AIBU to think it a good idea to get a caravan!

[Effnjeff]

Was thinking it would be nice to get a cheap 2nd hand touring caravan for spontaneous breaks/cheap hols etc.
DH def not keen, says they're a PITA and way too expensive for what they are

I spent 3.5k on one last year. Just sold it for £900, it had acquired bad damp in that 12 months. Cost £200 to have a tow bar fitted.

Spent a few £100 on various bits, locks, sleeping bags, gas, steps, cutlery, aquarolls, awning, etc.

Just spent 10.5k on another caravan. Mhopefully a not damp one this time!

It costs me £200 a year to store it. You're looking at about £150 for an annual service but you could get away with alternate years in an older van as long as you have a carbon monoxide alarm I reckon.

£46 a year for caravan club membership.

Site fees vary. I'm spending £12 a night on a weekend away next month on a little site with electric hook up and not much else. Other sites in the summer can easily be £25 a night, and these are sites which don't have clubhouses, entertainment, etc as I don't like those.

Oh and Dh u didn't want one, doesn't like caravans and refuses to come away. We go without him.

I didn't tell him I was buying either of them! He has found out about them though, I couldn't get the water going on the new van and had to ring him to come over to help. . Took some explaining how my van was 12 years newer!

We looked into getting a static but the cost was madness! I loved my years touring but the cost now would restrict holidays to only that which I wouldn't want now.

We do a couple of static holidays a couple of times a year which if booked in advance is pretty reasonable cost (we have just got back and 3 nights at Easter was £260 a van)

We have had 3 now in the last 10 years as our family expanded. We started off with a cheap one off eBay £1000 and came with all the kit. We had the most amazing summer in it with our 2 boys and fell in love with caravanning. We upgraded the next year to a posh one which was more like a mobile hotel room. We go away most weekends from now until November and lots of longer holidays too. We're just back from spending the Easter weekend at Alton Towers with friends who also have a caravan and lots of boys. They have had a blast. Next weekend we're going to Wales. Weekend after that the lakes with friends who bought a trailer tent inspired by our adventures. Dh is a bit of a Ray Mears type so takes all the boys fishing and crabbing and adventuring. We mum's sit in the sun with a glass of wine chatting. I feel like my boys have the freedom I had growing up when we get to a site. They're off making friends exploring getting independence.

Beaver! Reckon that would be the same here

Busyboys - sold!
(Spesh the wine bit )
All sounds very Swallows & Amazons

We had our caravan for 6 years and we've had some great holidays with it.

I'm not sure what people mean about packing and unpacking being a faff. I fill the caravan with toiletries, cleaning stuff, bedding etc at the begining of the season and just take food and clothes on the day we go. Hardly a bind.

For the last few years we've been lucky to get 3 weeks annual leave in the Summer so we've headed off to Europe. We've been to France, Italy, Austria and Switzerland seeing and doing things that we wouldn't have done on a "normal" holiday.

Yes agree that packing is totally easy. We've done it from deciding to go that day to leaving in half an hour. Bag of clothes each, bag of food - sorted. We generally only go around an hour away so can be there for 6pm on a Friday all sorted. Even our 13 year old still loves it at the moment. We will be gutted when he doesn't want to come any more.

Want one, want one, want one!!!

Just small issue of convincing DH

burns-farm.co.uk/
If you scroll down to campervans on the above link you can see our last caravan in the corner behind my brother's blue vw van. We go away with him a lot too.

Looks lovely Busy

Has anyone had/got a folding camper ?
Used to be known as a trailer tent?
We are thinking of getting one and wondered if anyone had any experience of these. Basically - we can't afford a caravan but I find our tent too cold and thought a folding camper may be a compromise...

Onto my fourth caravan in 36 years . In the gaps in between I've had a country cottage, a little place in France and a villa in Florida.

I love my vans though. So simple. The first was a static. Dead cheap at the time but that won't happen again and you have to be careful, site owners can have you over a barrel if you fall out with them.

Had that 10 years. Had the cottage ten years. Then sold that and bought the villa in Florida and the chalet in France( a little wooden structure. Was fabulous)

After they went we got a small 2 berth touring caravan that we left on a site. Then upgraded to a four berth and last year changed a much bigger tourer that we keep on the same site.

Just 40 mins from home. Lovely . Handy for some lovely towns and cities. Site fees are only £1600. You would spend that on extra petrol towing it and site fees per night. We just pack a small bag and go.

Wouldn't be without it. In fact I've had a holiday home for 36 years now of one description or another.

Keeps me sane!

Cannot recommend it enough! We got back today from along weekend away. Try it (borrow or hire) and if it's for you, you will fall in love with it. We love it and so do our DC. We often go away for two nights (leaving after work Friday) as we keep loads of supplies in there from Easter to October. The kids all love to play out on the campsites, riding bikes and scooters or just playing, there is no need to go to expensive sites if you don't want to. Would recommend investing in a porch awning for shoes, bikes etc.

Who/how can we hire one from to get a flavour of caravaning??

Sorry I don't know but on the caravan channel they once dedicated a whole episode to hiring before you buy to see if you like it, so there must be places

I would love a tourer as the prices for going away in the school holidays are £££, even in this country. We wanted a static van for July, looked in the autumn for next July and were quoted £1k for a week! DH hates the idea of towing though, and DS isn't a good traveller so I'm struggling with my dream on 7-hour drives into France to get the decent weather but it would be much better than 2 weeks in a tent in Wales in the rain.

My one hope is the woman who ran our antenatal classes. She towed her caravan because her husband refused to do so and took it over to Jersey etc.

Sorry to hijack for my own purpose but we are also considering for this year:

Anyone know if our cars tow a standard 4 berth? A focus or an astra.

Caravan channel

DH aka jez clarkson abhors thought of caravans and everything associated with them. But we have stayed in statics on France which he has enjoyed, so will start working in him from that angle.

It all just sounds so appealing

Your either a caravan person or your not. I am not.
PIL have a tourer on a permanent pitch. We've been loads of times but I really don't enjoy it. They pay around £1500 a year for the pitch which has nothing except a toilet block, manky showers that cost £1 for about 2 minutes and a laundry room. Anything with better facilities would cost much more.
Then they have all the upkeep of the caravan which always seems to need something doing to it.
Their friend has a top of the range static that we've stayed in a couple of times but I didn't enjoy that either. It was all still too cramped for my liking.
PIL love it though and several of our friends have invested in statics which they love.
For the money I'd rather book a load of cheap premier inn rooms and have weekends away that way. No cleaning, no cooking and a toilet I don't have to walk across a field to use.

notnob, I have a Ford Focus and tow a 4 berth but you be very limited on weight of caravan. The only four berths I found I could tow were Luna Quasar 464, a Sprite Alpine 4, I think a Venus van and some Bailey Rangers.

Kerb weight of a focus is 1300kg, maybe a bit over. My van has a loaded weight (mtplm} of 1240kg. It's illegal to tow over 100%, IE your van can't weigh more than the car. But general advice is not to tow more than I think 85%, the nearer to 100% you are the more problems you can have towing. The caravan might start to snake and flip you over. I think my match is about 92%.

Don't know what an Astra weighs. My focus is an estate, don't know if a hatchback weighs the same.

PeterParker. I tow my Caravan all over, Dh doesnt even come with me so I do everything myself. Hitching up, reversing onto pitch, etc.

We pay £1600. The toilets could do with a serious upgrade. But the swimming pools are immaculate. One is covered and heated and there are some decent swings for the kids and a flat field for football.

At the end of the season the owner puts on a pie and pea supper and a first class firework display.

The park is kept immaculate.