Campervan
Pep
Posts: 501
I've always wanted to have a campervan. For family holiday etc.
I just think they are super cool.
So far I've been put off by the cost. Purchase, tax, maintenance etc.
Anyone has cool stories to share?
Cheers,
I just think they are super cool.
So far I've been put off by the cost. Purchase, tax, maintenance etc.
Anyone has cool stories to share?
Cheers,
0
Posts
I am not sure. You have no chance.
It is rather useful - like I stayed in it before RL100 a couple of times - we go away for a weekend - or just take it down to the beach where we can use it as a base.
We've been off summer camping in it too - been to see TdF (again, useful base if you're waiting for a while) and because it's got a bike rack on the back it's quick to take it somewhere for a bike ride.
It does have hot water, fixed bed, separate toilet with shower as well as fridge - so it is completely self contained - makes it very handy.
About the only downside is once you've setup camp - it tends to be your only vehicle for doing distances - which makes you plan when you need (or rather, IF you need) to go out.
Oh - you're after cool stories .. ok
On our first summer trip away with the van, we stopped on the way back to watch the TdF - one of the mountain stages - a frenchie had reversed his car down this track just off the road - we were opposite, with a load of other vans. After they all went through we started to disperse - this frenchie couldn't get his car out - just wheelspan (despite it being dry) - I carried a tow rope, so got that out and lent it to him/another frenchie with a car to pull him out. The other frenchie revved his engine hard and slipped the clutch ... lovely smell - and got nowhere ... after 5 minutes of this I went over and with sign language told them to stop whilst I got my van ... attached my van to the rope - put Mrs Slowbike in charge giving me directions saying she's the only one I'll listen to (you can't see easily) - and 5 seconds later Mr Frenchie was back on tarmac ...
Personally I doubt reality of campervan life is exactly as people fantasise about. They're a big vehicle for everyday use but we're not really about just the camping. It's a bike carrier, camping kit carrier and load carrier more than a camper for us. Sick of bikes on back of car or roof. I'm the only one capable of easily lifting them up and making them safe. My partner wants us to throw bikes into a van and off.
Anyway it'll be fun whatever we get done. More getting out to places for rides with family in new places.
That's what has always put me off. And if you do go shopping in it, how many car parks can you get into.
I recently went on a "pre-retirement" course (I now have 11 working days left, BTW
The older I get, the better I was.
Said he'd brought an entire city centre to a halt when he encountered a low bridge. Unfortunately the traffic had backed up behind him in a narrow street and he could not turn round. It was only resolved with aid of a big police operation to unjam everything and direct him to a higher bridge. I was glad I had arrived with my tent several hours before he did.
I'm not someone who's out every weekend in it preferring longer trips and do a lot of solo camping and free camping which I find the cheapest and, for me, the best way to go as I like the solitude of the wild.
Have been a ton of times over to Northern France and Belgium to see racing and ride and have been to most European countries over the years on road trips of up to 2 months with at least one bike on the back. Longest road trip was up to Helsinki, got a return train to St Petersburg for a few days, back to Helsinki then over to Tallinn all the way down to the Adriatic and meandering back through the Alps.
Did a month in Norway a couple of years ago to do some of the must do drives/rides and for some small climbs - Trollstiggen and the like - and to have a go on the bike elevator in Trondheim, and last year over to Provence and the Alps for some bigger mountains. This year was a more gentle affair as went over to Ireland for Wicklow cycling and then driving/riding the Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway Coastal Route before over to Scotland for the North Coast 500 route followed by Yorkshire Dales and Lake District on the way home.
My van's coming up on 20 years old but still flies through its MOT without a problem and I've had no significant faults over the years. Other than the rear outer wheel arches need repairing it's sound and could go on for years, the only issue being the future availability of LPG fuel as its cheap availability is what has allowed much of my travelling in it.
MF told me to say this.
Or get one made up from a delica. It's bases on one of their 4x4 cars with a slightly higher body. Very capable on the rough stuff.
In fact most Japanese imports are based on normal cars with many shared parts. It's why if your ask a jap main dealership if they work on imports they are as likely to get a bit uppity that you'd think they wouldn't. I checked with all my nearest ones, Mitsubishi, mazda, Nissan and Toyota. Not an issue.
It doesn't really allow us to do anything a car + tent wouldn't do, but it does make everything that little bit more accessible and easier, and if that means you do stuff then it's worth it.
I'd say it depends on you and your holiday style; if you are likely to go to one place and explore, the money would likely be better spent on Air B&B type accommodation. If you are someone who likes flexibility, going to different places and potentially leaving last minute than a van could be a good purchase.
1. I don't want to have to derive a damn great van round when away, struggling to park, narrow roads, unfamiliar places
2. When away I don't want to sleep in the car/campervan
3. I have owned caravans, at least you unhitch them and drive a normal car
I hate crowded or noisy sites so I go away after the schools and for that at 61, I bought a Berghause Air 4, when we are not in a Hotel we use that.
Happens more than you think, weekend Emmets
I got so fed up with KNOWING I was annoying people towing I put an A3 sign on the back apologizing for holding people up
Ha I retired at 50, spent part of MY lump sum of £12,000 of astronomy gear
A colleague at work has just bought a second hand camper van - £46,000 !
That buys an awful lot of b&b stays.
I'd be tempted by the VW van option - throw 2 Bromptons in the back and you can get about too.
Still wondering if anyone else is going to write a cool post about campers like the op asked or if this is a moan about campers/caravans thread now?
Campervans aren't that big, even larger motorhomes (different category of vehicle) that need extra categories on your drivers licence seem to get into carparks in tourist locations.
A lot of vans will get into 2m limited carparks. There's actually cars taller and bigger than most vw vans. I'm not talking about the mahoosive hummers neither.
My van driving position felt as high up as a mates pickup for example. I've been in 4x4s too that ride close to the barrier height of carparks. I also know of van drivers with 170bhp vans that often surprise car drivers with the way they can dart around instead of holding people up.
As far as air bnb goes, I couldn't think of anything worse. I dislike hotels, B&Bs, hostels and similar. For me a tent is preferred but a van to escape into as well is the best of options. Enough comfy seats and table to play games on of an evening in wet British summer.
Pulling up at the van after a cold winters day out and about only to warm up quickly with the webasto heater by the time the brew is ready. Quick evening meal then back home later in the day. No late dinner at home to worry about just the lad onto bed and relax.
Travelling down somewhere and traffic's a nightmare. No problem, just pull into a beauty spot and stay the night to continue the next day. Less stress to get somewhere.
I've never had a hotel not give me my room in 30+ years of travelling. OK there was that airport hotel in Gatwick but they found it eventually. There's plenty of reasons for getting a motorhome but hotel rooms not being there for you isn't a reason.
If you're going to use it a lot then why not. If you're using it once or twice a year then I'd rent one.
My mate from work lives on a canal boat and has weekends away in his T5 camper. His son has been touring Europe in a camper for about 4 years (he and his partner made the correct decisions in their early 20's, as well as some scientific breakthroughs, and they each work around 10 days per year. He's 37 next week.)
http://www.ormocar.de/kabinen-fahrzeuge ... tego-2013/
Far from ideal for road touring - and definitely not a campervan - but if they were heading up to Russia ideal for their roads as well as rougher stuff.
This is the kind of thing I have in mind for myself.
Our reasons to go to the expense of a van is not about the holidays but the everyday. A van can be stocked up all the time with brew kit, tinned comfort for, etc. Day out you've got a base to operate from. Eating butties with three of us sat in the front of the car is getting more difficult as our lad grows. It's about the normal weekends too.
We live near the Lake District so visit it a lot. Right now we sometimes find ourselves caught out there late. A meal out every weekend or a cooked meal in the van? Or do you drive home hungry? Not good when you get home and young child is asleep. Wake him up for dinner or straight to bed without waking?
Your see campervan isn't motorhome. It can be a practical vehicle for daily use. It's not true a hotel or Airbnb is a switch out for a campervan. Different things and different reasons for using them.
+100.
Also life under canvas doesn't appeal.
Fresh air versus stale, air conditioned hotel air. Makes for a good night's sleep ime. But I'll not try to convince you. Don't want any more competition for those great campervan spots at the viewpoints enjoying the sunrise from the pop top lid bed.
What's cool about campers is a tricky one as everyone's idea of what's cool will be different.To me it's that everynight you can be somewhere new in complete isolation with just nature for company and having a unique view that is priceless.
Being in a forest in Slovenia where the fireflies were the only light at night was pretty cool or the other week off the beaten track up near Glencoe where red deer surrounded the camper, well the bucks anyway, and then settled just 10 metres away.
One evening it was parked in a rather seedy part of town and when I returned to it some scumbag had rammed the back. The local cop shop gave me a form to fill in and chucked it on a huge pile of similar forms never to be seen again. AMazingly the insurance company met the claim in full and months later the entire back of the van was rebuilt; luckily they found some non-rusty bits to attach the new stuff to and it looked ever so smart. After graduation I sold it for twice what it had cost me, people were queuing up to buy it even.
Or the walk in the lakes where I was up a dry but muddy gully near the mouth of it when a large herd of red deer pooled past. Wind was blowing intimate my face, I froze and the deer sensed something there but somehow didn't spot me. Possibly as much as 5 m away and there was 20+ deer passing. They all stopped at the gully in small groups to see what was there but none spooked.
Then I got to the road and followed the spots of blood and saw the farmer on the quad with a large deer over the back.
There is a decent camping spot near the village near the old Skye ferry sea front. And you can use the showers and washing facilities at the village hall. Plus get water there. Glenelg iirc.
I think I once saw a book on best places to park up in a campervan. I bet west coast of Scotland was in it a lot.