A day in the lockdown life of motorhome magazine designer, Claire Honeywood

With many of the staff at Warners Group Publications working hard to bring a bit of motorhoming, campervanning and caravanning joy to your lives during lockdown, we thought it was about time we got up-close-and-personal with our editorial team and designers to share with our readers what it takes to put your favourite magazines together whilst working from home...

About me

I’m Claire and I am a designer for our Outdoor Leisure titles, primarily MMM, Campervan and What Motorhome.

I live with my husband and three cats in a village in Lincolnshire.

My lockdown diary

I’ve found that for my own sanity my morning routine of getting ready for work has not changed at all, so by the time I have fed me and the cats and made a coffee, I’m ready for the long commute to the dining room. Once I’m at the dining room table, I check there is nothing urgent and press on with my day. This mostly involves putting the pages together and making them look nice.

Depending where we are in the schedule, it could be that we are near deadline and that means my day would then involve checking, page numbering, and getting the files ready for the printers. I also prepare the files for the digital issues and get involved with marketing for our titles, so my job can be quite varied.

Providing it’s not pouring with rain I do try and get out for a walk at lunch to stretch my muscles after being sat in front of my computer. I’m very lucky that I have some lovely walks nearby and have even discovered some new ones, my new favourite being down into a small valley with a stream at the bottom and the occasional sheep – who said Lincolnshire was flat?

After lunch it's back to producing pages and at around 4-4.30pm I start getting the walk pasts from one of my cats to tell me it’s nearly dinner; these increase in frequency the closer to 5pm we get. Once I’ve packed up for the day and fed the ever-demanding felines, I go for a walk round the garden to check on my pots and window boxes to see if anything needs watering and see what birds are about — I’ve been lucky to spot a woodpecker since being at home more.

Once dinner has been sorted, I sit down for a bit of TV or to read a book.

My top tip for surviving lockdown

Definitely to get out for a walk or sit in the garden. I’m a great believer that a bit of fresh air will make you feel better.

My earliest camping memory

I have to confess I’ve not done a lot of camping. We used to camp in a tent in the garden when I was a kid if that counts? Last year we hired a motorhome to meet up with some friends at a site and walk into a festival — that was great fun and probably the first proper camping experience for both me and my husband.

My top motorhome tip

Don’t be afraid to ask. I found our friends invaluable on our trip, even for what seemed the most stupid of questions. Buy had they not been there, everyone on site is super helpful.

My dream motorhome destination

We said next time we would attempt a motorhome hire on our own, probably in the UK first so see how it went, but my dream destination would be somewhere in South Africa or Namibia.

What Motorhome magazine has offered expert advice for motorhome buyers since 1986. It features all types of motorhome – from the tiniest campervan to the largest A-class and it prides itself on bringing readers all the latest models first. Click here to find out more and subscribe to What Motorhome magazine.