They Call Him The Wigg 2
Some Say that His Eyelids Close Sideways and That His Blood is Green...I Don't Know, But They Call Him 'The Wigg'
Irreverent Ramblings From a Photographer Who Lives In His Dethleffs. (Actually he takes fabulous photos, but he can get quite grumpy from time to time......and he is great fun and very witty!) (The opinions offered here are purely those of the author and not necessarily of the Dethleffs Owners Club)
I have been a photographer working for myself for the last 30 years. For about 20 of those I have specialised in photographing holiday cottages all over the UK.
In the early years I used to stay in B&B’s, but as I was away more and more that became too expensive, so I moved over to camping in my old Toyota people carrier with a tent on the side.
This was great fun, and during a good summer meant I was living an outside life for about 4 to 5 months of the year which seemed to suit the gipsy in me... This run lasted for about 5 years, and then, having gone through a rather bad winter it was decided I needed something more comfortable for my old age.
We had, for many years gone to Motorhome shows, and ooh and ahhed at all the vans, but never found one that we liked. They were either too big or too small; the interiors were chintzy and had what we considered cheap fabrics. There was also the question of cost. They were, and still are, an awful lot of money, and we had to way up if we could ever get our money back on such a venture.
In 200?? We again went to the Motor home show at Stratford upon Avon, and one of the vans caught our eye. It was a Dethleffs Globe Trotter. The size was ideal, not too big, so I can negotiate all those little Cornish lanes, not too small as it had everything I needed, i.e. shower, loo, somewhere to sit and eat without having to pack away the bed, and a good cooker and fridge, and the interior looked great.
This then caused a problem. We had gone to the show with no thought of buying a van, didn’t have the money in place, and infarct were totally unprepared for what we had found. What to do? Have a doughnut and a coffee to give us thinking time, this we did and weighed up all the pros and cons going for this van. The pros won, so back to the stand and talked money.
It worked out. Living away some 25days a month in Hotels and B&Bs with accommodation and food costs, the repayment costs just about panned out, so without another thought we made the purchase, or rather Black Horse made a purchase, with me looking after the goods.
With any such an impulse buy, the next few months were terrifying, manly to see if we could really afford it. We could, and infarct the quality of my life so improved that I was able to take on more work, and extend the working year to the whole year, rather than just sticking to the summer months, and quite quickly the van became ours.
That was all 5 years ago, so how is it now. Well as good as the first day. I have had both mechanical and habitation problems over the years, but nothing to serious, and I still have not needed to put up shelves or move any lighting. When it was designed, someone had given it a great deal of thought.
I have done 70,000 miles + which for a van of this age is quite a lot, I have had a couple of skirmishes into Europe, mainly France with the family on holidays, but when you spend your life living and driving a campervan around, holidays are better spent doing something else.
We did say that when the kids have flown the nest, it might be nice for my wife and I too just quietly tour Europe, but with a family along its just too much work and clutter. There is also the fact that they come into my van and move things, and make a mess. Just ask a woman what she thinks of someone else messing about in her kitchen and you will get the same reaction.
So what of the future. We still go the |Motor home shows, still look at all the vans, still wince at the prices, but as yet have not found anything better, in either layout, or size. It is quite likely that as I get older and my daughter takes over the business, which she is trying to do now. That my wife and I can be a bit more choosy about the jobs I take on, and she will have more time, so we might think of a different van and she would come with me, and spend our old age touring Britain, and doing a bit of work, just for fun, and to pay for the diesel.