[89074]

Going to Watford today with the wife to see a 1990 2L Petrol Talbot Autohomes Highwayman as we want to Spend April-October driving through Eastern Europe.

Don't know nothing but this place seems more friendly and less cliquey than some of the other sites I have seen.

We have done tents and festivals but never a motorhome and we have a 2 1/2 year old daughter who will be travelling with us. Are we nuts? :?:

Already, insurance and breakdown cover seem to be a bit of nightmare with most requiring us to return to the UK after 3 months before heading off again. :?

We have joined the camping and caravan club and am looking at their Arrival Scheme with the RAC. Anyone got experience of this and do you have to pay for towing back to the UK and then claim off the insurance or is it all part of the deal.

I've got loads of questions. I suppose the most important to start with are what type of problems should I be looking for when checking the vehicle we are going to look at. I heard damp roof can be a problem?

but please be gentle with us - I only just found out what an inverter is

 

[dodger148]

Welcome aboard

I seem to remember a couple of years ago a couple doing a series of articles in one of the magazines on travelling Eastern Europe, which they enjoyed and their baby was not a problem, think the trip was spread out over 12 months. I will have a think where it was, unless anybody else remembers seeing it. Got a feeling it was in an old VW

 

[88838]

more years ago than i care to admit i spent some time in hungary, and had a terrific time, communicated thro [poor] German but thought the people were great.
but, why only 6 months, why not head south in winter, visit greek islands/
your 2 1/2 year old will get a head start on a lot of things and in a lot of countries [most are more child friendly than the uk] will be made extremely welcome
re insurance, have you tried bakers of cheltenham - they are expensive but do cover every possible eventuality.
no doubt nukeadmin will be able to give you a lot of pointers
i can only dream about going off for that length of time
8) :?

 

[nukeadmin]

Hi and welcome to the site:-
For insurance I would give Comfort a call, take a look at the info here http://www.motorhomefacts.com/modules.php?name=Insurance

 

[89074]

I got comfort down on my list, will check out bakers and get back to you all. Getting excited now.

 

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the site dajanifamily.

Best of luck with your plans, best to do it now while you can.

I would love to do something similar but out of the question with two school age children.

 

[89074]

Thanks for the welcome Caz, like I said before this site does seem like a friendly kind of place which is 8)

We are getting somewhere now - will test drive the Highwayman on Sat and if we like it exchange and drive it away on Tuesday.

Insurance is proving a bit of minefield but think I have found reasonable cover with MCIA who cover all the Eastern European countries we are thinking of going to, (except Poland) as part of their standard cover. These include the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Croatia and Slovenia. I tried all the other suggestions and ones found in the back of magazines except Bakers who all week have either had no-one in their motorhome dept or have had their computer system down which does not inspire confidence!

A lot of the other insurance companies require you tell them the exact dates you will be travelling and issue seperate green cards for each country.

As suspected the fact we are young(ish) at least for the motorhome world and live in the inner city and will have to park the vehicle on the road when in the UK conspire to make a high but manageable premium. But there you go.

As Caz said we probably will never get the chance to do something like this once the little one goes to nursery/school.

For breakdown cover we will probably go with the Camping and Caravan Club's Carefree Travel Scheme as they both cover the countries we wish to go to and also will cover us for 6 months without having to return to the UK after 90 days.

Thought I would update you as this info might be useful to those embarking on a similar journey.

Anyone with any other tips for eastern european travel with a toddler :?:

 

[dodger148]

I had a look through some old MMMs as I thought it had been spread over two or three issues but I must have slung them as I now only keep last 12 months - sorry