Anyone caravan (tourer) as a lone parent; is it madness?!

[Nomoretogive]

I am a widow with two DCs. I have CFS but am pretty much ok at the moment. I have the opportunity to buy a tourer and I am quite excited by the thought of taking the kids out and about. However I am also quite daunted at the work involved and whether I can manage the physical aspect of setting up at the campsite.
Any advice would be great! Thanks!

Sorry, no experience myself but that does sound great! I'm trying to find a holiday atm for me and my 2 year old DD...Hotels generally depress me and just feel that most packages are a rip off. My ideal holiday is the freedom to just rock up to beautiful p[laces. So go for it!

I couldn't do a tourer but I think it depends on how old your DC's are and the type of pitch you book.
If you just unhitched, hook straight up to mains and need no awning then I think it could be totally achievable although probably not without stress the first few time.
Touring sites are normally packed with lovely, helpful families who will wave you into the pitch if need be.
On the other hand even the most living couples seem to break into a row when putting their awning up and if you have to walk miles to get water refilled it might be worth thinking again.
Your other optio. Is to get a seasonal pitch so you only set up once a year & then go down whenever you want.
We've got a static and it's great because we can just jump in the car and we're at out home from home. I rent it out to cover my site fees so it pays for itself.

I've booked a caravan holiday for me and Dd, who will be two next month. I'm so excited

We've gone for a caravan on a site with facilities/entertainment, so I'm hoping we'll meet people to hang out with during the week. To be honest, I was feeling really nervous about being on my own. But I emailed the company and explained about it being my first time away on my own blah blah blah, and we've been given a deluxe caravan near to the central office

Roll on September!

I say go for it!

I did glamping with friends last year. Both sets of friends had husbands and only one child. I had three DC and a dog. I lasted one night. It was shattering. My eldest DC put up the tent so have you got a D C who can help with the tourer?? Set up and empty the loo?

I'd never camp again but if I did, I'd do it alone, go at my own pace. But the poster who went to a static, already set up caravan, that sounds the way to do it, for me!

Hi McPhee any chance you could post link/private message me details of the site/company...I can't seem to find anything. Will be going in July/August so prepared to pay the ridiculous prices but just don't want anything too big and therefore megabucks when it's just two of us...
Thank you

Russetbella probably the cheapest way to go on a caravan holiday is through The Sun (the newspaper) holidays. It's 9.50 per person (but you have to pay for 4 minimum) so £38, plus a few extras (linen, entertainment passes etc). However deals are very limited during school holidays so you'd be luck to find anything cheap.

I got camping (tent) on my own with the kids and it's fine, as long as you can put up a tent ! But campsites are very friendly places generally, and if you were struggling someone would help you.

DD is 2 at the moment so might wait another year before proper camping but those Sun deals could be an option..Thank you for the tips :0)

Russet, keep an eye out, the Sun and the Daily Mail usually do a summer one (dates generally sept/oct). Off peak you can get really good deals. Make sure you read the small print as often they have extras like electricity charges. I managed to get a mon-fri deal for butlins in October for about £100 all in.

I'm on my phone, but when I get on the laptop later I'll pm you the details. The company I used let you pay monthly too.

Thank you both! :0)

Hi, I have experience of this! You did mention a tourer as opposed to a static, and what I have found is that setting up & holidaying with 2 DC is very manageable, I'm fine at towing, connecting Calor gas, sorting out the loo, but personally I am pretty naff at reversing my folding caravan onto the pitch. This requires spatial awareness and object rotation ability, which I really lack.

Other caravanners are friendly, but not to the extent of volunteering to manoeuvere my tourer for me! I strongly disagree that someone will always wave you in / help you. People have been smiley & nice to me but not offered practical help, not even on Caravan Club Sites. (They usually just watch me do it all by myself!)

The Caravan Club runs courses so you can get lessons, some driving instructors can also teach this. BUT I would strongly advise you not to purchase until you are confident at manoeuvering. Think - if you arrive on site and you can't do it & no one is willing to help you'd be really stuck.

You say you have CFS but are doing OK at the moment, how strong are you? Are you strong enough to hitch / unhitch? Are your DC old enough to help with this?

You also have to consider the kerbweight of your car and whether it will be able to tow. I have a folding caravan which weighs 750kg, so my Volkswagen Golf can easily tow it. Also, at that weight, if I've reversed it not quite into the middle of the pitch my 2 DS and I can wheel it into position.

Owning a static caravan can make for an amazingly easy holiday with the kids. Similar price to a tourer, no setting up to do, no need to book, just arrive whenever you like, unpack and enjoy!

Also regarding a tourer, if you want to set up an awning on your own, there are 2 things to watch out for. One is the weight of the poles & canvas - you can buy lightweight awnings if you shop around. For me the limiting factor is arm reach, you need to be at least 5' 8'' to reach high enough to erect the awning.

Other options if you've set your heart on touring is a campervan, Volkswagen or Adria for example. They can sleep up to 3 people, easy to reverse onto a pitch, they can be dear but you could buy second-hand, classic campervans are definitely in atm!

I really love my folding caravan, the feeling of freedom & we've had some great holidays. There are lots of things to think about though. I'd recommend joining the Caravan Club, it's really worth it, and non-members can visit their webpage & check the section on 'thinking of buying a tourer' for more advice.

Hope this helps and good luck whatever you choose x

I've not done the touring caravan thing as a lone parent, but did it when I was with ExH with our 2 kids. Found the set up and packing up quite time consuming even with the two of us knowing what we were each doing and with him doing all of the 'heavier' stuff like the hitching, car unpacking etc.

Following our split I was sad to lose the caravan holidays but felt that it would be just too stressful for me to go it alone. However, I gambled on buying a tent, a nice 4 berth, that I can pitch in 30 mins alone and, for me, is much easier than the caravan set up. OK, I do miss some of the caravan luxuries such as the on board loo and the cosiness on colder day, but I love knowing that the getting there and the set up will be stress free and straightforward...

Good luck to you in whatever you do

I'm a LP with one DD (9) and am just buying a campervan. I also have fibromyalgia.

I looked into getting a caravan, but decided against it for the reasons snowrose mentions. I wouldn't be confident hitching and towing and having fibro, my strength and stamina are limited.

The campervan I'm buying is an automatic, which I'm very pleased about. It's an old four berth one for £3.5k and I felt surprisingly comfortable taking it out for a practice drive.

We're off to Paris and the Loire this summer and it was the thought of camping for two weeks that pushed me to buy this. Slightly off tangent, but I just don't get this thing that if you're a lone parent, you can't go on holiday on you're own. DD and I have had some great trips around the UK and Europe, especially on campsites as they're friendly and full of kids.

Go for it! If it doesn't work out, you can always sell it and these things hold their value.

You can put a motor mover onto the caravan, this will basically allow you to unhitch the caravan in the approximate area of your pitch and then you use a remote control to move it to the right position.

You can get a porch awning rather than a full one which will make it a little easier to put up.

Tell the campsite when you book that you are on your own and they will have someone around to help you. They want your return business so its in their interest to make sure you have a good time.

Just bumping as still no luck in finding anything...Problem seems to be caravans etc are economical if there are about 6 sharing otherwise for just me and DD I can't seem to work out anything reasonable....

Russettbella, I would approach it laterally. Have you thought about youth hostels (they are fantastic nowadays but get booked up early) or airbnb?

Nomoretogive, have you thought about doing a trial run by hiring a campervan? There's quite a few companies out there, with all types of vans (classic, modern, VW, converted, etc etc) and you could test out which suits you best, and whether you'd like the whole experience.

Snowrose, could you have a motor mover put in the folding caravan. I don't see why not, it fits onto the axle underneath.
I had a great big 2000kg, 23ft tourer and moved it around with my remote control as if it was a dinky toy.
I think a seasonal pitch is an excellent way of getting the best of both worlds - if you have a full service pitch then you are plugged into everything. If you get fed up, you move on at the end of the season. During my caravan times, I had three seasonal pitches in different parts of the country, we had good neighbours, made several long term friends and could take our time to get to know an area.

Russettbelle, you and your little dd are perfect candidates for VW camper holiday, although they are not cheap to hire. The advantage of something that size is that it's still small enough to park easily in ordinary parking spaces so you have true flexibility

Thank you Queen-I did consider YH but just wondered whether they'd 'accept' 2 year olds. It's a long time since I've used them though so maybe they do twin rooms etc rather than dorms which is what I always think they're about. Will keep researching :0)

Having said that though, last week I stayed at Mortonhall near Edinburgh. They have WigWams there and I'd love to stay in one. The wigwams are wooden and have basic cooking facilities, you take your own bedding etc, BBQ and seating outside.
Campsite very nice, staff were fab, interesting stuff to do around Edinburgh! And they have 2 huge Aberdeen Angus on the site. They are, of course, in a field by themselves.
Might be a great tester camping experience.

How old are your DC? Will they be able to help with setting up?

We have a tourer, but we don't tow it. (because it is pretty big, and neither of our cars are large enough). So, we leave it on a site on a store and stay basis. So we store it there- pay a monthly fee - and when we want to go over and stay we just phone up and they tow it on to a pitch and we then pay per night for the pitch. We did have it on a seasonal pitch last summer, but barely used it due to illness (and lack of interest from our teenage DSSs!) so it was an expensive summer.

The benefit of a tourer over a static is that they are much cheaper, and you can move it to a new site if and when necessary. Our previous site stopped taking tourers a couple of years ago, so we had to find a new site which did storage. I had to pay for a low loader to move it- but it worked out fine.

So, i can't comment on the towing aspect - and manoeuvring into a spot. I would think the smaller the van, the easier it would be.

I have been on my own with DS. We tend not to use the loo(as i can't be bothered emptying it) so use the public toilets and showers on site. DS puts down the 'steadies' and plugs in the electricity. I do the gas, and empty out the stored stuff - sunloungers/scooters etc.

If you want to find out more about camping and caravanning there are quite a few forums. forum can be quite useful, also try forum.

I think in your situation OP I would go for a campervan rather than a caravan that you have to tow. I have a Mazda Bongo, which we all love. My kids are early teens now (and very tall) and still fit in the roof to sleep. We've just bought an awning for a bit more space.

I'm not a single parent but I'm more into camping than DH and regularly go without him, and it's so easy.

Thank you Spring lamb :0)