WAITING & PREPARING FOR MY CALI – first part…
It’s been seven weeks since I ordered my own campervan. My Volkswagen California Ocean T7 hybrid, quite a mouthful for this beautiful and compact future travel companion. I was also told that it will take a while before I receive it. The production agenda indicated that the start of production of ‘my Cali’ would probably be in the first week of May 2025. With an expected delivery date of early June. Although I must wait almost half a year, that would mean that I will have my Cali just in time for the summer holidays!
Actually, it’s not six months of waiting, but six months of preparing everything and enjoying the fun of preparation. Starting with the purchase of all kinds of things that will make my camper equipment complete. Because I have been camping all my life, I don’t have to buy much anymore. All I really need to buy is a mobile toilet, everything else I can reuse. I already have an extra stove for outdoor use; I also have plenty of plastic plates, drinking glasses, cutlery, pots, pans and other kitchen utensils. However, isn’t it much more fun to make a completely new start with the purchase of a new campervan? For me, next to buying the campervan, it provides a lot of pleasure to buy all the other camping stuff new as well. And as far as costs are concerned, this is nothing compared to the purchase of the Cali. So yes, I’m going to buy a whole new camping outfit. Whereupon I first start to make a pretty long list of necessities (with both must- and nice- to haves), supported by Google and ‘artificial intelligence’ on the internet. Long live modern times!
At the top of the list is the mentioned toilet. During my ‘trial weekend’ in October last year, I experienced what it means if your campervan does not have its own toilet. The Cali 6.1 that I rented did not have a toilet on-board. Since I was hundreds of meters away from the toilet building, I had to run very fast at one point to get there in time for…you know what. Of course, as a seasoned Cambodia jungle expert (years ago, I spent quite some time in the middle of nowhere in the jungle of Cambodia) I could have looked for a tree to do my business there. I however am afraid that this would not be appreciated by my fellow campervan colleagues at the camp site. Not to mention the fact that this is also punishable by law (at least in the Netherlands) if I would do this in public. No, that was not an option. And so yes, a portable toilet is a very important accessory. Choosing the right model is easy. There is a wide range of so-called ‘chemical’ toilets available, in all sizes and designs. For my Cali, however, I need a compact version, one that doesn’t take up too much space. You then automatically end up with the well-known brand ‘Thetford’. The toilets of this brand are so well-known that almost everyone talks about a ‘Porta Potti’ when they refer to a mobile toilet. And this is precisely the name of the Thetford product range. So, this is going to be a very simple choice, it’s going to be the Porta Potti 335. The model’s name 335, refers to just about the most purchased toilet for a Cali. It is compact on the one hand and on the other hand comfortable and easy to use. And the salesman was able to explain the use and the necessary accessories in such a way that even I (I have two so-called ‘left hands’) can understand and use it. After which I returned home with a toilet under my arm.
What else do I need? Pots and pans for cooking. I go for a compact set, of which the handles are removable so that they take up little space when stored. In addition, I buy a ceramic two-burner stove that I can use for outdoor cooking. The new Cali T7 has a small table for this purpose that I can mount on the outside, with a 230V connection underneath. Ideal! Then the plates, bowls and mugs. I already had that too, but what would be more beautiful and fun than eating from – and drinking from – new plastic tableware with my own ‘CaLiberté’ logo on it. Hence, I look on the internet for companies that can provide this for me. I hardly entered ‘print plastic tableware’ on Google, or a whole list of possibilities appears on the screen. After some searching and comparing, I finally find what I want. Whereupon a week later I am the proud owner of a personal tableware with my logo and text. However, that is still not the end of the list. Over the weeks that follow, I collect all the other ‘big and small stuff’: a welcome doormat with again my personal logo (and the photo of my future Cali), a large percolator, a foldable colander, a foldable sink, a tool kit, bedding, and so on and so forth. The room in my house where I temporarily store all this, is starting to look like half a warehouse. That’s going to be quite a job to cram all that stuff into the Cali. I also think that in the beginning I will take way too much with me. However, I agree with myself that after every trip I will evaluate what I have used. And if there are things that I consistently don’t use, I’m going to remove them from the camper. Anyway, I buy one last thing (not so much because it’s necessary, but because I really like it): two weekend bags with the logo from the Volkswagen Camper Centre where I bought my Cali. Just ‘for fun’. All that remains is for me to experience in the long term whether I still need a groundsheet for under the awning. And whether it might be useful to buy a so-called ‘solar shower bag’ that can heat the shower water (since the outdoor shower of the Cali only supplies cold water). I will experience for myself whether this is a useful purchase. For the time being, I have a lot of fun figuring out all these necessities and I am now well equipped.
Now that I know that the Cali will be delivered just in time for the summer of 2025, I can also start making my holiday plans. I plan to make a few short trips in the Netherlands as soon as I have the Cali; to get to know the campervan well and become completely familiar with it. On my first longer (summer) holiday with the Cali I don’t want to go too far from home either. What could be better for me as a Francophile than planning a holiday in France? So that will be an easy one, with my Cali I will make France unsafe this summer. Of course I know that you can use special camper spots in many places without making a reservation. But I decide to go for ‘safe’ and book three campsites in France: in the Morvan, the Provence and the Dordogne. A small ‘Tour de France’. This way I can gain even more experience with my Cali in a short time. When I retire in a few years, I definitely want to go camping ‘off the grid’. Now, however, I think it’s fine to use campsites first. The planning immediately puts a big, almost indelible, smile on my face. I can hardly wait. And yet I still have almost five months of waiting ahead of me before I have my own Cali. Suppose the production of the Cali is delayed, then I run the risk that I don’t have a campervan to take with me on this France trip. The Volkswagen salesman however reassures me by indicating that he doesn’t expect any problem. He foresees that I can certainly go on my summer holiday to France with my own campervan.
My salesman’s confidence in the delivery date seems to be right. During a phone call – as I write this, this was yesterday – I am told that my Cali went into production yesterday, on Wednesday January 22, 2025. No less than three months earlier than originally planned. So if everything goes like planned, I’ll have the Cali in front of my door at the beginning of March, what a positive surprise!
Finally, I am now orienting myself on the right insurance. For tax reasons in the Netherlands, among other things, my campervan will be registered as a ‘normal MPV’. This has the disadvantage that the road tax is quite high, because it is not possible to use the ‘motorhome road tax discount rate’. Very unfortunate as it seems, but the tax reduction has been under pressure from the Dutch government for a long time and will probably disappear completely at some point in time. For now, this means paying more, in the future there will be no disadvantage anymore. A big advantage, however, is that the special extra tax on vehicles (in the Netherlands the so-called BPM) is considerably lower. So much lower that it more than fully compensates for the higher road tax. All in all, a good choice to get this new Cali registered as an MPV instead of a campervan. Comparing the different insurances is a fun job for me. It may take a lot of time, but it is important to list all the differences. The insurance that I will eventually choose offers everything that I find important: (a) I can also use the Cali as a normal daily car with an unlimited number of kilometres per year (b) it is insured for 10 years at the new value + 125% (c) equipped with an extensive roadside assistance service throughout Europe and (d) my twenty-two claim-free years are fully taken over. All that remains is for me, when the Cali is delivered, to make a phone call to handle everything.
I am all set to receive my Cali. I must be patient for a while, about a month and a half, then my new travel companion should be on the doorstep. All the preparation thus far is only a fraction of the real fun that is to come… I’m looking forward to the ‘delivery date’, let the travel experience begin!
THE LONG WAITING COMES TO AN END – final part…
Sometimes time passes very quickly, like an arrow being shot out of a bow at an enormous speed. And sometimes time creeps forward even slower than a snail. At least, that’s how it feels. Because if there is a ‘unit’ that is not subject to change or inflation, it is the concept of ‘time’. A second always lasts a second, everywhere on our planet and under all circumstances (at least, that’s what we as humans have learned in school). Yet the perception we have of ‘time’ is subject to personal circumstances. Statements such as ‘this takes forever’ and ‘it flew by’ are therefore commonplace. As such everything, even time, is relative.
I however don’t want to start a ‘philosophical discussion’ about how we experience ‘time’. So let me turn to why I write this: it seems like an eternity since I ordered my new Volkswagen T7 California Ocean PHEV (what a long name…). Yes, it is true that I can say that this order took place last year, hence a year ago. To be precise, on December 7 last year. As I write this now, the calendar indicates the date March 3, 2025. In other words, less than three months since I placed the order. Yet it feels like much longer ago. That’s how it goes when you’re waiting for something positive: then time creeps forward like the aforementioned snail. Only three months ago I signed the contract that will make me the proud owner of my own Cali. At the time of ordering, I was told that my Cali would probably go into production in early May 2025. I could then expect the delivery just before the summer holidays. During an e-mail exchange that followed, I understood that production started earlier, on January 22. More than three months earlier! Last week I received the confirmation that production had been completed, and my Cali is put on transport to the Netherlands. In the subsequent conversation with ‘my seller’ I have now also agreed on the date on which I can pick it up in Amersfoort (the Netherlands): On Friday March 14 (luckily not Friday the 13th) I can start calling myself the proud owner of my Cali. Where (the perceived) time was very slow at the start, in the end it speeded up!
Now all I must and can do is wait for the license plate number of my Cali: I expect a call for this towards the end of this week. And then I’ll focus on a whole list of actions: arranging the alarm (a tracking / following system), the insurance, the ‘environmental stickers’ for Germany and France and adding the correct licence plate number to both my toll badge and my parking app. I can hardly wait, less than two weeks to go. Still two ‘long weeks’… suddenly time goes very slowly again…