Come and hold my hand - just put my VW Camper up for sale.

[VivaLeBeaver]

I don't have enough time to use it enough to warrent the expense of keeping it in good condition. I've only used it three times this year and will probably only use it another 2 or 3 times. I reckon it costs approx 1k a year to keep it on the road so thats £200 a trip not including petrol or any major repairs.

Anyway to cheer me up once its sold I'm getting a soulpad.

Come and tell me though how I can charge up ipads and phones with no leisure battery? Is it a case of I have to book somewhere with EHU? Or are there clever gadgets that do this for you?

That's exactly what we did. Had to sell our bus - and got a soulpad to cheer ourselves up about it.
We're not sorry.

The bus was my daily drive too (ideal as my own mother/baby room when DD was small) and the kids all loved it. But was expensive to run daily. So after a few years I got a little cheap runabout and got the camper sorn for winter months. But later realised that by doing that I'd given us just another vehicle to tax/insure etc. The bodywork started to slip. Needed money spending on her etc etc - you know how it is. So sold it.
:( We'd got the camper instead of going on a honeymoon so were quite sentimental about her anyway.

But now we don't look back really.
It's a relief to not have to spend time/money on a vehicle like that.
Camping in the soulpad is more luxurious - DH loves it because he can stand up in it, and he's ever so tall. With the bus often one of us would have to get out so the other had room to get dressed. It is nice having all the space in the tent.

I can't help you with the i-pads/phones etc though. I just check my phone once, maybe twice a day for problems at home and other than that it's off.

I must admit I'm looking forward to having a bit more space. We're tripping up over each other in the van.

I got a solar charger from amazon, twas about £30. You can charge it up before you go from the computer and it lasts for quite a while. To charge up with solar though does take a while and it needs to be in direct, stron sunlight rather than jsut daylight iykwim

You will not be disappointed with a bell tent, I promise you!

Just charge up iPhones/pads in the car while out and about.

That's a good idea, should use the car enough each day to charge stuff.

I want an icey tek box as well now, they look great!

Van is now on eBay as well as some vw sites. I really must go and wash it today!

I feel your pain Viva - we have just done the same thing. Just too much time sitting on the side of the road waiting for the tow truck. Not so bad before children but now with a toddler we just can't do it any more. We have just had a new engine too but even still on an old bus like that things go wrong.

It does have lots of good memories though and, ironically, one of the things I was looking forward to when DD was on the way was taking her away in it. But it is just not practical.

Charging-wise we do it in the car too.

Won't miss the expense though and maybe we'll upgrade from a 4m bell tent to a 5m. So not all bad....

We did that, with 3 children under 5 it got to be like a noisy squashed sardine tin, and the last time we camped we had to crawl back home from the north of Scotland at 20mph due to iffy engine.

But we haven't regretted it, I loved th VW camper very much but with small children we were only going 3-4 times a year, it was becoming an expense and a burden, it was rubbish on the nursery run in a city. We got a boring people carrier and boring family tent instead, and it has been much easier.

One day, I will get a camper van again. That's what I tell myself, this isn't the end....

but we don't have ipads or anything like that, we just take books and travel scrabble.

Oh God, people are emasiling me about her and now I'm having second thoughts. I will cry if she sells. Really , really cry.

I'm worried I'm doing the wrong thing.

I do love going away in her, but the expense is scary. I have the money in the bank to cope with the expense for now, but my savings account is on a steady downhill trend because of hte van. It would be more sensible wouldn't it to do away with the expense, not have the worry about bodywork issues, passing MOTs, etc.

I know that I'll love a bell tent but I also know that I'm going to miss the hassle free camping that a van gives you. And I never got to Glastonbury in her which I wanted to do. But didn't get tickets this year and its off next year. Won't ever be able to go back to Disney Land Paris in her (we slept in the carpark as we couldn't afford a hotel). Won't be able to use her in the winter (she has central heating).

Sounds like you need to keep her........

Or upgrade to a posher van with heating and less maintenance???

Am watching this thread with interest as have a bell tent but have been looking longingly at campervans, especially on windy cold evenings!! Oh and the set-up time for camping still takes half a day whereas I have always thought with the van you could just go?

But yes, money is a huge issue....

We sold a VW for our friend last month (her husband had just died) and I became attached to her whilst she was on our drive!

The lovely lady who bought her sent a great email soon afterwards about all her plans for her, how she had joined the VW owners club and had been out driving locally etc. At least we knew she had gone to a very good home and will continue to be loved :)

Oh don't tell me about the set up time for camping taking half a day . This is the one thing thats been worrying me the most. Yes with a van all I have to do is pick up my pillow off my bed, buy a pint of milk, pick up my phone, stick a few clothes in a bag - 10 minutes and I'm ready. Everything else including basic food supplies are in the van.

However the plan with a tent is to keep the tent and sleeping bags in the loft. Everything else is going in a soon to be purchased weatherproof garden store/box thingy. So stuff like pots and pans, stove, ice box, cutlery, non perishable food such as tinned stuff, air mattresses, camping chairs, table, torches, ehu lead will all be in here. I might keep the food in a box under the stairs actually.

I'm going to get a roofbox fitted on my car. Chances are roofbox will have to be kept on the car all the time. Then all I need to do is put the contents of the garden box in the roofbox. 30 mins I'm hoping? Put clothes in a bag as before, get tent out the loft and go. Cars go quicker than campervans so any time lost packing the roof boot will be gained by a shorter journey time.

Everyone says that Bell Tents are really quick to put up. 30 mins? And then we'll have more space than in the van.

Viva, dont worry putting up a bell tent is really quick. The first time it took me 35 minutes but i did it by myself and was trying to stop the instructions blowing away. Second time it was easy peasy and took 20 minutes. Keep a flask with boiling water to hand and youll be enjoying a cuppa and admiring your bunting in no time at all

Sorry, didn't meant to be cruel, yes Bell Tent v speedy to put up. Can do it on my own in about 15 mins if I have to!

I am just being glum as we are off to Wales in the morning which will be lovely but am being lazy about sorting all the stuff out. It isn't too bad as we only went camping a couple of weeks ago but sometimes the thought of dragging everything out and trying to fit it all into the focus without losing the fight with DH over crucial things like camping cushions and bunting seems like too much to bear!

Must be more organised I guess.

God I'm really in two minds now. I really want the space that I'd get in a bell tent as am fed up of standing on the dog everytime I want to put the kettle on but must admit its snug and warm as anything. Was camped out on a cliff top in Wales last weekend and it was lashing it down, van was rocking from side to side but we were dry and warm.

Maybe I ought to keep the van and buy a bell tent. Then I could keep the van in the tent, use the van like a car. Pitch the tent next to the van so we have loads of space but still have the hob and fridge, etc in van. Can sleep in the van if its freezing. DH would kill me.

You will be dry and warm in a decent tent trust me. Canvas tents don't budge an inch and you'll have extra space to spread out. Chilling on your beds, reading, playing games, colouring pictures, singing songs with your dd - and remember the freedom your dd will have to bring in play mates to play in your tent.

How I'm doing in selling the experience?

Doing good Lucy, really good.

Someone else has emailed me about it.

So far I've turned down an offer of a 10 year old souped up Golf with £1500. I really don't need a souped up Golf and told the lad to sell it and come back when he had cash. Bless him, he seemed really keen.

I'm impressed you have left over Easter Egg.

I think the van is good for a couple of years yet but after that will need a respray. So if I don't sell it now I'll either need to repray it at a cost of about 2.5k or get half the price I could get for it now.

Or I could keep it and just let it rust and rust and rust until it fails its MOT and then scrap it. Which could be years and years before it got that bad.

Desperate times Sal, call for desperate measures.

But how long can I camp for before it gets too clod. Am I looking at May - August/Sept? How much colder is a soulpad compared to a normal tent? I know canvas is thicker but its one big space.

I know you can get stoves but the majority of campsites are no fires.