So I’ve just got a brand new VW camper, and I’m a bit excited by it. It’s in Fortana red, the colour of Dorothy’s slippers in The Wizard of Oz, and has the numberplate WLL. Our Jennie thinks it should be called Will Scarlett, but I’m inclined to a feminine persona; still working on it.

I lost my wife Rosie to cancer this year. We were keen campers; during Covid19 our lifeline was to sit in a field with our caravan, and listen to the birdsong. We travelled to France when we could, and, like you read it in Asterix’s Banquet, tried to sample as many regional cuisines as we could. Never planned it like that, just happened.

As a now solo camper, towing a white box around didn’t seem a good idea: I had already involuntarily modified the bodywork on a couple of occasions. I thought long and hard; made a bucket list of what I might do: so a VW van conversion it was. Now, with a substantial investment like this, much more than we’d spent on a caravan, I need to use it to its full potential, to justify the morality of the outlay. Now I have to plan the odysseys at home, and abroad.

Until May, I need to get some practice in to work out how to use it. A couple of winter overnights to start; then as Easter approaches a longer voyage. In May, across to visit friends near Bordeaux, and to meet up with the grandchildren (and their parents) on the banks of the Dordogne. I think there’s time in between to visit Northern Spain and the French Med.

I thought I’d keep a blog diary, mostly as something to look back on, and maybe share with friends what I’m doing. If you come across this by accident, welcome. And if you see a red VW with WLL on the numberplate, give us a wave!