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Topic: making the change from tent to caravan

Yvonnemcb

16/4/2013 at 10:11am
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Vango Venture 600

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I love my tent, but living in Scotland, don't get enough opportunity to get away....maybe I'm not tough enough, but I had a very wet week in the lake district last year and honestly can't say it was much fun!! although weedogetthe occasional good spell, it never seems to tie in with our holidays/days off. .....so we have decided to stick with tent this year and buy a caravan at the end of the season for next year.....has anyone else done this?? What differences do find to the "camping" experience...apart from the obvious sleeping in a tin can:-)

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Castle Bay, portpatrick (campervan)*Seton sands, port seton (static)*Southerness (static)*Faskally, Pitlochry*Tummel Valley (static)*Tantallon, n Berwick*Turnberry caravan park (static)*Lakeland, cumbria*Milton of fonab, Pitlochry*Strathyre, wild camping*Killin, wild camping

VangoMan02

16/4/2013 at 10:50am
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I have been there and back! Been camping since I was about 10yrs old am 60 now.

Bought my first caravan when I was 21 yrs old and continued caravanning for the next 33 years but also camped and backpacked and still do.

We sold our last caravan about 5 years ago and as I say we still tent camp and love it.
We did think about getting another van but long term finances and having to retire early ,dictated a smaller car so options were few.

The caravan will extend your season and am sure you will find a big difference from tent camping..enjoy.

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It is a wise man who has something to say.
It is a fool who has to say something.

franbee

16/4/2013 at 12:10pm
Location: Lancashire
Outfit: Leisuredrive VW T6 campervan

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We changed from a tent to a VW campervan. So we tend to do exactly what we did before, except there's no tent to pitch, you just pull the bed out and make it up.

I suppose we don't have days out from the campsite like we used to because the 'van has to be repacked to drive away, but as we tend to use bikes a lot, it's not an issue. And if there's somewhere in particular we want to visit, we often just move to a nearby campsite

joolsr

16/4/2013 at 3:25pm
Location: norfolk
Outfit: tent

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We started with a caravan as we had one when I was a little person, but pennies got short so we sold up and bought a tent in the sales. Had the tent for 8 years now but have decided just this weekend to get a caravan so we can get away later in the year, when I think its a bit too chilly for a tent, hopefully we will be able to keep tent as well.I don't think there's too much difference apart from caravans being warmer and you can't watch terrential rain pooling on the roof wondering if you're going to spring a leak!

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jools

JulieEllenPB

16/4/2013 at 10:20pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Outwell Virginia 5 and Eriba Puck L

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Hi there,

We bought a tent last year so we could go on a family holiday (after camping for about 15 years in 'ready erected' Eurocamp type tents) . Have to say we (hubby and I) are now thinking about buying a small 'Eriba' type caravan so that we can just 'go' at weekends if the weather is nice, hubby not great about setting up. Think it will give us spontaneity but at a cost (hope the spelling is right!!!) Also when we retire am planning a long tour (like the Victorians used to do); happy days, hopefully .

Julie

adsheadv

16/4/2013 at 10:33pm
Location: Manchester
Outfit: Vango Inspire 600

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We went from tent to caravan, and now back again. We're fair-weather campers so having the van did mean we could go year round & be toasty warm. But the faff of having to go to the storage site to get it ready, the hassle of hitching up & towing and never really getting the hang of reversing made it all seem like hard work. Plus we were spending around £1000 per year between storage, insurance, servicing etc... before we even went anywhere.

So, whilst we enjoyed having our van, for now we're happier to be back in a tent. We'll never say never, but probably wouldn't buy another van until it's just the 2 of us & we could get away with something smaller & lighter.

Our ideal would be a weekend tent for quick get-aways & a camper van for spending the summer touring Europe (obviously we need to win the lottery 1st so we don't have to work

)

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Vanessa
x

Yvonnemcb

16/4/2013 at 10:52pm
Location: None Entered
Outfit: Vango Venture 600

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I'm pretty surprised at the cost of caravans, having never looked before, but hopefully we'll get many happy holiday's since my kids are still small....ilove the idea of a French site Julie.

Ooooh a big tour sounds exciting too!
X

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Castle Bay, portpatrick (campervan)*Seton sands, port seton (static)*Southerness (static)*Faskally, Pitlochry*Tummel Valley (static)*Tantallon, n Berwick*Turnberry caravan park (static)*Lakeland, cumbria*Milton of fonab, Pitlochry*Strathyre, wild camping*Killin, wild camping

Francais

17/4/2013 at 12:16am
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We only go camping once each year, and are way in France for 3 weeks during July.

Buying a caravan would change what is a cheap holiday into an expensive hobby (pun intended)

I drive a firms car, so that is another limiting factor, as the VW Golf which I drive is only rated to 1400kg which would limit me to 1200kg in caravan terms, although I did consider buying a Bailey Orion 430/4.

But after a long hard think I decided to stick with the Tent and Trailer for a good few more years to come.

HEJC72

17/4/2013 at 7:11pm
Location: North Yorkshire
Outfit: Holi * Perran 4 * Airedale 5

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I love my caravan which I have had for nearly 2 years now but I still love getting away in my tents too.

Advantages of the caravan are quick set up, year round trips, comfortable and warm.

Disadvantages of the caravan are initial cost, storage issues and costs, doesn't feel like real camping!

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Helen xx
Mini Mad Mum

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