davyboy

Not content with holding up motorists with my push bike, I now have a caravan to further increase the delay it takes drivers to get from A to B.

All so I can sit in a field all day in a chair!

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Had one for years..although since we bought the house in France, it doesn't see any use, it's been in the barn there for about eight years.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

I bought one in 2006 to live in when I started doing this place up, £20 a night plus dinner in the local B&B was getting expensive at a month at a time, mines not moved since 2009 but a mate thinks he might get me a free spot for it by the sea next year so it's going to be my beach pad hopefully, needs a bit of work and de-smelling now but it'll be ok with a few days work, need to change a section of flooring by the door and put a new seal in the water heater and it'll be tip top, weekends by the sea for a spot of fishing and getting bladdered on £1.00 a litre local wine.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

I actually find caravans fun to work on and generally easy.

Sad Weevil

iTrader: (1)

Snap, I've just got one too. Sitting in a field on a chair is the new rock'n'roll.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Yeah I quite like working on it, I had to sort it out when I first bought it, new tap and water pump, stuck some fresh carpet in there and sorted a couple of electrical gremlins to get everything working properly, along with a major clean, it was cheap for a Twin axel 4 berth, it's a Bailey Senator and the ultimate plan is to rip it to pieces and put everything into something like a big merc sprinter then use the chassis as a car trailer, which is why I wanted the twin axel, then I can tootle about Europe when I'm bored visiting all the race tracks with my Type R on the back.

davyboy

I originally wanted a sprinter/crafter conversion, something like this (although not as much £):

http://www.scsporthomes.com/fulldetails.php?propref=143

But seemed a lot of money for something I'd use at weekends only. A vito that I can use every day and a caravan seemed a better use of cash.

Started off with a cheap caravan with a few faults, then bought a newer one with awnings, motor mover, shower etc.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

That merc does look fancy but like you say it's a lot of money. I started off with a Toyota Hi-Ace, universal awning, shower/toilet tent and bike trailer on the back and me and a mate would travel all over with Track/road and dirt bikes, then when I got married and had a little one we bought a Mazda Bongo and had that for a couple of years, always preferred camping to B&B's as you can pretty much do as you please.

I've been pondering chopping part of the front section of the caravan off and extending the chassis of my VW T4 crew cab pick up and mounting it on that but it's a hell of a lot of work, it's something the Germans seem to like to do as I have seen a few out here in Croatia, i'll try and find a pic of one.

Closest thing I can find is a door mobile or little ones on the back of a normal pick up.

Matteeboy

You can't beat a proper camper conversion in many ways BUT you are lugging around up to a tonne of extra weight when you need just a van and you then have far less space. You also tend to wince loading muddy MTBs into a nice camper.

We enjoyed ours in many ways (VW though) but you are right, even with the weapons grade heater, double glazing and mega insulation ours had, you only tend to use them six months (max) a year - the rest of the time it's a very expensive daily driver.

Add constant faults that both VW and Merc van conversions (ours was the factort built version so at least everything was covered) and it becomes a bit of a PITA.

Still, they hang onto their money well - even naff conversions - so it's worth a dabble. We bought ours for £45k, had three years of holidays in it (two were five weeks long), sold it for £34k. No too painful a loss - had far worse on cars.

I've lived in a caravan as a young 'un (teenager, early 20s); it was the thing to do for beach bums on the pull but despite seriously looking at them before we bought our camper, I just couldn't be bothered lugging one around.

RobJenks

Is it appropriate to discuss caravans on a WRX forum?

There must be hundreds of web sites discussing caravaning , how to tow a caravan , unblocking a bog in a caravan , sex positions in a caravan , ******* for caravaners , recipes for caravans , optimising the performance of your caravan without compromising the warranty,towing downhill in a caravan , towing uphill in a caravan ,a pikeys guide to caravaning , how to take a **** in a caravan without stinking it out,

http://ourlifeinacaravan.blogspot.com/

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-32974131
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=a+...FYdDvAodkQwAEw

http://lifebeyondcaravan.blogspot.com/


http://www.ukcampsite.co.uk/articles/view.asp?id=303

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/late...mping-caravans

davyboy

Couldn't you say the same about everything in this section?

Unless it's escaped you, this is non scooby related.

JackClark

My Big Gypsy Holiday.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Caravans are good if you're just going to one place for a week or so and drive around in a car to see the sights, and also have the advantage over a van because you can park it up and forget about it, vans are much better if you want to go from one place to to another spending a night here and there.

I like the space you get in a decent sized caravan but I still prefer to cook outside because of the smells, steam and oil vapours, something as simple as spag boll or a quick curry wreaks for days and makes your clothes and soft furnishings pong of onions/ garlic, decent camping stove outside for me.

davyboy

I got a grill thing with mine, that plugs in to an external gas point.

It's brilliant!

Also have an extractor fan to remove nasty niffs!

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

Mine has an extractor but they don't cut it when frying onions and garlic.

Suppose I noticed it more living in it 2/3 months at a time.

Matteeboy

I will miss some elements of campering but camp cooking, sharing bogs, showers and washing up facilities and rather uncomfortable beds are not any of them.

hodgy0_2

Tbf, not much else

Apart from sitting in a chair, in a field

davyboy

Of course I have my own bog, shower and bed. And hot water for washing up.

Dumps should be done else where.

It's great family time. I wish I could **** off in the cazzer around Europe for 6 months of the year.

ditchmyster

iTrader: (7)

That's why I always had a shower / toilet tent, although number two's strictly forbidden except in extreme emergencies, then rule 2 comes into play, who dropped it empties it.

As for camp cooking, I quite like it, easy enough if you keep it simple, loads of stuff you can cook that only needs 2 pans and a good excuse to eat heinz bangers and beans.

shytorque

You tow a caravan with a push bike.
Crikey .......

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

Cadaq? I've got one, best thing I bought.

alcazar

iTrader: (2)

You can't beat stopping on a decent rest stop on french motorways, legs down, food prepared, etc.

And sitting in a 'van while it rains is magic.

davyboy

Strange how simple stuff is so satisfying in a caravan or camping for that matter.

Getting a few channels on the TV. Basic cooked food taste great. Living off 12 volts for a few days.

daveyj

iTrader: (1)

Me and the other half went halves on a T5 Transporter this year. We go away with the dog a lot on hikes so having the Van makes it all a bit easier. We're off to Cornwall on Sun for four nights.

I doubt we'll fully convert it as I like the payload of the van (now I've removed the second row of seats). It's already ply-lined/carpeted so a few changes here and there for electric hook up and some removeable ying yang-style sofa seats and it'll do what we want. We're making do with a 10cm thick self-inflating sleeping mat. It fits perfectly between rear arch tubs so is a good compromise for not permanently changing its use.

I wish we'd have bought one years ago tbh but other stuff's taken priority. I love the older stuff but wanted something original and solid. Plus the previous owner was my best mate so it was a known quantity. I prefer driving it day-to-day than any of my previous cars. I think my place in life is as a white van man. I'll try and maintain a calm attitude and avoid the outside lane at all costs