Hi Jim, ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) In a recent note, you asked: >How is a major breakdown handled in your caravan?> The caravan that Sandie and I went on last month occurred in the United States and as we have said before, we know our 23 year old truck (almost 300,000 miles of severe service on it) will need mechanical upgrades - period. At inconvenient places? Absolutely! Without a doubt! You know from reading our caravan log, the Van required service during the caravan. Fortunately, none of the upgrades were of the magnitude you experienced. If we had a problem as significant as you had AND were in Mexico, I might not have fared any better than you did. But, then again, I might have. >From what you wrote, it sounded to me like you felt abandoned when the leader didn't >check on you nor did headquarters offer any assistance. That may not have colored your thinking, but it would have affected mine AND my decision making skills. I'd have been ticked off at myself for allowing myself to have mis-read the relationship I thought I had with the company offering the caravan. I'd have been annoyed at myself for allowing myself to have false expectations and for failing to put together enough resources (before the caravan) to reasonably deal with such a situation. Even though I may not have known how to prepare those resources, I'd still be ticked at myself for not trying. But, to answer your question "How is a major breakdown handled in your caravan?" On our caravan, if I had a major breakdown, I would have called my emergency road service and I would have arranged for towing to a garage where the problem would be solved. I would have called the Caravan Leader to update him and assure him we'd be along as soon as the work was done. Bottom line. How would it have been handled? I would have handled it. Just like you did. Terry mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] "The shoe that fits one person pinches another; there is no recipe for living that suits all cases" Carl Jung ============ ------------original message------------- How is a major breakdown handled in your caravan? In the VAC caravan I was the one to breakdown aftre being towed into the town of Sanfrando Mexico I was left on my own. The leader said he would check on me and I could call headquarters for any help I needed. he nevere checked with me to see if things were going ok or not when we found that the transmition was destroid I called headquarters and was told that I would have to find my own way out of Mexico.I speak no spanish and the people at the tour co. are bi lingual the least he could have done would have been to help me negoicate with a towing co to get me out of there.as it was it cost me $600 to be towed 80 miles to within a mile of the border and another$240 to get across the border. I called the tour co the next day and found that eavery body had left for the weekend the lady who answered the phone had no knowledge of my breakdown. she found a friend who moved my trailer back to the R V park where we started the trip. no one from the co bothered to check to see if we needed any thing or any help.with the excepyion of the wonderful lady who got us towed to the rv park. we cooled our heels for 10 days waiting for a transmition to come in and be installed. For this service I paid $1800 I now know the meening of out of site out of mind.I I had planned this trip for a long time. I always wanted to go to Belize overland and thought that there would be safty in numbers. I am planning to go to Copan Houndouris next yera but I will go it alone as eaven in a caravan I now know that I will be alone. In the Infantry in WW2 ansdKorea we took care of our wounded eaven at risk to our selves I guess we now have different values. Jim Smith 1965 Tradewind(The Silver Ablatross) 1992 dodge Cummings Diesel. To unsubscribe or to change to a daily Digest, please go to http://www.airstream.net/vaclist/listoffice.html If replying back to this message, please delete all the unnecessary original text from your reply.
