Greetings from Derbyshire

Welcome BGSW, wonderful to hear you've done the important things  { joined the Club and engaged with CT  }, now its just a case of getting the van. Thereafter its an absolute doddle --  just find which parts of this beautiful world to see  first.

Very Best Wishes,

Brian

Do people find its best to keep their caravan on the drive during the summer? 

Im imagining that collecting it from storage every time you want to use it could prevent impromptu trips.

Keeping your van on the drive is 

1. Cheapest
2. Convenient
3. Easier for working on

The downside is that it could act as an advert for when your property is empty.

Hello and welcome.

We store our motorhome, insufficient room on the drive mainly but it also means if it's missing likelihood is house is empty. But its kept fully ready except for fresh food, read empty fridge into it at storage facility, and clothing.

Once you have chosen your van KEEP YOUR HANDS FIRMLY IN YOUR POCKET 😉. Take stuff from home, decide what's really important, don't forget weight of stuff you put in it as payload can be VERY low! Much may have to go in your car. Lots of knowledgeable folk on here, including someone with 30 years experience just swopped back to caravan from motorhome and noticed very little payload for necessities 😱. Back on track to my point about no more spending, we all have loads of 'can't live without/handy items' that live in sheds garages and cupboards! Also buy things from ordinary stores, travel kettle etc, not caravan stores and you'llsave enough to have several extra nights away 😂

As soon as you have the van, go away to test it out locally, you can pop home for vital items if they've been forgotten and you'll be near the dealer in case of needing assistance. If you can video the handover, they'll be loads to take in and take notes.

Lastly don't forget your sense of humour and to enjoy your new toy plenty of help and knowledge on here and on site, don't be afraid to ask.

Hello and welcome.

Storage versus home is a personal choice as you will see from the above posts.

We store ours in an area we mainly stay in but impromptu trips can still be taken from our storage site. Some storage sites do have restricted hours, so this could curtail that.

When you say you are going to look at your first touring caravan, have you chosen your van or are you still looking?

Vicki is a wheelchair user and we have just found our ideal caravan, unfortunately it would probably not suit you if you want to take grand kids as it is a small 2 berth, but it does enable me to push her wheelchair straight into the van.

Where abouts in Derbyshire are you ? We are in exile in Notts. 

Edited to say have seen your other thread that answers one of my questions.

Hi DaveandVicki

we are North of Derby City although I spend a disproportionate part of my life in the QMC, a lot of research has gone into which van to get. I don’t need to be in the wheelchair inside the caravan because I can walk with support so the plan is to leave the wheelchair in the awning. I have fairly complex medical needs and need a ton of space for ventilation/suction equipment so we were never going to be able to manage in a small unit.

its nice to know I’m not a lone wheelie in the caravan world.

Thanks everyone for the replies, ohhh the temptation to buy beautiful things for the caravan, I’m far too tight for that. Instead I will be sending my better half into the garage to hunt out the ancient camping gear and I will be accessorising with homemade quilts and soft furnishings. My granddaughter has already started on bunting.

the caravan being missing from the drive will be a giveaway but we won’t be leaving the house unoccupied which is a comfort.

its nice to know I’m not a lone wheelie in the caravan world.

Far from it, but as you will know, we are all different and cope differently.

Good luck with the caravanning, you never know, we may meet on a campsite sometime. 

Incidentally, I used to do Patient Transport for QMC a few years back.

Welcome. Will you have to have an electric hook up?  If not I would suggest you look at your local centre with a view to rallying. That way you will meet lots of friendly helpful people. (I find many club sites especially in summer to be unfriendly, no one speaks, whereas rallies and temporary holiday sites totally different.)