First day horrible

You set off full of hope and relief that the day of departure is here. The van is as near finished as it's going to be in the next few months, you have everything you need and ahead lies adventure.

Then, a few miles down the so familiar road, the power to the wheels falters. So that was what young Simon at the garage was talking about - something I didn't understand about the air supply. Is it the carburettor? Whatever it is, the van does not seem to be pulling as it did when I had the first test run. The fuel consumption according to the magic gadget on the dashboard, is not what it should be. I'm carrying more weight, but not that much more. There's nothing I can do but drive on, fretting and unhappy. This is my state of mind when I come to a turning I've made dozens if not hundreds of time. For the usual road from Raglan to Newport you carry on past the Monmouth turning. This time, anxious and confused and feeling very old, I turned left towards Monmouth. That one moment of inattention cost me 45 minutes and a big detour - to Monmouth and then over the foggy hills to Chepstow and the old Severn Bridge.

Still I pressed on and stopped for lunch on the M25 southbound. That was when I realised my phone was not getting any data, despite, or because of, the fact that I had just changed to a cheap contract with 500gig of data. Google maps don't work without a connection of some sort and I had no paper maps.

Still I press on and at around 15:30 arrive at the Eurotunnel terminal. You drive up to a kiosk which asks you to tap in your reservation number. I had not made a reservation. "How much is it to buy now?" Almost £200 - twice the cost of an online booking. "How do I get out of here?" He was a kind young man and helped me escape, but now what? I had no way of booking online, so I decided to find a campsite with wifi and see if I could book for tomorrow.

So this is where I am, just under the white cliffs of Dover with almost no mobile signal but wifi from the café. You have to peer through the windows to see the code on a notice at the counter. The view is amazing; it's a beautiful site, but how am I to get to Calais?