I Need A Rest

[Steamdrivenandy]

It's the second day back home following a 19 day tour of southern England.

 

19 days during which I towed for about 600 miles and toured solo for another couple of hundred. We pitched and de-pitched five times at five different sites, each time erecting the full Isabella. Every time we travelled in the car or arrived on site I had to collapse and re-erect two heavy dog crates. Then there's dragging the Aquaroll, grey water tank and Thetford cassette about on a regular basis and every morning rolling up and stowing the Duvalays and pillows. Every time we moved on I had to carefully load the van and car with the folding chairs, sacks of dog food etc.

 

I had it in mind, while away, to swap the current van over the closed season for something slightly bigger, which unfortunately also meant a bigger car and an extension on the awning. A probable overall cost of between £10K and £15K.

 

Now I'm starting to think of getting out of caravanning completely and list the advantages as follows:

• Less storage of gear
• Less humping stuff around
• No awning erection etc
• Less cleaning and polishing
• Less worry
• Less money tied up in a box on wheels
• Quicker departures on hols/breaks
• More choice of type of holiday/break

I've found the ideal car for accommodating our two beardies in crates and luggage space to spare, but it will only tow a max of 1100kg, so no use with the van I had in mind.

 

So what's the right thing to do?

 

[T00ts]

You can't just list the advantages as you see them while you're suffering from holiday over exertion. There have to be disadvantages too. So list those as well.

 

Then hot chocolate, a cosy chair, and wait for all the replies to come in from your mates on here. ..

[Wunny]

 

each time erecting the full Isabella.

 

Every time we travelled in the car or arrived on site I had to collapse and re-erect two heavy dog crates.

 

every morning rolling up and stowing the Duvalays and pillows.

 

Every time we moved on I had to carefully load the van and car with the folding chairs, sacks of dog food etc.

 

• Less storage of gear
• Less humping stuff around
• No awning erection etc
• Less cleaning and polishing
• Less worry
• Less money tied up in a box on wheels
• Quicker departures on hols/breaks
• More choice of type of holiday/break

 

As I see it, most of the problems stem from what you take with you.

 

Don't use an awning, kennel the dogs, keep the bed made if you can, don't clean the van too often.

 

Get your life back :

 

Simples

[barrychas]

I have took a break from touring this autumn a took myself and the better half on a 3 city break in Italy. I had forgotten how knackering getting up at 4 to catch a 7 o'clock flight can be. ..then the realisation that you are a cash cow, to the Italians and must be relieved of as much money as possible whilst pretending to be offering a service.

I have suffered some of the most overpriced inedible offerings I have ever come accros . ..if this is a holiday get me back inside my van asap.

Oh and by the way take it from the horses mouth Venice is one overcrowded, smelly, rubbish value overpriced rip off city. ...gone too far now . .spouse this will get pulled

[WispMan]

I do agree. Our holiday starts as we hitch up and drive away. Compare that with an early start for the airport.

[Steamdrivenandy]

There'll be no Ryanair red eyes for us, Mrs SDA detests flying. VSOE to Venice may be but no airline involved ever.

We certainly can't be accused of having an overly clean van, with two bearded collies and no vacuum cleaner on board.

This holiday has been particularly trying with a hyper 5 month old pup in tow and having to arrange it around a wedding in the New Forest.

[milkymarsh]

Just don't mkve around so many sites in such a short period. Also use mains hook up for water and waste. Makes a massive difference & we now actively look for it

[Steamdrivenandy]

It was down to late booking and the Bank Holiday that we ended up staying at two sites before getting to Salisbury for the wedding in the New Forest. We didn't book at an NF site because of the risk of infecting the pup. Then toddled over to IoW at a cost of £180 for 5 nights as Mrs SDA wanted the island. Then back to the mainland and Old Oaks for three nights to wind down and for old times sake.

[macafee2]

just because you have a caravan does not mean your choice of holiday is restricted, in fact it is the opposite. now you can have a caravan holiday or a hotel holiday. sell the caravan and your left with the hotel holiday.

 

starting from home and getting to your site or hotel how long will it take you to cover a 200 mile tow for a holiday, how long to cover a 200 mile flight to a hotel in Europe?

 

less worry, I'd worry about my car in an airport car park

 

less money, perhaps buying a car and caravan at once is the greater expense but in time can be cheaper.

 

no awning, if you don't like putting it up and down, don't take it

 

less polishing, how much cleaning and polishing can you do on something 30 foot long?

 

what are you humping around?

 

seems you resent having to take the dogs.

 

attach aqua roll to tow bar when full and tow it

 

go to sites that have toilets

 

so far the only advantage is less storing of gear

 

macafee2

[DeeTee]

The obvious solution is to be found in this forum. What you clearly need is a "what is the point" outfit. Motorhome towing a small car.

[Steamdrivenandy]

just because you have a caravan does not mean your choice of holiday is restricted, in fact it is the opposite. now you can have a caravan holiday or a hotel holiday. sell the caravan and your left with the hotel holiday. Hotels no, cottages yes

 

starting from home and getting to your site or hotel how long will it take you to cover a 200 mile tow for a holiday, how long to cover a 200 mile flight to a hotel in Europe? As I posted earlier. no flying allowed

 

less worry, I'd worry about my car in an airport car park No flying, no car worry

 

less money, perhaps buying a car and caravan at once is the greater expense but in time can be cheaper. £85 a night for 35 nights away in the van every year. That's £600 a week.

 

no awning, if you don't like putting it up and down, don't take it. Awning loved by Mrs SDA and necessary to house dogs

 

less polishing, how much cleaning and polishing can you do on something 30 foot long? It's only 20ft 6ins long, but washing and polishing takes up time and effort that could be better spent

 

what are you humping around? 38kg of awning, 46kg of full Aquaroll, 40kg of full Wastemaster, 20kg or so of Thetford cassette, 15kg of dog crate and lots of lighter stuff like folding chairs, tables, sacks of dog food etc.

 

seems you resent having to take the dogs. I don't resent the dogs, but a 5 month old puppy gets very, very wearing after three weeks in a van

 

attach aqua roll to tow bar when full and tow it After initial fill up I use a watering can to top it up

 

go to sites that have toilets Only one out of five sites didn't have toilets, but the Thetford still got used

 

so far the only advantage is less storing of gear

 

macafee2

[Fliss]

www. premierinn. com

[nme2no1]

It's the second day back home following a 19 day tour of southern England.

 

19 days during which I towed for about 600 miles and toured solo for another couple of hundred. We pitched and de-pitched five times at five different sites, each time erecting the full Isabella. Every time we travelled in the car or arrived on site I had to collapse and re-erect two heavy dog crates. Then there's dragging the Aquaroll, grey water tank and Thetford cassette about on a regular basis and every morning rolling up and stowing the Duvalays and pillows. Every time we moved on I had to carefully load the van and car with the folding chairs, sacks of dog food etc.

 

I had it in mind, while away, to swap the current van over the closed season for something slightly bigger, which unfortunately also meant a bigger car and an extension on the awning. A probable overall cost of between £10K and £15K.

 

Now I'm starting to think of getting out of caravanning completely and list the advantages as follows:

• Less storage of gear
• Less humping stuff around
• No awning erection etc
• Less cleaning and polishing
• Less worry
• Less money tied up in a box on wheels
• Quicker departures on hols/breaks
• More choice of type of holiday/break

I've found the ideal car for accommodating our two beardies in crates and luggage space to spare, but it will only tow a max of 1100kg, so no use with the van I had in mind.

 

So what's the right thing to do?

 

But without the caravan (Taken in order)........

 

More storage of cases

More carrying of cases round airports, into hotels.

Unpacking and re packing the suitcases every time

True

More worry, where do you park the car, what about airports and security, etc etc

True

Car to pack, not as comfortable to travel with all the luggage.

Less choice of holidays, with a caravan you have more freedom.

 

You also mention dogs, not many guest houses, hotels etc will allow dogs, now you do start to spend more money with kennels etc.

 

Get rid of the full awning, buy a bigger van or get a porch awning and continue caravanning, you know it makes sense.

[ScoobyWRX]

Personally I don't see the point of going to to different sites on a two and a half week holiday,.why spend a third of it unpacking and re packing!? No wondered your worn out!

We just spent 16 nights in Woodhall Spa, 230 miles there and back, and drove up to 50 or 60 mile radius from there

[John_b_45]

You don't really want forum members to list advantages and disadvantages as they see them - you are intelligent enough to list your own.

 

You know your own mind and the fact that you have started this thread speaks volumes!

 

Only YOU can decide on the type oh holiday you want to have bearing in mind your personal constraints and requirements.

 

You ask what's the right thing to do. Well - the right thing to do is nothing.

 

Give yourself space and then discuss with you wife. You two will make the correct decision without any prompting from here.

 

I'm sure your list of issues rings true to many of us here but we all deal with them differently. Less stops, mains hook-ups, site facilities etc etc etc as has been suggested. (I now have a Kampa Air Pro 390 to eliminate one of my pet hates!)

 

We mix our holidays between caravan and hotel. I am going to Egypt diving in a couple of weeks and my wife to Portugal with our daughter. In the summer we travelled around 2600 miles in France with the caravan.

 

Perhaps as we get older we will adjust our life style to accommodate our physical condition and changes to our perception of what makes our kind of holiday. At the moment we do everything we can to minimise stress and work whilst camping and taking hotel holidays here and abroad.

 

I'm sure you will make the right decision for YOU and your wife.

[Digger_07]

You would miss it, take a chill pill and relax. A few days down the line and you will want to do it all again.

[Glen and Les]

We have been away a similar length of time and did 3 sites - a 5 night stay, followed by 6 nights, followed by 5 nights at The Old Oaks, leaving there yesterday, so probably there same time as you! Agreed we didn't have dogs with us and we only took a canopy and fold up picnic chairs on this trip, which made it much easier. Managed to get a fully serviced pitch at Ross Park for the middle sector, but not at the others.

 

I suspect arranging things around the wedding complicated the trip but give yourself a few days and all will settle. If not, consider a seasonal pitch for 1 year and see how that goes - you still have the option of going away if you want to,

[thensum]

Personally I don't see the point of going to to different sites on a two and a half week holiday,.why spend a third of it unpacking and re packing!? No wondered your worn out!

We just spent 16 nights in Woodhall Spa, 230 miles there and back, and drove up to 50 or 60 mile radius from there

Sounds like a great way of enjoying caravanning and seeing the area - we do much the same.

[LongTimeCaravaner]

Apart from an overnight stop if we are on route to anywhere Hubby won't stop on a site for less than a week as he says it becomes hardwork. Lately we haven't taken the awning with us for the same reason and haven't missed it. You are just suffering fatigue from trying to do too much.

We don't have dogs but I understood those that do caravan because it is so much easier than finding accomodation which will take a dog.

Calm down and keep caravanning!

[slimseydy]

In think you hit nail on head with the word awning . do you really need it ?? . i had a full size awning. & erected it once . put it in the shed for 2 years & sold it. . Loads of work for little value . i used to see couples turn up next to me with a decent size van, fixed be models etc . Them spend 2 hrs erecting an awning to stick a camping table & 2 chairs in there . all that effort when they could have just popped the table up in living space & eaten . also maybe it's worth planning the next trip with service pitches . they are a god send & worth a couple of pound extra . I think you have moved around to much as well, ok if you don't have an awning as it's just drop the steadies, level up, plug in water & electric . hollybobs time

[Steamdrivenandy]

Thanks for all the responses, all good food for thought.

 

As I've said the airport issues aren't issues because Mrs SDA won't fly - end of.

 

We're not thinking of hotels too much, mainly cottages which we successfully used before we started caravanning/campervanning in 2006. The choice of cottage is more restricted by taking two dogs, but there are plenty enough.

 

The other issue is that Mrs SDA wants to start showing our new puppy and this will involve dragging around a grooming trolley and other gear and there's no room or spare payload for it either in the van or car.

 

So it's a choice of shelling out an extra £10K to £15K for a bigger car and caravan combo or selling van and buying replacement car that will take dogs and gear and putting £5K or so back in the bank.

 

Currently the full average cost of car and van (including pitch costs) is £6,000 a year. With the car I have in mind the full average costs would be £3,750 a year. So saving the SDA exchequer £2,000 or so a year, having banked around £5,000 from the van sale. Over a 3 year timeframe that gives £11,000 to use on hols.

[Durbanite]

I had it in mind, while away, to swap the current van over the closed season for something slightly bigger, which unfortunately also meant a bigger car and an extension on the awning. A probable overall cost of between £10K and £15K.

 

Now I'm starting to think of getting out of caravanning completely and list the advantages as follows:

• Less storage of gear
• Less humping stuff around
• No awning erection etc
• Less cleaning and polishing
• Less worry
• Less money tied up in a box on wheels
• Quicker departures on hols/breaks
• More choice of type of holiday/break

I've found the ideal car for accommodating our two beardies in crates and luggage space to spare, but it will only tow a max of 1100kg, so no use with the van I had in mind.

 

So what's the right thing to do?

 

You list all the advantages and are quite correct however you forgot to include a disadvantage like a 19 day tour around England with your dogs.

When we go away for a long break we stay put on 1 or 2 sites for the duration. We don't erect an awning preferring a porch awning. You still need to load the car to go away so no different there. You can't take your animals to many places and if you do, there is a hefty deposit.

Some cottages to rent are not fit for human habitation never mind for rats! Once you have paid the weekly rental it is gone. At least with a caravan you can sell it and get back a lump sum.

[Steamdrivenandy]

I've fought shy of porch awnings because the Lunar brochure says that neither the Isabella Magnum nor Minor are suitable for our van and I assume most other makes are similarly sized and therefore not appropriate. Also a Magnum offers very little weight saving over our full Isabella Ambassador. Plus Mrs SDA adores the awning.

In the past we've mainly rented cottages through ECC and they've always been superb and they don't charge a deposit for les chien.

The £1,000 or so depreciation per year on the van soon eats into any return upon selling and servicing, insurance, bits and bobs mean that without going to a single site the van costs circa £2300 a year.

[Durbanite]

Measure the distance from the front of the door to past the window to get an idea of porch awning width. We have the Ventura Marlin on our Lunar but we don't have a side window to contend with.

[David55]

If you are going to plan a holiday with so many changes of site in so few days you perhaps should consider changing the caravan for a motorhome.

 

Personally we only ever use a porch awning these days but only if we are staying for 4 or more nights. I detest the damn things and when we didn't have a dog didn't even use it when away at all. It isn't possible for our dog to go into kennels as he requires medication and overnight attention at times so he has to accompany us on our main holidays. He loves caravanning and many pubs and cafes etc allow dogs in if we wish to eat so its not really a problem.

 

If you must move so many times and want to keep the caravan then travel as lightly as possible. Definitely leave the awning at home for a start.

Edited September 13, 2014 by David55