to have an irrational hatred of caravans?

[GingerNutRiskIt]

I despise caravans.
With. A. Passion!

I've had 3 caravan holidays.

The first I was about 11 and my mum spent most nights getting drunk on diamond whites, and I remember having to walk back to the caravan on my own and my step brother was really creepy.

The second I was about 13 and my dad had his friends stay with us and all they did was shag and shake the caravan from side to side.

The third was a couple of years ago and all I could see everywhere were parents drinking while the kids were entertained by the newly pubescent redcoat wannabes magicians etc.

I just HATE it!
I'm totally stuck up not stuck up, honestly. I love roughing it in a field in a tent, or 5 star all inclusive. But caravans, even the word "caravan" strikes fear into my very soul!

So, I came home tonight, and hubby says, DS1 has been invited to go on tour with us and his football team..... for the weekend....... in a fucking caravan.

So..... AIBU or are there other people out there who HATE the rickety gull infested sheds?

[horizontilting]

Me too, winewolf. And that episode was just called "Hell"... (these cows are small, but the ones over there...) :D

[IHaveBrilloHair]

Tbf if that had happened to me I'd hate them too, but it didn't so I holiday on a Haven caravan site and love it.

[SlatternIsTrying]

Clubhouse? I know not of what you speak.

I have a tourer and the only time you have to speak to a person other than your own, is a quick hello in the toilet block.

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I live my caravan. It's very swish and not smelly or damp.

I only go on nice quiet Caravan club sites. No club houses, etc. You can't beat falling asleep listening to the owls hooting, etc. If you like camping it can be just as good but with a comfy bed, warmer, flushing toilet and cold beer and an oven!

It might be small but it's very cosy.

[ovenchips]

Static caravans can be so nice nowadays! I've had a handful of caravan holidays now and they've worked brilliantly. Quiet locations with beautiful lake/ sea views. Very modern and comfortable inside. Best of all my son adores them and thinks they are much better than any 5 star hotel.

I also had one holiday in a old (in caravan years) static. Quite worn and not very comfortable. Detested it. Was counting down time until we could leave. My son still loved it.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Toilet block.

Shudder

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

I've never seen a dirty caravan club site loo block. They're spotless.

Though the site I go to the most doesn't have a loo block. So yes having to empty your own loo is a slight downside but it's ok.

[SlatternIsTrying]

Ah but you don't have to use the toilet block everytime, just some of the time (if you catch my drift).

One of the sites we use has showers in it that nearly take the skin off you, but in a good way. They are better than any shower I've had anywhere else, ever.

[QuietWhenReading]

I've been trying to think of a polite way to say this but it's too late at night:

It's not the static caravans.

It's just you aren't going to naice enough caravan sites.

I have never been to a Butlins style site.

I have never seen drunken/rowdy behaviour.

I have never stayed in a damp mould caravan.

We usually go to a site in the highlands, France or Italy. The vans are always beautiful and very clean, on lovely sites in the middle of beautiful countryside.

The kids from all the neighbouring vans make friends and play together and on the continent there are lovely pools, play parks, walks and often horse riding, beaches and bicycle hire.

Friends are often very surprised at our holiday choices as we could afford a fancy hotel somewhere if we wanted.

I much prefer self catering, (it's far more relaxed than having to get up for breakfast) and I like having the privacy of the children sleeping in a separate room.

We've tried staying in gites and cottages but it just seems like more work for us keeping it tidy and clean whereas a static takes about two minutes to make ship shape.

Of course it isn't for everyone but I much prefer our holiday to my friend's 5 star AI choice.

[Monty27]

Diamond white plus caravan plus clubhouse and children, (mine and theirs, me a single parent) brings the horrors to me too OP. I don't and ever have drunk diamond white in my life, nor owned a caravan but naively accepted an invitation to aforementioned.

I could still have nightmares about it. But it was a lifelong lesson. Take care and stop worrying about it.

[honeyroar]

I thought I hated caravans too, until we were meant to be going camping and it rained for two solid weeks in the run up to the trip. I decided that now I'm in my 40s, the tent thing, combined with children and wet dogs would be an endurance. So we bought a cheap caravan. It was a revaluation. It was warm, dry, comfy. We had our own bathroom, could store all our stuff in it all the time, and it was just so easy! Now I love it.

I've never been to a "proper site" though. We go to international horse trials, where you stay in the grounds of stately homes, or tiny rustic sites. The thought of gravel pitches and club houses doesn't do it for me. We still treat it as camping. We've never used electric hookup or a generator, we'd never take a tv. We read, talk, play games and relax.

[Monty27]

That's a different scenario altogether honey.

[honeyroar]

What do you mean Monty?

[Monty27]

I mean the difference between a clubhouse diamond white caravan holiday, and one where you can just enjoy yourself in other ways. Which is my preference, and I always thought that's what they were about. Until the fiasco mentioned previously.

I come from a big family and we always had a caravan and it was wonderful.

[Fizzielove]

I love our caravan! Very fond memories of spending all summer there! Very small site, council run and is so popular there's apparently a 16 year waiting list! It's great cos alot of the other parents I grew up with, so we all look out for the kids! My DC love the freedom.

[Krampus]

Seeing as you're talking about static caravans yabu

We've stayed in several really nice ones, at this one we spent most of the time on the decking. It was a much nicer experience than a hotel.
www.roancampingholidays.co.uk/accommodatie/2292/supreme-lounge-air-con-decking-sat-tv-dishwasher

[Krampus]

But thankyou for the Diamond White references, I have now recategorised a certain type of holiday as a Diamond White Holiday

[exLtEveDallas]

I love our caravan. I love our site. I love the sports bar next door and the entertainment venue the other side.

I love the decent, down to earth people we meet year in year out. I love the New Years break that we do every year - the bands, the comedians, the entertainment and the pure unadulterated fun. I love the beach 100yds away, the swimming pool, the splash park, the fair and the amusements.

I love that people sneer about them on MN, because it means I'll never have to put up with those moany, judgemental wankers people in real life .

[escapetothecountry16]

In the nicest possible way OP you have not had a stuck up proper caravan experience. Your family sounded like you needed a SS intervention. Your OP made me quite sad.

I would chew off my fingers before I would go to a caravan park with entertainment. They sound absolutely vile. So YWNBU to never want to experience that again.

My grandparents had a static in a smallish park that many of their friends/extended family had one in too. It was homely, I knew most of the children, small play park thing that contained a tap that we drank from I have very fond memories of the place. I revisited it a few years ago and it resembled a ghetto. Hundreds of kids on electric scooters, parents drinking Diamond White on make shift decking, loud music blaring etc.

A site that is aimed at MC people is incredibly expensive. Caravan must be under a certain age, those backing onto the golf course must have x,y and z etc If I had that sort of money I would buy a second home (of the bricks variety)

[VikingLady]

You can get spider nests in between the outside walls

[CatWithKittens]

To answer the AIBU question I would say that once you recognise that your hatred is irrational, you must be being unreasonable to have it

[caitlinohara]

Vikinglady WTF??? Please elaborate, BIL is about to buy a caravan and he is gibbering wreck near spiders.