Insurance, Campervan Conversion, Planning and Budgets!

Short post today folks. I am suffering from information overload at the moment so just trying to grab some “brainspace” and unplug myself from the laptop for an evening!

As is normal here is where I say please leave a comment, even if just to say Hi - it’s nice getting to know you all. I am slowly getting round to replying everyone.

Well I have had a fun day of talking to insurance companies. And actually it has been a lot better than I expected

Bonus points to Nick @ Herts Insurance today for explaining everything simply and giving me loads of advice and options. I’m going to go for 3rd party fire and theft, purely for budget reasons!

Bit of a roundup and scary list below

• I must re-register the van as a campervan, for both insurance and other legal reasons
• The van must be valued at more than £2,000 for it to be insured by Herts Insurance
• Fitting the van with a gas supply is just asking for trouble!
• My brain hurts
• I have only 10 working days left
• I need to sell my current van
• I need to buy the LDV van
• I need to plan some sort of route
• I need to book a ferry crossing
• Also need to plan the layout of the van and “spec” it up
• My brain hurts
• Get travel insurance
• Oh and need to price the conversion of the van as well
• Need to get some writing done, see if I can get some query letters off to publishers
• Get something done for MatadorTravel – they are offering some reasonably articles.
• Budget, Budget, Budget
• Sleep
• Eat
• Stop brain pain

Despite that list I am still remarkebly excited and upbeat. I have just come up against my own biggest flaw – organisation.

To put it into perspective – spare a thought for all those in Australia right now.

Picture below is for the dreamers of us out there, to all travellers, the world over.

From Skiing

Me out – Happy Travelling guys and gals.
Overland Si

Hey followers and finders!

I have been trying to find some insurance for my van for travelling through Europe. What a bloody hassle!

I have two main problems.

1. The proposed van, an LDV convoy, is registered as a commercial vehicle, so until I can re-register it as a personal vehicle it is hard to find a proper quote
2. Travelling in Europe – yes, although the UK is supposedly part of Europe our insurance companies still enjoy ripping people off for daring to venture abroad.

Most UK insurance companies have clauses in them stating how much time I can spend abroad in them. These range from between 2 and 180 days included in the cover price, more days though starts adding more money, a lot more.

TheAA.com charges roughly £10 per day extra spent abroad.

Also, as an aside, now I am classed as unemployed my premium has gone up. I’m sure I have been lumped into some “category” or other, but still what a pain. Here is the time when I should be whinging about being “numbered” or “categorised” but to be honest, with insurance companies, it’s just not worth it.

So after a lot (and I mean a massive ginormous lot) of searching I think I might have found a company that could insure the van throughout Europe. I will find out tomorrow if they call me back, fingers crossed everyone.

Oh and that company – Herts Insurance, I will of course let you all know how it goes.

Seeing as this is supposed to be a travel blog I thought I might actually get some travel stories up here.

Seeing as I still have three weeks left at work and that I’m not actually on my travels yet, I thought I would add a little review of a Bank Holiday weekend away that changed a lot of my expectations.

Luxembourg – the little country that is famous for…… being small?

Yer, that’s about it.

So when I had a Bank Holiday / three day weekend and needed somewhere to go to that was within easy distance of the Port of Dover my first reaction was to look at everywhere else first.

I had been through Echternach once before, returning from a road trip down to the south of Germany. It was a good overnight stop and I remembered that the town was rather nice actually. So there we were, booked the campsite and then waited until the fateful weekend.

So, after booking my crossing on NorfolkLine.com (£19 each way – Excellent!) I left on a rather warm Friday evening after work and drove across Le Channel and on to Echternach.

We arrived quite late, partially because I forgot that Europe is 1 hour ahead of the UK, so my calculations were out and partly because Norfolk Line coffee is very strong and makes you need to stop at every motorway service station. After erecting the tent we settles down to a quite nights sleep at 4.30am – at 5.am the birds started singing. Bastards.

Honk! - yes ladies and gentlemen, the bread van is here. Despite being tired the lure of warm bread rolls and cakes could not be ignored. After a scrumptious breakfast it was off down to town.

We walked down from the campsite to follow the river into town. The square that makes up the centre of Echternach is another “picture perfect” place, so good in fact, we didn’t actually bother to take any photos of it (that and we forgot the camera and I wasn’t walking up the hill again)

We spent all of day one looking round the town and the nearby lake that hosts the ruins of a Roman villa. Also we found an amazingly new looking hostel that we made a note to check out again at some point.

(You can find more photo’s by clicking on the following click……CLICK ME)

In the evening we found a traveller’s nirvana – an ice cream palace, well OK not a palace in the literal sense – but you all know what I mean. If you go here make sure you got a Hot Amaretto, you will sleep very peacefully, no birdsong will wake you. (Bastards)

Day two, the day of THE WALK!

Yes, this is what we were really here for. Luxembourg, believe it or not, is home to some amazing geological features. Quite near to Echternach is a place dubbed “Little Switzerland” (Kleine Schweiz), which we didn’t go to – but it looks worthwhile. Anyways, we headed north west out of our campsite and up a bloody steep hill.

SUPRISE – massively forested hill, craggy grey rocks, steps in and out of deep craters, rivers running fast whilst walkways criss-crossed them and wound under, between and over the landscape. FAN-BLOODY-TASTIC

This is why you should come to Echternach, it is so close to an amazing array of walks and natural features that you really could be in Switzerland (albeit smaller as with everything in Luxembourg). The hiking routes are all signposted and your free walking guide (Tourist Office find) will give you all the routes. The trails are suitable for all ages and skill levels, although many do include stairs and one includes a ladder to get up to the top of a cliff.

We took 8 hours on our walk (including an hour for yet another ice cream!). You can make the routes smaller or larger depending on what you’re up to and you can even walk around the Whole of Luxembourg (“Yes – I walked around a whole country” boasts will gain you no mates at the pub if they find out it was Lux.)

On the third day we had to unfortunately pack up and bugger off home again. But this small weird little place will remain a favourite haunt of mine.

(You can find more photo’s by clicking on the following click……CLICK ME)

And as usual please add a comment, even if it’s just to say hi!

Happy Travelling
OverlandSi

… ok, so the blog template I was using has just gone to pot.

It was always my plan to introduce a better, more proffesional design to the blog.

But, I had planned to do it in one smooth transition and with some fanfare trumpets, carnival parades, fireworks – or perhaps just a blog post to tell you all about it.

For the time being though this template will have to suffice, everything should be back to funtastic fabulousness very soon, in the meantime just pretend it looks good, imagination is key. And all those who don’t have imagination watch too much T.V, well that’s what my mum says anyway!

As for travelling – am thinking about heading to Southern Europe first, mainly because there is nothing like a good bit of sun, sea and sand (and lovely ladies). Also the van probably won’t be fitted out with heating, my budget just doesn’t stretch.

So as usual, please leave a comment, even if just to say hi, tomorrow I will comment back to everyone who has commented here. I promise!

Happy Travelling
Overland Si

MAJOR LAYOUT PROBLEMS, AM HAVING TO REDO THE WHOLE TEMPLATE

PLEASE BEAR WITH ME – WHILST I UPDATE THIS

Sorry about the layout, everything will be back online soon. Slight Problems.

Hello faithful readers,

Well I’m pretty much committed to the idea of becoming a working nomad.

Below is a list of all the things I believe I will need to get sorted before going.

Remember to please leave a comment, or get in touch, even just to say hi! I will have probably missed some off though! In which case you can let me know by commenting, and feel free to call me a numpty as well, this may be the only chance you get!

So starting with stuff for the van:

• Van - yer kind of essential really, need to buy a van
• Insurance - another essential, need to find some insurance that will cover me for being abroad for long periods
• Kitting out the van
• Tyres - some good tyres that will last for many miles
• MOT - the van will probably need a new MOT certificate before I go away

Travel things:

• Books / Guides and Atlases. We will be using a mixture of campsites and wild camping, there are a few guide books for these
• Sat Nav – this is already purchased, my wonderful Garmin Nuvi will navigate me all the way from the North of Norway to the South of Greece and almost everywhere inbetween
• A list of all Wi-fi hotspots in the countries we are travelling to – so as to keep in touch with you guys and gals
• Clothes – kind of essential, I won’t go into detail here, seeing as I will just throw my wardrobe into the van.

And that’s the very basic list as far as I can think. But there are other things… As you all know I am planning to make money writing whilst I travel.

To this end I will be hawking my writing “skillz” to everyone, trying to write for what companies want as well as what I want. AND I will also be writing a bit of a book about it. So you guys could say you’re reading a free sneak preview. Not that I’m holding any secrets from you guys, so it’s less of a preview and more of the whole thing.

Worth It?

If anybody else has any ideas on how I can use my wonderful talents with the keyboard then please let me know in the comments!

Hello to all my new stalkers, some of whom I know, most of whom I don’t. Glad you decided to follow me – and remember please comment, even if just to say hi!

So – I am looking at ways to make money whilst travelling; I don’t have the luxury of being a lottery winner of having any substantial funding behind me.

I will of course be making money from blogging, through Google ads and others, as well as making money writing for others.

But then an idea struck me, how about offering a truly alternative Holiday experience. A fairly cheap holiday as well, and it wasn’t until my friend Tara suggested that she wanted to come join me at some point that I thought about the fact that other people might want to join me as well.

So how about it?

I haven’t confirmed anything yet, but who’s up for joining me on the first leg?

London to Oslo, a month long holiday, prices to be confirmed or negotiated. Serious offers will be considered, leave a comment and I’ll get in touch!

Happy Travellin’
Overland Si

Please leave a comment, even if just to say hi!

I had better start this post by saying a big thanks to all who left a comment on yesterdays post regarding my update for everybody coming across from Blogs of Note (Yes this blog is noteworthy…apparently!) I will get back to you all soon!

I’m still feeling a little surprised that my random scribblings have been nominated for anything, but that’s the way this twisted blogosphere works!

Anyways, enough of blowing my own trumpet – How are you all?

This is kind of an update, part deux, on my plans.

I have been chatting away to some other bloggers who travel and work, and they seem to be convinced that you can make money whilst travelling. One of the guys to do this is WorkingNOMAD, strangely enough he is also a fellow Brit! I have his book on how to live this life, and for only £10 I think it’s a bargain, you can find it here.

So I am going to attempt to be doing some of that. I think a lot of it revolves around writing, which I enjoy anyway so shouldn’t be too much of a stretch.

The other way I am looking to make money is by working in bars or other temporary jobs such as picking hops, strawberries, grapes or anything else that is pickable. Whilst travelling in Europe I do not need any working Visa’s or permits, making this a whole lot easier.

I have been thinking a bit about the route as well.

I have always wanted to travel through Scandinavia. The sheer beauty of the Fjords, lakes and mountains combined with the bizarre isolation has always appealed to me. If anyone knows of anywhere that is a definite must to visit then please leave a comment and let me know.

So I will most probably be heading up there first. The route will take in England, France, Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland then back down from Helsinki to Tallinn (Estonia) and back through to Germany.

As I speak German it will make getting a temporary job here a lot easier. This will hopefully bolster my income, allowing me to travel more.

So – What will I use to travel round Europe.

Well, nothing is confirmed yet but I am looking at a 1999 LDV high roof van. It seems to fit all my criteria, as shown below.

My Campervan Criteria:

• Be tall enough to stand up in
• Have a reasonably comfortable bed
• Be diesel powered
• Be 3.5ton gross weight or under
• Have a shower, or somewhere to put a shower / toilet

(Photo Credit)

I am still looking through a few web sites but as soon as I find something I like I will let you all know.

And for those of you who have commented that they don’t think they have the money for this -
My van budget is £1,000
My travel budget is also £1,000

I will explain more about where I am planning to stay in the next post and how I plan to get away with my budget.

Oh and also -7th March – Stop Work, Start Life

(Photo Credit)

Happy Travellin‘
Overland Si

(A recap for all those coming from Blogs of Note / Twitter)

Please leave a comment, even if just to say hi!

I started off being very disheartened with my job, longing for travel. I’ve never been one to stay in the same place – this mostly came from being part of an army family and often moving from place to place, meeting new people, seeing new countries and facing new challenges.

So I decided to set myself a new challenge… to become an Overland Driver.

It is a job I really wanted and sounded like almost precisely what I wanted to do. (Click here for the post explaining all about overlanding).

Unfortunately for me there were a few legal hurdles to get over, mainly insurance. I’m only 22, most of the company’s insurance policies stated that drivers must be over 25.

Rather than just give up and go back to a normal 9-5 job I decided to get out and just travel on my own.

So here I am 22, jobless and with an open plan of where I can go and what I can do. Life has never been better.

I hope you enjoy the blog and I hope this helps some of you make that ultimate jump to freedom.

Please comment if you have any questions or just want to say Hi!

And if you wish to follow me on Twitter just find @OverlandSi or find me on Facebook

Happy Travellin’
Overland Si

Just back from the marvelous French city of Lille, well worth a visit for everyone.

I have no confirmed offers, no job come the end of Feb and very little in the way of plans.

Depends on your view point but I’m quite happy to be like this!

But life must go on as they say and it is fair to also say that I mustget something done soon, otherwise I may as well condemn myself to a life of just doing nothing, again depends on your point of view….

The Plan Part 1

Find a job for April

Whether this is a travelling job or a “normal” job I definately will need a job in a few months time. Unfortunately my earlier plan of winning the lottery did not work, even when I bought 5 tickets. Lady Luck has probably seen my reputation and decided she’s better off without me.

The Plan Part 2

Find and kit out a cheap van to convert into a campervan.

Although this will come first time wise (as in from Feb to April) it is the later part of the plan. I am currently looking for any type of van between £500 and £1000, using some of my savings to kit it out with a bed and mattress and some other “essential” features.

Anyone got any suggestions or reliable vans? (European, UK vans)

Am lookin for something that isn’t too rusty and might have a bit of resale in a couple of months, bit too much to ask for? Probably – Will I ask for it anyway – Definately

Happy Travellin’
OverlandSi