So, following all our research – reading some magazines, visiting a small show in Exeter and sharing wine and stories with our friends, we bit the bullet and bought the second most expensive item in our lives after the house.
April 2011
Named Horatio to follow on from my first car Henry the Triumph Spitfire (as declared on the number plate by a previous owner) and my work car Humphrey the Saab estate (should have been Edna for its spectacles but my cars are boys and Barry just didn’t suit).
Horatio. A good, large sounding, pioneering, English name. For a German vehicle with an Italian engine, destined to go to France, Spain and Portugal – well the last bit fits!
My Dad calls him Hymer Big Boy. Joke! Although that did trigger using the name Lil Kim for the scooter – more about that later.
Horatio is a Hymer B644G purpose built motorhome, 22 ½ feet long, 9 feet high, 7 feet wide and up to 4 tons fully loaded. He’s 9 years old with just 12,000 miles on the clock (need to put that right) and a 2.8 turbo diesel engine which is plenty for the size.
With a limited knowledge of the genre, gleaned from reading a couple of magazines, we had decided we wanted a fixed double bed over a garage large enough for a scooter, 2 axles only (some have an extra one at the back), shower/toilet, a second pull down double bed at the front and after that we were totally flexible (!!). Except on the maximum budget – which is, of course, what we spent. This layout means that the interior looks less spacious than some smaller vans where you assemble beds from sofas but we agreed we would sacrifice that for the convenience – and hopefully be living outside as much as possible anyway as most trips would be in the summer.
So freedom here we come! We have a motorhome! Don’t, whatever you do, call it a camper van – it seems you insult the owners of the larger vehicles and also the kudos of the those in the true camper vans! Theres another whole language and etiquette to learn, and lots of new people to meet too – I cant wait!