On the road to a camp site deep in the countryside

IF you don’t like huge public embarrassments, then avoid driving a 22ft motorhome through a tiny Devon village.

It took us so long to manoeuvre round a 90-degree bend that people came out of the nearby pub to watch. And laugh. And film.

It’s probably up on YouTube — try searching under “Couple’s marriage breaks down in motorhome”.
Anyway, the moral is always read to the end of the bumf about directions to a campsite deep in the countryside.

Particularly the bit where it says — underlined in bold — DON’T trust your satnav to find us.

It wasn’t the greatest start ever to a family holiday but luckily our trip to Devon got better.

First the vehicle. We hired a top-of-the-range Swift Lifestyle that sleeps six and comfortably takes mum, dad, two teenagers and a small dog.

There’s a double bunk above the driver’s cab, the middle dining area converts into another double bed and there are two bunks at the back. There’s also a sink and draining board, fridge, four-ring hob, a loo with shower plus plenty of storage.

The outside has neat things such as an awning, shower and barbecue points and everything is easy to find and use.

The vehicle, essentially a converted Fiat Euro van, is simpler to drive than you’d think, too. Its manual 2.3-litre diesel engine is powerful enough to get where you want to go, although not at speed. But then racing to destinations isn’t the point on a touring holiday.