Our First Motorhome Trip (by Luke, May 2025)

It’s crazy how quickly life happens. We completed our first motorhome trip back in October 2024 and had all the best intentions of getting it written up straight away. It’s taken 7 months but here goes. What follows is an account of our first trip in Miss Daisy! It’s probably important to mention that we always make pretty comprehensive notes either at the end of the day or first thing the following morning – a bit like writing a mini diary – just in case. These probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone else but are just what was needed to jog the memory!

The days preceding setting off were a flurry of activity (and Amazon spending) to make sure we had everything that we could possibly need. I’ll admit to being a little distracted from work! Because it was all new to us, I thought it was important to be prepared. I don’t think I’ve ever watched so many YouTube videos in a week! Gill focused on making sure we had all the home comforts and essentials for “living”. I made sure to know about all things technical, like how to stabilise the van and connect her up to services on site.

Friday

The summary of the Friday was ‘a really long day’! We left Nuneaton at 12:45 and finally arrived at the campsite at 00:45. There was a major incident on the M5 which caused everywhere around Bridgewater to be gridlocked. We had the journey from hell (although not as bad as the people who were actually involved).

Before leaving we had a final pack of the motorhome, including filling up the water. It turns out that the water wasn’t quite full, but we had plenty to get us through the first night. Some people suggest not travelling with a full tank of water in order to increase fuel efficiency. Others suggest that the additional weight helps the van handle slightly better. Either way, I am glad we had water in the tank for when we eventually arrived at the campsite.

We broke the journey up with a detour to Maidenhead for an important prearranged visit but other than that it was mainly uneventful. Back on the road we grabbed some supplies from M&S at one of the services on the M4 and ate a Burger King in the van. We were going to eat inside the service area away from Miss Daisy, we really didn’t like the idea of leaving the van unattended for any longer than we had to. A feeling that continues…

As we got closer to Bridgewater the M5 ground to a halt and then was stop/start for hours. While stuck in the traffic we found the most amazing radio station. 100.5 FM, a “temporary” local station for North Somerset and the music was incredible. It didn’t quite make up for the delay but we both added so many songs to our playlists because of it!

Once finally out of the traffic we stopped at the second services that we came across to stretch our legs, spotted a friendly fox and then carried on determined to the campsite.

We arrived at Sourton Down Caravan and Camping Park (just outside Oakhampton, Devon) well after they would have usually closed. Luckily they were well prepared for issues on the English motorway network! I had called them with our ETA (which then got revised backwards repeatedly) and they provided a proper out of hours check in over the phone so that we had all the details we needed when we finally arrived.

Helpful campsites have proved to be a theme across all the sites we have stayed at so far. The owners/staff here, in particular were absolutely brilliant. As first timers it would have been easy to have worried about what to do but they were great over the phone. This really put us at ease.

As it turned out the site was really simple to get onto, with big, wide, hardstanding pitches. We were hooked up to electricity and fast asleep soon after arriving. One thing that we didn’t do on arriving was to balance the van using the ramps, or extend the stabilisers. This did give us the feeling that we were on a slightly wonky boat the next day. However it did mean we reduced the chances of disturbing other guests with arriving so late.

We slept so well. It was a very chilly night and woke up to a crisp, beautiful frost in the morning as well as the sound of birds.

Saturday

The campsite in Devon was lovely – it was really nice to wake up surrounded by nature. After eating breakfast and washing up using the facilities at the site, we left relatively early to pick Amy up from Helston. From here we continued to the next campsite we had booked.

We arrived at Beachside, Hayle, Cornwall at lunchtime. The check in process was simple and we quickly found our pitch and got Miss Daisy hooked up to electricity. We ate lunch at the on site restaurant then went for a lovely long walk along the beach, taking in views of Godrevy Lighthouse.

After the obligatory end of walk ice cream we played uno for a while then dropped Amy back in Helston. The Cornish lanes are narrow at the best of times but feel even more so in the van. Gill navigated them brilliantly and we got back to the site in one piece.

Gill showered at the site facilities while I braved using the shower in the van. The facilities on site were well equipped and clean, whereas the van shower is relatively small with a limited supply of hot water. I’ve since found out that you get around 10 litres of hot water in the van’s tank. The secret is to use it sparingly and have what is known as a ‘military shower’. Unfortunately I found this out after running the hot water out. No harm done…cold showers are meant to be good for you anyway!

We ate, and had a couple of drinks at the bar onsite. The food was good, but it was pretty expensive (as were the drinks). We went back to the van and tried to watch the Grand Prix qualifying on my tablet but the signal wasn’t quite strong enough – even with 3 different networks to try between us.

We both slept well, but not as well as the night before. It wasn’t as chilly overnight – we both find we sleep better when it is!

Sunday

We woke up and had breakfast outside then did some maintenance /housekeeping tasks. We drove to the service area and emptied the grey water and toilet cassette as well as refilling the water tank. All of this was easy to do despite 2/3 of the tasks being new to us.

Once back at our pitch I spent a while sorting the garage of the van. Reorganising this seems to be a bit of a theme! We are blessed with garage space in Miss Daisy but no matter how well you organise things it always seems that what you need ends up at the bottom of a pile, or in the middle where it’s hard to reach. I will divide the garage to make it more manageable but wanted to get a feel of what we need and when before committing to any changes.

After our tasks were complete, we drove to pick Amy up and headed to Tintagel. Gill and I had visited here on a previous trip and really wanted to take Amy to explore the area. Some of the roads were relatively tight, but on the whole other drivers were really helpful with giving us space.

Tintagel (like much of Cornwall) is really well set up for motorhomes. The main carpark has dedicated moho parking and even allows overnight stays (this might be seasonal). The sun was shining, and we sat outside to eat at the Cornishman Inn. Sitting outside in the sun, in England, in October, seemed like a real treat.

We went for a walk along the coastal path after lunch and saw Tintagel Castle and the bridge from afar. We really enjoyed the gorgeous views, and that we saw more sheep than people. The colour of the sea was constantly changing, and the crashing of the waves provided a great soundtrack. We saw loads of seabirds and were amazed by the sheep balancing precariously on the edge of cliffs.

Miss Daisy is based on a 2020 Ford Transit chassis and Gill discovered that she has clever lights on the journey back to the campsite via dropping Amy off. Like a lot of modern cars one of the fog lights is activated when steering to the left or the right, to light up the direction that you are turning towards. This was really helpful for a journey in the dark on narrow roads.

We intentionally arrived back at the campsite a little earlier so we could go to the bar and watch the Grand Prix on their WIFI while eating dinner. After the race we both had showers in the van using the limited water expertly then played cards before bed.

Monday

We woke up at a decent time and had a much more leisurely start. It was nice to have a more relaxed start to the day having completed so many tasks the morning before. As always, we both found plenty of ‘pottering around’ to keep us busy. We also realised the potential of having a pair of crocs (or similar) – something handy to slip on and off when constantly in and out of the van. Oh how things have changed….

We left for Helston, picked up Amy and drove to a retail park. This was not made for motorhome parking despite being just off the main A30 dual carriageway that runs through Cornwall. After reversing into a hedge trying to squeeze into a space in an attempt to keep out of the way we decided to give up and found a wide enough street that we could park Miss Daisy on. This was just a short walk from the shops where Gill and Amy managed to find everything that they were looking for. Again, I wasn’t a fan of leaving the van for too long, so I did head back a little bit before the girls to make sure Miss Daisy was ok (will this feeling ever relax?)

Retail therapy complete we went to find afternoon tea to satisfy Amy’s craving. We drove to Carnewas at Bedruthan. The roads were single track in places. There was one turning we couldn’t/chose not to make, so we re-routed. While we demonstrated that there is always a way, we did arrive at the café 10 minutes after they stopped serving ‘proper food’ for the day.

I really like Bedruthan, it’s become a bit of a firm favourite which we have visited subsequently to try and spot humpback whales that live just off the coast. There was no spotting anything when we arrived due to the rain and fog. We did enjoy scones with jam and cream in the lovely warm café. While we were eating the weather had cleared a little, so we walked to see the view over the coast.

We dropped Amy off at a decent time so she could get ready for the rest of her week at work, fuelled up (noting the height restrictions of the forecourt) and drove back to Beachside.

We both used the facilities at the site to shower. I cooked myself some dinner (chilli con carne from a can with bread…dinner of champions!) and then we played cards before bed. And yet another “on trend” item is added to the shopping basket… the dry robe!

Tuesday

Our last morning was spent sorting bits out before setting off for home. We got the washing all split into colours and worked out what food we’d leave in the van. Nothing exciting but it’s always good to be organised. Once we had packed everything away we started the journey home in the sunshine, bright and early.

Our first trip in the motorhome was a great success. We did think of things every day that would be useful for the future. I think every trip will be a bit of a learning experience. I’m not sure we’ll ever go home and think that we’ve absolutely nailed it!

On the whole, we seemed to get lucky with our packing… or well prepared based on research! Both of us had everything that we needed without having unnecessary items. A dressier outfit for Gill may have been useful but in the end wasn’t an issue. We did bring (and buy en-route) way too much food. This was exaggerated by the need to eat at the site facilities in order to get signal/WiFi.

We had maybe underestimated how dirty things get. The hook up cable as it is laid over muddy ground for example and even shoes when in and out of the motorhome. We’ve worked on solutions for these for future trips.

Using the facilities onsite helped to reduce the time taken to get ready and the demand on limited hot water in the van. The facilities were surprisingly clean/well looked after too so this made things easier. It’s always difficult to know what to expect from onsite facilities. Maybe we just got lucky, maybe the standard is a lot higher than I’d expected.

We agreed that for a lot of trips it will be worth taking a car as well as the van. Cornwall is a prime example of where this has been useful. On subsequent trips we have been able to go shopping with Amy to furnish her house and know that the van is parked up safe on a campsite. It’s also easier leaving the van set up as a base rather than packing and securing everything away each morning. It might only take a few minutes but it seems so unnecessary to disconnect electrics and drainage hose, pack away the levelling ramps etc. all to know that we’ll have to set them all back up at the end of the day.

Gill is a much more defensive driver than I am and has been absolutely fine on tiny lanes, but I’d much rather scratch the car (which is less likely with being smaller anyway!) than damage Miss Daisy, especially as she is our bed for the night.

We loved our first trip in the motorhome and have really enjoyed subsequent trips. You’ll be able to read about these here in time.