Renting an motorhome in Munich Germany in 1999

Though this was mostly a good experience, looking back from now I wish I had asked it I could rent it in Munich, Germany and could have returned it somewhere else like in Switzerland in Zurich or in Aosta, Italy because after my son and his friend in 1999 decided to head south from Aoste This left me only about 25 hours to drive this thing back to Munich, Germany which was a bit much to do in that time with my mother and 10 year old daughter.

It was a 6 passenger motor home diesel powered with a 5 speed stick shift because you need something like this driving in the Alps over high mountain passes so you can down shift and not burn out your brakes in something this large. Also, at least in 1999 there were NO guardrails anywhere to keep you from driving off of cliffs like there are in the U.S. in mountains so this was really different when I had to drive past Semi Trucks going the other direction with only 2 inches to spare in the snow to keep from going over a cliff at night while it was snowing. This scared the crap out of me at the time as I didn't want to die or kill my mother and then 10 year old daughter taking a short cut over the mountains back to Munich, Germany through  Switzerland. So, unless you are a very capable driver you really don't want to be driving over the Alps in something like this unless you are really good at downshifting a diesel motorhome with a stick shift. So, capable of handling something this big in any circumstances including the Autobahn where people are driving by you at 150 to 175 mph which is legal there. Trying to pass when your top speed in a motor home is 70 or 75 when people are going 150 to 175 in high speed sports cars is really an art more than a science. So, that was tricky too. But, at least you are driving on the same side of the street in Europe as the U.S. whereas England and Scotland you have to manage driving on the left side of the road through reverse roundabouts and try not to kill everyone which if you are jet lagged is pretty rough. But, at age 50 I managed to keep myself and everyone alive while doing this which is a good thing.