Next year: North by North West

Well, that's another year's caravanning over. Nowadays I expect to be away for a quarter of the year, and in 2019 I have had 88 nights away, which means 89 days actually away from home. That's pretty well a quarter of 365.

I think it's very important to get away a lot and see different parts of the country. The caravan makes it possible to do this at a cost that I can afford. One day I will give up caravanning, or be forced to, but I hope that day is a long way off.

I cover a lot of ground every year, but every two years I do a really long-distance caravan tour, generally taking me to Scotland, which is of course a long way from the south coast of England. 2017 was my last 'long-distance' year, and this is where I took the caravan (or went on day trips from wherever I was pitched):

Two years on, in 2019, I went to Scotland again but ventured much further north than in 2017:

These maps are made up of 10 km squares: if I towed or drove into a square while on holiday, then I've coloured it red. The yellow squares are where I pitched the caravan on my various holidays. The green square is where my home is in Sussex.

As you can see, in 2019 I went not only as far north as it's possible to go on the mainland of Scotland, I went as far east as you can go in England, and as far west as you can go in Wales. Altogether I towed the caravan 3,409 miles, and, with the car unhitched and the caravan left on site, covered another 4,631 miles in day trips. Making my total holiday mileage 8,040. Which will turn out to be a bit more than half of my annual mileage of 15,000-odd.

The cost of all this? My 88 nights away cost me £1,335 in site fees (about £15 per night) and the 8,040 miles of driving cost me £1,787 in fuel. £3,122 for 88 nights away works out at £35 per night. (I don't count the cost of food cooked in the caravan, meals out, admission charges at tourist places, or presents bought, as I spend the same on these things as I would do at home; nor do I offset the savings on home electricity, gas and water while away)

I suppose £3,122 spent on holidaying might seem a large amount to some, but I think it's money very well spent. And it enables me to see distant family and friends much oftener than I would otherwise be able to do. I would flinch at the cost of touring the North (let alone Scotland) if I had to stay at hotels, even budget ones.

My caravanning is all on the mainland of Great Britain, and I don't go abroad. One day I might. I haven't quite abandoned the idea of a North European Tour as far as Sweden that I talked about some years back, but going so far by myself is a daunting prospect, and the cost is probably too much. But I might manage Ireland at some point. Last September I was very wistful as I spoke to people at Fishguard Harbour in Pembrokeshire, who were taking the boat to Rosslare. I've never been to the Emerald Isle. I was tempted to join them, just to see.

One thing you may notice about both holiday maps above is that when going north I mostly keep to the east side of the country, and in particular avoid the north-west of England. That will change in 2020. I'm planning a Grand Northern Tour that goes first to Aberystwyth in mid-Wales (to see my cousin Margaret), but then to Cheshire, Lancashire, Cumbria (the unvisited south-west corner of the Lake District), Yorkshire, and then either Derbyshire (for the Peak District) or Lincolnshire (for the Wolds). That's a lot of miles to cover, and means at least three weeks away. Bring it on.