I can pretty much pinpoint the moment I decided I had to get a VW camper van. It was September 2003 and we were on a secluded beach on a stretch of the Costa Blanca (yes, there are some left) when a couple pulled up in a classic but well worn Kombi.
They slid open the side door and their tanned and healthy looking toddler jumped out and ran down to the water. After the family had a swim they wandered back up to the van and ate a leisurely lunch shaded from the sun.
At that stage I was on to my second 1970s Beetle, but children and the chronic Dublin traffic which had driven me on to a push-bike meant I'd been mulling over the idea of trading up for a camper. The idyllic view of care-free holidays I saw that afternoon clinched the deal for me.
It was another 18 months before my 1970 Type 2 Riviera was unloaded at Dublin Port after being sourced in the US. Over the following year my patience and my budget were severely tested but I never lost faith.
When I convinced my long-suffering wife Sandra that six weeks travelling around France with our 18-month-old and three-year-old daughters seemed like an ideal holiday, men wiser in the ways of the VW than me began to look at me in a different light.
It was a baptism of fire but we covered almost 3,000 miles with only a couple of mechanical issues. As one long-time enthusiast said to me after our return "sure if you'd known more you'd probably never have gone".
The Type 2 is an iconic vehicle and a triumph of simplicity and efficiency - both mechanically and on the interior. I love the camaraderie of owning a vintage VW, the stories you hear from people when you stop to refuel, and the fact that I can ring a mechanic or a fellow enthusiast at almost any time of the day or night for some roadside diagnostics.
Don't tell me you get any of that when you are driving a €40,000 motorhome.
o A convoy of vintage VW vans is currently on a 1,375 mile charity cruise around Ireland. Log on to www.eireball.com for more details.