The start of motorhome life - Maria and Jöran's review

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Guest writers: Maria and Jöran

Hello and welcome to our first post here! We used to write a blog under emji kontiki and then Magnolia Magis but for those of you who don't know us, here is a little presentation and review:

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"Already the ancient Greeks loved to travel ..." then the husband starts to sit here and declaim so I probably take over. Most of the time it's me, Maria who writes, but her husband Jöran sits in on the discussion. We are a couple of 50 plus, yes one more plus than the other, even newly retired!

We lived in a house outside Skövde that had been in my family for a long time. There was work, children, house and garden. The squirrel wheel. We longed to travel. My dream was to have a public bus again. As a child in the 1970s, my family and I travelled around Europe in a red one from 1968. Denmark, Germany, Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland. Dad had rebuilt it so we slept 2 adults and 2 children inside and during the day it was rebuilt so we had sofas and a dining area. Although I mostly lay and read Kitty books on the trip, the feeling of freedom and many nice memories remain.

First motorhome

In May 2013 we suddenly got our first motorhome: a Swift Kontiki. Jöran saw an advert on Friday and on Saturday it was ours. Just before, we had been with his son in Gran Canaria. There and then Jöran decided to resign from his job at the high school. Life is too short to be stuck. Dare to refuse! He was going to take a sabbatical and in the meantime renovate a motorhome that we could go out in. That became Kontikin and the beginning of an adventure we had no idea about!

What a feeling it was to just go away! Everything included and nothing to think about other than which road to take! The art was freedom, recovery and undemanding.

Skåne here we come! Yes, there were many trips to the sea this summer. Our travel dreams are within Europe. None of us have any desire for more. We love to explore Sweden and our local environment. Our beautiful seasons, wonderful and changing nature, good food and many cosy places.

We are rebuilding

The Elmiam fair in September 2013. We walked around and were inspired by all the motorhomes and interiors but realised that we were very fond of the one we had. We had a little fun when a salesman in a shirt and tie came up with a smile and wanted to show the new, large queen-size bed in their motorhomes. Double bed 120 cm wide! Wow!

To which the husband replies: "We have a Horse 160 in our..."

Big eyes and a suspicious look from the salesperson: "What kind of motorhome do you have?"

"A Swift Kontiki from 1991!"

Yes, the husband lied a little, it was not Hästens but a slightly cheaper brand but it was 160 cm wide and 2oo cm long!

The beds in our motorhomes are the first to be modified. Why sleep worse than at home?

We are also remodelling the interior to make it suitable for us.

An idea grows

We travelled around and enjoyed this first motorhome summer!

A thought began to emerge: imagine always having it that way! A garden and an old house takes time, energy and money and we didn't want that anymore. Imagine clearing out! Reduce gadgets and window envelopes. The children were getting older and would soon not live at home anymore.

That's what we did. We started clearing out the house and sold it. In 2014 we moved to an apartment while we continued to clean, store and organise things. In spring 2017, the day came when we handed in the keys to the landlord and became full-time, year-round residents in a motorhome. But stop now! Here we go the events a little in advance. Before that, we had managed to change a few motorhomes. We will tell you about that in the next post. Continuation follows!

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Jöran and Maria Selin

Jöran and Maria are the names behind the former blog Magnolia Magis. They sold the house and lived 3 years outside first in a motorhome then a caravan. Travelling mostly in Sweden and Europe. Today they have switched to a small cabin in the forest and a camping-equipped Land Rover Defender with which they hope for many nice trips.

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