Do you own a caravan?

[Minimalme]

We have tried most forms of camping over the years.

I love it, youngest ds loves it, rest of family ambivalent.

I would like to buy a caravan but dh is very against it.

We live in a flat so would need to pay for storage.

Am interested to hear how others find caravanning - storage, towing, setting up etc.

One of our ds' is disabled and it is very hard to get him the leave the house let alone stay some where unfamiliar. I just think we would all love a caravan.

But my dh and sister think I'm bonkers.

We had a caravan years ago. Left it abroad!!. Def prefer tent! Less tidying /less cleaning up ime!

We have had a static (good) a tent (complicated) a tiny caravan (too tiny), trailer tent (awful), a combination of tent and trailer pod (everything broke/like being a hobbit).

A big caravan is the only thing left to try!

We caravan. Fortunately we can keep it in our back garden when it’s not in use. Now retired and caravan between 8-12 weeks plus a year. Been a godsend in the pandemic as we’ve had our own home from home. Don’t have any experience of stabling a van but have friends who do and seem happy, would suggest a proper setup say verses in a field on a farm (but that’s my opinion).

the caravan and motor home club allow members to book seasonal pitches (not sure if on all sites) and you leave your van there and go backward and forwards. Needs looking into as not for all. There’s a lottery to get a pitch, think it starts in Jan, not done it personally but know friends who do and enjoy it. There are lots of other sites and little locations sometimes called CL’s which take only a few vans. You can’t but I haven’t, go to holiday parks with swimming pools and club houses.

DH would like a camper van but I’m dead against having to pack it all up every time you need to go out for days or shopping. We go to one camp site and hours drive from us by the sea sometimes three times a year.

do check your drivers licence to see if you are eligible to tow as it changed at some point, we are older so ours are ok. Definitely do a towing course, especially reversing. A motor mover for positioning is a god send and although expensive I wouldn’t be without. Be very aware of weight limits and find out how to safely pack a van for weight and towing.

awnings give a lot more space but can be a faff to setup, there are shades that fix to side of the van that create cover but not as good as an awning.

it’s not cheap, sites are not cheap either, CL’s can be good value if you have your own loo and shower. We like the caravan and motor home club because sites are lovely, you can change your booking, you only pay when you arrive, there’s no deposit to book. If you book and don’t turn up they do have rules they enforce but I think that’s good because it stops people hogging spaces on site and then not using them.

my parents caravanned, I’ve been going to one site for over fifty years, it’s not for all but might be worth hiring one to see how you get on, if you do definitely do a towing course first. Good luck.

We have a caravan. We’ve also camped and I’ve had a trailer tent. Caravan for comfort trumps the lot. Do you or your DH feel comfortable towing and have the correct licence and vehicle for doing so?

the caravan and motor home club site is a good place to start looking for info. If you do it, and don’t enjoy it, you can sell it on. At least you’ve given it a go!

Great advice thanks!

We have the right car (have looked into towing weights) but a towing course would be ace. I think that's the bit which freaks dh out the most.

I will check out the caravanning club - would love to permanently site the caravan somewhere.

The comfort thing really appeals to me. I have hip dysplasia and get quite a bit of pain at night, plus find bending down something of a trial.

I wondered about hiring one to see how we got on, but my middle child is the dark destroyer and is likely break stuff and I just can't face loosing a deposit.

A friend of mine with hip and knee issues loves her caravan. Its 'winter ready' so double glazed with central heating! I have no idea of the cost but she says she always sleeps very well in it- despite not always sleeping the best at her home! She had the lower kitchen cabinets converted to drawers- so not as much bending!

I would advise that you are both comfortable to drive and reverse it though. I would go through the figures though. Paying for storage sounds bonkers IMO- unless its someones driveway or field for free or a peppercorn rent. I'd also look at the costs for petrol/diesel which would surely be much higher tower a van around. Looks at the costs- vs staying in say a static van onsite somewhere. Out of season can be very cheap at some places.

I'm a caravanner and love it :). I do all the towing - I have my licence from a previous job so my other half has it easy! Towing can be stressy sometimes, especially if you're going to an especially rural site, but just take your time and you'll be grand.

Other half can't always stay the full time with work so sometimes I'll do all the set up/ packing away and towing on my own so definitely doable - once you learn the ropes! There's things you can do/get which makes life a lot easier for yourselves eg a motor mover and an inflatable awning.

What works for us is that we share the van with my mum and dad and sister and her family. We have a shared calendar set up to book it, so the van is well used. It also means that we can tag team sometimes ie dad will tow to a location we also want to go to. They stay a week, go home and we stay a second week and I tow it back.

Unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of the caravan club... just a personal preference. I find it farily cliquey and the sites a bit polished. I go away to get away from it all so I prefer the wild locations - a field with a view of the sea and an electric point and I'm happy! The crapper the phone signal the better :)

It's great and so safe for kids - it gives them a lot of freedom. Maybe see if you can borrow/rent one for a few days and see how you get on rather than committing?

I'm also interested in hearing other people's experiences of caravanning. We have a campervan and awning and I love camping (discovered a love for camping late in life), but the season is so short. I'm seriously considering buying a caravan so we could extend the season but I'm nervous of making a massive mistake!

I have a big caravan (twin axle, 6 berth, 1750kg). Love it.
Its currently on a seasonal pitch so it’s always ready to visit, has everything from a coffee machine to central heating to a bottle of Jack Daniels in the cupboard.
costs us about £3000 a year, all in. We have a site right beside the beach. We paid £450 a year for storage when we did that.

@Blueskydreamer7 oh yes the clique!!! We have to laugh at it - our very clean and tidy caravan is nearly 23 years old and towed with a Skoda. It’s like the oxygen has been sucked out of the air when we turn up!!!
But we have found most people are actually very friendly and helpful I do like the showers and laundry rooms and feel safe leaving the caravan when we go out for the day.
still get the odd one who dress for dinner and practically have a chandelier in the awning though.!

This is all really useful stuff thanks. I have re-presented the idea to dh and it was a firm no 

I have wanted a caravan since I was a little girl. I love camping and wish I'd not subjected my family to so many uncomfortable set ups as now they are quite resistant.

@QueenofLouisiana do you mind me asking how you found your seasonal pitch? Does it stay there all year round? I think dh might consider that.

He was put off towing when he caught a massive wooden 'entrance' with attached fence panel with a trailer tent once. He thought the wheels were stuck in the grass and really revved and brought the whole thing down

@Minimalme yes our van stays there all year, it’s our seaside cottage. 😀The site closes for two weeks in January as it doesn’t have a residential license, but we have spent new year there. You need to find out if a site offers seasonal (or some do a store/stay hybrid where they’ll store it off a pitch and you tow it out-or they will do it-when you want to stay) and give them a ring. There are FB groups where ideas for available pitches are shared.

Thanks @QueenofLouisiana I have been looking at what the Camping and Caravanning club offer - I think dh might well go for that!

It is Fathers Day right now and I'm trying to resisted the urge to wake him with the great news that I've another caravanning suggestion for him

I do. I do like my caravan however for me I bought it as “cheap” flexible dog friendly accommodation so I have a base to go walking, cycling, etc.

however in reality it’s not cheap. So far this year I’ve spent, £300 storage, £180 service, £110 insurance, £205 on a new charger as the electrics packed up on the last trip, £200 for a week away in Norfolk earlier this month and a £110 for a week away in the Lakes earlier this year. That’s not including the extra fuel costs as towing seriously lowers your mpg. I have an ongoing damp issue which isn’t fully fixed and I spent £400 on damp repairs last summer. Oh and my microwave broke and it took dh who thankfully is a competent DIYer half a day to adjust the built in cupboard and fit the new microwave, I wouldn’t have been able to do it. So £100 for the microwave as well.

i go away without dh and can tow and set up fine. It’s a relatively new caravan but something always seems to go wrong and the thing which worries me is not knowing how to fix stuff. So last year I got to the site and a pipe under the caravan had cracked so no water was coming in at all. I’m sure someone more competent than me would have ordered a part and fitted it, I had to wait 3 days for a caravan service bloke who charged me £80 for a 2 min job. When the electrics failed the other week thankfully it was on the last day or I’d have had to come home early. Maybe I’m more unfortunate than most.

I bought a new one a couple of years ago. It was lovely but turned into a complete nightmare.

I towed it home, no problem except there was an accident on the motorway, so took ages.

We went to a campsite. The other caravaners there were all experienced & helpful. My lovely DH struggled with the constant attention as we tried to work things out. Bit of alpha-male behaviour going on, to say the very least.

I was surprised how little the women helped with practical stuff onsite. I could practically hear the sharp intakes of breath whenever I was adjusting things. On the forums/FB groups, it's all SWMBO & blue/pink jobs. Drove me potty.

We then put it in storage. It's a total pain not having it at home. Everything takes ages to sort & the costs mount up. Cleaning it is a ballache. Insurance costs too.

We were then locked down for ages, so it didn't get used. Had the first service & it was found to have damp. Went away to be repaired for months & the repair failed, so it was still damp.

The service guys said it was probably damp from new. The manufacturer had appalling customer service & eventually I sold it to a dealer at a knocked down but fair price. I should really have taken them to court for a full refund. They are clearly used to dealing with complaints.

If you buy one, get it locally. Only use a dealer with excellent customer service reviews.

Our nearest caravan dealer would not do warranty work on our caravan, as we'd not bought it there. The manufacturer say you can use AWS engineers but they then insist you go to an approved repairer, at your own cost to travel there.

I would not buy a new or used one without a rock solid guarantee. Talking to the various service guys, damp can occur in any caravan at any time. I'd get my own damp meter too.

If you haven't towed, try that first as it's "interesting" and the issue isn't the driving, it's how you stop, turn & reverse. You need security on the van at all times, so even at service stations, etc.

Basically, you need to be keen to caravan & be able to work as a team as it takes quite a lot of setting up & down. It's really an entire hobby in itself.

I loved the idea but it turned into a very, very expensive nightmare. Ymmv...

The manufacturer was one of the 2 main UK brands but apparently it's a complete lottery! Wish I'd known then what I know now. Still love the idea tho & lots of people have caravans, so if you get over that learning stage, it must be ok! 😁

We have one, for much the same reasons. DD found holidays hard because of the transitions. She has a bedroom in our touring caravan, filled with familiar things. We have spent 3/4 weeks touring around Europe, with very few issues. DH tows; it’s 24’, and I don’t feel confident enough.

Now she’s grown up, although I adore my van, we’re thinking of a smaller one, so I will go on a towing course. We’re currently away in a VW transporter, but I’m in need of a bit more convenience!!

We don’t have to pay storage- ours fits on land at home. I’m guessing that saves us quite a bit.

I work for a dealer now, and I’ve picked up that some vans have damp issues from the start. I think we dodged this by buying a van that was a couple of years old, and making sure it was damp tested. Damp can be fixed, but it’s costly.

 damp...@Wombat27A that sounds like such a stressful situation, the total opposite of what we hope for from camping.

Thanks again for sharing your experiences, good and bad.

I love the whole 'setting up, sorting kit etc' involved in camping. It is why a static doesn't appeal at all.

I will start to have a look round some local dealers (and check reviews first). I will get dh to have a look too and see if I can spark some camping enthusiasm in him too!

After camping for 40 years (used to go as a child) dh and I bought a 2 berth caravan about 18 months ago. We are fortunate that we can keep it on the driveway. To be honest we haven't made as much use of it as we expected, probably because we've had a lot of things planned post-COVID, but have used it a few times in the UK and took it to France last summer. Dd came with us and stayed in a tent and it was fab.

Even though it's pretty basic, I love the 'luxury' of the van: it's fairly small but has loads of storage space; having a proper bed (well, one made up from front seat area), own loo/shower, an oven and being able to keep dry in the rain and hang up clothes rather than keeping them screwed up in a compression sack is a total game changer after years of tenting. However, both of us have admitted we do still miss the simplicity of camping - it's almost as though the caravan has taken us one step too far from that, if that makes sense?? We will stick with it though, and expect we will get more use from it in the UK once dd is at uni next year ( she has SN, so leaving her for a weekend while we go away is a bit more complicated). I'm looking forward to retiring, as my dream holiday is to tow it around Europe for a few months at a time - it's certainly a lot easier to pack up and move on with a caravan than it ever was with all our tenting paraphernalia, and I think this is where they really come into their own.

Agree not as cheap as you think: annual service, insurance, towing recovery etc all adds up. Second hand ones are holding their value at the moment though - ours was about 8 years old when we bought it from a dealer and see that the same model is selling for more than we paid for ours at the end of 2020.

We are members of one of the clubs - Caravan & Motorhome I think - but have only stayed in one club site, which I found a bit Stepford Wives. Much nicer to stay in a Cerificated Site (CS or CL) which are small sites affiliated to the clubs for maximum 5 vans: have water, EHU and somewhere to empty waste but usually no other facilities. Stayed on one near Thornbury a couple of weeks ago - pristine and peaceful, so would definitely recommend these if you want to avoid the big sites.

Camping and Caravan Club is nicer, we find.
When we had young DCs they were in the awning, they liked that.
Storage can be expensive.
Towing is easier than it looks, just allow more time for everything.

I did the towing course a few years ago, well worth the money.

Don't go new if you worry about breaking stuff, the furniture is very flimsy.

I have adhd & related issues & pre-bashed is always more relaxing.

We caravan with our DS who has SN and autism, has always worked brilliantly for us. He has a familiar place and knows what to expect. We always use CMC sites, very reliable toilet block with disabled facilities accessed with a radar key and laundry facilities which are essential with DS. We’ve had medical emergencies on sites in the past and the staff have been amazing. I’m currently sat in the awning on a Cornish cliff top while DH takes DS for a shower!