The thing about being able to pack the back space with barn doors, what do you do with a tail gate. I have this problem in a car- the top of the last bit of the boot is hard to pack as it tends to fall out. Imagine even harder with a taller space.

Some of it will be layout dependent but we have a folding bed that we often leave out all day as we are usually out doing stuff but if we do decide to slide it back into position to use it as a seat then it leaves a shelf that we roll our bedding up onto, out of the way. Opening either barn door is fine as it doesnt fall out. Would be a pain with a tailgate. Van is always packed with lots of stuff at the back when we go anywhere so important for us. Brother has a tailgate and either needs 4 pairs of hands as he lifts the tailgate to catch all the kids stuff or simply lets it fall on the grass and picks it up.

I wanted a tailgate on my T6 but ended up with barn doors. I am glad I did. I often want to just open one door if stuff is leaning against the inside, or just slightly open one door for the view without opening the whole thing (Which we couldn’t do without going outside and walking around the back on a barn tailgate) Dont have a bike rack but again opening the whole thing with bikes on the back must be difficult (if possible) whereas split doors allow you to open. Other than rain cover I dont get the attraction.

Maybe an emergency 50 note

I cant think of many situations where a £50 note would help… Couple of £10’s and a £5 would be more helpful.

I’m with @Lowey on this. As others we have an Amazon tablet which we use to download Netflix, get into bed and fall asleep within 10 mins, repeat each night that we are away. I do have a nice Bluetooth speaker and we listen to a fair bit of R6 show downloads and downloaded music. We are exhausted by the time we get to our van each day so possibly not the target audience for this stuff. Have a T6 so small to be spending to much time in. Do recommend one of these though for tablet watching:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/404622359971?chn=ps&_ul=GB&var=674614266397&_trkparms=ispr%3D1&amdata=enc%3A1cX3qX1iqSFCsSc2u_4hUMg60&norover=1&mkevt=1&mkrid=710-134428-41853-0&mkcid=2&mkscid=101&itemid=674614266397_404622359971&targetid=1647205088280&device=c&mktype=pla&googleloc=9041090&poi=&campaignid=17206177401&mkgroupid=136851690655&rlsatarget=pla-1647205088280&abcId=9300866&merchantid=427099882&gclid=CjwKCAiA5L2tBhBTEiwAdSxJXyCUxknUdEXWhGQTEf_hxo_XpZiEyGxaT2TxfuDDghdVU_UtI5EW0xoCxOYQAvD_BwE

I would like to see mandatory dash cams including a camera looking at the driver.

If not compulsory then speed/phone use cameras everywhere.

I have done the same thing in my van. Its nice to get a change of scenery (literally) and helped me to focus on different work things (retired now) I tethered to my phone but what are others using as a router?

Those that are already retired would you have saved harder on done anything differently if you could wind back the clock?

Made better use of tax benefits at the higher rate whilst I could.

selling a fund when it’s down is the worst time.

Maybe. There is always an opportunity cost to holding onto falling investments. There may be a time to bail, bake in the loss and take an opportunity elsewhere. I did this with one fund after buying it very high just before the pandemic. Made a loss but the reinvestment has almost totally brought that back.

I have held onto most of my funds for many years and simply continued to invest through thick and thin and I was fortunate to invest in Fundsmith from the day it began. It has not been spectacular compared to many but has continued to be the largest fund I own. It aligns with my basic understanding of investment. Start early and pick the companies that have already won, then do nothing. Anyway, anything can happen and you take your chances…

I refuse to have XC or CX in warm conditions, it needs mud and cold air.

Done in the sunshine in other countries. My suggestion would have XC running at the same games as the track events, otherwise the same Gold winners in the summer would win gold in the winter.

IN: Cross country running, It used to be many years ago. Too many great middle and long distance runners chasing too few track medals.

OUT: Stupid modern pentathlon thing should be out, mainly because they are cruel to the horses.

Good timing. Got caught out walking from Dunmail Raise to Grisedale tarn the other week. Totally iced up and Mrs Surfer struggled (as did I) These would have been useful for that stretch.

What approx size pension pot are folks retiring early with ? 

What you need is a very personal thing so it may be a bit like knowing a peers salary. It may demotivate you.  Think hard about your outgoings and what you want/expect to do in retirement. Its easy to then repeat that year after year, removing costs and adding income streams like pensions etc. Remember to plan for things that will finish but then restart later such as car payments. I can see my income stream changing every year and estimate my outgoings very accuratley, building in estimates for some inflation and tax on income etc. You should come to a number then (for me) start to be realistic about how much you will need post 70/75 for example. My late mums income stream was quite high whilst she suffered with Dementia for some years, her quality of life was very poor. I want to make sure I have spent my money and liquidated my assets as much as possible to my children by then. She lost everything through care home costs.

Stopped working just shy of my 57th birthday. Had enough money to see us through and then our investments took a dive due to Covid and although largely recovered, it was a stressful time. I also struggled to overcome the guilt of not working. I had worked since I was 16 without any break other than holidays and like many was accustomed to getting up every day and going to work. I had senior IT jobs and although had some interest when I left my last role as IT director, I struggled to turn any of that “interest” into a job offer. Absolutely convinced the majority of the issue was ageism, My CV was excellent and even though I say it myself I was/am very marketable. I am sure my age held me back which (this sounds conceited) is a loss to the job market. Anyway thats the past.
I decided I was “retired” after about 12 months but then took another less senior job which only lasted 4 months. I was recruited to make large changes within a small business that it transpired did not really want to change… Shook hands and walked away.
The daily feelings of guilt have gradually subsided and non work things have expanded to fit. I have a grandson who I have a couple of times a week and run and walk and play my guitar (badly) daily, as well as read more and listen to music. I try to do more for family members and my wife is going through a difficult time with work and having the time to support her more than I would if I was still working is good.
I dont really miss work even though I was very fortunate to have a rewarding and well paid job which is more than the vast majority of people have. For many people stopping working means daytime TV and physical and mental decline. I try to cram a lot in and remain healthy and active and look forward to racing (running) into my 60’s at least. It may not suit everyone so you have to decide whats best for you. I understand people who want to to continue to work as long as they can and wouldnt be judgemental however for many work is drudgery and who wouldnt want to be free of that.
Once tip I would give is know your finances. I have a mind for detail and a strong financial background and have modelled our expenditure to the £ until I expect to be pushing up daisies. I want to enjoy my time now and not when my health is declining and I am happy that we have the balance of higher expenditure for the next 3 years then costs fall off a cliff, declining expenditure after that until state pension kicks in, which will be helpful. Quite a large house that we will downsize from as eldest will move into her place next year and that should free up more cash, then plan on how we can pass on what we can. This year has been particularly shit as well as losing my elderly mother we recently lost once of our closest friends and my mate will live his retired years without her, he is absolutely bereft.  Things like that tend to focus the mind.

I have 2. One of the original ones I think when Alpkit was very new and another one that we call the “new” one which is about 11 years old… Later one much softer material and nicer to wear. Original one just as warm but stiffer outer material and cuffs stating to perish. We use them a lot in the van for sitting, going to the loo in the night and generally hanging around. Too warm for activities but a great buy and wouldn’t be without them. 

@Ton you recounted your experience with AF on here some time ago which coincided with me experiencing it. Sounds like you have had a tough time and I feel for you. I am glad to hear it is not holding you back to much.

Apparently most people can feel the irregular heartbeat

Yes mine is unmistakable and unnerving. Not sure it will be picked up by a HRM as that only takes samples so in my case I had an extra beat then a missed beat every 10-20 seconds so over a minute it looked pretty normal. When hooked up to an ECG however it was concerning and bouncing between 50 and 153!!

I had Covid over a year ago, followed by Pleurisy then developed AF. Had a number of tests and appointments with specialist who confirmed it was relatively common in distance runners (me) and cyclists. It hasn’t gone away but I am on anti clotting drugs. Still running daily (around 30+ mpw) and I get “flutters” every day or so.

59 now but from my teenage years I probably averaged 40+ mpw running, up to 70-80 at my peak. Talking to a mate last week who also has it (he is 71 and ran 14:30 for 5k as a V40!) and we joked that if you didnt have you hadnt trained hard enough!!

Uncle was an engineer and I learned a lot when I was a kid about how stuff works. Also owned 3 Alfa’s (which will find you out quickly if you are not “sympathetic”) Each one mint when I passed them on. You either have it or you dont. Fixing up cars as a teenager helps. My car doesnt even have a dipstick…

@scotroutes If you have a treadmill you can just buy a footpod which enables Zwift

I wasnt aware of that website. Looks very interesting and I have signed up as well but for the free version to start with. I am a pretty experienced, (albeit old now (59)) runner so I may give some feedback once I have tried it for a while but thanks for posting the link.

Birkenstock Zermatt wool slippers

=£90!

Crocs for the win

Just bought an HP scanner printer for £27 from Currys.Worksperfect.

Yep, always cheap as chips to buy but if used 6 times a year the cartridges dry/fail or whatever and you end up spending £15 to replace, to print off your single sheet of A4, repeat every 3 months or so…

What @finbar and @lunge said. Dont waste your time stretching.

edit: and @shermer75 although I would avoid 4.

because I don’t drive quickly.

Pleased for you. I dont drive quickly either but not being a driving god I need a bit more light to be able to drive safely.

Yep, they are dangerously bad. So much so I actively avoid nighttime driving in the van if I can. Bookmarked for tips.

Said it for years. None of them breath anywhere near enough under any level of exertion. As a runner they are a waste of time. I do prefer waterproof boots however. Yes you get damp feet but preferable to soaking feet constantly dipped in freshly freezing water/bog.

Set myself the challenge of walking/running the Wainwrights. Not a natural “collector” or box ticker but as someone who has ran and walked a large number of them over the years I wanted to challenge myself to go to different places instead of repeating the bigger walks I have done so many times. Bagged 4 peaks I may not have ever got too given their height and proximity to Helvellyn/Blencathra and my previous habit of trying to squeeze everything out of my 2.5hr drives to the Lakes.  Slept in a Keswick car park and walked over Armboth Fell, High Tove, High Seat and Raven Cragg, Had a great day and kept below the mist on the higher fells, result.

As a slight aside amongst all this (very interesting) tech speak but does anyone have a recommendation for an installer in the north west (Wirral) and/or can recommend an online portal to start building quotes?

With microbore (in a well insulated house) there will be work to be done but we have to replace our old boiler soon..

Cheers

Thanks all. I did look on John Lewis as a comparison on a new one and they offered me £80 for my old one…. which is nice :-|

PV, Battery, Heating, Hot water, Ring Doorbell and lights.

Thanks @Binners

I was told that you realistically need 15mm pipework and preferably 22mm pipework to make it work efficiently,

Yes I understood this but more recently have heard conflicting advice. We have microbore but online (and one quote) told me its possible to do it using 10mm piping.

Yep, toilet is a must.

Seems like I only ever see the poor planners then

Or get out more and stop people watching ;-)

I think if you need to move stuff around having the additional height (in a small part of the van footprint that benefits from extra height) then the height doesnt help much. Sounds like poor planning. We spent 11 days in Scotland and never put the bed up. Nice weather, sit outside, less nice we have swivel seats although we were out from morning to evening so it was no hardship to crawl into bed when we got back. Always wonder at the people who seem to sit in their vans almost all of the day. For me they are a means to an end, that being spending time in the countryside closer to the action and not having to drive home or leave very early to get to places.

Pre conversion we tried a few temporary setups and went for a slim kitchen and a wider bed. Without trying it out I think we would have gone for the more common setup which would have been too narrow. I am 6.1 and Mrs Surfer 6.9. Trade off in loss of cupboard space but happy with that.

If you don’t really need a pop top you can save a fortune 

Chose not to fit one when I converted my LWB T6. Never regretted it. We dont need the extra sleeping space and the feedback I get from those with them is they are rattly, leaky and cold. Not to mention expensive. The one benefit we would have is standing room but with a very low cooker etc not sure it would be very useful.

All types are a compromise. At the moment our T6 is perfect but I can imagine a caravan may be suitable for us in. few years.

If you want reliable, configurable and real time data I would suggest setting up a Raspberry Pi and installing Home assistant.

As @trickydisco I bought one a few years ago. Replace all of the pipes and clips and cables and they are fine. Thermostat is not great but they can be upgraded and the pump is a bit tappy but they are so powerful that they cant be left on long as they get a small space too warm…

combustion takes place outside of the vehicle

The combustion doesnt have to be external. The heater itself is typically inside the van with air and exhaust sealed and routed externally of course.

My experience:

We have 2 spaniels which we love. 1 10 and 1 3.

This month I have paid £350 out for insurance, food, both needed clipping plus a couple of small items and dog training classes.

The older 1 is almost blind plus he hates the heat so we can never take him anywhere when it is likely to be anywhere near warm. He has terrible seperation anxiety and often even when you are with him he whimpers and cries making sitting in a pub a problem as it is constant and quite loud. He is in no pain and we always provide him with everything he needs so he s stimulated etc. He also has a number of benign lumps and we have paid 000’s for various tests and vet visits each time we find one. Of course he is on very expensive food… We cant claim on the insurance as he has had a back problem plus one or two other things which makes the whole thing a racket in my opinion.

The younger one is pretty flightly and walking with her is not pleasurable in spite of the constant training we do and have paid for. She cant be let off the lead as we would lose her and she would almost certainly be injured or worse. If she sees a car, bird, other dog she is like a bat out of hell and her recall is quite hit and miss in spite of our best efforts. She is also a bit worrying around our 3 year old grandson which adds another element of concern.

I love my dogs but I would never have 2 at the same time again. It really curtails what we do as we would never leave them for more than a few hours at a time.

Just try to get a balanced picture as dog lovers tend to leave out the bad parts.

Yep, donate the sum. No place in hell hot enough.