Caravanning without towing

[LizziePope]

As the title says: caravanning without towing. What do you do if you love your tourer but dislike/are anxious about/no longer feel able to take on towing? Read our Motty's latest blog and tell us what you think!

 

[Mogwyth]

To me all three defeat the object of having a caravan.

Option 1 & 2 don't bear thinking about, been married 27 years and apart from visits to family we have never been on holiday to same place twice, not even for the weekend, far to many places to see and things to experience for that.

Option three it would probably be cheaper to rent a cottage

 

[ProfJohnL]

Each to their own

 

[DrZhivago]

Store your caravan there, and book a pitch on-site when you want to get away. This could also mean you can enjoy the view from a variety of pitches.

:lol: If you keep to the same site you are soon going to get an opinion of where the "best view" is and you are going to be miffed if you don't get it every time. You must have a small horizon if it takes you a whole season to assess all the viewpoints in one field.

If you like just taking it easy around the caravan, reading, drinking, sunbathing etc then it's fair enough to stick to a site you like. I prefer sight-seeing from the caravan as a base, in a different area every time. But I do seem to be in a minority.

 

[Anseo]

I like towing, not sure why, but irrespective of the type of trailer I do enjoy it; concentrates the mind and gives an added interest when mundane travel from A-B can be uninteresting perhaps?

But I can readily accept that a permanent or semi permanent location suits some people; whatever makes people happy and causes no discomfort to others is good for me.

If the Lotto came up I would possibly consider a tractor unit and a 45 foot behemoth double-decker trailermotorhome unit to play with (just dreaming :huh: ).

 

[Mogwyth]

Each to their own

Indeed.

 

[Mogwyth]

. I prefer sight-seeing from the caravan as a base, in a different area every time. But I do seem to be in a minority.

We cant understand people who dont but it would be boring if we were all the same.

 

[Jaydug]

When I'm no longer able to/want to tow a caravan is the day I'll no longer be a caravanner.

 

[Gagakev]

Each to their own

Indeed young man

We tried the seasonal last year which at first we loved, nearly every other weekend away ...bliss [for us workers]
Ok that particular site didn't work out in the end, but we had planned to pull it off a few times and toodle off to other place's anyway. As we were away a lot of weekend's it gave me the opportunity to save my holiday entitlement from work and have a 12 dayer later in the year, that was pure magic.
Now this year we are not away as much as my attitude has changed as I cant be bothered to set it all up for 2 nights. It has got to be at least 4 nights now which eats into my holiday entitlement.
Never Happy are we?????????????

 

[Mogwyth]

We have got a few years to retirement and never do 2 days, often do 3 though, van is in storage 5 mins from work just off the A55, so we finsh work Thursday afternoon and are on the road by 16:30 van in tow, om site usually by 19:00 in the pub by 19:30 :cheer:

 

[Hutch]

I must admit I like to go to different sites be them , cl's etc. Cs, dont really fancy the idea of a seasonal,pitch, but we are in the "Retired" group of folk and "Sorry Gagakev" do no longer work. .
But since retiring seem to not manage to get away as much as we should. So time to put the foot down and say after the Woosies fest in 15th iss. September At Stratford. Off to Northumberland.
Any None Woosies want to come to the fest
Hutch

 

[Martin24]

As the prof says each to their own.

Personally we will finish caravanning when either one of us can't manage with the van. All the time I can weight bare a little and swmbo can get me into the van and get me around inside we will continue. When we can't manage me it'll be the time to stop and then the van will be sold. We just take one trip at a time.

From a holidaying and towing point of view if swmbo wants to stop towing at anytime we'll be selling up. I don't like the idea of anyone else towing my van. I have no intention of being stuck with the same site every holiday. If that day does come then we may as well have the extra space of a static. Failing that we'll stay at home and grow tomato plants, have a few chickens, a couple of donkeys and some alpaca.

 

[Bwlch]

We spent about 7 years having our van in storage by our preferred camp site. Each time we went it was towed out and put on our site ready for when we arrived. Everything needed for the holiday stayed in the van or a storage pod so we could travel with minimal luggae. Of course our vans were somewhat larger than we have now and it was Florida but the principle is similar. I do agree with Martin 24 that if you are only going to one place here a static makes more sense, but for now at least I am happy to tow and stay in different places.

 

[Raywood]

The idea of going to the same place all the time is not for us but works for others so it is just a matter of choice. Just done three weeks using five different sites which is more our thing but too hectic for others.

 

[Hutch]

Looking back to when we first started Caravanning, my idea of touring was to go somewhere spend three days and move on to the next site, and carry on doing the same again. I have now realised it takes many days to find the nice things around a site, then stay a bit longer, and maybe come back to the place again.

 

[alan29]

It doesn't have to be either/or.
When we retired we put our van on a seasonal pitch at Bala. We are there 2 or 3 nights every week. It gives us a place in the country.
But we still take it to France every year for 3 weeks in the sun - different place every year.
Both/and.

 

[Mogwyth]

It doesn't have to be either/or.
When we retired we put our van on a seasonal pitch at Bala. We are there 2 or 3 nights every week. It gives us a place in the country.

Simpler to move to the country

 

[otherclive]

In Spring 2014 we sold the lot as we felt that we weren't getting sufficient use out of the caravan due to supporting our single parent working daughter and our granddaughter. We opted for mobiles, B&B, hotels and several long haul and I must say there were some really good mobiles on quiet rural sites and with low prices when not in peak season. However, in Autumn 2016 we again decided we would like a caravan and this time decided to store it at home. So after a shaky start with a pop top, in January 2017 we bought the conventional lot again including another tow car too. Must say we have really enjoyed it and whilst most breaks are Thursday to Sunday they are worth the effort. Unlike when I was at work we don't tend to rush off to far away places such as the Peak District or Norfolk but find south/mid Wales and Somerset/Dorset easy to reach in our time frame. During school holidays we do what we never did with our own kids, we venture out with our granddaughter which is really enjoyable now she's nearly a teen. Longer trips we arrange such that our daughter uses up some of her leave. So overall its worked out well and we are still taking some long haul breaks too.

Giving consideration to what we might do if we tire of towing, or aren't able to tow. Well sacrilege, if I am still okay to drive I might then consider myself old enough for a motorhome!

 

[alan29]

It doesn't have to be either/or.
When we retired we put our van on a seasonal pitch at Bala. We are there 2 or 3 nights every week. It gives us a place in the country.

Simpler to move to the country

Cheaper my way.