Meet the New Bus ...

... same as the old bus ... perhaps not, it's a bit smaller and a lot whiter.

Those of you who are familiar with my travels in Maximillian might be surprised at this downsizing but after a great deal of thought, it was undoubtedly the right option for us. OK, so we've given up a bathroom (with shower), oven, microwave, TV and a host of other things that I can't remember but we've got a smaller footprint and the ability to get up small mountain roads to see the local sights that often seemed too difficult to negotiate in the big van. We're also able to reduce the number of our vehicles from three to two as the big van was too large for daily use.

In fact, it's not unknown territory as two years ago I changed a van just like this but red for Maximillian, so we know exactly what we're getting and I loved that red van. This will be a lifestyle change too and our plan for holidays is to spend more time in hotels and holiday cottages and less time on campsites. The van will be used most for short camping holidays and for overnight stops while travelling. I'm really excited about all this and I've been busting to blip the new van since doing the deal a week ago.

So far I haven't got a name for it, 'Van Blanc' would suit but it doesn't seem much like a name. If you have an idea, I'd be pleased to hear it.

We have a glass of bubbly to toast the new bus but we're not smashing the bottle against her!

Happy days!

David