress and depression left me jaded towards a job and a life I should have loved.
Michele and I had the classic aspirational lifestyle, if we wanted it, we bought it. We had to have the lot; the sports car, a German Chelsea tractor, a 55” plasma downstairs and a 40” in the bedroom and the Caribbean holiday at least once a year. Come to think of it, I didn’t own any clothes without a brand name on them ( I still don’t, but that is because it will be a long time before I need anything new.)
And to pay for this lifestyle, I worked a 60 hour week, getting into the office at 0630 and leaving 12 hours later, having not even stopped for lunch. Once I was home, I was then plagued by the phone ringing or that annoying ping of another e-mail arriving. The side-effect of being on the go, was that sleep felt like a waste of time. So I was existing on about 3 hours a night; it was normal to wake after an hour or so get up for a bit, potter about and then go back to bed.
Then one day…
Me, of course!
.. it was all too much. I cracked and toys came out of the pram. It was just all too much. Thankfully we had a friendly GP whose only real question was “how long do you need”. That’s not the question you ask a man whose only other time off sick was 6 weeks to recover from an operation, of which I took 2! Apparently I had to admit that I had a problem.
I opted for a week off, leaving that morning with my prescription for a course of sleeping pills. I felt like a failure. One week passed and with loads of sleep I started to feel normal. I went from eating one meal a day to two or three. After the second week, the fog had lifted and I was in need of something to fill my days. At the time we had an old campervan and I threw myself into updating her, on the dry days and, when it rained (you get a lot of these in March) I started to read a travel blog called “Europe by Camper” – a young couple Adam and Sophie had taken a year out and were driving around Europe.
A 5-year Plan was hatched
It was one of those ‘daydreaming – never really going to happen’ type of plans. After a couple of month’s rest I went back to work and I was determined, at the beginning, that I wasn’t going to slip back into the old habits. But as the months rolled on it was too easy to step backwards.
That moment you never forget, happened one Wednesday morning on a cold September day and I pulled into the car park, parked in my normal space and just sat there. I sat and sat. I couldn’t go in. Eventually I manned-up and went to work, but the whole day I was a mess…
Michele and I had discussed my hair-brain scheme, and we decided that we would need 5 years so we could be debt-free, buy a nearly-new motorhome and be able to afford to travel for a year.
Michele
That weekend, that plan changed. During a typical trip into town for some retail therapy, Michele pulled off the dual carriageway onto the roundabout and straight off the other side. Not once did she look; not once did she see the oncoming car. Thankfully after a lot of hooting and some angry looking drivers we got back on track. But what had happened? She had suffered a panic attack.
A trip to the GP for Michele left her with more fear, after rounds and rounds of blood tests and high plasma readings – it felt like it would never end.
After a long, late night heart to heart, we decided that we both needed to get out of the rat race – but how where we going to do it? We had originally said 5 years, but now it needed to happen yesterday. So our dear old campervan ‘Roxy’ was sold, the X5, that I had craved for years but only driven 2000 miles, was sold and we started looking for a larger motorhome. Night after night we scrolled through eBay and Autotrader and, eventually. we found the one.
Enter Paloma – it was time to travel
After a bit of haggling, ‘Paloma’ was ours; a 7m, 6 berth, left-hand drive van ready to travel Europe. Just the small question of sorting out all the loose ends.
Our Paloma
We knuckled down, choosing rather than to go shopping at the weekends, to work on the van, doing all the bits and bobs to make her ready to be our home for the next 12 months.
The next hurdle was Christmas. This year, like the last, we agreed to not buy presents and, for once I stood by it (last year the diamonds, this year not a bean) – but that meant a whole heap of money directed into our savings for the big trip. We also told all of our family on Christmas Day that we were travelling for a year; they were very supportive and didn’t let on how much they would miss us.
Fast forward to the middle of January 2017, where I’m sat at my computer typing that resignation letter and it was probably the one of the happiest days of my life. Although with only three months to go, we had a lot to do !
With pretty much all the unused stuff we had collected over years, (why had I got so many screwdrivers? Probably because I couldn’t find one, so just bought some more) we were ready. It felt like a long time, almost living a half-life, as the end approached we were trying to live off all the odds and ends in the kitchen cupboards, whilst sitting in deck chairs in our now empty front room, with no tv, no phone and no internet connection.
There’s no ‘going back’
Me and ‘er!
Although the day did come and we hit the ferry port on the 26th of April and we haven’t looked back once!
Someone once said to me that you measure success, by what you had to give up to achieve it, but I now know that I have only given up things that meant nothing to me. We are so rich in time, that we have reconnected with each other and have fresh faces to take on the world. And all because Michele was willing to take a jump out of her comfort zone, give up her cosy life and blindly follow me off into the sunset, with my ‘let’s see how it goes’ type of plan.
A few months in and we are not thinking “This will be over next year.” Instead our mindset is changing to “How do we make this real life last a lifetime?” I’m not sure either of us could ever, wholeheartedly get back onto the treadmill of work, sleep, work …..
Bentley, our travel companion
“So Michele it …..
Starts and ends,
Starts and ends,
Starts and ends with you.”
Paul and Michele Kingston-Ford
Read more about our travels over at; www.ourleapoffaith.co.uk
About Us
Hi, Karen & Myles, The Motoroamers here. We are a fun-loving couple travelling full-time around Europe in Scoobie our trusty camper. We're driven to deliver seriously entertaining travel through our blogs, photography and humorous videos. We hope to inspire you too to travel.
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