Part way through Carpe Diem we decided that we had no intention of resuming our former lives. The world recession clearly has lots of losers but, fortunately, there are some winners like us. With The Bank of England slashing interest rates we suddenly had an income from our properties which we hadn’t anticipated.

When Carpe Diem came to an end on our return to the UK in April 2009 we had just one dilemma – where to live? Neil’s son Paul and girlfriend Miranda had built a nice little nest in the house and we didn’t feel it was right to evict him. We didn’t need a base as we were not going to work so we moved into the caravan that we purchased just over a year ago.

The new plan was to use the caravan to travel the UK, see some old sights, visit some new ones and catch up with family and friends. We had a great summer despite some grotty weather, lots of walking, National Trust, BBQ’s and generally appreciating our own country. S E Asia is amazing but then so is the UK and don’t forget it!

We realised that around October the weather would begin to be a tad chilly, and Cheryl doesn’t do chilly, so part of the time during the summer was spent planning “It Can Be Done!”.

The picture shows our “little luxury condo on wheels” (actually not that little, fixed double bed, shower, microwave and all mod cons) which was home for the summer. It is amazing how, having stayed in some pretty small guesthouse rooms, you get the feeling of space in our caravan. Yes, you might say that 13 sqm is small but double that with your immediate outside area under the sun canopy, then add the several acres of caravan site and you have masses!

A funny story about Mike Richman. On a camp site in Somerset Neil noticed a guy in a caravan a few pitches away and said “I know you”. After an exchange of work locations it transpired that Neil used to play cricket with him for Southern Electric Head Office team in a local business league when he first started work in 1974! Well done Neil, not a bad memory since it’s around 35 years since you last saw him!!

Think about this…spend £100k on a condo and see the same view every day.  With a £11k “condo on wheels”, when you get bored with the view you just move on and find another one!