RV owner voices doubts Forums

kijana · Last edited by kijana on Thu Feb 15, 2007 11:50 pm; edited 1 time in total

There were some Belgians on this beautiful little site a few weeks ago.

They pitched up in a Renault Trafic (or similar) plain white van, towing a fairly large caravan.

They quickly put up a full length safari room awning with heavy duty groundsheet. Outside they had a patch of green woven 'grass', on which they put their gas BBQ, and their chained up, scary eyed large Alsation (dog). And a rather amusing large bright green frog, with a wind driven rotating tummy. Didn't have the nerve to ask if they were taking le pis out of their French neighbours, but I rather think they may have been. . .

Out of the van came white goods, that were installed in the safari room. Full size fridge freezer, big cooker, washing machine? couldn't see what else.

Of course they used the van for local transport, and I guess it had other Belgian things in it. Or they might have filled it up with Spanish things when they went back. Point is, there's an awful lot of space in a Trafic sized van.

Not having a great deal else to do, we naturally take a lot of interest in how other people live the itinerant lifestyle. And we don't assume we've got it right first time, though a 30+foot RV with a big slideout is pretty damn comfortable fulltiming living space for two. But it's also our first motorhome.

The downside is not being able to get into some of the smaller sites, and being a bit big and wide through some small villages. And of course, the fuel burn is high.

So I wonder if any fulltimers, or longtermers, have any experience of the Belgian solution?

We've never slept in a caravan, but it seems a big one could be quite comfy, provided it had an island bed, or two singles with a central aisle. I guess where it suffers is small kitchen area, and limited lounging space. And almost zero locker space for fulltiming impedimenta.

But some of this is offset by the large safari room, readily erected. And when you consider how much stuff you can get in a Trafic size white van, that easily allows all the white goods that make life so easy. And almost no limit on other stuff for living (windsurfer; bikes; workshop items, etc).

With a bit of cunning, you could fit fold down bunks in the van as well, so if you needed to wildcamp anywhere, you could sleep in the van and drive off in a hurry without having to go outside.

And you don't need to tow a TOAD, because the van is small enough for use as a runaround.

I'm thinking Merc Sprinter van. Plenty of power, relatively cheap to acquire & run, easily available servicing/repairs throughout Europe.

Major minus on this scheme is not being able to use French aires. And for all I know, there's all sorts of other reasons a caravan isn't as good as a motorhome. Like getting contemptuous looks from large RV owners, frinstance.

Quite fancy a big scary dog as well. Our Golden Retriever stubbornly refuses to show the remotest aggression to anybody, just wags her tail and grins stupidly at all who talk to her.

Well, that's me bombed out of the RV owners' club. But I'm only thinking aloud, honest.

Bruce

emgee

You don't need a kitchen (or not a full one) in the caravan you've got it under the awning. The whole thing falls flat if it gets cold or windy though. Good summer holiday setup for some people though. Wouldn't suit us.

Geo

Bruce you need friends around you at times like this, keep taking the tabblets untill our paths cross again
Geo
Merc Sprinter and awnings,Go wash your Mouth!!!! Laughing

LC1962

What you need Bruce is a Chevy van and a nice big travel trailer! (No DVLA problems with that combination) Cool

CLS

Done the caravanning thing for years , also owned a larged RV ....... certainly know which i prefered Rolling Eyes

olley · Campsite DB Admin

Its the heat, it does that to some people, completely lose the plot. No hope really, best come home, get a 9-5 job and sell the RV. Very sad.

Olley

billym

Bruce was happy today. He was happy that he could sit in the hot sun, relaxed and not feeling guilty about doing nothing. ( not a double negative )
Little did we realize that he was going quietly mad. They say there is a very fine dividing line between genius and madness. The only thing he is right about is the dog .

kijana

Oh come on, chaps. I only raised the flag to see who'd salute it. . .

I think the mention of '9-5' and 'job' is what has really jerked me back to reality - thanks Olley.

Please ignore my initial post.

Bruce

asprn