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by Jim Humberd
In 1988 Emmy's Cousin Josef worked for the Renault Automobile Company in
Brühl, Germany, and we bought a Renault vehicle with a Pilote RV, from two
of his colleagues. We drove 8,400 miles through eight countries in 130
days, then parked it in a farmer's barn in Borg, Germany, for $1 per day.
When we returned to Europe three months later, the Renault started just
fine, and we were ready to travel 8,700 miles through 12 countries in 115
days. One night we drove the RV onto a ship, and an elevator took the RV to
the top deck. We prepared our meals and camped at the rail as the ship
sailed the Adriatic from Brandisi, Italy, to Patra, Greece.
We sold the Renault to an RV dealer. Including the cost of a tire near
Bordeaux, France, another at Agrínio, Greece, and a front brake job in
Merzig, Germany, our cost for 17,100 miles of driving, was maybe $13 per
day, the cost of renting a bicycle.
When we returned home we found a Visa bill listing all of our charges for
about a month in Italy. We computed our overall average daily travel cost
(plane tickets, campsites, groceries, RV, etc., minus the cost to live at
home), and determined we had spent nearly a month in Italy, from the Alps
and including several days on the Island of Sicily, for $15 to $20 per day
more than it would have cost to just stay home.
In 1991 we rented an RV (a Peugeot truck), the only time we have rented,
from the same company that had purchased our Renault in 1989. They gave us
an excellent price of $50 per day. We drove 6,800 miles through six
countries in 78 days.
In 1995 we bought an RV (a Fiat truck) with a buy-back provision. While we
traveled, the Dollar/D-Mark exchange rate changed for the worst, so our cost
was about $60 per day. In 107 days, we drove 5,300 miles through eight
countries.
The RV was our hotel, restaurant and rental car while we were on the road,
and it still functioned as our rental car when we stayed with Emmy's
cousins. There were no campsites in Monaco or the Vatican, and we visited
several countries or islands by airplane or cruise ship. In 9 trips we
spent 23 nights in hotels, another 326 nights with friends and relatives,
and 605 RV nights in 406 different places in 25 European countries.
Every problem was solved or forgotten within the hour.
Check out Jim and Emmy's web site to buy the books. Click here!
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