Getting the caravan out

I hope you have a lovely time on your Easter Weekend.

Enjoy your caravanning season Overthehill. We really hated having to sell our van and give up caravanning a couple of years ago, but due to ill health we just couldn`t manage anymore.

Enjoy over. Remember the excited anticipation. We let ours go when that went and it felt a chore. No regrets, the right time for us. Hope you have a wonderful season.

I'm jealous!
I've always fancied a caravan but haven't got the confidence to tow and H doesn't drive.

I never minded towing our caravan; reversing and parking it was another matter!

After years of towing, we now store our caravan on a farm in North Wales with a Caravan Club CL. They put it on a pitch for us, so we're set up in no time. We've already been twice this year and will go again next month. It's our way of getting to the coast, which I love and miss very much.

We bought an old caravan so we could get away with our three dogs when we had stressful jobs. We used go somewhere for a weekend every month and it was the best thing we ever did. Our holidays were a week or two in the caravan. We were only in our 30s with no real experience of caravans and we did get the mickey taken out of us a bit, but we didn't care.

We've had our current caravan for over 15 years and don't have a dog right now (that will probably change soon). It's our bolt hole and we love it.

OH said that if we bought a caravan, he wouldn't tow it, so I did all the towing ( even though he was more than capable ). I went to a couple of towing and reversing courses run by the Caravan Club but, because it was difficult reversing onto our drive, we had a mover fitted. Brilliant! Lucky that I could tow because OH had a health problem when we were away in the van and we would have been stranded miles from home. It really isn't difficult, but a course is a good idea to make sure you are loading the van correctly - one of the main causes of accidents.
We are off on our first outing of the season on Thursday. Can't wait!

We have a small campervan now so that we can both drive, though OH likes driving the van so I don't often get chance.

Me, I'd like to turn back the clock a bit and go back to tenting! We did it for 20 years - and it felt more like camping than the trailer tent does... We've got a gorgeous dining tent - giant hexagon, and then last year we bought a new tent (dh can't sleep in the trailer: he's deaf and any movement wakes him) that Coleman calls a yurt - gorgeous!! What do we need the trailer for? Dh says for all our gear - and in case of rain.

Can't wait to start camping again this year: two season in our family - camping and not camping! It's still a little chilly to think about camping yet though - we're expecting snow today. blech.

I was looking at the campgrounds in Devon for during our holiday - fully equipped rentals available! woohoo!!

anno it was actually those aspects I was thinking of

Lots of women do tow their caravans, but I confess I've only ever towed our caravan once and that was when my DH hurt his leg mid journey (what a saga) and couldn't drive. When we got to our site, fortunately the place was quite empty and the pitches were huge, so I could get the van roughly where it should be. DH straightened it up later. Towing is not something I plan to master and we don't tow now anyway.

The lessons from the Caravan Club are always highly praised.

Thank you for all your good wishes.

I have towed the van here and in France, but DH normally does it.

Our caravan is a folder so you don't really notice it when you tow. Being lower there is less wind resistance to. When it is erected it looks like a normal van albeit boxy in shape.

We have all mod cons though, toilet, shower, fridge, cooker etc.

Envy you over our caravan/camping days were over some time ago, but I still envy them when I see them on the road. They are probably easier now than they were, to tow and set up, but the other half and I really enjoyed the freedom to roam.

My poor neighbours, well a few doors down the road.

They bought their caravan last year but they tried to get it out of the gate on Saturday and today I see them 'knocking the gate pillar down'. They say what goes in must come out but I think their caravan has put that theory in the bin.

Enjoy your breaks away caravanners. Jealous, moi.

We're very excited because we bought a small camper van three weeks ago. We've not done camper vans before although we have done boats. We are enjoying kitting it out with our maiden trip planned for mid April. I don't mind driving it but DH prefers being the driver and I don't mind at all - more chance to see the scenery. Open road - here we come!

over I used to work with someone who had a folder and they could keep it in their garage. I was surprised how expensive they were 2nd hand compared with a normal caravan. Really held their price, presumably because of the demand (years ago now though).

POGS oh dear. Wonder who will get the blame?

NTO I'd be excited too! I've always fancied one and admire the ones I see on the motorway, but my husband has never fancied them. He always does on about just getting set up and then discovering we need milk!

Wilma Yes. we will need to be very organised before we leave. We are only planning a three night stop for our first time and we have a little fridge so should be ok for milk!

Definitely a good idea to have a test run! Hope it's a great one!

I'm not a caravanner but love it when I see the cover coming off my neighbours caravan as it did last week. To me it means that Spring has really sprung ! (Not very happy to see the covers going on in the back end though)
NotTooOld - I have had 3 super camper van holidays (hired abroad) and love it. I am so envious of you having your own and would have loved to have been able to customise the vans we hired.

Loved ,loved, loved our caravanning days. Total freedom. Living cheek by jowl with the Peak District as we do H would finish work at lunchtime on Friday and I would have everything ready and off we would go until Sunday afternoon.
Bank holidays would be Cotswolds or Yorkshire Dales, we were keen walkers then.
Summers would be the South West but never abroad.
So of you .

Wilma

Yes our vans are expensive and hold their price. They are made in Norfolk and being that they fold, there is the mechanism which I suppose adds to the cost. We have had this one since 2001, we have renewed the curtains and upholstery and the flooring but everything else is original.

Counteract that with the fact we can keep it in our back garden and have no site storage fees, we have saved ourselves a lot of money over the years.

NTO

I have a check list that we go through each time before we leave to make sure we have everything.
In the past we have left behind, chairs, tent pegs (when we had a tent) and even the jockey wheel when we had our first trip to France. We had to balance the frame on bricks.

Wilma. Re forgetting the milk, they do have fridges and freezers. We have a satellite system as well so I don't go without my telly. Off to Spain in 3 weeks.

Petra I'm not sure why you are saying that?

I adored our caravan. I think looking at every holiday we have ever had including some fantastic ones abroad the caravan ones have been the best