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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To not want to buy a bloody caravan

87 replies

Llamasally · 02/11/2021 18:29

DH is really keen. We have a young baby and toddler. Even a really nice one would be very cramped with travel cot & baby kit etc. DH is incredibly untidy. I’ll be doing all I do at home except falling over everything/children and getting stressed in the process. No one will get any sleep. I would much rather stay in luxury SC until at least they are both a bit more self sufficient - it’s a bloody lot of money for what would be logistically difficult holidays. I went on caravan holidays as a child and had so much fun, but think that started more like school age…

OP posts:
carolinesbaby · 02/11/2021 18:35

I caravanned as a small child with my parents, right through to leaving home, and then with my own children from them being a few weeks old.
It's fine.
As they get a bit bigger caravan sites are great for kids as well, loads of other kids to play with and freedom out on their bikes rather than just in another house.
Caravans are great.

biscuitsforcheese · 02/11/2021 18:37

I love my tiny caravan, but, caravan prices have been pretty high recently due to lockdown and more people holidaying in the UK etc (assuming you are UK based) so if you really want to put him off it would be a daft time to buy a caravan you are better off waiting until the prices drop again when everyone starts selling them (in five years or so if you are lucky...) Smile

TotallySuper · 02/11/2021 18:37

Tell him you can get one on the condition he does all cleaning and tidying once you have it. If it doesn't clean and tidy it to your expectations you won't be holidaying with him. Men don't get to just be untidy - he does it because he knows you'll clean up after him. Make it clear from the beginning then stick to it.

MrsWooster · 02/11/2021 18:43

@TotallySuper

Tell him you can get one on the condition he does all cleaning and tidying once you have it. If it doesn't clean and tidy it to your expectations you won't be holidaying with him. Men don't get to just be untidy - he does it because he knows you'll clean up after him. Make it clear from the beginning then stick to it.
This.
TinySaltLick · 02/11/2021 18:43

No way, caravans are a relic of the past and should stay there. It isn't relaxing, freedom is a myth - you are stuck in a tiny uncomfortable box for a week with no way to escape. It is a plastic prison. People enjoyed them as children when the only entertainment was a hoop and a stick. You can get a decade of proper holidays for the same cost! I would strongly decline the offer.

ZenNudist · 02/11/2021 18:44

I looked into buying one but I decided that the cost per holiday was just too high. Unless you are the type to holiday many weekends away in the spring and summer plus take all your holidays in it them it doesn't really pay for itself for years. You have got to consider site fees too.

It suits the retired but even then I've had friends parents think it would be great and then stuck with an albatross they didn't use as much as they thought.

I decided that, like you, I'd rather holiday in nice surroundings than have to spend every holiday in cramped conditions.

Moonlitdoor · 02/11/2021 18:46

We had a caravan and looking back it was not a holiday for my parents especially my mum. Before the holiday she would get it all organised and packed. After the holidays she had to empty it and clean it. During the holidays it wasn't so bad but we toured the south of France, not sure it would be that great in the UK.

But then holidays with small kids are pretty pointless. You deal with all the same crap in places that are less well appointed than your own home. The kids sleep like crap, you spend a fortune, and they don't even have the decency to remember ever being on holiday!

Blueroses99 · 02/11/2021 18:48

Why does he want to buy? Hire one and see whether that type of holiday is going to work for you before committing.

We hired a camper van for a long weekend locally before committing to a fortnight away (still hired) and it was very useful for learning what worked and what didn’t. No way would I buy without knowing whether it suited me and the holiday I wanted to have.

chickeneggy · 02/11/2021 18:51

@Llamasally we did it, we bought one with a 1 year old toddler, first of all it was a bloody nightmare trying to find a travel cot that would fit (and we went for the largest single axel caravan we could find) we managed to find a cot that fit but it was a nightmare getting her to sleep, or nap, it was cramped, and like you say a lot of faff with it all, no room for toddler to walk around without her getting into the oven, fridge, vents, fire vents, it was just stressful as it was raining too so stuck in it most the time !

We sold it after 6 months and 2 weekend breaks !

Hubby wants another, I definitely 100% dont !!!

mayblossominapril · 02/11/2021 18:55

I wouldn't buy one (I did have one and sold it but pre kids). Its much easier to book a static caravan on a decent site and probably cheaper

rrhuth · 02/11/2021 18:57

Caravans are great IMO but if you don't want one, you just say no.

It sounds like you have a husband problem if all the work would fall to you though.

Porfre · 02/11/2021 18:58

@Moonlitdoor

We had a caravan and looking back it was not a holiday for my parents especially my mum. Before the holiday she would get it all organised and packed. After the holidays she had to empty it and clean it. During the holidays it wasn't so bad but we toured the south of France, not sure it would be that great in the UK.

But then holidays with small kids are pretty pointless. You deal with all the same crap in places that are less well appointed than your own home. The kids sleep like crap, you spend a fortune, and they don't even have the decency to remember ever being on holiday!

Never have truer words been spoken than the second half of your post
Horst · 02/11/2021 19:00

They can be great or they can be horrible.

If your not a camper and your mind is always on it being horrible don’t buy one.

Don’t take advice from non campers though as you’ll get a million who have never owned or used one piping up about how horrible they are when they have no real idea.

GoodVibesHere · 02/11/2021 19:01

I would wait a few years.

Personally caravans don't work for us - my two children have quite different body clocks, one likes to go to bed early and wake up early, the other is a night owl, they are terrible at sharing a bedroom nobody gets any sleep and we all end up tired and irritable.

carolinesbaby · 02/11/2021 19:01

@Horst

They can be great or they can be horrible.

If your not a camper and your mind is always on it being horrible don’t buy one.

Don’t take advice from non campers though as you’ll get a million who have never owned or used one piping up about how horrible they are when they have no real idea.

This. Someone upthread refers to them as a plastic prison with no escape. Really? And considering that I'm a mum of two who takes my kids on caravan holidays which are supposedly not a holiday, I seem to spend a lot of my trips away in it relaxing!
MrsKeats · 02/11/2021 19:02

Can't think of anything worse with very young kids. Don't do it.

TillyTopper · 02/11/2021 19:05

DP and me had an amazing motorcaravan holiday and loved it (hired). But personally I wouldn't with DC, too much like hard work and personally I wouldn't like the lack of space if there were more than 2 of us.

We did go out for a picnic lunch the other day (well grabbed some things from a deli on the way) I did remark that the woman in the caravan next to us spent the whole time making food/clearing up/doing drinks etc. Didn't seem like much of a holiday...

imamearcat · 02/11/2021 19:18

We just bought one this year, I mean I do miss going to a 5 star hotel and having some sunshine but we've had 2 full weeks away and 2 weekends and loved it!

Kids are 4 and 6 though. Maybe wait a bit? Or see how you get in a static or hire one to try it out?

Wombat49 · 02/11/2021 19:30

Buy mine, barely used... 😁

Llamasally · 02/11/2021 19:32

I’m definitely in the camp of revisiting the idea in a few years time. But now? No. Shudder.

OP posts:
LoveFall · 02/11/2021 19:33

This was in Canada, but we had a string of caravans (trailers) when I was a child, and I remember those times with great fondness.

There were four of us kids. My sister and I slept in the back of our "station wagon" car when we were older, but I also remember bunks above my parent's bed and the kitchen table making into a bed.

We had so much fun as a family, singing around a camp fire, cooking outside, washing dishes even. Lots of toasted marshmallows.

I know it was planning and work for Mom, but she loved it too. My parents drove across Canada in a camper van when Dad retired. We also drove across the US from Vancouver to visit my Dad's ailing sister in Chicago

We do have lovely woodsy camp grounds in our provincial parks. I remember so clearly camping in an empty campground in the fall.

I think my siblings feel the same. We sang all the old campfire songs to my Dad when he was dying. He could only raise his eyebrows at that stage and the songs led to many eyebrow raises.

You could rent a caravan OP and see how it works for you.

HikingforScenery · 02/11/2021 19:35

@TinySaltLick

No way, caravans are a relic of the past and should stay there. It isn't relaxing, freedom is a myth - you are stuck in a tiny uncomfortable box for a week with no way to escape. It is a plastic prison. People enjoyed them as children when the only entertainment was a hoop and a stick. You can get a decade of proper holidays for the same cost! I would strongly decline the offer.
Grin
oldestmumaintheworld · 02/11/2021 19:37

I wouldn't have a caravan as a gift, but if your husband is keen tell him to take the children on holiday in one for the weekend at least twice and then say you'll consider it. I promise you he'll hate it. Problem solved.

Llamasally · 02/11/2021 19:39

Ha @oldestmumaintheworld I’m not even sure he’d sign up to that with the aim of proving me wrong 😂

OP posts:
Dozer · 02/11/2021 19:40

YANBU. It’s a purchase costing many thousands of pounds, plus ongoing costs, eg storing it when not in use. And high ‘time costs’ if you want to get value for the money. Not something to buy on a whim.

My family caravanned a lot when I was primary school age. DC enjoyed, my mum really didn’t due to the work involved.