SWIFT Carrera 144 : Our Ten-Week Review 

One of the best RU-vidrs, no lies, no commercials or selling. Great content and don’t leave us to long. X

Thanks for all the work and patience that goes into these videos. Always informative and the humour is never far away. Great job.

Hi, Love watching you guys and the dog. Brilliant 👍 We have just purchased the same van and your videos and info helped us make our minds up on which van to buy. So we went and viewed one then bought it. It’s one beautiful looking campervan inside and out. The best build quality I’ve seen. I’m a kitchen fitter of 34 years, believe me it’s built with very good quality door fixtures and fittings and great quality cabinets. Well done Swift. 😃👍 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🇮🇪🇬🇧

Love your trips thanks for all your videos ❤

Great content. Thank you both for your efforts and entertainment.

I for one have enjoyed every minute of your trip around france, it’s brought back lovely memories for me. I’m going to miss you.

Great video well done. Thanks

Thanks for the review !

Great feedback from your trip away. Thanks

Loved the 10 weeks trip videos. I’m looking forward to the next trips. Thank you for sharing

Terrific honest review warts and all! 👍

Great video again, I have enjoyed the France trip. Look forward to your next trip. Have fun and relaxing at home. Many thanks for sharing. ATB

Thanks for taking us on your journey. Have enjoyed the videos and the sights in France and the information on the van, we are looking at buying a camper van later this year so the round up on this has been helpful. Safe journey home and enjoy your summer.

Oh I’ll miss your weekly videos but I’ll look forward to your next trip. Just love you two!

I’ve really enjoyed your France tour. Thank you. Take care Gill

A lovely trip and a very enjoyable series. Enjoy your down time back home.

Thanks guys very interesting video 😊

A good review. Thank you. Enjoy being back home and we look forward to seeing you again on your next adventure!

Thank you for your very interesting videos and your evaluation - it's very useful even though we have a different van but the same layout. I'm in awe of the length you've been away - 10 days is my max! Enjoy your trip home and take care and we look forward to seeing your videos when you're next "oot and aboot'.

Loved the videos, I will follow with interest as I’m looking for a sat nav app that you can input dimensions into as well. Look forward to seeing you on future ones.

Love your video’s as they are so Informative and relaxing.We are on week 2of a 7 week tour of France our van is 6.4m Adria slb and plenty of space for us, as for the awning we have purchased screens and plan to use them tomorrow when we are spending 4 nights on a sight for a recharge/ rest

Awww, I’ll miss your videos. Love your van, looks really comfy. Safe home X 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏡🍓

Really informative, thank you, for someone who is considering buying a van. Glad you enjoyed your trip around France, my adopted country. Many more beautiful areas to discover in the future. 😊

Absolutely loved the series. Both of you must have spent countless hours producing such fine productions. Safe journey hame. Look forward to the next escapade.

Great feedback video. Enjoy your time at home. I look forward to future videos later in the summer. Cheers

Just got back from a little trip to Caernarfon so had two videos to catch up on, loved the van review, my partner and I are looking at getting a van and I found this very interesting and really fancy a swift now. Enjoy your rest but don’t stay away too long, we will miss you. Sue

I really enjoy your videos, all the details of what you are experiencing are very interesting. I don’t like being away from home for more than 10days, so you have done really well. You haven’t rabbeted on for too long. We will miss you until the next time…..Joan x

We enjoy going away in our van but also love being at home because we have other hobbies that we enjoy. Five weeks is our longest trip so far and that was enough for us. This year we’ve decided to stick closer to home and go away for two and three week trips but maybe next year we’ll decide we want to go away for longer, we can just please ourselves. It was interesting listening to your van review so thanks for taking the time to share that.

Yes, we both really enjoyed watching your adventurer trying out the new van. Didn't seem like 10 weeks ago but when you done a quick flick through the titles. .... what are we going to do of a Friday night lol. Really enjoyed it. Looking forward to seeing you back after a well earned rest away for the camera 👍👍👍👍

I’ve really enjoyed your tour of France and seeing how you live in your new motorhome 😊

10 days in Gran Canaria and I’ve had enough so well done on the 10 weeks, safe travels and I look forward to your next adventure. 🥃🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

We always enjoy watching you two, not forgetting the star of the show, Kiera. That was a very fair assessment of pros and cons of your van and I'm sure would be of interest to many people looking to buy a campervan. I built my own camper so anything I don't like is down to me! Fortunately, it's practically perfect! Looking forward to your next travel vlogs.

Hi Guys, I just wondered if you had thought of a 5kg Safefill Cylinder instead of going to the expense of an underslung tank. I got one for my Mercedes Vito when the Calor problem arose - it's nice and lightweight and can be filled or just topped up where garages have LPG ( Morrisons for example). The Scottish Distributers are Install Oil who are outside Edinburgh.

Wonderful video as always, we collected our new 122 this week and would really appreciate knowing where you got your front seat covers from? As you know the upholstery is beautiful but would like to protect the seats, safe journey home 😊

Thanks for giving your feedback, we found it very informative. We feel the same about longing for home comforts and a different choice of clothes after several weeks away. Good call to get an underslung LPG tank. I would advise to go as big as you can 🙂👍

Hi Mike and Tricia, we have followed your adventures all the way through France and have enjoyed your videos very much. We are getting our Carrera 144 in the near future and so I wanted to say, thank you for your review of the campervan, it’s great to know that we are getting a very well built and useable van from Swift. It really is a beautiful looking campervan inside and out with some great features but it’s so nice to know that it’s not all about how it looks but how it performs and it seems that we have made the right decision. There are always compromises it’s just what comprises you want to make, but I know the 144 has everything we require. Thanks again for letting us into your world and look forward to seeing you both and Keira in the not too distant future. Happy and safe travels.

Thank you for sharing your trip around France, I also feel 10 weeks is a bit much as it gets to the moment you just want to be at home!! Loved the way Keira sat with her head resting on the table and watched you both as you were explaining all the details of the trip in the new van....she obviously wanted to make some remarks as well!!!!!

Great video again Mike and Trish. Agree re the gas- we are going for a gaslow install in our Carrera 194. Co-pilot might be worth considering for the navigation app although the recent reviews haven’t been so good. Safe travels home and look forward to your the next videos.

Hi Mike /Tricia We cut our topper in half , rolled them up and keep them between the seats at the rear. The actual bed we avoid a join in the middle by using the 2 narrow back cushions together at our feet end. We put a shelf in our wardrobe , using the bottom half for shoes ( in an open box) and the top half for our laundry bag. The little chairs in a bag we store in an overhead locker. We have an underfloor gas tank, however the level gauge is unreliable ( as they all are) We have the same at nav probs. Looking forward to what you choose Love your vids ❤️

Hi there - Very interesting review and pleased to hear you guys are happy with most of the van. We'll miss your weekly vlogs but of course understand. 10 weeks IS a long time to be travelling about, we have stayed away for a month at a time, but at the same place - camping sites offer pensioners specials = a month at a great price, so that's different. Enjoy your break 🦋💙🦋

Hi from Sydney Australia 🇦🇺 I have enjoyed your review of touring France and your comments about the van. I hope you arrive home safely and you can get your feet up and watch a big television ha ha. I will look forward to your return later this year, cheers from Marion ex. Arbroath 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

godr vid on travel in vankeep up the good vids thanks lee

Thanks for sharing south of France as I think we may go next year ….. Nice extension idea on kitchen Fridges in these larger vans are a big change for our size van lol knee could be scary …. Good news on lpg tank decision I think When it’s time to go home it’s time there’s no rules is there ….

Lovely to see you both embracing & enjoying your lovely new van 🚐 Ten weeks is a long time, we love being out in the van, but it certainly makes you appreciate constant running water & going the loo without pulling a lever ☺️🙈 We try & avoid using the chocks if we can, they’re such a faff. Enjoy your summer 😎 Em & G 💜

It was a heck of a long time away from home and I feel for you but definitely a worthwhile 'shakedown ' of the van and, of course, a joy for your viewers. I had no idea you had an extra bed and when you have a mo I'd love to see how it looks. As a van user with friends this really appeals to me. If you do find an app that takes vehicle sizes into consideration please post as that is such a good idea. I love going to the wilder parts of Scotland but sometimes it's not worth the drama of trying to reverse for miles or doing a 100 point turn. The kitchen sink would be an issue for me and I'm surprised in such a big van that they didn't fit a bigger one. I have a pretty useless tiny round sink so I use a collapsible one or a large collapsible bucket. I always love Tricia's homemade upgrades. She comes up with some very useful ideas some of which I've copied. Have a smooth trip home and look forward to your next video from wherever it may be X

Hari OM Awwww,,,, will miss these weekly vids - that was a good rundown of the pros and cons... of which, the latter, very few. Will await your next with anticipation! Meanwhile, I am doing everything I can to avoid going back to The Hutch, but I get that not everyone can do long/permanent van life. YAM xx

Well done guys loved the videos we have a dog too ,so it’s interesting to us to see you being able to manage Keira ,while still being able to see stuff . Liked your summing up , we can’t afford more than a SWB transit , so we are stuck with a DA awning to increase our living space, which is fine until it rains . My penny worth would be think of a large power bank , say 2.4 kw there are so many now also increasing your solar a little. I noticed the power at the aires was about 6amp , so you could top up the power bank from a combination of the sun , driving and 6 amp saving your gas just a thought and a good back up option . Thank you both well done and good luck 👍👍👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇬🇧🇨🇦

Hi Tricia and Mike, glad to see you're settling in to the new van. I saw a RU-vid video about a man with the same van. He took the drawers out below the bed frame, it was an easy four screws and then put a floor in to protect the pipes and stuff. So that gives you the whole of the seat for storage, maybe your seats would fit in there.

Thanks ❤

Hi guys, love your videos. We use copilot gos for a sat nav. It's an annual subscription (approx £30) but it covers Europe and you can set your vehicle dimensions, handy when you have a 2.85m high van.

Excellent video. We have a VW Transporter conversion poptop roof but are looking for a bigger van so I can have an on board loo and hubbs can stand up without popping the roof. Your videos are fantastic and have helped us populate our wish list. 10 weeks. Wow. Hubbs reckons 4 to 5 max 😅

Hi - I've been watching these videos with interest, and making comparisons of layout, as we have a Swift Carrera 132 that we just got in February. It's interesting to see how people prefer different layouts and how they use them. We like the big rear lounge as we can decide to use them as singles if we can't be bothered making up the double. Mind you we didn't have a dog when we bought it, having lost ours a year or so before we ordered the van. We have just welcomed a standard Bernedoodle pup, so need to work out how to travel safely with her, first trip away will be in July as she's just 11 weeks old now. Might need a bigger van :) I agree with pretty much all of your points on your round up, apart from the gas locker. It's not ideal that it's internal but we find we manage and don't feel the need to change it, but again it's different for everybody and you need to do whatever suits you. Totally agree that it's surprising how much storage there is in these vans even as they are. We've had a few trips away already this year, just up to 5 nights at a time and nothing like your epic journey, but we've had a great time. Moved to this after having a caravan for 15 years and loving it. One thing I'd say is to get your shower room sink looked at and confirm it should come away like it does. Ours is on the opposite side of the room to yours but it doesn't come away from the unit like yours does. Of course as we have a different model it might be that they operate differently. Hope you enjoy many years of happy vanning.

Very enjoyable & informative. Didn’t hear Kira get her say 👍🏻😁

Just came across your RU-vid channel and noted your comments on the Thule Omnistor awning. We have one fitted to our Constellation 3xl. We recently purchased the Thule sun blocker which simply attached to the front slot on the awning. Brilliant. Also worth investing in Peggy Peg leg brackets. These simply sit underneath the Thule awning leg and hold it secure. If the wind suddenly increases the quick release system enables you to get the awning away quickly. We also added Thule tie down straps for added security. Like you the van is only a few months old but we're getting used to it. The awning and sun blocker will be useful when we head off to the South of France, Spain and Portugal. Take care. Sid and Nicola, Rugby

Thankyou for your honest review/reflection. We feel we have to travel for 3-6 months in Europe from Australia & having done 11 weeks in a van in 2022 we have experienced all those long term travel issues you have: Different Clothes, personal space, washing, navigating, accommodation, communication/language, wifi, etcetc etc let alone in a hired vehicle! But we love seeing your travel experiences, places & tips & have learnt heaps from you both, so …….THANK YOU VERY MUCH! Hope we get to Orkney again sometime to, we’d luv to catch up! Maybe next time you come to Australia! Take care..

Enjoyed your van review. We have a Consort Reef van the same length as yours it’s great but I like your layout better our only issue would be at 6ft my husband found the bathroom too small in the Carrera😥. We did 5 weeks in Spain and Portugal this year and could cope with a week or two more but not 10 - well done to you 🙂.ATB Ruth K

I have enjoyed the videos

love the love. love the ying yang. love ya both. great discussion between yous. mwah 💋

Hi Mike and Trisha hope you had a great time in France what is your next adventure ❤

Also with the gas tank have one fitted with an internal electric solonoid for turning the gas on and off - really good and saves having to get on the back under the van to turn the gas off which you have to do on ferries and the tunnel - the ferry etc staff just have to witness that it’s turned off at the switch 👍

Thanks for letting us all tag along on your Francation I was surprised you didn't go to Normandy or Brittany ...Keira is so patient & sweet...can't wait till next trip !

Great videos guys just wanted to share that we use co-pilot app for our van and it works well it costs £26 a year subscription and does have the ability to input the dimensions of your van into the system Regards Steven

Another vote here for an underslung gas tank. First thing we did to our new AutoTrail. Also took the oven out and replaced it with an air fryer. We use two single mattress toppers - slightly easier to store for us but guess it depends on your locker arrangement. Just a suggestion … could you put the chairs in the wardrobe? Excellent set of videos btw - thoroughly enjoyed them, thank you.

Great Video. 10 weeks defo to long for us. Would be interested if you get an app for direction that you can put in your van size. Like you we have ended up nearly stuck a view times. lol

Good tae see somebody giving an honest review aboot the van they bought and the trip away they were on ...but poor Keira her face was like wit huv a dun 😂😂

Hi Mike. I have lots of info to tell you. So might not be enough space here. Firstly we stay very close to you in Torphichen. ( you'll know where that is). Our camper van is even smaller than yours it's only 5.5m and we have a bigger dog. I bought the van and had it converted the way we wanted it. It has a rear lounge but no seating at the front. I specifically wanted a smaller van to use every day. But I wish I had gone just that wee bit bigger like yours. We just finished a 4 week trip to Norway . It was great. Needed more time. We have a Thule storage box externally. Sits on a bike rack. We too bought a drive away awning, but never used it. Too much faff. I'm not surprised you got home sick after 10 weeks. I too was worried about gas in Norway so we had an 11Kg flow gas tank fitted. Not underslung. LPG is more available abroad. Strange having your gas under the bed area. Anyway sat nav. I am a motorcyclist as well. ( Im 74 by the way not 24) . Im obsessed with GPS. I too think the apps and car play are the way to go. I have been using a Dutch GPS app called My Route App. It's a small company with huge energy. Yes you can put in your vehicle type and dimensions. But better than that is you can plan a route on your computer rather than just going where it takes you. we did that in Norway and forced it on a route right down the coast line. It's free to try out but if you want to get serious you can either buy lifetime ( that's what I did) or pay yearly. I think dedicated sat navs will become obsolete. MY ROUTE APP. They are competing with the big guys. Give that a try. Give us a call when you get back. Only if you want. ddgray100@gmail.com David Gray.

Interesting catch up. Can you bring some sun with you on your return to Bonnie Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 we need it!

Hi Mike and Tricia Thanks for this. Great summary of your trip. One question, can you see any point in external screens for the windscreen or is condensation not an issue? Take care and safe travels ❤

Don't stay away too long, you will be missed.

Hi to you both, thank you for your honest review of the van, we are considering getting a carrera 122, and a little concerned about storage. I wondered where you store your mattress topper when not using the bed? Thank you for your videos.

Hi guys. Well I traded my Toyota Proace Matino that was the same colour as yours. We just could not get on with the sliding narrow bed. Now have a Hymer 314 and love it.

YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Guys, currently I have an autotrail with an underslung gas tank , we travel to Spain over the winter getting autogas /LPG is not a problem but in the UK we are finding it hard to find LPG . I would suggest caution before you change your gas setup. None of the supermarket suppliers currently sell LPG , we have found independent garages are your best bet - we are still finding our way with this one .

Hillcrest Tarp is good 👍

Morning great review. Just wondering about your toilet does it not swivel around so you can get more leg space? I'm not sure what toilet you have but just worth a mention.

Take care….

Wow, 18 videos, 10 weeks travelling in France, amazing and well done. I have enjoyed the whole series. We have a VW Transporter, conversion on a LWB, no onboard loo, other than Bivvy Loo ( courtesy of advice from #Lifeistooshort) for emergencies. We've just returned from 10 days, travelling from Sussex to Norfolk then Cumbria and back, we loved the experience, three campsites, we don't wild camp, but we were tired and it was good to be home, it's been our longest trip out yet. Next one coming up soon, so can't wait. Don't stay off screen for too long.❤️🚐🐶🍾 Xxx

Great video well done. Thanks

Love your video’s as they are so Informative and relaxing.We are on week 2of a 7 week tour of France our van is 6.4m Adria slb and plenty of space for us, as for the awning we have purchased screens and plan to use them tomorrow when we are spending 4 nights on a sight for a recharge/ rest