The Brexit Grand Tour in an Ariel Nomad
Discussion
Absolutely loving the videos and the write-ups for this, you both look like you're having a great time! This is really inspiring me to do something similar (already booked to do Romania next month) and my better half is definitely up for filming and photographing it too.
The videos are about right in length, aim for 15 minutes if they come up a little longer and the content is good then don't worry about it. The music is okay I think, you are not putting it where you are talking or there is good background sound, so keep up the good work!!
The videos are about right in length, aim for 15 minutes if they come up a little longer and the content is good then don't worry about it. The music is okay I think, you are not putting it where you are talking or there is good background sound, so keep up the good work!!
rottie102 said:
Finally got to use the laptop together with decent WiFi to upload photos!
Update no1 - over last several days we've been working on first ever Nomad's owner's review, all the ones before were from journalists which had the car for a day or so, just getting it to play around in some fun location. This is about actual experience of ownership. There's also another video about what I think are good choices when ordering Nomad's specs. Both very biased and personal but honest and hopefully helpful. Check them out!
Fantastic, huge amount of useful information. Reignited my interest in the car. Is there an owners group? Update no1 - over last several days we've been working on first ever Nomad's owner's review, all the ones before were from journalists which had the car for a day or so, just getting it to play around in some fun location. This is about actual experience of ownership. There's also another video about what I think are good choices when ordering Nomad's specs. Both very biased and personal but honest and hopefully helpful. Check them out!
EvoOlli said:
Hey Guys, are you OK ?
Hahahah, yes, thank you very much. The reason I haven't posted in a while is because Ruta is trying to stay on track with editing videos as much as possible and I only get the laptop at 11pm-midnight when I really have no energy for creative writing
The videos are always a priority and thanks to that, they are being published regularly. Also, I think I prefer for everyone to see the story in the video first and then read about it.
Make sure to watch the latest one, from Romania. We just published it this morning. I think it's my favorite so far!
Now, I think we've left Czech Republic last time I posted an update.
Austria was great, surprisingly. I've been there many times and always enjoyed the driving in Alps but this time it was in the eastern part which I haven't explored before.
We stayed in the most amazing B&B in Mönchhof, that made the whole experience truly unforgettable. It might be a bit too "hippy" for many people but we loved it. Karl, the owner is a great guy and we've already arranged to meet up again.
I have to say this is what is sometimes missing in our travels recently... This making friends part. I used to travel without a car a lot. Two backpacking trips around the world etc. It might have been less convenient at times but I was definitely more exposed to "interacting with people". In a car, as amazing as roadtrips are you don't get to experience it as much. Granted, travelling in a Nomad helps, people are much more inclined to start a conversation etc. But I still miss it sometimes. What's your experience? Can you see the difference if you have tried both?
We've spent three days in Austria, we might be back later on the way to Spain but we'll see, no fixed route yet.
From Austria we went to Hungary, Lake Balaton. I've found out that there's a Hungarian Baja rally happening over the weekend and I really wanted to see it. It was a bit confusing to figure out where and what time do we have to be, all the info was in Hungarian and it was my first rally watching experience but we managed to find a pretty good spot.
As you can imagine Ruta wasn't too impressed with sitting around for few hours in the middle of nowhere but I liked it. The biggest wow factor for me were the trucks, there was one Scania and one Tatra. The energy that these monsters travel over rough terrain with is just breathtaking! It's crazy that somebody decided that a 9t truck is a good vehicle to prepare for rallying
Balaton area is a pretty pleasant place to chill for a day or two. Not that much to do and no breathtaking sights but it was a very welcome "rest time" for us.
Hungarian roads outside of main ones are really really bad though. It was very tiring from all this shaking and vibrating. Shame on you Hungary!
We popped in to the actual Baja in Hungary
My dream is to take the Nomad to Baja so I "kind of" achieved it... Slightly different than California though 
Next stop was Szeged, I got the oil cooler sent there from Ariel and I was very happy to receive the notification that it has been delivered to the hotel.
Luckily it wasn't too difficult to find a mechanic to get it fitted, despite the fact that NOTHING in Hungarian sounds like any well known language. I just drove around the outskirts of town, that's where in my experience most of the car mechanics are
I found one that looked clean and tidy and the guy fitted the cooler. Do you agree that tidiness of the garage is a good foresight or warning into the quality of the service? I always judge every business and trader on what their van/garage etc look like. I always think "If that's how you care about your property, it's exactly the same how you will care about mine"Oil cooler fitted, we moved on to Romania.
We were pretty apprehensive about driving through Romania, hearing all the stories about gypsies there etc. I have to say, it was mostly unfounded and we did feel a bit silly afterwards. Apart from very few encounters with some pushy, dodgy gypsy women it was all fine. Everyone was friendly, we've stayed in nice B&Bs and even got the Nomad fixed in one of the villages. Watch the video, I won't spoil the story
I've always wanted to drive Transfagarasan and Transalpina, two mountain roads in Romania, first one being famous after Top Gear making a video about it. They were good, not OMG the best roads in the world but they were fun, mostly in good condition, with not too much traffic.
As always I disagreed with Top Gear, just like about Stelvio pass. The part of Transfagarasan that they filmed is way too tight, too busy and with too many corners one immediately after another to be the best driving road. IMO it's all about the balance of traffic (main thing that can ruin the best roads), fast sections, danger of going fast, road surface and how varied the corners are. I scared Ruta driving on Transfagarasan a bit too much. She told me that even though I start at a moderate pace I always speed up throughout the route and at the end of it I'm pushing too far. I've never noticed it, too busy driving but I guess it makes sense - I get more and more confident, get to know the grip level etc, adrenaline kicks in and that's the result. Have you ever noticed it in your driving?
From Romania it was a very long driving day to Bulgaria. It involved 90% of the time 30mph speed limit because when one small village ends in Romania, another starts. Very annoying. Good that Waze does warn you about police
It was incredibly hot, we had to cross the river at the border on a ferry, which involved waiting for 1h30min in the strong sun, next to lorries running their engines to keep the AC on. We couldn't move because we had to stay in the queue, the ferry was late. It was a nightmare. Ruta got a proper heat exhaustion/heat stroke that day, when we eventually got to Sofia she had a massive migraine. She stayed in the hotel the whole following day staying in cool.
Most important update - we've decided we want to continue travelling after finishing this trip so we're searching for a 4x4 van to convert it so we can live in it permanently. We want to be able to tow Nomad on a trailer with it, then park the trailer when we get to an interesting place and travel up a mountain etc in the van to set up a camp there. While having fun in the Nomad when living in the most breathtaking locations
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
rottie102 said:
Most important update - we've decided we want to continue travelling after finishing this trip so we're searching for a 4x4 van to convert it so we can live in it permanently. We want to be able to tow Nomad on a trailer with it, then park the trailer when we get to an interesting place and travel up a mountain etc in the van to set up a camp there. While having fun in the Nomad when living in the most breathtaking locations
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
When are you planning on getting back to the UK? I think we should arrange a PH welcome back meet, it would give us a chance to say hello and thanks for the entertaining stories plus take selfies with the nomad We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
rottie102 said:
Most important update - we've decided we want to continue travelling after finishing this trip so we're searching for a 4x4 van to convert it so we can live in it permanently. We want to be able to tow Nomad on a trailer with it, then park the trailer when we get to an interesting place and travel up a mountain etc in the van to set up a camp there. While having fun in the Nomad when living in the most breathtaking locations
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
220 said:
rottie102 said:
Most important update - we've decided we want to continue travelling after finishing this trip so we're searching for a 4x4 van to convert it so we can live in it permanently. We want to be able to tow Nomad on a trailer with it, then park the trailer when we get to an interesting place and travel up a mountain etc in the van to set up a camp there. While having fun in the Nomad when living in the most breathtaking locations
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
We've been considering a "racevan" type but after much thinking that doesn't work, since we wouldn't be able to access remote locations which is the whole point of this plan.
We'll of course film it all and I'll write about it.
Sometimes the (expensive) answer stares you in the face.DELETED: Comment made by a member who's account has been deleted.
We pretty much never book anything more than few hours in advance since we never know how long it will take us to get to places as in where we'll be in the evening. Also we normally book one night at a time and then extend if we feel like staying somwhere for longer. Many times we discovered that the wifi didn't work, room was noisy, ac too loud or too weak etc. It's easier if you have the freedom to move, even within the same location. I always book everything on booking.com
Over 200 bookings over last two years and not a single hickup so I'm pretty happy. Their "genius" status also helps with cost.
As for cost : for me £60 per night is just right for the double room with breakfast, for 60-100 I will expect a very nice breakfast etc, everything nice below £50 is a nice find a great bonus.
I very rarely spend more than £100 per night. In our opinion it's just not worth it. We don't spend too much time in the hotel anyway. Cleaniness, good wifi and decent breakfast is all we really care about. Plus we genuinely much prefer small b&b's to fancy hotels as an experience which really helps with cost.
But of course with our travels, campervan will very quickly pay for itself!!!
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