Todays email of Martins Money Saving Expert newsletter reminded me to check our EHIC card – which fortunately is still valid but due to be renewed in a few months. (PS:  His weekly newsletter is quite useful if you want to be frugal )

If you don’t have one make sure you get one free from the official EHIC website before you go.  This will save/minimise any costs you may incur if you require any doctor or hospital treatment.  It does NOT replace travel insurance, but it should cover the excess.  The Money Saving page linked at the start has all the information you need, but (for my purposes!) some excerpts have been copied here.

Country by country guide

 The EHIC’s usable in the EU’s 27 member states, plus a few others. Show your card before treatment, and keep any receipts. The NHS site has detailed country-by-country information on what’s covered in each, see below for a quick summary:

• Austria Treatment will be free if the doctor’s contracted with one of Austria’s regional health insurance offices, though you’ll be charged if not. However, you can claim up to 80% of this back. See the NHS Austria page.
• Belgium Though the majority of doctors in Belgium provide private healthcare, some offer both. You’ll have to pay for healthcare, but you may be able to claim back up to 75% of the charge. See the NHS Belgium page.
• Bulgaria Check before making an appointment whether the doctor is registered with the National Insurance Fund. There’s a small charge to see a doctor but you may be able to get this back in the UK. See the NHS Bulgaria page.
• Cyprus Treatment is available from doctors in state healthcare centres. It’ll cost two Euros for each visit, but you may be able to claim this back in the UK. See the NHS Cyprus page.
• Czech Republic Make sure the doctor’s registered with the CMU. You’ll need to pay a small patient contribution, though watch out as you’ll have to pay the full cost if the doctor isn’t registered. See the NHS Czech Republic page.
• Denmark Doctor consultations are covered, though check whether the doctor’s registered with the Danish public health service. If you’re charged, you can claim back the full amount. See the NHS Denmark page.
• Estonia You’ll need to pay some of the fee for any medical treatment, and this includes home visits. You might be able to claim for this when you arrive back in the UK. See the NHS Estonia page.
• Finland Medical treatment can be provided for free from the local health centre, though some KELA venues may incur charges for specialist treatment. See the NHS Finland page.
• France Make sure the doctor or dentist is registered with France’s state healthcare provider before making an appointment. You should be able to claim back approximately 70% of the treatment fees. See the NHS France page.
• Germany Check the doctor provides treatment under the state scheme; find a full list of registered doctors at the local ‘Krankenkasse’. There’s a fixed charge of ten Euros, though this may be refundable. See the NHS Germany page.
• Greece See an IKA-ETAM doctor or dentist to get reduced or free treatment. Consult a private doctor and you’ll need to pay charges up front, though you can then claim them from the Greek authorities. See the NHS Greece page.
• Hungary You’ll need to go to surgeries contracted with the OEP, though there’s a fee of HUF 600 for each visit, and HUF 1000 if it’s out of normal treatment hours. These may be refundable in the UK. See the NHS Hungary page.
• Iceland Its health centres provide treatment from 8am to 4pm, and are in all districts of Iceland. There’s a charge of IKR 1,000, or IKR 500 if you’re on a state pension, which may be refundable in the UK. See the NHS Iceland page.
• Ireland Visit doctors working under the Primary Care Reimbursement Service scheme to get free treatment. To find your nearest, go to your local Health Service Executive office. See the NHS Ireland page.
• Italy Make sure the doctor’s registered with the Italian national health service, the SSN, and treatment should usually be free. Surgeries are generally open Monday – Friday, though opening times vary. See the NHS Italy page.
• Latvia Charges apply to see a doctor, though pregnant women receiving treatment to do with their pregnancy won’t be charged. Those under 18 also avoid the fees, which may be refundable in the UK. See the NHS Latvia page.
• Liechtenstein Visit a doctor covered by the public health scheme and you’ll pay CHF 67, or CHF 33.50 for pensioners and children. See the NHS Liechtenstein page.
• Lithunania Visit a doctor who works with one of the territorial patient funds to get free treatment. Any private healthcare fees are sadly non-refundable. See the NHS Lithuania page.
• Luxembourg You’ll need to pay and then claim the cash back from the CMO, the Sickness Insurance Fund for Manual Workers. Hospital stays and medicines are fully funded by the CMO. See the NHS Luxembourg page.
• Malta Go to public health centres to see a doctor. State-provided emergency dental treatment is free, though isn’t widely available as most dentists have private practices. See the NHS Malta page.
• Netherlands See a doctor covered by the AGIS Zorgverzekeringen scheme and treatment will normally be free. Children can also receive state-provided dental care, though others will have to pay. See the NHS Netherlands page.
• Norway You’ll have to pay a fee. Make sure you see a doctor with a reimbursement arrangment with the NAV. Though the cost is non-refundable in Norway, you may be able to get it back in the UK. See the NHS Norway page.
• Poland You’ll be able to visit doctors surgeries between Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm. Out of these hours a 24-hour medical service is provided by NFZ-contracted health units. See the NHS Poland page.
• Portugal There’s no charge for state doctors, dentists or hospitals. If you need a pharmacy, you’ll find them across Portugal, open Monday – Friday. See the NHS Portugal page.
• Romania There’s normally no charge for a medical consultation. Check the doctor, dentist, pharmacist or hospital is working with the Casa Nationala de Asiguarari de Sanatate. See the NHS Romania page.
• Slovakia Make sure the doctor or dentist is covered by the Slovakian health insurance system. You’ll need to pay a contribution if you see a doctor, but emergency dental treatment is free. See the NHS Slovakia page.
• Slovenia Check the doctor’s registered with the Health Insurance Institute. You may need to pay a standard contribution, though this may be refundable in the UK. See the NHS Slovenia page.
• Spain State healthcare is free, but check they accept your EHIC card first as some hospitals and health centres also offer private healthcare. See the NHS Spain page.
• Sweden Under 20s receive free treatment, though others will be charged between £8 – £12 per treatment. Make sure you see a doctor working under the public insurance scheme. See the NHS Sweden page.
• Switzerland Check that the doctor’s registered with the Swiss public health service. Usually, you’ll need to pay in full for treatment and claim a refund later. See the NHS Switzerland page.

We had some lovely and comfortable chairs we took away with us, but they were too big and space is precious in a van.  We were also on the look out for a sun umbrella so we can sit on the beach without frying.

After a thread on Motorhome fun where I asked for tips, someone refered me to Kelsyus who do a range of chairs that pack down quite small and have an (optional) inbuilt sun canopy.  They also have optional reclining ones   They look like

 

So we decided on 2 reclining ones to spoil ourselves!  The chairs conveniently convert into a back-pack for easy carrying.  Really well engineered.

As you can see, you can get them on Amazon (where there is detailed spec) – however THE CHEAPEST PLACE I found is a small company called BizzyHome who sell them cheaper than amazon and any other place I found – http://www.bizzyhome.co.uk/catalogue/detail.asp?pid=97298&gid=829 £38.82 including delivery.  They aren’t a specialist outdoor supplier and they sell all sorts.  I bought online but also spoke to the company on the phone and they were brilliant to deal with (and no, I’m not on comission for them!)

Details:-

• Product size open: 71 x 69 x 80 cm
• Product size closed: 71 x 17 x 13 cm
• Weight 3.5kg
• Ultraviolet sun canopy blocks up to 94% of harmful rays from the sun.

The reclining function took a while to master, and getting the canopy away is interesting, but the chairs are comfortable and the cup holer will be perfect!  They are a little low so if you have back problems then they may not be for you, but as a compromise for size & functionality they are great.  The canopy can be fitted if/when you need it, and can be adjusted in angle with ease to block out the sun and even provide full shade. 

Just need to get them packed now and ready for the beach!

(See HERE for our other GPS download index page)

When away camping, the availability of LPG is quite critical in order for us to fill up our gas tank for cooking and heating.  In some European countries, LPG is easy to find – in others it is not.

I have scoured the internet and found loads of POI files that, allegedly, contain the locations of LPG stations – some of which are dubious in accuracy.  So, I’ve taken all these, combined them, de-duplicated them, and stuck them in a single file for everyone to use.

Please note – I do not profess to be the original data owner of any of the content, I have just combined the file.  If you believe any of this data is copyright and can’t be used then please let me know immediately.

I have only identified CLOSE POIs as duplicates, so if they are, for example, 100m apart I treat them as different even though they may have the same name.  As such, if you see a couple close together then you know that the LPG station is there *somewhere* – you’ll need to check them all out.  Sorry

PLEASE NOTE:  If you have any LPG information for Spain, Morocco or Iceland then please let me know and I will combine it.  And also if you are aware of any major omissions (such as an entire company in Italy) then let me know and ideally let me know where the download is.

SUPPORT

All these files are provided as-is only.  Use them at your own risk and expect a lot of the data points to be incorrect!  I will NOT be updating single POI errors else I’ll never have time to travel.

DOWNLOAD

 

I have included POIs in Autoroute 2010 format, TomTom format, and straight CSV format for you to convert as you see fit.  All files are ZIPPED and will need unzipping

For simplicity, all downloads been moved to a single page.  Click HERE to get the free downloads

USING THE DATA

We use and recommned Autoroute 2010 (the cheaper version) for your laptop  If you want to have GPS tracking and navigation on your laptop, the Autoroute 2010 GPS comes with a GPS receiver.  (Or buy the cheaper one and a serparate USB/Bluetooth GPS receiver from eBay).  We also use an excellent TomTom XL with IQ routes and full maps for Europe and beyond.  We could not survive without Tommy!

   

Data

There are over 20,000 data points in these POIs though some may be close duplicates.  An example of the resolution for France is shown below (Click to enlarge):

Software

For the TomTom files then you need a TomTom and a bit of experience uploading POIs.  For the AutoRoute files you also need Autoroute 2010 in order to see the map (as per picture above).

You should be able to use the CSV file with any GPS device but I can’t explain to you how as each device is different.  J Davies provides a free POI converter to help you convert between formats.

   

We’ve seen many questions on the forums asking about ACSI, Camping Cheques and off peak camping, so thought it worthy as an article.  All information here is accurate as far as I know, please let me know of any errors or omissions.

What and Why?

Campsites, mainly in Europe, are busy between July and August, but the rest of the time they aren’t full.  To enocourage people to stay many offer off peak deals.  Its to make it all a win-win really.  For the price paid you should get a pitch for a night with electricity, 2 adults, showers for 2, and all normal facilities.  You may have to pay additional tourist tax (20c to €1 max really) - depends on the local tax problems.

ACSI DVD

This is one of the most useful DVD we’ve ever bought and its worth buying every year. It contains a very basic route planner of Europe, but then it has full details of 8,600 (2010 version) campsites across Europe.  It contains photos for 1000′s of them; all details on facilities, GPS details, when they are open, altitude, how far from the beach etc.  I could go on – but in summary, if you use campsites frequently – its worth the tenner or so to buy.  You can search, filter and show all cards accepting the ACSI discount card.  It contains more campsites than you care to want and covers sites included in both the camping cheque schemes

DO NOT mix this up with the ACSI Discount card.  This is JUST a very good DVD!  If you want to take advantage of the discount schemes then you also need the ACSI discount card book (below)

All the DVD is – is a very useful DVD with 8,600+ campsites listed.

ACSI Discount card (Book)

The ACSI discount card is attached to the ACSI book.  It is just a bit of paper really and is valid for a year.  Sadly though, if you want to use it you need to show it, so you do need the book.  If you have the DVD the book itself is never used.  Without the DVD though, the book shows all campsites that offer discounts, when they offer it, and how much they charge.  Depending on the site, you pay either €11, €13, or €15 per night.  The campsites differ on their openning times and when they accept the card.  The information is duplicated on the camping card site - http://www.campingcard.co.uk/gb/en - so you can do your research in advance.

The main benefits are that there is little investment up front and you can use it as often as you like.   There are about 180o sites (all on the DVD and in the book) which accept the discount card so it is by far the biggest scheme.

We tend to favour the ACSI sites and have most definately saved a fortune with them!

You do need to buy the book every year…

Camping Cheques

Camping cheques are a form of pre-pay for site discount.  Their website is http://www.campingcheque.co.uk/  which contains information on their sites and their scheme.  These are bought in advance at £13.95 per night, and you use a cheque per night.  You also get a good book similar to the ACSI book.  There is a small admin charge which is waived if you book your ferry with them (we never have).  You can also get a swipe card rather than a bit of paper.  The paper cheques last the current year and next year.  So if bought in November you get 14 months; February 23 months. 

We have had some massive bargains with these – most notably Rome. 

We bought a load in advance and will use them, but we tend not to use them as much as ASCI for some reason.  There are only around 600 sites in the scheme and most of these do not conflict with ACSI, so you probably need to do both.

If you don’t use your camping cheques then they do expire and become worthless, however you can sell them on the motorhome forums (at a slight loss) as many people (me included!) pick them up cheap there.

Soleil Cheque

A “what”? I hear you ask!  Indeed!  I only found out about these a few weeks ago.  Full details here – http://www.vacansoleil.co.uk/soleil-cheques/ .

These appear similar to the camping cheques above, but are for a select number of Vacansoleil sites only – around 70.  They are valid all of April, May, June and September which is a huge amount of time.  They are pre-pay as per Camping Cheques, but only cost £9 each.  In addition most of the sites do 7 nights for the price of 6, or 14 for the price of 10.  So that makes it £45 per week on 4* and above sites!  Amazing value.  I will admit I’ve not used these yet but they look great.  Some of the sites are on the ACSI DVD and look great (4* or 5*) and also Vacansoleil do a big (free) brochure you can request.  The list of sites is on their website.

GPS

All the latest GPS points for both Camping Cheques and ACSI are available on line – and they are included in my multi download files which can be found here

Other Information

If you have information about other off peak schemes, or extra information on the ones above them please post in the comments below and let me know.  I’ll try and answer any questions I can, but hope this is a good starting point for everyone.

(See the rest of our tip index here)

This has always felt a chore, and in truth, we’ve only done it once in 4.5 years!  And as we happily drink from the tank then its actually quite important.  Its always felt like a hassle, and we’ve never really needed it.

Then on one of the motorhome forums, Graham at Zappys Blog http://zappysblog.com/ started to offer a simple magic pill to do the disinfecting hassle free.  Hmmm.  Sceptcial old me.  However, I placed my order and what did I get…

Pack of 10 pills for £5 delivered with clear instructions.  These can be seen on his blog HERE in PDF format, and you can buy the pills HERE in his online shop.  And no, sadly, I don’t get comission from him!

So before our trip tomorrow wakeboarding for a long weekend decided we better do it.  So, a quick flush of the tank, then fill with water and a single pill (54L is okay for single pill) – and go away for lunch for just over an hour.  Come back, run through the water, then a quick clean flush, and first impressions on the taste test are fine!  Tastes like normal water, clean, and no residue.

Simple!! 

I’m not going to use the pills for the waster water tank (only a small one so will just sling in other stronger chemicals) but you can if you wish.

He also gives instructions on how to treat water pre-drinking in emergency situations – so quite a good pill all said and told.

So, if you want a quick n easy way to dose up your tank cleaning chemicals, then give Zappys Blog a look

** PAGE SUPERCEDED – SEE HERE **

Autoroute 2010 & TomTom Download File

When we go away I always tend to scour the internet for all the GPS points of interest I can for aires and some sites and combine them together in a single Autoroute file in order to help with our route planning.

** I DO NOT PROFESS TO HAVE CREATED ANY OF THIS DATA – MEERLY COMBINED IT **.  I don’t think this is an issue, but if any of the data owners think it is then please let me know immediately and I will remove this file.  All of the data sources are listed on our links page http://www.doyourdream.co.uk/resources-downloads/useful-links/ 

You will need Autoroute 2010 in order for this download to work, so don’t download this file without it as you won’t get the POI groupings etc. If you don’t have it you can get it from Amazon as well as other places 

Free Download

The download file contains the GPS POI for the following:-

• Bordatlas 2010 (including page numbers to allow book reference)
• Aires de Service (verified)
• MH Parking
• Ares de Service (non verified)
• Aires on campsites
• ACSI 2010 sites
• Camping Cheque 2010 sites

TO DOWNLOAD – SEE LATER (2011) VERSION PAGE HERE

!

We use the file in conjunction with books, for instance the file will tell you the page to look at in Bordatlas for the aire you are looking at. And the Aires books give you more details than the download.  So for a more informative life, fine the aire in the overall database then refer to books for details.  (books NOT necessary, just useful!)

   

USING THE DATA

We use and recommned Autoroute 2010 (the cheaper version) for your laptop  If you want to have GPS tracking and navigation on your laptop, the Autoroute 2010 GPS comes with a GPS receiver.  (Or buy the cheaper one and a serparate USB/Bluetooth GPS receiver from eBay).  We also use an excellent TomTom XL with IQ routes and full maps for Europe and beyond.  We could not survive without Tommy!

   

Support

Download is provided as-is along as my bandwidth allows!  No support is given.  Autoroute 2010 only.  I cannot convert this to any other format. The download file is around 2Mb and is ZIPPED, the file is 6.5Mb unzipped.

Data Sources

The sources for this data is on my links page, but includes the following.  Suggest you look at these sites directly to get the data in other formats.

Data

There are around 15,500 POIs included in this database which is quite huge! 

Below is a SMALL section of the south cost of France near Spain and you can see how many things there are!  (Click image to zoom)

(See the rest of our tip index here)

The problem with WiFi when travelling

We all know the problem when travelling – trying to get Internet access to check our emails isn’t really always very easy.  A lot of the time even legitimate hot-spots always seem to have a flakey signal.  For a long time I’ve seen these “long range WiFi” thingies saying they will improve the sitiation but at £80+ I wasn’t prepared to try it.  However a thread on Motorhome Facts showed another device that had these claims for only £20 which made it worth a punt….  So…… 

For the purpose of the test I used BackTrack3 Linux toolkit rather than Windows as it allows a lot more control of the WiFi cards.  So though you may not recognise the screens it doesn’t matter as its for testing only.  Please note all images can be clicked to zoom in, but I’ve blurred the MAC/SSID details for personal/security reasons.

Normal WiFi Card

Sitting at home I performed a scan of all available networks using a standard WiFi card.  As you can see there are a few networks in range but not many.  As you can see in the PWR column only 2 have power in double figures and in order to maintain a connection you really do need double figures – thus only mine and my direct neighbours is accessible.

Rocket High Power WiFi Card

Then after plugging in the new device I ran the same scan, in the exact same location, and instantly detected more networks and not only that the power listed was in double figures for the vast majority of the networks

 

So first impressions are, most definately, it does what it says on the tin! 

For those interested, the chipset is fully compliant with BackTrack3 and above, and supports MAC spoofing and packet injection.  What this means in simple terms is explained in the picture below

What that bascially means is that it does support the method of obtaining the security keys of WEP encoded networks.  As can be seen above, even though the network tested was out of range under a normal wifi card, I was able to detect and obtain the security key, then within Windows connect to their network and have full internet access*.   

Summary

For the money?  Yes – fully recommended.  It also gives me confidence in the claims of some of the more expensive devices.  This one is rated at -9dbi which, they say, is 500m range.  From my tests I have no reason to doubt the 500m range though I would suggest the range would be maybe half that in a built up area.

In the box you get a couple of brackets and mounting kit though I expect I’ll just move mine around as and when needed.  If you buy from the Amazon link – look at the “people who bought this also bought” area and get the suckers as well which you need to stick it to the side of the van.

It comes with a manual and CD (which, being a bloke I didn’t even look at), instead I simply plugged it into the laptop and let Windows get the drivers direct from Windows Update.  So fairly idiot proof!

This review was undertaken on the rocket aerial below which, I love and recommend, and pretty much everyone who has seen it work has bought one!  Bargain at the price.

    

There are other options for long range wifi, but this rocket works and is simple.  Stick it up, stick it in and hey presto.  Some other options are more difficult (such as having to “aim” the device) but these should be considered if you like playing.

Disclaimer

*Note:  I’m obviously talking theoretically as I would, of course, not ever recommend nor approve of anyone using anyone elses network without permissoin.

 

As I’ve filled a lot of air gaps around the fridge for winter insulation, we found that in the heat of summer the fridge was unable to lose enough heat to allow the contents to stay as cool as we wanted.  And I mean – beer that isn’t ice cold isn’t great is it?

So cue today, after picking up a single thermostatic fridge vent fan from Cak Tanks at the NEC I went about fitting it. 

Technically very easy – connect two wires (live/neutral), stick the manual switch somewhere, then mount the fan.  The reality wasn’t that much different as there is some decent ply at the back of the fridge to allow the fan mountings to be fitted; and the control switch installs neatly in the kitchen area – all accessbile from the rear fridge vent when the insulation is removed.

The only real problem was finding the live feed!  Without a detailed wiring diagram its not easy as the fridge has 240v live; 12v habitation live; and 12v alternator live feeds!  After trial and error the fan was spliced between 2 cables that provide 12v when habitation “AUX” is on and it works as expected.  Just need some hot summer now to test it in action.

Come on summer!

(See HERE for our other GPS download index page)

Wild camping Database

For simplicity, all of our downloads are now in one place – to go directly there click HERE

This download is a list of our personal wild camping finds along with details, such as if there are facilities near by.  These wild camping spots are likely to be unused by many others as we found them first!  Of course, things change, so maybe they no longer exist.  The map below (click to zoom in) shows where they are located.

To download the files, click HERE to go to our download page.

FILES LAST UPDATED SEPTEMBER 2011

At last! After waiting 3 years from Autoroute 2007, the 2010 verison is now available. This includes massively updated maps and POIs and a load of new usability features. As usual you can link in with a GPS receiver, and now the display is more TomTom like as it shows the routes in 3D and does automatic rerouting. At last!!

My POIs will in future only be published in this version.

Full details are available via the links below. The more expensive version is exactly the same as the cheaper version but also includes a GPS receiver. If you only want to look at the maps and manaully plot your course (or already have a GPS on your PC) then you only need the cheaper one.