Apart from servicing your caravan, there are two very regular expenses that may slip under the radar when caravanning and those are camp chairs and shoes. Camping chairs need to be light so that they can easily be carried long distances. Huh? Well, often happy hour will be in a camp kitchen or on a riverbank to catch a sunset and the chair will need to be hoisted across the park whilst one is juggling a plate of nibbles, a glass, and a wine bottle. Thus, being light in construction they often tend to sag pretty quickly. Now that’s not a problem if you are young and only go away for a few weeks at a time. But, when your back has had a lifetime of abuse and you live on the road for a few months or more of the year, that poor old back will give you hell if it doesn’t get decent support. We find that we need to replace our chairs every two years.

We also find that we walk much more when on the road. On driving days, we will stop at towns and walk to get the circulation going. When camped we walk the district or if on the east coast then it’s a good time to pound those miles of flat firm beaches. I wouldn’t consider myself a walker but it’s surprising how the kilometres mount up. As sure as eggs are eggs, we need new walking shoes annually as the red dirt, mud, sand, and saltwater take their toll.

This week I bought yet another pair of shoes and was surprised to find them labelled ‘Vegan’. Does this mean that they’ll kick up a fuss when I bring out the salami at happy hour?