Oh god... DH is looking at buying a caravan. Tell me the good bits please!

[Florencenotflo]

Disclaimer - this is a light hearted thread.

DH is looking at buying a caravan. His reasoning is that with the pandemic, we aren't going to want to travel abroad for a while, we live on the South East coast and there are some lovely places within an hour of here. We can pack up on a Friday and spend the weekends with the kids having mini holidays all the time.

But am I wrong to think it's not a holiday in a caravan? Just same shit different place? We've still got to cook meals (unless we eat out, but we can't do that all the time). I'm the planner of the family so it'll be me packing for us all, making sure we have everything we need.

Please tell me the good bits of having caravan holidays with small kids (1y and 4.5y).

It's better than a tent.

Same shit, different place with kids that young and you doing all the planning. Nope. I'd put it all back on him. 'We' can have mini holidays all the time? Nah, you can take the kids out in it and do all the legwork, happy days for me getting some alone time. I have no interest in mini holidays in this fashion.

And then walk the walk. Just nope out of it all.

@MrsMoastyToasty he knows better than to suggest a tent! I'm not a snob, but I've said until the kids are old enough to actually help there is no way in hell I am camping!

@Batshitbeautycosmeticsltd Luckily he's only just started looking but that's exactly the reason I'm not keen on the idea.

On the plus side no one will ever overtake you.

I was of a similar opinion until I bought a caravan & I now love it
To leave your essentials there & just fling a few bits into a bag for a spur of the moment change of scenery is priceless
Even a weekend away feels like a holiday

I think let him buy it but let him take your children away for weekends so he has to do all the prep, planning and work. Then you get a break. Although if you’re not having to do all of the work, you might enjoy it a bit more?

I use to love ours when the children were little. As long as you have something decent with a shower, they are great for weekends away in the country side. We used to stick to the Caravan Club 5 van sites, as we hated the idea of the big sites with club house and rallies.

A static caravan or one that attatches to your car?
My parents had two static caravans on a site over a 20 year period. The 2nd one they had 20 was just like a home from home.
It had heating, double glazing and we went every weekend. I loved it as a child.
A caravan that attaches to your car i have also experience of and its hell on earth.

......Googles caravans for sale and chokes at the prices .......

We have a caravan. We thought we would use it to go for lots of weekend breaks....we don't. Loading it with stuff for all the family, cooking etc falls to me and it doesn't feel like a break. We haven't used it at all this year.

If he annoys you ever he can sleep in it and save your sofa

I think with little kids it's a lot of packing and unpacking just for a night or 2 away. We had one when I was a kid although older than yours are. We enjoyed it and went lots of places. I don't do camping but would stay in a caravan probably. My parents have one and really like it. I'm just not sure on the small kids bit. Where will they play?

You seem quite passive about this!

We had a caravan and whilst great for budget, change of scene, it involves a lot of work. My mother didn’t enjoy this as dad didn’t do his fair share!

What’s his plan for storage when not using it? Can be costly, and needs to be somewhere secure.

Even if you’ve always done most of the planning and domestic work before/during/after holidays, that needn’t continue! If DH wants this, is DH willing and able to do the work?

I'm planning on buying one when we move house (where we can store it). I had a caravan as a child and loved it. We also have a dog and think it's easier to take the dog in a caravan rather than try and find a dog friendly hotel/ house.

Far better and much less work than camping mind you.

Same shit, but somewhere small which costs £££££ to buy, £££ to store, £££ to insure, £££ to service yearly and that’s before you go anywhere. And towing knackers your car so your MOT and service on that go up too.

Where will you store it when not in use?

Personally I would prefer a motor home.

Why will you be doing all the planning and packing? Where's DH in all this? It's his idea after all.

I assume that he has a towing driving licence and you too, if you plan to drive pulling the caravan.

But as far as the DCs go, they'll probably love the change of scene and you can sit and relax with a drink of your choice while he supervises them in a relatively safe environment and they get to see the farm animals, wildlife etc.

Full week of cleaning and washing soft furnishings before you'd want to set foot in there and spend the night, food shop/ packing/caravan bollocks like gas/waste disposal just for a night or two waking up in a condensation filled shed with nowhere warm to shower (despite having a shower in the van, it was shit, no chance of any proper water pressure) I have just spent the last two weekends at a racetrack with DP and for all the faff and bollockxing around then the clean up afterwards I have to say it's really not worth it unless you don't give a shit about cold, cleanliness and hour upon hour of prep and unpacking the other end.

Look at the price of caravans and then factor in the price of decent campsites (you'll be surprised). Cost of ownership also includes tax, maintenance and mot.

Then factor in that in approx 10 years time you will have a 14.5 year old (size of an adult) and an 11 year old, so you've prob got max 10 years of holidays.

'Packing up and going away' - who does all the prep/cleaning/planning before you go and when you get back etc (probably you so factor this in to your time).

Realistically, how often will you go away? If you're going an hour away why not just drive home!

I would love it! But I’m from Denmark where the summer house concept is strong (and I’d approach it as a summer house on wheels) - as a op has said, if you’re organised and keep it stocked up you can potentially have the freedom of a weekend away whenever you want with minimal prep!

Grrr as a *pp has said! Hate this autocorrect that thinks it knows better than me!

Oh...I forgot the good bits...

I haven’t had all that much experience as an adult but I loved caravan camping as a child. It felt like a big adventure every time.

We had a mobile caravan and paid for a seasonal pitch. So our caravan was set up permanently from Easter to October with awning etc . It was brilliant. Still need to do cleaning and cooking etc but we were near the beach and kids loved the site. I could just take kids on my own and was comfortable as I had toilet : shower in the caravan and shops / swimming pool / playground etc all on site.

Caravan was 1.5 hrs away 2 in Friday night traffic

We outgrew it unfortunately due to 3 kids but I loved it and would def do it if we had 2 kids

So may be something to consider especially while kids are little ?