Message Forums

Hi Benski,

We've gone from fc to caravan but since we bought it at the beginning of May due to abroad holidays and work commitments we've not been able to get out yet in the caravan but booked a site for this weekend so wish us luck!!!!

Hi Benski,

We too moved steadyly from frame tent, trailer tent, folding camper and now caravan and wouldn't go back either. That extra bit of comfort and luxury on cold wet days is worth the little extra effort towing.

As for whether your car will be suitable there is a link here to What towcar.com, you just insert your car and van details and it works out whether its a good match or not. It's usually a good idea to have a caravan that is no more than an 85% weight match for your car, but its all explained on this very useful site.

Dave

we started off with a tent progressed to a peninne aztec which we spent our honeymoon in at warren farm with the 4 kids and a dog  sold that and got a 2005 pennine sterling,my wife was against a caravan as she loved the fc but i got my way in the end after i explained how much i loved her how wonderful she was and how stress free i would be just being able to pull onto a site and as benski put it just being able to wind down legs attach hook up lead connect bbq and relax

being a regular visitor to jacksons of old arley i took her with me and i said while were here lets go look around the caravans,the first van we went in had a fixed bed which she liked and she showed her first signs of just maybe starting to like the idea of owning our first caravan,so quick as a flash i grabbed a salesman and done a deal and the rest they say is history.

now 2 years on my wife loves the van and the way of life,were both early 40s and go away 5-6 times a year,im a long distance hgv driver so the time i spend with my family is priceless and caravanning really brings back the family tradition and values.i have a 9 yr old son and a 16yr old wheelchair bound son and they both love the excitement of going away as often as possible.

so benski my advice is DO IT......

We went from tiny frame tent (too small) to synthetic tunnel tent (too cold) to Folding camper (great but we grew into it then found it too small) to caravan. We could have got a bigger camper but we would have had to find storage so we thought if we had to find storage we might as well go for a caravan.  After a year of looking we found one just the right weight for our car, just the right layout and with everything that we wanted included - awning, stabiliser and motor mover.

We had 7 trips in total last year with our folding camper.  Since picking up the caravan on the 8th April we have already had 3 weekends and been on 2 x 4 day meets. With another weekend planned for the end of this month, a week in August and any other meets or weekend getaways that we fancy our family are starting to jokingly ask when are we ever at home!!

We absolutely love it and although I was slightly sad to see our folding camper being towed away by its new owner on Saturday I really don't regret changing over.

yep us too, we have gone through the ranks of different material tents, to a trailer tent to a fc then onto a caravan---loved canvas--we wanted to progress to winter camping and couldn't do that in a fc.....so we indulged BUT we have never looked back.  Yep the fc gave us great space and the beds were already made up if one of the boys wanted to go to sleep.  All we have done is look for the right size awning and a great bbq and we live that way.  van for wiinter and sleeping, inside for the cooler evenings but we also have the tv in the awning sometimes. good luck but you will not need it. you can always go back.  cheers gary