Why spend the winter months in the cold and dark north when you can roll down to southern Europe? For many years, Solan and Lasse dreamed of spending their winters in southern latitudes, and when they retired, they took action. Like many other wintering seniors, they traded down to a smaller home in Sweden and invested in a good motorhome, and now they spend five months every year in Portugal and around the Mediterranean.
We know there are many others who dream of doing what Solan and Lasse do, so we take the opportunity to ask a few curious questions. How does wintering in a motorhome really work? Where is the best place to stand at night, what are the favourite spots and what should you not forget to pack?
Table of contents
When did you start wintering in more southern latitudes with your motorhome and how did you get the idea in the first place?
The idea has been around for almost our entire motorhome life, almost 27 years. As long as we were working, we made one or two European trips a year. We deliberately saved Spain and Portugal, having to have something left as retirees with unlimited time. With the first motorhome, a Karmann Gipsy-88 and the first trip, we travelled through Germany, France, Italy and Austria in 14 days. Stupid ... remember we blew through Monaco without finding a parking spot!
But now, as seniors with a larger and more comfortable motorhome, we take it easy, grazing an area on foot or on bikes. We sense when it's time to move on.
How have you made travelling in this way possible? Have you made any economic priorities?
Two of us lived in a 96 square metre apartment in the centre of Stockholm. We sold the floor and moved to a tough two-room apartment of 57 square metres in Bromma. Bingo! In addition to a successful sale, we reduced the fee for the new apartment by half. Our old motorhome that rolled 34,000 miles got asthma on the last trip over the Brenner Pass. It had not managed a turn to the south ...
So we financed a brand new motorhome with the proceeds from the apartment sale. We have always prioritised travel. We have never longed for a house or a summer cottage. We skipped the car when Lasse didn't need it for his work. A decent pension is not a disadvantage either ...
Do you stay in the same campsite for a long time or do you often move from one place to another? Why do you choose to do what you do?
We prefer to stay on pitches, which are special sites for motorhomes. They often work well and as the number of motorhomes increases, new ones open up. Often with electricity, showers, wifi and washing machines. Easy to check in, you choose where you want to stand. We find them via online links, tips from bloggers who spend the winter, and various site guides.
Free camping? Yes, sometimes on a beautiful beach, for example. Free camping on rubbishy beaches or back streets in holiday resorts? No thanks! Emergency camping in the worst case scenario if the site is full and it's very late.
Sure, we sometimes stay at a campsite, the longest we've stayed in the same place is a month. Happens when there is no suitable site in places where we want to go. Most people who spend the winter are 60+ with a dog and a gas grill. At large campsites with Acsi discounts during the low season, it is easy to have coffee with boule ... a bit of the same. It does not suit us, but who knows, one day we may unscrew the wheels and stand still for months. But then we will probably have to have a small rental car as a complement.
What are your favourite places in Southern Europe?
We find new ones all the time. But a visit to the southern German spa town of Bad Krozingen with the VitaClassicaTherme is always included. If you stay four days at your pitch, a spa bath and free transport in the Black Forest are included.
We also return to the Camping de l'Hippodrome 13 kilometres south of Nice. Cycle track along the sea to Nice. Commuter train along the entire Riviera coast. The French food helps, then we are a bit francophile without knowing the language. But English works just fine. When we started this trip on 26 November, we stayed for 25 days at the small nice campsite.
The elegant city Tavira in Portugal is also a favourite. A city that is not economically dependent on us tourists. Rumour has it that the female mayor doesn't like motorhomes! So it's the city's campsite that counts ...
Have you had any mishaps while travelling? Tell us!
With our first motorhome, we were towed many times. Once on the M25, London's ring road, the gear lever got stuck in the four position. Of course in the worst of the rush hour. We didn't laugh out loud then. So we are hardened. But today we know that new motorhomes come with teething problems. We started a bit lightly with a cracked shower floor, a door that ghosted, a leak in the fresh water tank and a kitchen tap that failed. But we have a rule in the motorhome: everything can be fixed and nothing should ruin our trips.
The last time we were driving along the Spanish toll road we heard a loud bang. We thought it was something inside the car that had collapsed. But - when we stopped for a break, we saw that the chimney of the Alpine boiler had been hit hard by a stone. Half the lid on the side was gone. Lasse emailed Alde in Sweden, we got tips on a Norwegian with motorhome service in Alicante. A week later, both the Norwegian and the cover arrived at the site. € 80 cost the party ...
We always do an annual service at the Dethleffs workshop in Isny, Germany, where the motorhome was born. We bought it directly from the factory via a serious contact in Sweden.
What is it like travelling away from family and friends for a long time? Is it a problem or do friends and family encourage your travelling?
We don't have any children, so the famous grandchildren craving is not a concern. I have my 87-year-old father still alive. But he is alert and has his own social life at home. We are in close and good telephone contact and if something happens, the plane is always close by.
We see our friends for half of April until November. I don't think they could keep up with us all year! Almost everyone is on Facebook, so it's easy to keep in touch. We are often told that we are worthy of having such a good time... but sometimes someone says: Oh I'm so jealous of you. But often it's about the choices you make.
Name a few things that you absolutely won't travel without in your campervan!
Silvertape and Soldier's pea soup! And of course books, haven't got to the tablet stage yet. We have paperbacks that we leave at the sites to be read. Retro thinking prevails! Then of course cameras, computers, tablets and mobiles. Part of the present. An old Russian binoculars, here birds are seen ...
Finally, a question we ask everyone we interview: What is your dream holiday destination?
We lived in the USA for a few years in the 70s. We got married in Las Vegas, rented a Folkabus in Los Angeles and travelled around the Swedish countryside in Minnesota. A combined wedding and work trip in six weeks. So my dream is to use my own motorhome to travel around the USA for a longer period of time. An expensive project - but you have to have dreams ... that's part of motorhome life!
Thank you Solan Rhann and Lasse Persson, winter caravaners, for sharing your experiences and thoughts!
Top picture: Solan Rhann and Lasse Persson on the beach in Southern Europe. photo: Bobo Jonilson
Ama de casa says:
Like I said - it's great to see people realising their dreams!
In the US, even I could almost imagine a motorhome, as everything is so big there. But only almost. Motel camping works too 🙂
20 February 2016 - 10:33
Linnea says:
Lovely interview and lovely panchis!!! 😉 Feels like it can be you when you have finished working 🙂 .
20 February 2016 - 11:21
Comsi Comsa says:
Lovely interview and freshly daring of them. 🙂
20 February 2016 - 11:25
Karin&Ulf says:
Entertaining read about real life enjoyers. Really has the mind to experience what retirement life has to offer when life is on "Roll".
20 February 2016 - 12:08
Anette says:
Lovely couple! And as usual good questions with sensible answers, well who doesn't want to do as they do...
The website is really nice now, you have done a good day's work? Looking forward to pictures from the Kista fair and what we now miss? Continued nice weekend from two snowed-in in Varberg harbour! Anette and Robert
20 February 2016 - 12:17
Ditte says:
Thank you for another enjoyable, inspiring and entertaining Saturday interview.
Thinking about how you want to spend your life and then taking action is particularly interesting. Sometimes it's a matter of prioritisation and then, of course, making your thoughts and dreams a reality.
It really feels like Solan and Lasse have found their balance in life.
20 February 2016 - 12:46
BP says:
This was by far the best report in the series. Extremely well written and tongue-in-cheek - the car that got asthma on the Brenner Pass. Great fun to read.
Solan and Lasse did something like you who sold the apartment in Sundbyberg and thus financed the houseboat and the long trip.
Great to "meet" people who are realising their dreams and enjoying life:-)
20 February 2016 - 13:35
nils-åke hansson says:
Nice reading is so interesting to learn about other people's experiences.
20 February 2016 - 14:45
Role o Carina says:
They have done what we dream about in a few years!
Leave the cold dark north for the Spanish Costa del Sol 🙂 .
Take care....Nice report 🙂 .
20 February 2016 - 17:12
Elisabeth says:
Nice to read the interview. We met them in Citronlunden, a very nice couple!
Elisabeth
20 February 2016 - 17:48
Mr Steve says:
It's wonderful to be a part of it. It is just so wonderful to realise dreams. Good luck to Solan and Lasse on their US trip!
20 February 2016 - 17:38
Matts Torebring says:
It's nice to read about others who have managed to change their life pattern. We ourselves are not there yet. But maybe a couple of three months "after Christmas", I would imagine.
20 February 2016 - 19:15
Kenneth Risberg says:
Thank you for a rewarding interview, as I myself am thinking of travelling to the sun and warmth next winter. There were some great tips on places and resorts to visit, thank you!
20 February 2016 - 19:41
Dubai says:
Great interview, it was one of the best things I've read in a long time 🙂.
20 February 2016 - 21:49
admin says:
Ama de casa, people who realise your dreams are always inspiring! And if I were to go to the USA, I would like to travel around by motorhome.
Linnea, it doesn't sound so bad if we would be like that in a few years 😉.
Comsi Comsa, freshly dared half won 🙂 !
Karin & Ulf, glad you enjoyed the interview! Surely it is important to enjoy when you have the opportunity! 🙂
Anette and Robert, glad you liked the interview and that you like the new website! 🙂 We will write about the Kista fair in the coming days. Have fun in the snow!
Ditte, it's all about prioritisation, but also about daring. Glad you like our interviews! 🙂
BP, oh wow that was great feedback! 🙂 Solan and Lasse are just so nice and have a twinkle in their eye, which we noticed when we met them in Portugal during our trip!
Nils-Åke, we agree! And when you travel, you meet many different interesting people who have interesting things to tell you!
Rolle and Carina, hope you get away as you plan!
Steve, glad you enjoyed the interview! And let's keep our fingers crossed that they make it to the US! 🙂
Elisabeth, how nice that you met! We met them in Portugal during our trip to Europe 🙂.
Matts, hope you can get away for a longer trip in the future, as you plan!
Kenneth, what fun that the interview could contribute with some tips! Wishing you good luck with the planning and travelling next winter!
Dubai, great to hear!
21 February 2016 - 1:04
Maggan says:
Interesting reading! Something I would do too if I had my way....
24 February 2016 - 23:57
admin says:
Maggan, hope you get the opportunity sometime!
26 February 2016 - 8:54
ghoul says:
What a wonderful couple who realise their dreams and find solutions to problems that arise along the way! Courageous to dare to lie out...and of course it is important to prioritise in life.
15 March 2016 - 9:36