A day in the lockdown life of Managing Editor, Daniel Attwood

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 spend my days working with the team looking after all the great content we publish in our print and digital magazines, here on our website and that we send out to our tens of thousands of e-newsletter subscribers.

My lockdown diary

Depending on the day, I may get up early and go for a 30- or 40-mile cycle before work or I may just get up later and walk the dog. Everyone is at home, including my wife and teenage twins, so I have had to (been pestered to) increase the broadband speed.

The team I work with has created a great home-working system where everything is created, designed, proofed and signed off remotely. Each Monday we have a Zoom meeting and then stay in touch using Slack, email and sometimes we even talk on the phone! I spend a lot of time liaising with the other managers and commercial team to make sure everything is working as well as possible and we hit all the deadlines. Touch wood it is working really well…so well I may never work in the office again.

We walk our dog, Mavis, every lunchtime together – you know the lockdown has gone on too long when two teenagers are sat at the door every day at noon with their shoes on waiting to go for a walk. The afternoons are always busy with work, so I have had to set an alarm at 5:30pm to remind me to stop and make dinner. Then it’s dog walk time again and calls to the family to see how everyone is coping and sometimes back to finish the day’s work.

My top tip for surviving lockdown

Get out of the house every day, even if it is raining.

My earliest camping memory

When I was about five, we went on a camping holiday in Scotland. All I remember is walking for hours in the cold rain. Much later, my grandfather gave me his caravan when I was aged about 20. My friends and I had the time of our lives touring around in it and towing it with an old converted Bedford minibus… some of those memories I will not share here.

My top motorhome tip

Make sure the layout is right for everyone. We had a campervan with bunk beds that were perfect for the children but the adults’ bed was far too small and far too uncomfortable. I would get onto the bottom bunk and sleep while the children had breakfast outside. Then my wife would sleep for a couple of hours while I took them for a walk. A holiday with only a few hours’ sleep is not a holiday!

My dream motorhome destination

Two years doing the full length of the Pan-American Highway in a beaten-up RV.

MMM is the UK's best-selling motorhome magazine, packed with motorhome and campervan reviews, travel and campsite inspiration in the UK and abroad, plus handy technical help and advice. Find out more and subscribe to MMM magazine here.