How many people regret buying a MH and then go back to a caravan? (1 Viewer)

[Clangers]

Having owned a MH for 3 years and covering 700 miles we have sold it and thinking about going back to a caravan.
Is this common?

 

[Landy Andy]

I better not be smug about the thousands of aires, often free, that I can use as a motorhome owner then.

 

[Odd job]

A bit off topic but you've made my day Gasman. I had an Amigo in the 80's with round headlights, and a little scooshy thing that you pressed to get water on the windows. It was tiny. Did some hols in it on my own but it fell to pieces and I sold it. Never seen another like it anywhere since. Started to wonder if it only ever existed in my imagination!

A bit off topic but you've made my day Gasman. I had an Amigo in the 80's with round headlights, and a little scooshy thing that you pressed to get water on the windows. It was tiny. Did some hols in it on my own but it fell to pieces and I sold it. Never seen another like it anywhere since. Started to wonder if it only ever existed in my imagination!

We had 3 of us in ours, although our daughter was about 5 then. We had to go outside to make up the double bed, daughter slept in one of the streacher type bunk beds, the water, cold only had a foot pump. We had a lot of fun in that little camper

 

[TheMachMan]

Both have their benefits and disadvantages. Ideally we’d have both.
One thing that we immediately noticed with our PVC was that you always have the option of popping in to somewhere else on the way home, therefore adding almost another day on your holiday. Even more noticeable when it’s just a weekend jaunt. Couldn’t do that with the caravan.

 

[Essgeebee]

Both have their benefits and disadvantages. Ideally we’d have both.
One thing that we immediately noticed with our PVC was that you always have the option of popping in to somewhere else on the way home, therefore adding almost another day on your holiday. Even more noticeable when it’s just a weekend jaunt. Couldn’t do that with the caravan.

One of the biggest benefits in my experience. Esp now with some sites having quite early kick you out times.

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[Realist]

Why not, hook Van us, plug it in, mirrors and off you go.

I can stop at sites the same as a Motorhome and the advantage I have is Incan go to a sites drop the van on site and use my car.

Motorhome you have to pack everything away, struggle to find parking, struggle to go through narrow lanes and roads.

No difference what’s so ever, plus a caravan has a lot more room.

 

[Landy Andy]

I don’t have to pack everything away. It’s just in its place, and on wheels. Just start the engine, release park brake and drive away.

Im not restricted to sites. I’ve got aires, stellplatz, and any sneaky little spot I find. So very often free nights.

 

[Bluemooner]

I don’t have to pack everything away. It’s just in its place, and on wheels. Just start the engine, release park brake and drive away.

Im not restricted to sites. I’ve got aires, stellplatz, and any sneaky little spot I find. So very often free nights.

Must admit I have been naughty and used Aires in our Fifthwheel

 

[enark]

Caravan suited us when the kids were little, week away at Sandy Balls etc, ideal, but now MH for certain, easier to move about, and move on at the drop of a hat, caravanning was too many det drills for me….

 

[Northernraider]

You couldn't get me going back to a caravan and being dependent on campsites for all the tea in China.

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[Clangers]

Caravan suited us when the kids were little, week away at Sandy Balls etc, ideal, but now MH for certain, easier to move about, and move on at the drop of a hat, caravanning was too many det drills for me….

Sandy Balls! Now that brings back memories
Does it still flood badly down there?

 

[nicholsong]

Sandy Balls! Now that brings back memories
Does it still flood badly down there?

Mine do!

 

[Lenny HB]

Sandy Balls! Now that brings back memories
Does it still flood badly down there?

Drove by there a few weeks ago all statics & chalets now.

 

[Lenny HB]

One of the biggest benefits in my experience. Esp now with some sites having quite early kick you out times.

I'm not keen on sites and that is one thing that really bugs me. Even on paying Aires you get 24 hours, stop on a site at 4pm and leave the next day at 3pm they want to charge you for 2 nights. Also they often won't let you onto a site until after 12 pm.

I can stop at sites the same as a Motorhome and the advantage I have is Incan go to a sites drop the van on site and use my car.

But you don't need to stop at sites with a Motorhome it's one of their biggest advantages.

 

[punto338]

This topic was always going to generate an interesting discussion and, as has been said several times, each person's requirements are different. We have been caravanning since 1984 but, have on many occasions, debated whether we should change to a motorhome particularly as we are seeing more and more in Europe. However, for us the caravan is still, at the moment, our preferred choice.

Pre-Covid and knees, we would go away for 4 - 6 months at a time. Having a caravan does not restrict us much. We never plan or book and drift as the mood takes us, listening to other people on campsites and looking at guidebooks as we go along. The only certainty in our trips is a one-way ticket from Dover to Calais/Dunkirk. We know roughly which direction we will be heading and often starting at the Caravan Salon in Dusseldorf. This drifting has taken us halfway up Finland and ¾ way down the coast (Tan Tan) in Morocco and all stations in between. We normally cover about 10,000 miles per trip and visit about 40 campsites (I know this will strike a cord with those of you who don't like campsites but it is one of the disadvantages of a caravan - we don't have a decent shower as our caravan is 16 years old).

I have an onboard water tank and an Omnistor 6200 awning which we mainly use as a canopy only and only put the side panels in if we have stalled somewhere and the weather is changeable. It normally takes us about 15-20 minutes to get sorted once we arrive at a site - depending how far away the water tap and the EHU points are.

I envy you your freedom to stop wherever you like but I post this just to say that it is possible, with the exception of being beholden to staying at campsites, to drift with a caravan - we have only ever been stuck once and had to wait in a site by a stunning lake for a week for a slot to become available at the Stockholm campsite but it was peak summer season.

In the ideal world, I would like to have both - a small motorhome/campervan on the drive for short trips, as I have to store my caravan about 25 mins drive away which takes away the spontaneity, and the caravan for our long European trips.

I said that, when I first joined this Forum, that I was an imposter but I find your foreign travel forums very interesting, helpful and more informative than the popular caravan forums. The next trip, as soon as I have my new knee and it is bedded in, is to drive down to Greece - I have started to read the relevant postings - but the return to Morocco is not far away!

Thank you for allowing a 'caravanner' on your forums and Happy New Year.

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[HymerB544]

Fascinating discussion. Sue and I started backpacking then moved up to folding campers with the kids, regularly touring France, then had 16 years in three motorhomes touring the whole of Europe and Morocco. Great times and wonderful memories. Often we skipped from place to place, using our pushbikes to get around locally but we have now sold our HymerB544 and bought our first caravan. We still intend to tour (Eire and France in 2023) but no further afield simply because we can no longer use aires and few campsites are open in Winter. Other than that, I doubt we will change our habits when touring and I’m looking forward to new experiences….and it’s a shame there isn’t the equivalent of MHF for caravans so I’ll just have to stay as an MHF member and read your stories

 

[Neil S]

Fascinating discussion. Sue and I started backpacking then moved up to folding campers with the kids, regularly touring France, then had 16 years in three motorhomes touring the whole of Europe and Morocco. Great times and wonderful memories. Often we skipped from place to place, using our pushbikes to get around locally but we have now sold our HymerB544 and bought our first caravan. We still intend to tour (Eire and France in 2023) but no further afield simply because we can no longer use aires and few campsites are open in Winter. Other than that, I doubt we will change our habits when touring and I’m looking forward to new experiences….and it’s a shame there isn’t the equivalent of MHF for caravans so I’ll just have to stay as an MHF member and read your stories

Spain in the winter months
Plenty of sites open .
We’re of to Spain for 10 weeks
£12 a night all in including electricity and your own fresh water tap and drain

 

[HymerB544]

Spain in the winter months
Plenty of sites open .
We’re of to Spain for 10 weeks
£12 a night all in including electricity and your own fresh water tap and drain

Hi Neil, for the past ten years we’ve travelled to southern Spain for a couple of months of Winter sun, usually spending a few weeks with friends at Los Madriles in Isla Plana but I don’t fancy towing a caravan across central Spain so if we go again it will be fly and hire a car taking the bikes in boxes.

 

[dawsey]

Covering 700 miles in three years suggests to me that motorhoming might not bring you the same happiness as it does me!

Indeed, if this was the case for me, I might give up on a caravan as well and stay in hotels.


JJ

Ha - my thoughts also. We’ve done about 15,000km (left hooker) in the same period and feel that we’ve barely used the van in that time

using it now though….

 

[enark]

Sandy Balls! Now that brings back memories
Does it still flood badly down there?

Don’t know, as they don’t have any touring pitches anymore so I understand. So not been for over 10 years

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[John Barrett]

We used to be indecisive, but now we are not so sure...
In 2012 we bought a ECCLES 380 Caravan - 4000km around France the first year, then sold it for a Fleetwood Heritage 530-3 caravan. Right round Spain and Portugal and part ex on our return for a Hymer B640 Starline Mercedes Sprinter with 2.7 engine and autobox. Fitted all the luxury kit and went to Croatia via Portugal: away for ten months. More trips to Spain and France over next three years. Sold it after 16,000 miles and had a rest from travelling, soon bought a Coachman VIP 475 Caravan, took it to Spain for the winter behind my MB E350 and came home at the start of the pandemic to find a FLT friend had died so we sold it and bought his delapidated Hymer E544 and spent three months doing it up. Went out once to the New Forest...decided we didn't want to do motorhoming anymore and sold it for a modest profit.
In 2021 we saw a Fleetwood heritage 560-4 caravan in fair nick and spent time bringing it up to scratch, and took it to France and Spain behind my Mazda CX5. My eyesight failed and we now have neither option, and it will stay that way! I think...

 

[Peregrinator]

Having owned a MH for 3 years and covering 700 miles we have sold it and thinking about going back to a caravan.
Is this common?

What a waste, MH 3 years and only done 700 miles? I think you would be better doing Airbnb's.

 

[Peregrinator]

We used to be indecisive, but now we are not so sure...
In 2012 we bought a ECCLES 380 Caravan - 4000km around France the first year, then sold it for a Fleetwood Heritage 530-3 caravan. Right round Spain and Portugal and part ex on our return for a Hymer B640 Starline Mercedes Sprinter with 2.7 engine and autobox. Fitted all the luxury kit and went to Croatia via Portugal: away for ten months. More trips to Spain and France over next three years. Sold it after 16,000 miles and had a rest from travelling, soon bought a Coachman VIP 475 Caravan, took it to Spain for the winter behind my MB E350 and came home at the start of the pandemic to find a FLT friend had died so we sold it and bought his delapidated Hymer E544 and spent three months doing it up. Went out once to the New Forest...decided we didn't want to do motorhoming anymore and sold it for a modest profit.
In 2021 we saw a Fleetwood heritage 560-4 caravan in fair nick and spent time bringing it up to scratch, and took it to France and Spain behind my Mazda CX5. My eyesight failed and we now have neither option, and it will stay that way! I think...

Sorry about your sight, but seems you had a great time in the time you had.

 

[rammygb]

What did you find daunting
Are you not very confident towing ?
If your wife is struggling with walking consider a fold up mobility scooter
my partner uses one when she’s really in pain .
Other times she’s not so bad and manages to walk short distances

I didn’t mind the towing it’s just that it seemed to be jolting the car which I found uncomfortable and the hassle of hitching and unhitching whereas a motorhome I find so much more easy.

 

[Clangers]

What a waste, MH 3 years and only done 700 miles? I think you would be better doing Airbnb's.

Yes it was a waste hence the reason we have sold it and last weekend we purchased another caravan.
Easy to get in and out of, seems huge inside, 12 grand cheaper and for us it is the right thing to do.
We are all different and want different things and getting a MH was a mistake.
I wouldn't dream of going to Europe with a MH or without come to that! I live in a beautiful part of the world and like most people haven't seen 10% of this country so why go abroad?
Now we can park the caravan up and use the car in what area we choose.
I have got nothing at all against MHs but some MH owner seem to be very anti caravaners.

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[nicholsong]

Yes it was a waste hence the reason we have sold it and last weekend we purchased another caravan.
Easy to get in and out of, seems huge inside, 12 grand cheaper and for us it is the right thing to do.
We are all different and want different things and getting a MH was a mistake.
I wouldn't dream of going to Europe with a MH or without come to that! I live in a beautiful part of the world and like most people haven't seen 10% of this country so why go abroad?
Now we can park the caravan up and use the car in what area we choose.
I have got nothing at all against MHs but some MH owner seem to be very anti caravaners.

You need to edit your 'Experience' in your Avatar

 

[Miggs]

I do regret buying the one I just bought.
I wouldn't go back to a caravan but I would go back to the one I just got rid of, or similar!

 

[Peregrinator]

Yes it was a waste hence the reason we have sold it and last weekend we purchased another caravan.
Easy to get in and out of, seems huge inside, 12 grand cheaper and for us it is the right thing to do.
We are all different and want different things and getting a MH was a mistake.
I wouldn't dream of going to Europe with a MH or without come to that! I live in a beautiful part of the world and like most people haven't seen 10% of this country so why go abroad?
Now we can park the caravan up and use the car in what area we choose.
I have got nothing at all against MHs but some MH owner seem to be very anti caravaners.

I agree, I hope you have a great time in your new purchase, when our kids were young, the caravan with a Hugh awning was the right choice for us, because we would only go to sites that had everything for the kids, it was always about the kids, but now it's just the two of us, and we want to visit all the small places we past in the past, some we will only stay one or two nights, maybe in a Carpark, Aire or even wild camp, which you can't do in a caravan, for us, it's all about having more choice.

 

[Clangers]

You need to edit your 'Experience' in your Avatar

Thats exactly what I mean about anti-caravaners

 

[Clangers]

Thats exactly what I mean about anti-caravaners

All changed!
Happy Motorhoming or Caravanning to everyone. Let's hope we can enjoy whatever floats our boat.

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[pampam]

I much prefer motorhoming, im not keen on towing,or being a passenger when towing,incidentley hymer caravans have in built water tanks,ours had a motormover and was easy to set up ,but i still prefer motorhomeing,
have a little old caravan now ,but look on ebay everyday …………daydreaming lol
but the times not right yet as i couldnt get away enough ,old caravan in storage is fine but to spend a lot more on a van for it not to get used wouldnt be ideal,
incidentley it took us a day to put our awning up in the summer ,id bought it in november and tried to put it up in the following august(there was a piece missing) after an hour or two 2 lovely fellow campers came and helped 1 was a motorhomer,the other a caravaner, bought them a bottle of oyster bay each cos if it wasnt for them helping. It would be decree nisi time lol