C0-Driver (God of driving the right hand)

The Co-Driver

 We have been through the why we bought Monty so now my thoughts once it was our home-no going back from here! I was never worried that Steve would not be totally competent with driving Monty-he can drive any sort of vehicle within about 2 minutes-and I am still looking where to put the key in! Very frustrating!

Jousting with mirrors from on high

 It is very daunting when you sit in the passenger seat, especially in UK. It seems as if lorries are driving straight at you or the drop from your passenger window is very close and a long way down! I don’t think RV drivers give enough thought to new people when they say they are thinking of buying an RV. The answers generally are very blasé about the width and just brush it off as no problem. When we bought ours, we were told there were loads of RV’s driving around and you would soon meet up with RV people and I had thoughts of friendly groups together round a camp- fire, discussing trips and places to visit. This is so not the case! We have travelled from UK down through France and are in mid Spain now-this is the second site we have been on where there is an RV. We have only seen two others on the road. When we drive into a garage or a campsite, we get long stares and people saying how huge Monty is and can they look around. So as one member said on the Motorhome Fun site-they are as rare as hen’s teeth in Europe. So whatever other RV drivers say-the width does make a difference. Manageable yes-but care and consideration has to be given to places you want to visit by checking first the route, checking again with Google Earth street view (are we missing something?), reading reviews of other RV drivers and checking whether your size vehicle is allowed on each campsite.

Organisation

Of course the plus's are obvious, much more room once you are set up and great having space for storage and even being able to use the virtual reality set in the RV.

So as co-driver-I am responsible for a variety of things. Setting up my own sat nav (I have a Snooper) with the route, including stops for fuel and food. Writing out the route on paper in case both sat navs go on strike. Having money ready for toll payments or credit card; water to hand; snacks close by; writing the mileage and when we buy fuel ; the road atlas, just in case, pen & paper; sun glasses etc etc. I also am aware of the height of bridges, overhanging trees, diversions, road works, keeping an eye on the scooter on the ramp at the back, and making sure we stop at regular intervals for a break-if not for fuel. So my former thoughts of sitting and looking out of the window and enjoying the view-rarely happens. You are too busy checking everything is OK and then hoping when you arrive at the next site it is large enough and has enough space to manoeuvre Monty into without too much of a problem. So every time we are going out on the road, there is a certain amount of tension and pressure to get it right with no expensive mistakes.

Directing/marshalling

I find having a 2-way radio a lot of help when marshalling-it is easier to explain over the radio than use hand movements. It is quite a responsibility to make sure Monty does not hit anything-so we usually take it slowly when moving into tricky places. If we have to shuffle a bit, then that is what we do. The overhang at the back is what one must think of when turning and the bike rack on the back makes it worse.

It is getting easier-I am sure if we carry on doing the traveling, we will get more confident and relax more. Some of the RV drivers have been all over Europe and had no problems so as with most things-it is practise that makes perfect. We will continue to travel around and look forward to seeing some more interesting places, enjoy the sun-and just maybe-meet up with some other RV drivers.