We’re going whether you like it or not

I’m not feeling the love for our upcoming trip to the Shetlands. In fact everyone has sucked their teeth – friends, relatives, blog and SM mates. Apparently we should either be taking Doris or using Air B&Bs. 

I love this photo of Henry

It’s a long story. We have been extremely lucky with our travels since I semi-retired. Since 2014 we have been to a lot of places. We lived in Doris 1&2 for four and half years, so were pretty ‘on holiday visiting’ the whole of that time. But looking back over the last 7 years … we did the 8-month long trip to Europe, including Sicily and Greece. We’ve been to Bavaria, to the south of France four separate times, Croatia, we took the kids on their honeymoon to Berlin and, before that, a three week trip to the Loire with them. We’ve done Skye and that part of Scotland 4 times, we’ve skied every year apart from last winter (due to covid), and we’ve done Brittany and much of the UK (I’m confident I’ve missed some Doris travels). We’ve flown to New York, Bahamas, Virginia, Tunisia and to a wedding in Italy. Oh, and we’ve spent 6 weeks backpacking around SE Asia with Bex and Steven.

Many of the Doris trips lasted 6 weeks … one of the ski trips was for a month. Even during covid we managed 6 weeks in Yorkshire last summer, a couple of trips to the Midlands and then, for Henry’s birth, we travelled to Korea for 5 weeks (two of which were in a ‘government facility’). And, just recently as you remember, we’ve had 5 weeks in the Lancashire Pennines and onto Ayrshire. 

I don’t list this by way of boasting, although it really does me good to write it down. I say it more matter of factly. And to lay some thoughts for our upcoming trip to the Northern Isles.

Doris is free, apart from fuel and campsites – noting that free camping in Scotland is acceptable. But she’s big and, and I don’t know why, sticking her on a ferry to the Orkneys and then onto Shetlands where a big white bus would be a blot on the landscape, doesn’t do it for us. Doubtless when we get there the place will be covered with them. We’ll see. So a car it is. If we B&B it we can expect to pay about £70 a day for accommodation … more, when you consider that we might have to eat out every night. Let’s assume we’re away for 30 days … that’s a £3k holiday, way beyond our normal operating budget.

In September last year we were going to drive the old Focus to Baku on the Caspian Sea. The plan was to tent camp in Western Europe where hotel prices were high, and then ‘boutique hotel’ it in Turkey and beyond where, like SE Asia, you can get good quality hotels for £30 a night. I know this because the year before a friend of mine did the trip on a motorbike. That, obviously, fell through. But the idea remained. Interestingly, and with no connection at all, my pal has just finished Orkney and Shetland, and including the North Coast 500 on his bike. So that’s the plan. He took 11 days – I think we’ll take three times as long.

Heath Robinson does camping …

Will we survive in a tent? Who knows? From my perspective we couldn’t be closer to nature … and we both love that. The issue is whether or not we cope with being cold, wet and eaten by midges. All of those three things are possible. And any one of them might break the camel’s back. We’ll see. And all you scoffers could well be right. We might last no more than a day. I suppose the beauty of our approach is that we can always revert to Plan B – B&Bs, etc.

Henry and nursery with his Korean mate

Anyhow. We have a wedding to go to on Friday and I don’t think we can see ourselves leaving before the schools go back on Tuesday. We have test-packed the car and spent about £200 on equipment … I know, that’s three nights B&B – (BTW, the BBC report that the cost of self catering has almost doubled in a year. Another reason to camp.)

So we’re going, whether you like it or not.

Stay safe. We know of two friends of friends who have the disease and the numbers are getting poorer. Wear a mask and keep your distance. Please.