Dad ditches house for motorhome after ‘midlife crisis’ | Travel News | Travel

5 months in the past, Ian Reeves left his home and moved right into a motorhome. Attracted by the liberty of the nomadic life-style and having undergone a divorce the 57-year-old lastly realised his dream. And he hasn’t regarded again since.    

Ian enjoys travelling up and down the nation, exploring completely different areas and areas of the nation.  

He instructed the ECHO: “After I turned 50 I purchased my motorhome, I went by a midlife disaster. At 51 I did my motorcycle check, at 52 I went paragliding, but it surely’s the very best factor that is ever occurred to me.

“I simply cherished the life-style. I cherished travelling round. I went round Anglesey, Scotland, I’ve performed a little bit of Northern Eire and I cherished it. I cherished the liberty to rise up within the morning and prepare dinner breakfast within the open air when it isn’t raining, go for a pleasant lengthy stroll and do no matter I wish to do.”

Ian made the choice to maneuver into his motorhome full-time after getting a divorce from his spouse.

The impression the coronavirus pandemic had on his enterprise promoting hair loss merchandise additional spurred his resolution to modify to van life.

Ian mentioned: “Throughout covid my earnings went down 80 per cent so I discovered it so much cheaper to stay in my motorhome. It is the very best factor I’ve ever performed. I nonetheless do a bit of labor on my laptop computer in my motorhome as a result of I’ve nonetheless started working to earn a bit of cash.”

He mentioned the motorhome group is made up of individuals of all ages, together with those that have transformed their vans on a finances and others who’ve purchased a contemporary motorhome kitted out with all of the facilities.

Ian mentioned: “I dreamt of getting a motorhome, it is such a pleasant lifestyle.

“Do not get me unsuitable, I’ve nonetheless received worries as a result of dwelling in a motorhome all the pieces you personal is in a motorhome. If it will get damaged into all the pieces you personal is in the identical area so it’s a must to watch out the place you park.

“There’s by no means any hassle, there’s at all times good comradery. Now we have giggle and a joke, everyone seems to be at all times there to assist everybody out. If I’ve ever received a flat tyre or flat battery there’s at all times a motorhome proprietor round that can assist you out.”

Motorhome house owners like Ian are taking a stand in opposition to the latest £20 in a single day parking fees which have been launched within the space round Merseyside’s New Brighton’s Coastal Drive.

Wirral Council mentioned the experimental visitors regulation order (ETRO), which is in place for a interval of 18 months, will likely be stored underneath common evaluation and might be amended if mandatory.

However many motorhome house owners have argued that the parking fees are too excessive and have put them off visiting the sweetness spot all collectively.

Ian mentioned: “A £20 cost is simply ridiculous. They’ve made it so costly that you simply will not keep there. I do not thoughts paying a payment, if it was £5 I’ve fortunately pay £5 an evening.

“The cash ‘motorhomers’ are bringing to the financial system is sort of some huge cash. After I go down there, I on common spend £100 for a weekend. I am going for a drink, purchase meals in Morrisons and have meals within the native pub.

“After I park up of an evening time I attempt to park up someplace and by no means keep there greater than a day or two and check out my greatest to not park in entrance of individuals’s homes.”

Lee Mathie, 48, from Moreton, can be an everyday customer to New Brighton, the place he travels no less than as soon as a fortnight in his motorhome.

He mentioned he might see himself dwelling in his motorhome sooner or later however mentioned the brand new parking fees have put him off parking in a single day.

Lee mentioned: “I might see myself travelling, dwelling within the motorhome by all means as a house from dwelling. The group is at all times there that can assist you and all of us look out for one another as properly.

“I keep in a single day on the Dips however not for £20, it is completely ridiculous. I stayed in Haven about two months in the past and it was £9 an evening, I received my electrical energy, bathe and waste drop, I received passes for swimming and passes for leisure.

“The motorhome group as a complete within the nation, there’s about 200,000 vans within the nation, however down New Brighton I’ve seen between 30-40 vans. I’ve seen in all probability two or three vans which have stayed down right here for greater than two weeks on the trot however the majority of them, they’re right here for 2 nights and so they’re gone.”

The Echo understands that the intention of the brand new fees is to raised management the place bigger autos and motorhomes can park with the intention to take away obstruction on the general public street, which is a statutory obligation for native authorities.

It is usually understood that the brand new ETRO is predicted to enhance waste administration within the space and assist the authorities implement the general public area safety order in place on the New Brighton Dips.

Again in October 2020, councillors had agreed an appropriate website for campervans in Wirral was wanted following studies of “foul smells” and “unsavoury companies” inflicting well being and environmental points for locals in New Brighton.

The council mentioned they’re persevering with to “examine the viability of offering a devoted, serviced website within the space for touring autos” as a longer-term answer to the problems.

In the case of waste disposal, Lee mentioned folks in campervans and motorhomes usually make use of waste drop services at service stations, public bogs, farms, native pubs and campsites, or take it dwelling with them.

Lee mentioned: “I can stay on this for 2 weeks, I’ve a 150 litre tank onboard. Most motorhomes will carry waste for 2 weeks and contemporary water for 2 weeks.”

Lee and Ian are among the many motorhome house owners and native residents who’re calling on the council to cut back the value of the parking fees on Coastal Drive.

The quantity of street indicators which have been put up within the space informing folks concerning the new fees have additionally been described as an “eyesore” by locals.

A spokesperson for Wirral Council mentioned: “That is an Experimental Visitors Regulation Order (ETRO), in place for a interval of 18 months.

“As such will probably be stored underneath common evaluation and might be amended if mandatory. As with every new ETRO, folks can specific their views about it to the council inside the first six months of its implementation.

“They will do that on-line at www.wirral.gov.uk/highways, or in writing to Simon Fox, Interim Director Highways & Streetscene, PO Field 290, Brighton Road, Wallasey, Wirral CH27 9FQ. Quote the scheme reference quantity TO/22/07.”