Make a new plan, Stan

I was asked this morning exactly where we are planning to go. The short answer is - The Outer Hebrides. The longer answer is - we really don't know. We don't really have too many plans and much will depend on weather and what we find to do.

The first two weeks are fairly well regimented. We have a friend Gregor (actually Gregor McGregor) who lives in Glasgow and regularly travels down to the south (Devizes, Salisbury, Dartmouth even) to meet up with a group of friends. This time he's decided to host a meeting himself, on somewhat nearer to home turf - Moffat in the Scottish Lowlands. 

That meet-up starts on Mon 15 and being Liz and me we decided to take a week to get there (we try to avoid motorways). So we do actually have the first two weeks planned and even booked! 

Tue 9 Pub stopover nr Grantham

Wed 10- Fri 12 a couple of days in Whitby (possibly taking in Wharam Percy en route)

Sat 13 & Sun 14 experiencing the dark sky in Kielder Forest

and finally on to Moffat for a week with Gregor and possibly up to 14 other friends. 

After that - we'll head towards Skye, ferry to Harris drive north to the tip of Lewis, back down to Harris again and then the Uists to Barra, ferry to Oban, down the W coast to Stranraer and around  (maybe taking in some The Wicker Man film sites). 

Perhaps some time around Carlisle exploring so of the Harry Redfern pubs. On the way home there's a vague plan to perhaps visit Wroxeter for both the Roman remains and the Anglo-Saxon Church.

But who knows?

Watch this space!

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go

 Now, we are hoping to be away for eight weeks. Hands up who owns eight weeks worth of underwear and socks.? We don't and even if we did fitting them in the van and managing them in the restricted space would be a challenge, so a compromise is needed. Three weeks sounds about right and will only necessitate two or three launderette stops.

Believe it or not two weeks of clothing (for two people), outdoor coats and wet gear, bedding, awning, van shoes etc all fit beautiful in the van's overhead storage. Note the careful "blue for a boy, pink for a girl" colour recognition scheme!

A rapidly filling luton

The extra week's worth of clothing each is sat in boxes on top of the portaloo which is hidden in the little cupboard bottom left. 

Now here's the cunning part - when we park up for the night the front seats are slid as far forward as possible and the gap left is carefully, jigsaw puzzle-wise, filled with all those clothing boxes. It has taken years to hone this but three of the smaller ones (a couple visible in the luton)  topped by the slightly larger one on the loo will bring each side of the behind-seat gap up to almost exactly the height of the bedding, ready for a a pillow, but also leaving an almost empty luton (especially after the quilts have been unrolled from their yellow stuff-sacs) so plenty of chuck-it space when we are parked up (and the front seats are also useful)

The boxes in the luton

It might be a small van but with careful organisation it can be made spacious - it has to be made spacious for longer trips.

That oil-filled radiator is a hang-over from the winter and won't be accompanying us - the van has warm-air blown heating which, if anything, is a little too efficient.