Touring caravan newbies

[Rugby7777]

We have bought a touring caravan and are newbies to all of this. What are the essentials items that we should have to make our holidays comfortable

Practice at home it should be Law, we have seen a few domestics whilst newbys set up and try to put the awning on inside out etc. I showed them how it can be done with one person and directed them to the manufacturers videos on you tube
Cordless drill to put legs up and down.
I am sure You tube will have loads of how to set up a caravan videos?
In our experience people take far too much crap with them
Caravan
Clothes
Food
Something to eat on and with, unless you go to the pub?
Matches.
Learn how to change a gas bottle.
Personally I wouldn't bother setting the water system up its too much of a fat, we just boil the kettle and drink bottled water use on site showers.
Once you have done a few trips its easy and should be relaxing, I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks

I totally agree with Funf about people taking too much stuff with them. It's really tempting to take anything you might need for any eventuality but in reality you will have very limited space and don't really need much.

If you will be staying on a site where you use their toilets/showers etc I would make sure you have a pair of wellies and flip flops for each person. Wellies for toilet trips if it's raining or early morning when the grass is still damp and flip flops for shower trips (much easier than trying to put shoes and socks on in the cubicle and can be worn to shower if you want to). I keep flip flops in the caravan so we always have them. If you have DC I'd recommend taking them each a dressing gown/poncho style towel so that they can pop it on for a shower run and get dressed properly in the caravan.

@wingsofsteel didn’t think of the flip flops & wellies. Dressing gowns good idea as well.

How did you manage with tv did you buy a digital receiver or just use a standard Aerial

Weight. You need to know how much you can put in it. Buy a nose weight gauge. Lots of people overload their vans and that is dangerous. Load carefully - most of the weight needs to be over the axle. Look how it is balanced with the car - they should be level. We always put our air awning in the car because it is super heavy.

Limit the stuff. Buy collapsible things. You need a kettle. If it has a microwave, store the plate when towing somewhere safe. Make up beds before you go. Take a hand held hoover.

Go nearby home for a weekend to play with it.

Make sure your aqua roll is rinsed out. You can buy aqua clean to clean through pipes, if it is second hand and you are not sure of the cleanliness or if it has been sat for a while. You need pink and blue stuff for the loo casette or green multi use loo stuff. You may need leveling blocks as well. The first time you take it anywhere it is stressfull and you will think shiiiiiiiit but it does get better and set up gets speedier each time.

All new to this but I was just wondering does anyone know if these draws come off in order to make the front bed a flat double

It depends on the make and model. Our old Lunar Quasar front chest of drawers lifted off, but was very heavy and cumbersome. The unit split above where the slats pulled out for the double bed.

In our current van, the chest of drawers stays in place.

Weigh everything you are going to take - bathroom scales will do. Then loo at cutting the amount by half. Why take a dressing gown - a coat will do!

The middle section has a center board which slides slats out along the length of the gap between the seats. The long back cushions then in full on top of the slats.

The top of the chest of drawers becomes your bedside table. You may find that the top also flips over like a folding table for sitting at to eat dinner.

Check that your driving licence allows you to tow. I think it dependsifyoupassedyourtest pre or post 1997 as to whether you need to take a towing test..
Have a fire extinguisher and smoke detector (I once saw a caravan catch light in seconds).
Ditto carbon monoxide detector.

A big plastic crate, ideally with a lid, for wellies, crocs etc outside the door.

Decathlon do huge thin microfibre towels that are brilliant for weight/size and dry really easily. Useful as an extra blanket at night, or a wrap when you’re sitting out late, or a picnic blanket.

If you don’t mind being a little less stylish take a look at camping/hiking clothes. Some of the fabrics are windproof and dry while you’re standing up in them. We have trousers like these that zip off into shorts and are brilliant for changeable weather/hiking/ water rides in theme parks.

If you buy fold- up camping chairs sit in them first as there is huge variety in size and comfort and it’s not necessarily related to cost.

Learn how to change a gas bottle and make sure you have a fire extinguisher as its often in any small print on the insurance

Are you on instagram? There's a huge caravan community, is excellent for advice and tips, lots of very experienced and very helpful people on there.

We bought a tourer last year and it's genuinely the best thing we've ever done, daunting at first but once you've got your first trip done you'll find your stride.

Carbon monoxide alarm, ideally 2. I nearly died in my caravan a few years ago when mine went off and I thought it was faulty. It woke me up, kept going off, I thought I had nothing running on gas, thought about throwing it out…ended up turning the gas bottle off. Next day realised that the water heater had been on!

A couple of quick ready meals, preferably long life, so if you turn up late etc you can have your tea, eg bag of pasta & jar of sauce, long life milk and teabags. Spare socks and spare jumper. Puzzles, games or book for when the TV reception is poor! Ear plugs for when you get really rowdy and unreasonable neighbours (I'm onsite next to some now, they've been arseholes for days)