My first blog

  Bournemouth, United Kingdom
Wednesday, May 14, 2008

We are Ralph and Helen Higgs - a pair of Bournemouth-based Bongo owners.  Touring in our camper van is our number one choice of holiday.  When we eventually retire, we'll upgrade the Bongo to something with a bit more space and tour Europe for a year or two.  

Our holiday home

Admittedly, it hasn't been practical to take it on holiday when we went to Goa, or Egypt or the Canaries, and we are going to need an amphibious version to do the Greek Islands.

The sun is top of our list of travel essentials but we need more than a beach and a bar to keep us interested.  Luxury hotels don't do it for us either, but tent camping is a bit too basic.  Our Mazda Bongo conversion is perfect for a 2 or 3 week trip, and it's easy to drive and cheap to put on the ferry.  We've had it for 5 years and we've been all over France and Spain, calling in at places like Salamanca, Aranjuez, Cahors and Avignon, to name a few.  All worth a visit, but not on any package tour itinerary  .  We rarely set out with a plan - 'Spain' is about as detailed as it gets - and we don't worry too much if we don't make it.

We belong to BongoFury, the owners club, and go to the odd rally, where fellow Bongoliers have been interested in our travels, so I thought about keeping a diary.  Then I realised a blog would be a good excuse for not leaving my laptop at home!  So - if Ralph gets electricity rigged in the Bongo before we go (end of next week) - I will post a log and photos of where we went, what we saw and how we managed.  Much depends on the quality of French wireless communications, but I've heard good things.

Before we go, I'll add a few anecdotes about previous trips, but for now I 'll just say that we are catching the overnight ferry from Portsmouth to Le Havre on Friday 23rd May, and aiming Bongo in the general direction of the Auvergne, in southern France.