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I suppose we have spent a little over £1,000 per year over the last 20 years. In that time, we have bought two folding campers (both secondhand), one new caravan and two secondhand caravans, plus bits of kit, the most expensive being awnings and a motor mover. On the other hand, we have had some great holidays, in the UK and in various parts of Europe and have memories which we will treasure forever. I'm not sure we could have used that money to give ourselves, and our family, more long-term enjoyment.

We did at one point, back in the early nineties, when things were really tough, have to sell our caravan (the only one we bought new), but we immediately replaced it with a secondhand folding camper and had a great deal of pleasure from that until, about five years later, we felt confident enough to buy ourselves a secondhand, 7 year old caravan. Since then we have upgraded once: our current 'van is now 12 years old, but has everything we need. If we come into money at any point, another upgrade will be very much on the cards, but, meanwhile, we are very happy with what we have, and it enables to get away when almost any other holiday would be out of the question.

I think for us it was more of a case of being unsure of the layout we wanted, the 1st van was a knacker, the 2nd was great 5 berth, side toilet/shower.

the latest (and last for a long while)has an end bathroom , after a rethink  we decided this is the better layout for us. We have only lost a couple of hundred pounds part ex-ing the 2nd van, so all things considered, we haven't done too bad

So far this year we've spent £5000 on the van including a starter pack (awning, waste, water etc...) plus towbar & stabiliser, porch awning and then a few other bits & bobs.  Probably about £6000 in total but we don't owe anything on it.

It is a big outlay initially but if we keep our van for 3 years, use it for 35 nights minimum each year & get back half of what we paid for it when we trade in, it'll average out around £2450 per year including storage, site fees, insurance, club memberships & up to £500 per year maintenance.

Not bad at all really - we'll get 5 weeks per year away for less than the cost of a cheap fortnight abroad for a family of 5.  I'm happy with that!

As others have said, yes, there's a fairly big initial outlay - as big as you like / can afford - but, once you've got your perfect layout, suitable tow car and all the necessary bits, that's it.

Holidays from then are just a pitch fee and some fuel.  We've been lucky and have encouraged family and friends to give us CC and C&CC vouchers for birthdays and Christmas.  We had a weekend away recently and the two nights cost us just £2.40 with the rest covered by vouchers.

We've got 34 nights away spent or planned already this year and couldn't do that if we were using hotels, B & B's, etc.  We have the freedom to come and go as we please, the dogs can come too and have a great time.

It's priceless.