Should I get a campervan?

[ATruthUniversallyAcknowledged]

DP and I have decided we need a little more adventues in our lives. We initially started talking about a backpacking trip round South America next summer, but as LO will only be 2 by then we've realised we need to reign in our plans a little.

So... we're considering a campervan. We thought we could use it for weekend breaks this year to get ourselves and DS used to it and then plan a big trip round Europe next summer and hopefully somewhere even more exciting after that

Neither of us have ever even set foot in a camper before, though we are quite hardy outdoor types and have done a lot of camping/travelling.

Thoughts? Is a camper practical with a baby/toddler? What are the pros/cons? What sort of van should we be looking for? (Budget will be limited so if possible we'll be looking for a second hand one for £6k or less)

Any advice/experience will be very welcome. Thank you

Never had a camper van, but have had a caravan, and rather than leave this unanswered will share some thoughts.
Friends who have had camper vans have bemoaned having to have everything packed away before they go off for the day in said van. Otherwise things slide around/break obs. If you have a caravan this isn't an issue. You will probably need a larger space to park a camper when you are out for the day, meaning parking is harder in busy seaside resorts, particularly when relying on on-street parking. Not a lot of room with a bady/toddler, in terms of bathing etc, but if you are staying on reasonable sites, they will have their own facilities.
Of course, you may well be very organised, and be tidier than me, which means some of the above is not an issue.
One other point, with the caravan in our case, but same point...we thought we'd use it loads, and then didn't. It may be that we had got too old (started at 40 plus).
This all sounds a bit negative, and I hope someone will come along and enthuse soon!

We have a small campervan, have 2 DC 12 & nearly 3.

DH refuses to buy a caravan and I refuse to tent it so it's a good compromise.

We use ours as our 2nd car for occasional use, it is as easy as parking a VW van, doesn't cost us anything to store and has a conversion with rock and roll bed, gas cooker, fridge and kitchen sink

Some thoughts: with a baby I would say a drive away awning is essential. We chuck everything in it on days out so don't need to take our worldy goods (ie clean knickers, duvets etc with us (not that you need a lot when you're camping). Takes seconds to reattach it to the van and just looks like a tent to anyone else.

DS has been away in it since he was 3wks old and I've not found it an issue at all. Didn't go away much last year but that's cos we went on a 'proper' holiday and he is a bit of a bolter so thought would wait till he was 3 as I'm not very good at toddler stage of 2-3.

If we do go to Europe we have agreed a small trailer to put the table & chairs in would probably be an idea. We haven't got a tow bar on yet but have a bike carrier on ours. We can get away with a weeks worth of stuff but would probably like a little trailer to take a wee bit more for a longer spell.

It's not as good as her caravan according to my mother but even she has been reluctantly impressed at the luxury we can conjure up and how easy it is to set up. I normally take DS to the play park whilst DH sorts out the van. I have been away with the kids to a rally on my own but did get fed in my parents van. We do take a portable bbq with us too and have lovely dinners along with chilled wine.

Happy to answer any specific questions you have

Thank you. I can see what you mean about the problem of having to pack up each day - we're not particularly tidy! I like the awning idea though - or maybe even a tent as a 'bedroom' and van as 'living room/kitchen'. Especially with young DC we might want that separate space. We've considered a caravan before, but don't have space to store it & would also use a van as a second car.

We've talked about it more this evening & might hire one for Easter to see how we get on.

Any great tips about places to visit in it? (UK for Easter, possibly Europe in the summer)

Have you looked into hiring a Camperan to see if you like it before you go and spend big money?

Where are you based?

There are places that hire them out. We considered it after speaking to someone at the camping/caravanning show as we could've earned from ours but DH is a perfectionist and would not have coped with anyone else using ours I don't think only me and the DC are allowed to trash it

We've found the having the pack everything up problem (especially when dd was really little) has made us more inventive with using buses and the like. But obviously only useful when staying in one spot for a while. But if you are moving all the time then you have to pack up a tent don't you?

We got one when dd was three months because dp was going mad not being able to camp and I refused to tent camp because dd cried every evening and I didn't want to inflict her on the whole campsite. I also couldn't see how I would put up a tent/take down a tent in the rain with a potentially screaming infant in the car. We could only afford a smallish van (bigger than VW but not a lot). Trouble is, now having upgraded to a bigger one, I enjoy the space and civilised-ness of it. Which isn't really what camping is about! Really it's a small holiday cottage on wheels on a campsite now.

What drove our early camper van life was dd and her impossibility of sleeping on her own. So we all had to cook and eat before a mass bedtime at 9. Now dd is more independent and goes to sleep at a proper oclock it was worth getting a bigger van where she can get to sleep in her over cab bit, and then we can eat a civilised meal on our own. But every small child is different!

I would try one out. But on the other hand if you are in your own van you work out over time where it's best to put things, and what tweaks you need to make. With our first van storage was mainly under seats, which were also the bed. So you couldn't get at stuff while bed was made up. So you had to think ahead all the time, make sure you had everything necessary for a nappy change/pyjama emergency in the middle of the night. Drove me slightly mad but I find all camping of any sort has some sort of thing about it that drove me slightly mad!

The new van is a white box which I hate the look of. All storage is in overhead lockers that can be accessed at all times. I love it!

Sorry long! I must go to bed!

Get a coach built one if you can, will be a bit wider and have a bit more space.

I just sold a vw t25, lovely van but cost a lot in upkeep, mainly bodywork but the expense of having a third vehicle to tax, insure, mot, etc got to us. It was in good condition but only because I kept spending money on it.

Diesel was expensive as well as mpg isn't very good. Maybe getting an lpg van might be an idea if you're thinking of long trips.

We bought a converted 1998 T4 last October and I am itching for good weather to try it out ! We bought it off eBay for around your budget, but it's currently having another £2500 spent on it to install a poptop roof for head height (I'm not keen on the idea of cooking whilst stooped over!) and so that dd has somewhere to sleep. I'm pregnant with dc2 and the baby will go in a carrycot, and then we've worked out that even with the bed out we can fit a ready bed in at the bottom of our bed until he or she is old enough to go 'upstairs'. We'll also be buying an awning for longer trips for the extra space and as someone said up thread, it gives you somewhere to leave stuff rather than packing it all away every time you need to go anywhere.

We went for a camper because we don't really need 2 cars but a second vehicle is useful, I was sick of the faff of putting up our tent - we were finding that we were hardly using it because it took so long to put up/take down/dry out at home, and because I was brought up around vws and we've had great holidays in the IL's altogether posher house on wheels campervan.

Look at a few before you commit and make sure all the paperwork is present and correct. When we bought ours it was still entered as a 'van' on the logbook but we took photos and got that changed easily with the DVLA - a motor home is cheaper to insure and will mean that your contents are covered to.

Best of luck and happy camping!