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Hi everybody
So, hello at last! We are Chris and Susan from Belfast in Northern Ireland – long time lurkers, first time posters. We bought ‘Hans’, our Exsis SG, from Fullers in Nottingham back in 2012, having admired the design from the very first moment I read that ‘Most exciting motorhome…ever!’ article in Which Motorhome in 2003 (it’s a good thing the PDF is here on the website as my copy of that magazine is so dog-eared from hours of poring longingly over the pictures until we had saved up enough for our own!)
When we bought the Exsis we had been campervanning for years in a bay-window VW – but we had always dreamed of a longer trip and the Exsis seemed to be the perfect vehicle to do it. Real life, work, all the usual excuses intervened for a few years (long story!) but last year we decided the time had come to stop faffing around and give Hans a proper adventure.
And so we’re in the middle of the trip of trips – last May we rented out our home, left our jobs in good hands, said emotional farewells to our friends and family, and fulfilled the dream of a lifetime by hitting the road for a full year. Eight-and-a-half months in, we’ve clocked up 14 countries (UK, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and San Marino); we spent Christmas and New Year soaking in the sun on the Cote D’Azur (seriously, when you’re from Northern Ireland, you’ve no idea how good that feels) and as I write we’re poised on the border ready to try Spain and Portugal for some more Winter sun.
Other than the UK and France, these are all brand-new first time experiences for us and it has been just absolutely amazing. As well as seeing some of the most fantastic sights in the world, the trip has become a bit of an Ode To The Hymer Exsis. We love this flipping van. It’s such a wee tiddler compared to the hefty monster motorhomes that stalk the campsites of Europe (we are almost always the smallest van on site), but it has never felt cramped or claustrophobic. It somehow swallows all our precious possessions in its many nooks and crannies, and then hauls them across mountain passes with nary a complaint. It is toasty warm inside, has a bigger bed than the one at home, can be used to cook up a gourmet meal or have a scaldy hot shower, and is the cosiest place on Earth when the rain is hammering on the roof. It is home.
And as an added benefit, because we’re so rare, Hymer Exsis owners greet each other like long-lost family on those precious occasions when we share a campsite: we’ve met three other Exsises (Exsi?) so far (one in Glencoe, one at Briksdal Glacier in Norway, and one in the hills above Innsbruck) and on every occasion their owners have been lovely, and we have shared much coffee, conversation, and the communal smugness that comes with knowing that our vans are the best motorhomes on the campsite by a million miles and that everyone else is an idiot.
Anyway, this was supposed to just be a quick hello! I’ll see if I can post a few pics to the forum any time we get some decent WiFi (much harder to find than we had expected!). We made some quite major modifications to Hans in preparation for the trip which might interest/horrify those of you who like to tinker with Hymer’s basic design. We’ve had one or two little problems and found workarounds or solutions. And before we left, thanks to lots of you who have posted your wisdom on this Forum, we followed lots of Little Exsis Book advice on everything from the front to the back of the van – from insulating the overcab to fitting a SOG!
So thanks – hello – and maybe see some more of you down the road!
Chris & Susan
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Hello to all and wishing you a belated Happy New Year.
Great to hear from you Chris and Susan, we met near Innsbruck and it’s wonderful to hear from you and that you’re still travelling and all is going well.
I intended several times to log on here and say “hello” to you as I knew that you were regular readers of the forum but it’s just been a bit difficult since we got back in October – all is well now and let’s hope it will remain so. I had it starred in my diary to log on today and could hardly believe my eyes to see your post.
I had particularly wanted to say we were sorry that we had to rush off early the next morning, the day after seeing you, we went round to your van early but with no sign of life decided not to wake you.
We took it gently and got back home ok and are taking the van in in 2 weeks and hopefully the problem we had can be sorted before we head off again – with that all important bit of luck.
If we get away alright we shall be heading for Spain so do keep in touch and let us know how you’re doing and we may meet up again for the coffee! Can’t beat it.
Happy and adventurous travels – have fun and at least your not in -4 here!!
Just as an aside, for anyone needing the Zady push lock handle for the back “boot” lid (we have had to get one, so thanks for the info) the number has changed form N74080 to N74081 – it’s still 080 online but is invoiced and packaged as 081.
Happy travelling to everyone, love from Mary & Richard xxx
PS Chris and Susan have made a lovely job of their van.
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Good to hear that you’re still happily Exsis-ing, Mary & Richard, but sorry to hear that you have a (major?) problem. Could you let us know what it is, please, and how you eventually get it sorted – it all helps those who may suffer a similar problem in the future? Anyway, I hope you get it sorted as painlessly as possible.
Thanks for the updated information on the Zady lock code. Good info.
Have a good trip to Spain and enjoy your time there – we’re off to Annecy in two weeks for about three months, so if responses from “Exsis Command Centre” are erratic, that’s the answer!
Best wishes to you all.
Barry
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Hi Chris & Susan!
You made it to the forum 😃! Good job!
Three Exsises but four encounters with Exsis owners, when you count Briksdal Glacier plus our second meeting in Oslo. Apart from you, we met just one other (french) Exsis during our 4 months-plus trip through Denmark, Sweden and Norway. So there’s another record for you 😊!
Keep us posted about your plans. When you’re on your way up again (not for aaaaages yet of course) we could try and zip down into France to meet up somewhere!
Enjoy! But I don’t think you need any encouragement, do you 👍
Peter and Chris
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Hello Chris and Susan and thanks for joining the site and sharing.
The Exsis is remarkable and is probably the best small van to allow such adventurous and extensive touring. Ted and Ali had a ‘ year out’ way back in 2013/4 (great shots of the Lederhosen). Impromptu meeting and a warm and enthusiastic Hello is another benefit of such a unique van, as you say.
Your post has also been very beneficial as it has also prompted a Hello and update from some dear longstanding Exsis friends, Richard and Mary and Chris and Peter.
Best wishes to all for safe and incident free touring.
Fred
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Hola everyone
(yep we’ve now reached sunny Spain – currently in Barcelona!)
Many thanks for all the replies and the warm welcome to this fantastic community. This is social media in the very best sense of the term!
Mary and Richard – glad to hear you made it home OK and hopefully your Exsis glitch is now sorted. It was fantastic meeting you in Innsbruck (one of our favourite camp sites as well – highly recommended to all – Natterer See in the hills above the city) – as you discovered, we are not early risers… we thought the year in the van might help us go to bed at sunset and get up at dawn – no such luck – in fact I think our lie-ins have got worse! (Or better, depending on your point of view)
As we discovered with Chris and Peter – it’s great fun meeting up again a little bit further on down the road… so anyone heading to Spain, Portugal or France before Easter, it would be fantastic to arrange to cross paths
Thanks for the info Fred that fellow Exsis-ers have managed the full year before us – as you say, the van is so well suited for a longer trip – we’ve never wished for anything bigger – and have frequently had cause to be thankful for our petite dimensions!
(One of my bugbears is when the motorhoming magazines refer to the many 5.99m models now available as ‘compact’ and ‘car park friendly’ – having just about managed to squeeze the 5.4m of the Exsis into spaces, I’d love to know what they manage to do with that extra 59cm…)
Happy travels all
Chris & Susan
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Great to hear from you, Chris & Susan, and to hear that your odyssey is still on track.
We’re off to France (Annecy) for three months next week so keep in touch as to your movements and we may be able to arrange a mini-Exsis somewhere. We’re visiting relatives in Provence March/April and are peripatetic from then on as we come back.
Barry
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Belated hello and whoops of joy at all your travel stories!
One day, hopefully soonish, we will take off in the van for a long trip. Between now and then you’ll find us at a load of classic bike races – at some point possibly with classic race bike in tow – and a fast dash through France, Belgium, Holland, Germany and Denmark to Sweden for our regular swing dance camp experience.
It’s the best van and best forum ever!
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Good to hear from you, Katy & Alastair.
Classic ‘bike racing sounds really good, and it’s doubly so with the Exsis as your base.
Here’s our Exsis with the Hydralift trailer, and BSA C15T on board. I’ve also carried my BMW R100R, as some may remember from a recent Exsistravaganza.
Your “classic racer” wouldn’t, by any chance, have a Vincent engine, would it, Alastair? 🙂
Let us know any racing dates & places coming up. You never know… you could acquire some supporters.
Good luck!
Barry
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Yes! I don’t think you could go far wrong with a 175cc to 250cc Honda (best) or any of the other big Japanese ‘bike makers.
175cc is big enough to take two people up big hills yet small enough to fit on a dedicated rack on the back of the Exsis (with maybe rear spring assisters). If solo, a 90cc to 125cc might be Ok. Go and have a look round a dealer – tell him what you want it for, that you want it for either one person or two people, and that you want LIGHT WEIGHT (most important). If you’re prepared to pull a trailer, though, you can have any size you want!
Have a look round, then tell us what you like and we’ll discuss it.
Good luck!
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