Camper vans / motor homes
- Thread starter jowwy
- Start date
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Not all hotel rooms like your pets coming and storing your bikes though…….
Drago
Legendary Member
- Location
- Suburban Poshshire
Problem is I can't guarantee a hotel room where I want it at the drop of a hat.
I can't take my dog in a hotel room - if my dog can't go, I don't go.
I can't have a day away at the lakeside in a hotel room.
I can't change my mind about destination and experience on the fly in a hotel room.
Being inside someone else's building with large numbers of strangers is covid waiting to happen.
But the bottom line is it's a totally different experience, like comparing a wardrobe to a kettle.
I can't take my dog in a hotel room - if my dog can't go, I don't go.
I can't have a day away at the lakeside in a hotel room.
I can't change my mind about destination and experience on the fly in a hotel room.
Being inside someone else's building with large numbers of strangers is covid waiting to happen.
But the bottom line is it's a totally different experience, like comparing a wardrobe to a kettle.
Fab Foodie
hanging-on in quiet desperation ...
- Location
- Kirton, Devon.
We now have a globecar Campscout campervan 6.4m which we bought new a year ago after 3 Motorhomes which we bought in quick succession before finding the right combo for us. It’s cost a lot to find exactly what we need (which is what I wanted in the first place- @##@#&&*&£#%arse).
Vans often bought on 10 year financing deals.
https://globecar.co.uk/models/campscout/
Layout is an important factor and what you think will work perfectly often does not.
Space, internal human, internal storage, external storage (what will you carry) and parking space need consideration.
Where will you be going? Big mohos are great until you meet Devon and Cornwall lanes in summertime. A lot of our coursing events are on farms in the middle of nowhere, you can end-up with a lot of scratches on your investment, lose a lot of wing mirrors and get stuck in a lot of fields.
Ease of use - we use ourp campervan faaaaar more than the mohos. It may be psychological, but being smaller and more nimble, we use it far more often.
Cooking - some demand full ovens and microwaves others fine with a 2 ring hob.
Do you need toilet and showers?
Will you be primarily on sites/aires or off-grid; impacts water and grey waste storage, power consumption etc.
They are ‘lifestyle choices’. While you can buy a lot of holiday for the same cost, it’s a different experience. I stay in a lot of hotels, I don’t want that for my free-time. 9000 miles in this first year.
Our camper takes us where we want to go, when we want. Is warm, cosy, fast, 32mpg, sleeps 2 adults and 3 Whippets in a King sized bed, carries all we need and will allow us 4 days parked in the middle of nowhere all the year round in resplendent comfort with excellent catering!
Photos laters….
Vans often bought on 10 year financing deals.
https://globecar.co.uk/models/campscout/
Layout is an important factor and what you think will work perfectly often does not.
Space, internal human, internal storage, external storage (what will you carry) and parking space need consideration.
Where will you be going? Big mohos are great until you meet Devon and Cornwall lanes in summertime. A lot of our coursing events are on farms in the middle of nowhere, you can end-up with a lot of scratches on your investment, lose a lot of wing mirrors and get stuck in a lot of fields.
Ease of use - we use ourp campervan faaaaar more than the mohos. It may be psychological, but being smaller and more nimble, we use it far more often.
Cooking - some demand full ovens and microwaves others fine with a 2 ring hob.
Do you need toilet and showers?
Will you be primarily on sites/aires or off-grid; impacts water and grey waste storage, power consumption etc.
They are ‘lifestyle choices’. While you can buy a lot of holiday for the same cost, it’s a different experience. I stay in a lot of hotels, I don’t want that for my free-time. 9000 miles in this first year.
Our camper takes us where we want to go, when we want. Is warm, cosy, fast, 32mpg, sleeps 2 adults and 3 Whippets in a King sized bed, carries all we need and will allow us 4 days parked in the middle of nowhere all the year round in resplendent comfort with excellent catering!
Photos laters….
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Spent a year touring Australia in a VW T5.1. Bought one here in the UK in June. Just got it back after having a poptop fitted. Aim is to get out every few weeks roughly March through to October. Large battery, solar panels and diesel heater mean we should be able to stop just about anywhere (that's legal).
While living in London I had a direct view of a narrow boat marina from my apartment window. On weekends in summer, out comes the deck chairs and a small table on the deck if they have space for their meals or refreshments. Very idyllic and serene. Use to envy them. Many actually work in the city and return each evening to their boats.
Oldhippy
Cynical idealist
I plan to spend my days pottering around the canals of the UK, getting on the bike to explore and generally taking it easy.
NorthernDave
Never used Über Member
- Location
- The real Northern Powerhouse
Just a heads up, for those who might be interested:
Million Dollar Motorhome - Channel 5, 8pm tonight.
Million Dollar Motorhome - Channel 5, 8pm tonight.
IaninSheffield
Veteran
- Location
- Sheffield, UK
I've had this Caddy for about a year now, a self-fitout by a youngish lad - did a good job. As a solo camper used to being in tents, it's a luxury for me. The bed does pull out to make a double, but a couple would find it ... snug?
There's no loo nor shower (obvs!) so for me, that means I look for campsites with those facilities plus pitches with electric hookup. 'Vanlife', living off grid and seeking 'free' overnight parkups isn't for me. On the plus side, I was able to get rid of the car and replace it with something with the same fuel consumption (45 mpg mixed, 50+ on a run), which fits in the garage and which has ... ample(!) carrying capacity.
Pandemic restrictions just after I bought it until early summer this year, followed by ongoing issues trying to get some building repair work done to the house (and sneaking off for a few cycle tours!) have meant I've only done 3x 1-week hols in it so far this year. However, I'm hoping to get at least one more week in before Xmas. Maybe (🤞🙏), just maybe I might be able to hoof it down to southern Spain when the winter begins to bite early next year. We'll see.
Pandemic restrictions just after I bought it until early summer this year, followed by ongoing issues trying to get some building repair work done to the house (and sneaking off for a few cycle tours!) have meant I've only done 3x 1-week hols in it so far this year. However, I'm hoping to get at least one more week in before Xmas. Maybe (🤞🙏), just maybe I might be able to hoof it down to southern Spain when the winter begins to bite early next year. We'll see.
robjh
Legendary Member
- Location
- Cambridgeshire - almost Essex
This is ours - it's a Renault Master conversion and at 6m it isn't tiny but can go anywhere a delivery van can, which is almost anywhere, and it is not too hard to find parking. There are several van bodies - Fiats, Peugeot etc - that are the same size and more common than the Renault, and most have fairly similar layouts inside.
We lived in it for a wonderful year- it was quite comfortable for two people and a dog as long as you are strict about your packing.
We soon found we don't use everything in the way we had imagined, and features that in retrospect we would have changed - eg. the cooker serves only for storage as we cook only on the top, and we might have got a fixed bed with better storage underneath, as we rarely pack up the bed in the day, but it has been 95% perfect for what we need.
Having a toilet greatly increases your off-grid possibilities (and is in any case a big nice-to-have at night, in bad weather on en route), and we recently added a solar panel which means we can survive almost indefinitely without hookup. If you are buying a van, look at the size of your gas bottles - the bigger the better.
For longer stays we mostly use campsites, aires, Stellplätze etc but we do enjoy nights wild or semi-wild (as in the picture) camping and have done so in many countries over the years.
I can't comment too much on today's prices, other than that they seem high, but historically old motorhomes have kept their value fairly well - but if you find one you like and can afford, I would say go for it!
We lived in it for a wonderful year- it was quite comfortable for two people and a dog as long as you are strict about your packing.
We soon found we don't use everything in the way we had imagined, and features that in retrospect we would have changed - eg. the cooker serves only for storage as we cook only on the top, and we might have got a fixed bed with better storage underneath, as we rarely pack up the bed in the day, but it has been 95% perfect for what we need.
Having a toilet greatly increases your off-grid possibilities (and is in any case a big nice-to-have at night, in bad weather on en route), and we recently added a solar panel which means we can survive almost indefinitely without hookup. If you are buying a van, look at the size of your gas bottles - the bigger the better.
For longer stays we mostly use campsites, aires, Stellplätze etc but we do enjoy nights wild or semi-wild (as in the picture) camping and have done so in many countries over the years.
I can't comment too much on today's prices, other than that they seem high, but historically old motorhomes have kept their value fairly well - but if you find one you like and can afford, I would say go for it!
Richard A Thackeray
Legendary Member
Will this one suffice?
‘Truckfest’
Newark-on-Trent
(Saturday 2nd)
‘Truckfest’
Newark-on-Trent
(Saturday 2nd)
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