No Women Found In the Search for Fanny

'Why not call her Fanny?' I watched Tracey's face in the iPad Skype screen for her reaction.

My cousin likes the name we chose for our motorhome, 'Dickie', and as I have a childish and, some may say puerile, sense of humour, I thought Fanny would be an amusing moniker for their new van. Tracey chortled merrily, called over her shoulder to her husband Peter, 'how about a Fanny to go with Dickie?' and Fanny was born. Now we just had to find her before they arrived from Australia.

Henceforth, for the last week my partner Mr Fluffy and I have been scouring the motorhome dealerships of the south west for a new van to be ready for them when they arrive for their European odyssey. We've made a bit of a road trip out of it and have eaten in some very charming Britsops along the way; the Crown Inn at Catcott being a fine example.

The thing that stood out for me as we visited these dealerships is that there was not one woman salesperson at any of the seven sites we went to. We asked one salesman in Somerset about it and he said 'we had a couple of 'girls' here but they only lasted three or four months'. Perhaps they weren't keen on being called 'girls'.

Has anyone else noticed this? Is it just me? I hear there may be one or two up north so perhaps it is just the south west. I shall attend the Exeter motorhome show next week and see if any crop up.

Anyway it's just an observation. We did manage to find Fanny. It's quite daunting choosing a van for someone else as it's such a personal choice but, after much Skypeing and emailing of photos and videos, we made a choice: a Burstner Travel Van. She'll be waiting to take them on their adventures when they arrive after their long flight from Australia in a few weeks time.