Have You Ever...............

[Parksy]

.....Changed your caravan for a newer or more luxurious model and felt a bit sad or guilty about getting rid of the old caravan that you spent so many happy sunny times in?
I saw a similar comment (on the dreaded FB), and remember our early days of caravanning when we bought a series of used models, some lovely and well cared for and some old sheds.
We had an Ace Viceroy at one time and although it was a bit damp around the front window, the ehu socket was high above one of the rear windows because the consumer unit was in an overhead locker and the fridge didn't work properly there was something about it, and we had many happy memories of our times spent in it.
When we sold it I'll never forget the look on Herself's face as the new owner towed it away up the road and out of our lives forever.

 

[Martin24]

Only change when the bug bites and too excited about the new one to worry about the old one. That said a life time of memories with each and every van.

 

[Gagakev]

.....Changed your caravan for a newer or more luxurious model and felt a bit sad or guilty about getting rid of the old caravan that you spent so many happy sunny times in?

Guilty as charged M'Lord

The previous van was the Abbey that I spent many hours of blood sweat and tears on the damp, and on change over day when I emptied the Abbey I had to walk behind the Fleetwood to save grace

(Grandson was with us)
Dont regret it one bit now

 

[Surfer]

It broke my heart and made us very sad when we had to sell our Lunar Lexon 640 with L shape lounge and island bed. Unfortunately we had no choice as I had been made redundant and bills needed to be paid. Several months later my wife inhereited some money which enabled us to buy our current caravan. In between we really missed going away on weekends.
Sadly now with the current situation with our caravan plus escalting sites fees and fuel prices, we may have to reconsider owning a caravan. It is cheaper for us to fly to a sunshine country for two weeks than to own a caravan however then what do we do on weekends with no caravan?

 

[emmerson]

No, not really Parksy, but as I've had Royales for twenty three years now, only changing vans to go bigger, I suppose they don't seem that much different. Herself does miss our tiny little 12ft6in Royale Tourstar, so a few years ago I bought another one. Kept the 16ft as well, but just took the Tourstar out ocassionally for the sake of marital harmony.
We no longer have the little one, as I couldn't stand the pain in my knees.
See, the Rangemaster 16ft needs three steps from my bed to the toilet door. TheTourstar only needs one and a half, so I bang my knees on the door as I'm generally still half asleep!
So the small Touranger had to go, in the interests of marital harmony, which was why I bought it in the first place!!!
I am in a bit of a quandary, though. Herself's health is deteriorating, and we think that perhaps next year's long Euro-jaunt will be the last. This begs the question of how much longer after that will we be able to caravan in UK, and, the $64,000 question, what will we do with the Rangemaster then? It has been an important part of our family for nearly 15 years now, and I would hate the thought of someone else using it, and maybe not cherishing it as we have done.
As it is a unique van, it perhaps should be preserved, and there is interest in it from Royale club members, but nevertheless, I'm still a bit reluctant to let it go................................................

.

 

[Robtel]

Felt a little sad when I traded in my very first van. It was an Alpine Sprite which we bought in 1984, not sure exactly how old it was but at least 10 years old I would have thought. Only had it about 18 months but really enjoyed the trips in it. No mod cons, cold water only and had to use a foot pump to prime the taps, still had the gas mantle. At that time there was no internet forums to gain knowledge from, reckon I must have broken every rule of caravanning there was. I can remember inflating the tyres because I thought they looked soft, kept pumping and they still looked soft, with hindsight I guess they were probably the original tyres and the sidewalls were going (or gone). Kerbweight? what's that.
Traded it in for a Swift Corniche 12/2 with hot water and a toilet/shower compartment - luxury. Still enjoy caravanning and every caravan I've had since the Sprite but still feel that was a little special. Wishnow I had taken some photographs of it.
Rob

 

[colin-yorkshire1]

Well said Rob, remember when the correct noseweight was anything that did not bottom out the the rear car suspension, and if you could see through the windows there was enough room for some more kit. good old days eh?.
my only regret was selling the motor home,

I put my heart and sole into rebuilding it not to mention every spare minute for 2 years and the cost!!! "omg" well lets say the new van was probably cheaper, but we did get 8 good years trouble free touring out of it so was well pleased when it went to a good home, last I heard it was still running, and has never broken down,
I will be sad to see the van go "probably in the spring" as it will be the end of an era for us. but time moves on and it has to go, by this time I will have retired, so the thing is what do I do with all that garage space and time "erm" some project I suppose possibly build a boat, or with my luck a mobility scooter

.

 

[CyberCynth]

Is it ok to resurrect an old thread, Mods? I was reading through past subjects and got a big lump in my throat when I read this one.
I keep mentioning my old Elddis ad nauseum, so anyone having read my previous ramblings may have already sussed that the Avante was special to me, The only reason it was sold was because of a 'change of circumstances', or, put another way, fell victim to the disposing of matrimonal goods and chattels. Lovely, lovely caravan, never had any problems with damp ingress and never had to spend any money on maintenance apart from the annual service. Sigh......

Oh well, life goes on! I am already building up some happy memories as a 'Carousellor', had my first Gobur for only about 9 months (but had four outings in that time) and have only changed models because I realised the one with the loo would be much more convenient. Oh, no pun intended.... There's no fun to be had in going out to the loo tent in the middle of the night, in the teeth of a howling gale and lashing rain. Felt a bit vulnerable wondering whether the tent was going to blow away, leaving me sitting in inglorious isolation...... As Miranda's mum would say - "Such fun!"

 

[Dustydog]

Is it ok to resurrect an old thread, Mods? I was reading through past subjects and got a big lump in my throat when I read this one.
I keep mentioning my old Elddis ad nauseum, so anyone having read my previous ramblings may have already sussed that the Avante was special to me, The only reason it was sold was because of a 'change of circumstances', or, put another way, fell victim to the disposing of matrimonal goods and chattels. Lovely, lovely caravan, never had any problems with damp ingress and never had to spend any money on maintenance apart from the annual service. Sigh......

Oh well, life goes on! I am already building up some happy memories as a 'Carousellor', had my first Gobur for only about 9 months (but had four outings in that time) and have only changed models because I realised the one with the loo would be much more convenient. Oh, no pun intended.... There's no fun to be had in going out to the loo tent in the middle of the night, in the teeth of a howling gale and lashing rain. Felt a bit vulnerable wondering whether the tent was going to blow away, leaving me sitting in inglorious isolation...... As Miranda's mum would say - "Such fun!"
Of

of course you can reopen a thread be loved Baroness Barmy.
when we traded in our Pageant Vendee six years ago we were both happy and sad.
for five years her carpets remained in our loft. Her seats were covered. She scrubbed up like new looking better than we had her. The Wyoming carpets are in the loft, seats covered and all for the dogs.
That said you'd be amazed how cheap priced and good quality diy carpets are.

 

[CyberCynth]

Thanks for your feedback, Dustydog. By the way, perhaps in the light of this being the wettest winter ever, perhaps you should change your username to Muddydog! Princess Wotamess looks forward to making your aquaintance! As for the caravan carpets, I must admit I don't worry too much about them. During my first outing with the previous Carousel I tripped over Echo and threw a cup of coffee the length of the van. A quick mop-up and the application of some 'Vanish' worked wonders.

 

[Gagakev]

Not only caravans, my tow truck is on it's way out, Shogun Sport, oh why oh why do I have to go through all this again.
(Crying smiley icony thing)

 

[Sproket]

Cheaper than A new tug & sometimes it's better to bite the bullet & fix it rather than buying some thing else that you don't know its history.... Learn how to become a grease monkey for under £30.00