Reflections and what I’ve learnt…

So, I am home and looking forwards to a night in my lovely bed. Not that I was uncomfortable in my wonderful caravan, in fact I am already missing her, but it will be nice to be in familiar surroundings and hearing familiar noises!

Absolutely no problem getting off my last site or getting home – thank goodness! I might of slept in my caravan in my parents driveway (where she is resting right now) if it hadn’t gone to plan, just to get one perfect set-up/pack up – in case I was too scared to try again! Luckily, everything went to plan.

It’s now time to reflect on the last few weeks and what an amazing time I have had. It feels like months ago that I set out (well, it was summer then, I’ve had autumn otherwise!) and it’s hard to believe how much distance I travelled and how much I have seen. I have loved every second and actually felt a little sad leaving my caravan on the driveway and driving away.

Here are some statistics….

• ONE woman and her caravan
• ONE car
• TEN campsites
• THIRTY-TWO nights
• ONE THOUSAND, FIVE HUNDRED AND SIXTY SIX miles driven (not including reroutes and days out)
• TWO guests joining me
• THREE castles visited
• THREE English Heritage sites seen
• SEVEN National Trust locations
• FOUR washing machines to figure out
• SEVEN pegs bent out of shape
• ONE lamppost broken
• FORTY-FOUR showers (SIX in my caravan)
• ONE coffee mug broken
• ELEVEN books read
• ONE jigsaw unfinished
• ONE boat trip
• A FEW mistakes…
• One HECK of an experience

And here are my reflections, in no particular order….

When chatting to a fellow camper one day, after they had heard what I was doing, they said ‘So considering most people use their caravans twice a year on average, you’ve experienced what takes most caravanners about 5 years to experience in 5 weeks’. So true! I have moved on and off of 10 sites (I just looked that up – 10 – go me!), towed over 1000 miles and done it all myself!

I am a kick-arse driver – With or without the caravan on the back, I have been in some pretty hairy situations and have dealt with it! The number of times I’ve had complete idiots trying to cause an accident, just to get past me (when I’m doing the legal speed of 50mph on a single carriage way) and I’ve had to take quick, evasive action is startling – I’m glad I have the reflexes and clear mind to be able to react so quickly.

I love my car – Its quick, it’s comfortable and it looks good J

I think I love my caravan…… Ok, I do love my caravan! It’s kept me warm and dry, taken me to some amazing places and given me some amazing experiences; I never would have had if I’d played it safe in hotels or B&Bs. I just wish it was less scary to tow and manoeuvre!

I think my biggest fear when I am away is that I haven’t set the van up properly and I will end up skidding down a hill, causing my van to topple over or the legs will give way. I’ve never been worried when staying in my family’s caravan, so I can only conclude I scare myself and don’t trust my own competence.

There have been times where I’ve just wanted to turn around and head for home (even once without my caravan!) as it would be easier and there would be people around to help me with stuff, but I know that my family and small group of close friends have my back and are always there being my cheerleaders and reminding me how brave and strong I am. No matter where I am in the world, they will always be there. Never has ‘Feel the Fear and do it anyway’ meant more to me than over the last 5 weeks.

Special shout out to my Mum, who was my most ardent blog reader and commenter (and sender of encouraging messages) and my Dad, who without his help, none of this would have been possible. Love you both x

Thank you for reading, your support and messages and for joining in with my first caravanning adventure. What next? I am already looking at campsite for next week!

You will see an update soon…. Here’s to my next adventure!