"Five weeks with two kids in a campervan...are you bloody mad? Trust me, you'll be pining for a hotel room and a proper bath before you hit Paris."
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Thanks for your enthusiasm random person at a party. You should meet my workmate, who also reckoned mum, dad, a two-year-old and a four-year-old holidaying in a box on wheels was 'my idea of hell'.
But trust me Relax reader, they were wrong. So wrong in fact that I'm now a campervan evangelist.
Even a year on (yep, I take time to file a travel piece), my wife and I are still drawing on those memories of scoffing cheese as the sun set over French villages while the kids played happily nearby.
The idea of campervan holidaying obviously won't appeal to everyone. But for me it's been an idea nursed for a very, very long time.
In 1978 my parents took my three older siblings away when my dad's long service leave came up. They did about two months in a van half the size of the ones you mostly see around now.
I was born too late for that trip and grew up complaining about missing out.
But as I got older and less selfish, my whinging turned into admiration for mum and dad, who made adventure a priority when other things in life could have got in the way.
With some long service leave of my own to be taken and our two at a portable age, my wife Sharon and I decided to raid the piggy bank, max out the credit cards and do it.
Over five weeks we covered 4400 kilometres, most of them in France, and with the exception of a small (but expensive) hole in the rear bumper, made it through without controversy or much complaint.
The huge advantage of campervan travel over hotels, and the thing the 'being cooped up sounds terrible' doubters seem to not realise, is how settled it allows you to be.
You unpack your bags once, then you store them away while you neatly place your clothes in the ample cupboards inside.
There's none of the ordeal of pack, unpack, lug your bags up a narrow B&B staircase every night.
A typical campervan day went like this. We woke at seven and climbed down from our double bed that sits over the driving cabin and got the kids out of their bunks at the rear.
Breakfast was coffee cooked on the gas stove and croissants and pain au chocolat ordered the night before and delivered fresh to the campground in the morning.
While one of us got the kids dressed, the other unplugged the power, turned off the gas bottles, packed away the outdoor table and chairs and away we went.
Out on the road we'd exchange the friendly 'campervan wave' with vans heading in the opposite direction. We'd tried not to drive too far in a day, usually just a couple of hours, just enough to perhaps reach the next 'Les plus beaux village', the 157 towns or villages recognised as the most beautiful in France.
There, given it was September, we'd invariably find a campground with lots of spare sites, pick one and then go exploring.
While French commerce shuts down in the middle of the day so everyone can eat and rest - one of the many things you'll find yourself admiring about their lifestyle - it was never hard to find a good lunch. The 'menu du jour' was usually the go. A fixed price of about $15-20 would get you three courses and a glass of wine.
The afternoon would be more exploring, perhaps a castle where our son imagined knights in combat and our daughter princesses up in the towers.
Late in the afternoon we'd return to the van, open a bottle of wine and let the kids hit the playground. Most places had Wi-Fi, so as we'd sit in the setting sun we would research our next day.
Dinner would be something pretty simple, a frozen paella cooked on the stove or a simple pasta.
The kids would jump into bed and the adults might finish off that bottle of wine over a game of Yahtzee or poring over the map. By 9pm you'd pull down the bed and another day would be done.
Sure, we had our moments. Navigator and driver exchanged a cross word over directions now and then. And there were a couple of times 'cranky dad' had to stop the van to restore peace and quiet.
But these so quickly become faded memories, overwhelmed by the happy ones. Picnics set up outside the van. The kids climbing the ladder up to our bed for a morning cuddle with mum and dad. Finding the spots to re-create the photos my family took in '78. Singalongs to French songs. Cuckoo clock shopping in the Black Forest.
It was the best five weeks of family time we've ever had. And if I ever meet that doubter at the party again, I'll happily tell them all about it.
The plan for the van
Tips for campervanning with kids
1. iPads and headphones
2. Get a powered site
3. Hit the visitor info centres
4. Stock up at a big supermarket
5. No number twos in the van toilet
6. Get a van with enough space
7. Do your driving in the morning
8. Be realistic about what you can achieve
There's only so much gallery hopping a two-year-old will tolerate. If you try to see too many grown-up things, you'll end up frustrated. Just put it on your empty-nester to-do list.
9. Encourage some interests before you go
10. Take over a set of wheels
If you have a pram for a little one, take over one of those attachable platforms on wheels to save their older sibling's legs too. You won't regret it.