Guest of the week: Solan Rhann and Lasse Persson, wintering with a camper in Southern Europe

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Why spend the winter months in the cold and dark north when you can roll down to southern Europe? For many years, Solan and Lasse dreamed of spending their winters in southern latitudes, and when they retired, they took action. Like many other wintering seniors, they traded down to a smaller home in Sweden and invested in a good motorhome, and now they spend five months every year in Portugal and around the Mediterranean.

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We know there are many others who dream of doing what Solan and Lasse do, so we take the opportunity to ask a few curious questions. How does wintering in a motorhome really work? Where is the best place to stand at night, what are the favourite spots and what should you not forget to pack?

When did you start wintering in more southern latitudes with your motorhome and how did you get the idea in the first place?

The idea has been around for almost our entire motorhome life, almost 27 years. As long as we were working, we made one or two European trips a year. We deliberately saved Spain and Portugal, having to have something left as retirees with unlimited time. With the first motorhome, a Karmann Gipsy-88 and the first trip, we travelled through Germany, France, Italy and Austria in 14 days. Stupid ... remember we blew through Monaco without finding a parking spot! 

But now, as seniors with a larger and more comfortable motorhome, we take it easy, grazing an area on foot or on bikes. We sense when it's time to move on.

How have you made travelling in this way possible? Have you made any economic priorities?

Two of us lived in a 96 square metre apartment in the centre of Stockholm. We sold the floor and moved to a tough two-room apartment of 57 square metres in Bromma. Bingo! In addition to a successful sale, we reduced the fee for the new apartment by half. Our old motorhome that rolled 34,000 miles got asthma on the last trip over the Brenner Pass. It had not managed a turn to the south ...

So we financed a brand new motorhome with the proceeds from the apartment sale. We have always prioritised travel. We have never longed for a house or a summer cottage. We skipped the car when Lasse didn't need it for his work. A decent pension is not a disadvantage either ...

Do you stay in the same campsite for a long time or do you often move from one place to another? Why do you choose to do what you do?

We prefer to stay on pitches, which are special sites for motorhomes. They often work well and as the number of motorhomes increases, new ones open up. Often with electricity, showers, wifi and washing machines. Easy to check in, you choose where you want to stand. We find them via online links, tips from bloggers who spend the winter, and various site guides.

Free camping? Yes, sometimes on a beautiful beach, for example. Free camping on rubbishy beaches or back streets in holiday resorts? No thanks! Emergency camping in the worst case scenario if the site is full and it's very late.

Sure, we sometimes stay at a campsite, the longest we've stayed in the same place is a month. Happens when there is no suitable site in places where we want to go. Most people who spend the winter are 60+ with a dog and a gas grill. At large campsites with Acsi discounts during the low season, it is easy to have coffee with boule ... a bit of the same. It does not suit us, but who knows, one day we may unscrew the wheels and stand still for months. But then we will probably have to have a small rental car as a complement.

What are your favourite places in Southern Europe?

We find new ones all the time. But a visit to the southern German spa town of Bad Krozingen with the VitaClassicaTherme is always included. If you stay four days at your pitch, a spa bath and free transport in the Black Forest are included.

We also return to the Camping de l'Hippodrome 13 kilometres south of Nice. Cycle track along the sea to Nice. Commuter train along the entire Riviera coast. The French food helps, then we are a bit francophile without knowing the language. But English works just fine. When we started this trip on 26 November, we stayed for 25 days at the small nice campsite.

The elegant city Tavira in Portugal is also a favourite. A city that is not economically dependent on us tourists. Rumour has it that the female mayor doesn't like motorhomes! So it's the city's campsite that counts ...

Have you had any mishaps while travelling? Tell us!

With our first motorhome, we were towed many times. Once on the M25, London's ring road, the gear lever got stuck in the four position. Of course in the worst of the rush hour. We didn't laugh out loud then. So we are hardened. But today we know that new motorhomes come with teething problems. We started a bit lightly with a cracked shower floor, a door that ghosted, a leak in the fresh water tank and a kitchen tap that failed. But we have a rule in the motorhome: everything can be fixed and nothing should ruin our trips.

The last time we were driving along the Spanish toll road we heard a loud bang. We thought it was something inside the car that had collapsed. But - when we stopped for a break, we saw that the chimney of the Alpine boiler had been hit hard by a stone. Half the lid on the side was gone. Lasse emailed Alde in Sweden, we got tips on a Norwegian with motorhome service in Alicante. A week later, both the Norwegian and the cover arrived at the site. € 80 cost the party ...

We always do an annual service at the Dethleffs workshop in Isny, Germany, where the motorhome was born. We bought it directly from the factory via a serious contact in Sweden.

What is it like travelling away from family and friends for a long time? Is it a problem or do friends and family encourage your travelling?

We don't have any children, so the famous grandchildren craving is not a concern. I have my 87-year-old father still alive. But he is alert and has his own social life at home. We are in close and good telephone contact and if something happens, the plane is always close by.

We see our friends for half of April until November. I don't think they could keep up with us all year! Almost everyone is on Facebook, so it's easy to keep in touch. We are often told that we are worthy of having such a good time... but sometimes someone says: Oh I'm so jealous of you. But often it's about the choices you make.

Name a few things that you absolutely won't travel without in your campervan!

Silvertape and Soldier's pea soup! And of course books, haven't got to the tablet stage yet. We have paperbacks that we leave at the sites to be read. Retro thinking prevails! Then of course cameras, computers, tablets and mobiles. Part of the present. An old Russian binoculars, here birds are seen ...

Finally, a question we ask everyone we interview: What is your dream holiday destination?

We lived in the USA for a few years in the 70s. We got married in Las Vegas, rented a Folkabus in Los Angeles and travelled around the Swedish countryside in Minnesota. A combined wedding and work trip in six weeks. So my dream is to use my own motorhome to travel around the USA for a longer period of time. An expensive project - but you have to have dreams ... that's part of motorhome life!

Thank you Solan Rhann and Lasse Persson, winter caravaners, for sharing your experiences and thoughts!

Top picture: Solan Rhann and Lasse Persson on the beach in Southern Europe. photo: Bobo Jonilson

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