L3: Campervan Man Gives Up

Roaming campervan man just goes over the 90 day limit and gives up his beloved van

David loves travel but does not have a great deal of money. Each year he works his socks off from October to April to earn enough money to fund travelling that summer. His campervan has seen better days but he is a mechanic by trade and can fix it provided he can get the parts. He knows about Schengen and decides on a 87 day trip which is a bit tight but he thinks it should be OK.

In 2021 he got to Southern Italy. It is 2000km trip (35 hours) drive back to the channel tunnel and his van only cruises at 110 kph (60 mph). He decides to do this over 5 days, 7 hours a day. This is what happened:

• Day 83-Friday: He gets off to a late start but is not concerned as he had plenty of time. Late afternoon after 4 hours he suffers a mechanical failure. It takes him an hour to find out what is wrong but it is too late to contact the UK.

• Day 84-Saturday: He phones the UK looking for parts. However suppliers are only open in the morning and don't have the time to search back catalogues to find the modern equivalent to the part that has failed on his 18 year old campervan.

• Day 85-Sunday: David mopes around worrying about the Schengen limit and the uncertainty of the repair costs.

• Day 86-Monday: He receives news that the part has been found and it can be couriered to get there in 2 days at a cost of £150.

• Day 87-Tuesday: He is really worried now and hopes that he does not break down again. Those tyres are a bit old he muses.

• Day 88-Wednesday: The part arrives at midday - and Dave fits it by 6pm. He makes a start as he has to get 31 hours of driving done in the next 54 hours - He drives 5 hours; only another 26 to go.

• Day 89-Thursday: Up at 5.30, he drives another 14 hours. He would like to do more but he is exhausted - Still another 12 to go!

• Day 90- Friday: He hits the traffic jams and delays. 12 hours becomes 14. He pushes his campervan to 65 mph but the tyres don't like it and he gets a puncture on the autoroute. Traffic is busy so he has to wait for a service vehicle to give him protection from the traffic. He arrives at the Eurotunnel terminal at 22:55 but is too late to get the 23:30 shuttle.

• Day 91-Saturday: At 2am he leaves France on the first available shuttle. He exceeded the Schengen limit by a few hours!

That autumn Dave thinks about what he will do in 2022. The last year was a bit of a calamity. He know that he will have to sort out overstay. He thinks that he will be forced to get a visa and knows he will not qualify. Dave lives 5 hours from the nearest consulate and does not like dealing with officials. Road tax and insurance will have to be paid in December. He decides to scrap his campervan because it is impractical to use in the colder UK climate.

In the pub he complains to his friends "those ******* in government don't understand the likes of you and me" They agree with him. "They don't care a *****" says one.

Government indifference reinforces this sort of view