Hi everyone. We've been reading this forum for a couple of months now. We are also in the throws of buying our first motor home and really appreciate all the advice. We have decided to buy from the trade and have a weekend trip booked to go to the dealerships in the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately we live at John o' groats (amazing part of the country) so we need to travel 200 miles + to get to our nearest dealer. We are starting the search now and hope to have it on the driveway by next spring. We are lucky to have seen a fair bit of the world and now fed up with airports and long flights. Looking forward to seeing much more of our own beautiful country. Thank you all and keep up the good advice
Always buckle your children’s seat properly whenever you are driving.Installing child car seats would be a good idea,check in the cab of your motorhome for seating positions.Have plenty of toys and books in the van so that your kids don’t feel bored.You could choose a campsite with a playground and ask for a pitch close to it so your children don’t have to wander far and you could also keep a close eye on them.It would also be a good idea to have a security camera installed to avoid break ins.I had one installed by a home alarm company called api alarm http://www.apialarm.com/residential-security/video-surveillance/ . It is always good to be safe.You don’t have to worry while touring with your children.I have attached an article(http://www.practicalmotorhome.com/advice/30492-touring-with-children) http://www.apialarm.com/residential-security/video-surveillance/
There's only 2 of us, but we're motorhoming newbies having just bought our first one this year.
One of the best things we did was spend lots and lots of time just looking at MHs in the dealers - sit on the sofas, pretend to use the kitchen and bathroom, work out how the beds work etc... and then think carefully about which bits work, which bits don't and which are compromises you're willing to put up with.
We ended up with the following list:
- Max 7.5m to fit on the drive
- must have a separate shower cubicle
- no tip-up sinks
- must have an oven/grill (many continental MHs don't have one)
- either end lounge or two sofas long enough to stretch out on (end lounge preferred as you could still use the cab seats with the bed up, but it wouldn't have been a deal-breaker if everything else worked)
- if based on boxer/ducato then it needed to be the 3rd gen version (didn't like the foot pedal positions of the pre-2006 version)
- we thought the colour & style of the upholstery on many MHs was awful, but we could compromise on that coz you can always get it re-covered
We ended up with a rear lounge MH which ticked everything on our list - but even so there are still compromises, the main ones being that we don't have much practical external locker space, and having to make the bed up each night. But overall we're happy with our choice and having been to the NEC last weekend we only saw two there which we really liked: an updated version of our own , and a lovely A-class Rapido which we can't afford
We've had one for 4 years now and love it, you do have to think more about what you are going to do when you are at your destination, but we walk, bike use public transport and love the fact that all of us exercise more when we are away. The other thing I would recommend is that you consider joining the CCC and try DA camping, we have stayed in some lovely places in the UK sometimes overnight sometimes for longer for very little money and met some fantastic people doing this. :)
Quote: Originally posted by rabble on 27/10/2016
We've had one for 4 years now and love it, you do have to think more about what you are going to do when you are at your destination, but we walk, bike use public transport and love the fact that all of us exercise more when we are away. The other thing I would recommend is that you consider joining the CCC and try DA camping, we have stayed in some lovely places in the UK sometimes overnight sometimes for longer for very little money and met some fantastic people doing this. :)
Rabble,
You might be interested in the link I put up earlier in this post, well worth a read.
Regards,
Greg
Quote: Originally posted by rabble on 27/10/2016
Rabble,
You might be interested in the link I put up earlier in this post, well worth a read.
Regards,
Greg
You mean the one about home security?????
Hi,
No this is a link for sites all near towns/villages or public transport.
Regards,
Greg