Born Again Caravanners

Polly

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Hia
Just got a few minutes before my hospital visiting (dad)

On this forum I was wondering if you motorhomers were born again caravanners?:confused::confused:
What did you have before a motorhome and how long have you been enjoying the outside life and whychange to a m/h if you have?:D:D

But If my hubby was alive and we had the cash I am sure we would have renewed our caravan and Disco (we always had a 4x4 going back to our 1961 Landy which is still in the garage)

Some of you know I have only been a m/h owner for 18 months and I love it and don not rgret buying her. Infact it was the best thing I did well besides marrying my hubby:D:D:D
 
I started travelling at school - as soon as I realised that I could hitch hike and pocket the bus fare!! Hitch hiked throughout the UK and Europe until I could afford a motorbike. Even made it into Berlin before the wall came down.

Then toured with a motorbike, France, Spain, Portugal, Low Countries, Germany, Switzerland, Italy.

Then bought a Simca 1100 with a caravan and lived in France flogging ice creams "sur les plages".

Overlanded from the UK to Australia in the late 1970s (selling ice creams was quite profitable in those days) - it was so easy then compared to all the closed countries nowadays. The Khyber Pass had a sign welcoming visitors in dozens of languages - and of course Coca Cola was there to go with you - well on the sign anyway.

In Aus my first job was to take a group of trucks around Australia for 9 months - paid to see Aus!!

I bought another motorbike BMW800 and toured and toured, my wife also rides a 650BMW.

Had a son, and had to buy a sidecar, hated that!!

Got a company car, bought a camper tariler (free fuel) and toured and toured.

In 2005 had a 3 month trip to UK and Europe, first trip back to UK since 1981, culture shock! Bought a Merc Westfalia T1 campervan for 4500UKP and sold it 3 months later for 3500UKP. Got hooked then, great way to tour, not such a great way to go to a destination and stay in the one place.

Had another 7 month trip around Europe last year and bought another Merc Westfalia.

So you could say that we like to travel for the sake of travelling.
 
Many of us grow up in an RVing sense at about the same rate we grow up physically and economically.

Walk
Ride bike
Hitchhike
Walk with tent
Drive/ride with tent
[Get married]
Drive car with trailer and tent and more junk
Drive 4WD with camper trailer
[Have kids]
Drive with caravan
[Kids leave home]
Drive with motorhome.
Drive with BIG motorhome with 4WD towed behind
[Hope the bloody stock market doesn't keep going down too much]
Drive small car
Drive mobility scooter
 
Never had a tail wagger and never will, like the flexibility in the mh
 
camped when a kid my parents loved camping.then when married in 1972:eek::D camped in a old scout tent even wilded then (top of cliffs at scalby mills was a favorite) .then had a vw splitty a couple of years wilded in that. then when daughter was born had caravans for years only times i ever used a site, reason for a caravan?? i liked my big powerfull cars jags and the like .now the old compass drifter beddy .
 
Yep, did the caravan thing - first was a 10' cavalier van towed behind a mini traveller would you believe, what fun :D - I remember struggling up Porlock hill with it, down to first gear :D
Caravans, tents, vans, campers and motorhomes, can't beat it. A motorhome is in many ways the most enjoyable, but not always the most practical. And it is relatively expensive, if you're on a tight budget there are cheaper ways to enjoy camping :D
 
Tried most options

Started with selfbuild custom vans ,vw vans cars 4x4s tents caravans ,motor vans and now motorhome.Think the motorhome is the best now, obviously older , and like the ease and flexibility of the motorhome.
 
Started at age 2 with parents who were into caravanning and then camping big time - I remember the midges at Loch Lomond vividly.
Age 14 - walking, climbing and lightwight camping with pals. Kids got a lot of freedom in them thar days.
16 - expedition to climb glacier in Norway - wow, that was chilly camping
Age 20 -met hubby, he was into above too, so plenty of tenting but into old cars (old XK140) not caravans
Then lots of travelling - Nepal, Russia:eek:, Finland, Oz, NZ..still tents
Kids come along - then we had a gokarting business for one summer. he drove the lorry with the gokarts in, I drove the Volvo estate with kids aboard, towing the caravan, from Wick to Campbeltown to Yorkshire and then some. We did 12000 miles that summer! :eek: Result: never want to tow a caravan again!
And then kerching - got our first motorhome in late 90's..love at first sight:Tranny Travelhome, then VW, then AceRoma, then panel (Ducato) conversion..and now pondering the next one.

Ain't it all fun?:D:D
 
hHi Polly, well I Had 2 caravans in a 'previous life with a previous wife'. Then bought a sm caravan with the new 'love of my life', then thought we would like to tour more rather than park up a 'van and travel back every day in the car. So bought a Autosleeper Talisman, great but hated juggling with tables & cushions every morning and night, so bought a Winnebago Warriour with fixed bed but found it a bit big for going off the beaten track - also 11.3 MPG hurt a bit.

Then bought a speed boat and a tent so we could overnight - BIG mistake, after lge double bed and air con to sleeping on the ground, so bought a caravan which was kept on the south coast & towed boat.

Fancied a change and sold boat & 'van plus car, now there's loads of european m/h's with fixed beds and we bought a Chausson/Fiat low profile which is great and we love the flexabilty of a m/h that I can use for work if it's raining (fair weather biker!), small enough to wild in, and like last weekend big enough to go to a wedding reception in and stay in the carpark after a few beers fully self contained! BLISS!!
 
Marc008 said:
Yep, did the caravan thing - first was a 10' cavalier van towed behind a mini traveller would you believe, what fun :D - I remember struggling up Porlock hill with it, down to first gear :D
Caravans, tents, vans, campers and motorhomes, can't beat it. A motorhome is in many ways the most enjoyable, but not always the most practical. And it is relatively expensive, if you're on a tight budget there are cheaper ways to enjoy camping :D
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no i dont think a motor home is expensive or impractical .most of the time a night stopover is free or at the most £1.oo a night in a car park or free in a laybie depends what you want .as for impractical i use mine for every day travel ,i.e work shopping as you would a NORMAL CAR its no more a gas guzzler as a nice large luxury car and a lot more practical after all this site is for WILD CAMPING which means what it says. i know at times we all need to use a camp site but if you work it out over the year a motor home used properly saves a hell of a lot of money i have a bedford cf and most of the time it earns me money, and saves me money when we wild camp
 
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:D:D y'know I'm not knocking 'em at all Mandrake, I love motorhomes :D - and by sayng 'expensive' I was really talking about these 30,40, and 50 grand MHs that everyone seems to have nowadays :D
Still running a CF - I like you already :D
 
Marc008 said:
:D:D y'know I'm not knocking 'em at all Mandrake, I love motorhomes :D - and by sayng 'expensive' I was really talking about these 30,40, and 50 grand MHs that everyone seems to have nowadays :D
Still running a CF - I like you already :D
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no i am not saying you knock them . i agree the ones that seem expensive and are . are the ones that spend 80% off the time parked in a driveway not used. my way of looking at it is if you have a vehicle then it needs to make you money as well as be of use in a leisure type of way my beddy is surely used that way 25 thousand miles in 18 months of ownership .
 
That's why I went for an Autosleeper's Topaz on a T5 with the 2.5ltr. diesel.
Fits our roads, cheap(ish) on our ferries, takes wife & rapidly growing dog and can be used as a daily driver - at least it could be if fuel up here were cheaper.
March 2006 to today, 34,517 miles..it gets used.
 
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sagart said:
That's why I went for an Autosleeper's Topaz on a T5 with the 2.5ltr. diesel.
Fits our roads, cheap(ish) on our ferries, takes wife & rapidly growing dog and can be used as a daily driver - at least it could be if fuel up here were cheaper.
March 2006 to today, 34,517 miles..it gets used.
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Sagart... I'd like to ask what 'real world' fuel consumption you get out of your T5 (Urban and motorway)??
A few years back i downsized from a coachbuilt to a LWB hightop panel van conversion, so i could also use it as everyday transport as well. If ever i change my current van, i may look at downsizing again to a T5.
 
Bear in mind the type of road I drive up here and the distances (51 mile round trip to my nearest supermarket)! Average over the year, including a couple of trips to London & Sth.Devon is 34mpg
 
sagart said:
Bear in mind the type of road I drive up here and the distances (51 mile round trip to my nearest supermarket)! Average over the year, including a couple of trips to London & Sth.Devon is 34mpg
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Cheers for that.... Thats not bad, I can only get 34 mpg driving at a steady 60/65 on a motorway, as soon as I start town driving this can drop to the low 20s, so i may well give the T5 some serious consideration.
I'm also thinking about a pop top or elavating roof conversion, which should be better again on fuel consumption.... Its just deciding whether I can do without the overhead lockers, and loss of storage space
 
love it

for the last ten years i have travelled all over the country working and have stayed in some gruesome hotels-b&b's so in the summer i always tried to camp... some wild, some sites, (under canvass), but starting earlier and finishing later and later each year. now i have my stealthy transit luton (almost finished) and it is fantastic, best thing i ever done....
 
Stealthy Luton huh? :cool: That sounds fascinating...please tell us more!
 
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