ON MY MIND
The Long Goodbye
T
travelling affections: A classic BMW touring motorcycle. For now we plan to share the travelling love and see where our hearts lead us…
here’s no easy way to say it, but this is the final issue of iMotorhome Magazine. It’s time to join Mrs iMotorhome in ‘transitioning to retirement’ – whatever that actually means.
Thank You! Without readers like you, iMotorhome Magazine would never have lasted. Thank you for taking the journey with us, whether you’ve just found the magazine or been with us since May 2012.
The decision to close the magazine hasn’t been easy and isn’t financial. Rather, it’s the realisation I’ve ‘lost the love’ and what once was passion has become a chore. Visiting the Sydney Show brought that into focus, as I touched-on last issue, but walking around the Brisbane Show at the beginning of June confirmed it: Call it fatigue, overload or boredom, the ‘fire’ has gone and it’s time to move on. All-up we produced around 200 issues, taking into account New Zealand and America, so it’s not like we didn’t give it a decent go…
I want to say a special thank you to our most loyal advertisers – Australian Motor Homes & Caravans, Ballina Campervan & Motorhome Centre/Horizon Motorhomes, Northcoach RV Equipment, Suncamper Motorhomes, Trakka, and Wirraway Motorhomes. This handful of companies ‘kept the faith’, even advertising when it wasn’t necessary due to rocketing sales – like now. At times we’ve been the sole advertising expenditure for some of you and that loyalty didn’t go unnoticed, nor unappreciated. Readers, please keep these businesses in mind when you’re shopping around – they’re good people.
All issues will be available on the iMotorhome Magazine website at least until the end of June 2022 and possibly beyond (and will always be available on issuu.com/imotorhome as long as that website exists). Although I’m stopping the magazine, you might see the odd blog post pop into your inbox. One of the reasons for keeping them going is it has always been my plan to return to running small group motorhome tours in New Zealand and possibly further afield. Covid scuppered plans for touring this year and even 2022 is looking dodgy, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
Another thank you goes to our equally loyal contributors – people like Colin Oberin, Warren McCullough, Phil McLeod, Robert ‘Bobby’ Watson, Ian Button, Sharon Hollamby and others: You helped keep the pages full, interesting and relevant. Thanks also to good mate and Tech Guru Allan Whiting for sharing resources, helping out and generally being invaluable.
While I won’t miss the deadlines or reviewing motorhomes (apparently the best job in the world, so I’m told), I will miss the feedback from readers: It has been the best part of the last nine-and-a-bit years and Mrs iM and I have forged good friendships with many of you.
Finally, a very special thank you to Mrs iMotorhome: co-conspirator, travelling companion, motorhome review model, DIYer, tour guide, hostess, magazine proof reader and so much more; you helped make this whole adventure possible – and fun – and I can’t imagine how it would have happened without you…
With that in mind, the Readers’ Weekend in Jugiong from 10-13 September is still on and it will be our chance to say some personal goodbyes. That’s if borders are still open and other travel restrictions permit – but that was always the case. Closer to time I’ll be in touch with everyone on the list and provide detailed location and event details.
Struggling to find a way to wrap-up this final column, I can’t get out of my head the title of Douglas Adam’s fourth book in his epic five-part trilogy: The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Entitled ‘So Long and Thanks for All the Fish’ (the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, but I’m sure you knew that), it’s a fitting segue to lift the mood and get us all out of here. It’s also a reminder nothing lasts forever and that we shouldn’t take things too seriously. Thank you, it’s been a hoot, but now it’s time to go. See you on the road!
Project Polly is being discharged from active service and is transitioning to civilian life as we speak. Soon she’ll be just another anonymous white van on the highway – something Mrs iM and I are looking forward to (ditto travelling without always taking photos and looking for story ideas). How long Polly stays with us remains to be seen as she now has a rival for our 2
Richard
