To change or not to change

Let's get back on thread. 

We moved back to a caravan from a MH last year. We liked and enjoyed the MH but coming back to a caravan we have found it more relaxing. 

OH doesn't mind towing which is good as I don't like towing. Much preferred to drive the MH. To be honest he is not a good passenger unless he's asleep 

 

JVB66, my brother lives in Welwyn.

On useable habitation square footage  how do you find the change?

I was comparing inlaws T5 with dinky caravans, and in my eyes a good small caravan coupled to an estate car, wins hands down.

Best wishes Q, whatever works best for you is what is important. Our caravan is only 13 feet long, a lovely old coachbuilt from 1984. We happily did a month at a time away in it before we bought our little MH. Hoping to get the van back on the road again soon. The key to down sizing is definitely to dump the clutter and travel light without compromising your comfort. 😁

Best wishes for the future Q, we also looked at getting a MH a couple of years back, OH was keen, I was  not so keen.

We spent a month of one trip going round dealers and soon realised that the space we had got used to in our caravan was not easily replicated in a MH that we could actually afford.  So we still have the caravan.

As for going small, that was our original plan back in about 2005, to go to a 2 berth,  but a 4 month trip to Scandinavia when we retired in 2007, making up the bed every night, made me think a fixed bed would be better on long trips.

As a result we bought a twin axle Sterling with fixed bed, large shower room, Alde heating and big fridge/freezer......all the features we wanted.  We still have it 11 years on, it will likely be our last van as I am now about to turn 77.

W&M.......the idea of spending 4 months on one site is a non starter for us, we like to explore and see lots of different places.  We have done a couple of 4 month tours, but that was when going to my home in Norway, which is a very long way to tow, and even then we were only at home for about 6 weeks at the most.

Get out there and explore, Europe is huge!

I remember from your previous posts that you did a lot of research on what sort of motorhome you were thinking of. If your preferred option is to stay in out of the way places for a couple of weeks you have probably made the right decision to stay with a caravan. We changed from a caravan to motorhome six years ago and are now on our second one. Even when we had a caravan it was very rare that we stayed anywhere as long as a week, usually it was between three and five days. We no longer have the need to go away in order to relax, if we want that we can stay at home! Can't see us going back to a caravan as unlike Tammygirl we find a motorhome much easier and relaxing to drive and generally operate.

David

Motorhomes do have their drawbacks. Mobility from site being one unless going small and then living space is compromised. The upside is the lack of faff hooking up and setting up. I can't say I've found the journey aspect makes much difference.

We no longer have the need to go away in order to relax, if we want that we can stay at home

we do Exactly that, am fortunate enough to have a hard standing next to bungalow with all services and only live 5 mins from beach, so certainly during July & August I sit in the caravan and pretend i am out touring  dont intend to change to a MH or buy a new caravan, caravan probably only used to 6 months of year as a touring vehicle, dont see any point in touring in the UK during winter months, normally do 3 months over there staying for sometimes a much as 6 weeks on one site, so having a car to get about is good.

even a small (basic swift?) caravan will give far more room than a T5 and the estate car will let you go anywhere....but for T5 owners, that isn't the thing...

like many any mhers they tour in a different way to what you're  advocating (park somewhere for ages and go out and back everyday)...

they want to explore somewhere in their van and if they like it the hand brake goes on and that's it....no going back to fetch your caravan...

they can also move a few miles every few days far more easily, parking at more impromtu places than you can with a caravan....(unless it's Glastonbury where you can park any old crap caravan anywhere apparently...another story)....

style of touring has a huge bearing on what sort of vehicle you want to do it in....

if I was only touring the uk, and only staying on sites we'd probably have a small caravan, but the ease of MH touring in Europe (especially away from formal sites) is the big attaction for us and, as we do far more of our touring there, we're more than happy with a smallish MH and our ebikes in the garage.

There seems to be a buoyant sale in VW campers (leased?)and quite as few have the electric lift up roof,also drive away awnings ,which seem to be the living areas, so I would think they or similar are maybe the future go away LVs for couples or young families and if,maybe a small trailer for longer stays /tours to carry add kit

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