New and nervous!!

[eatonl]

Hi all
After umming and arring for about the last 5 years, dabbling with a tent which we find enjoyable apart from sleeping, we have finally taken the plunge and ordered a caravan!! We have gone for a brand new Bailey Pegasus GT65 Ancona which will be delivered in about 4 weeks. All advice welcome and appreciated, sorting out Towbar and storage as we "speak" but if anyone has tips on good insurance companies, leisure battery makes, extras and accesories that are a must or waste of time we would be very grateful.....thanks in advance, Lisa

 

[brian_c]

Welcome to the forum Lisa.
you are in the right place for advice and help. There are very many experienced caravanners on here.
I am sure you will get many tips and advice.
The new van sounds really good I bet you can hardly wait to get hitched up and away.
advice from my experience is to join one of the Clubs, Caravan Club or Camping and Caravan Club. Many people join both.
They can offer besides loads of sites things like Insurance and breakdown cover. Legal advice etc.
again welcome to the site and all the best wishes with your new venture.
regards Brian

 

[mealsonwheels]

Welcome to the forum

Initially, we joined both The Caravan Club and the Camping & Caravan Club, but decided in the end to stick only with the Caravan Club. The C&CC allows tents on their sites, the CC does not. We insure with The Caravan Club and they have various types of cover which you can choose to suit your circumstances.
With regard to a Leisure Battery - we've used an Elecsol one for 4 years and have had no problems with it.
As Brian said, you'll find answers to any questions you have on the forum. Just post in the relevant section.
Happy and safe caravanning to you!

 

[Parksy]

Hi Lisa, welcome to the Practical Caravan forum and congratulations on ordering your Bailey Pegasus.
Get insurance quotes from both the C&CC and the CC and these will provide a benchmark to compare all other insurance quotes against.
The two main clubs insurance services are highly reputable, and the cheapest premium from elsewhere is not always the best to have if it comes to a claim

All accessories look like 'must haves' when you are thinking of buying them, I'd suggest that you start a topic on the General message board to sort the wheat from the chaff because you will receive more responses there. Ask fellow members for tips on the handover procedure, I'm sure that all will be well but you want to be shown how everything works, and of course if there's anything else that you're unsure about don't hesitate to ask.

 

[Gagakev]

Welcome to the world of caravanning Lisa, just take it nice and slow and do a lot of pre planning, at first things will seem daunting but the more you tackle it the easier it becomes, from towing to setting up especially the awning if you get one, sometimes refered to as
"a Divorce in a bag"

Dont worry though we all started at the beginning,
Good luck and enjoy

 

[BaronsHuman]

The best advice I can give from my dim memory of our early forrays into the darkside, are, have a few short breaks close to home. Its easier to go and fetch the things you've forgotton. Make a list of the things it wasn't worth fetching and enjoy it. The reality is as long as I remember the bottle opener and my toothbrush everything else can wait.

David

 

[eatonl]

Thanks for all the great advice

what a friendly site
Lisa

 

[Mel]

Hi Lisa, welcome to the forum and the caravanning. After the first night in a van you wll wonder why it took you so long to get one. Ask specific questons in the various sections of this forum and you will get plenty of answers. My best advice is take your time on your first trip out and do not be afraid to let people on the site know that it is your first tme; someone is always willing to help.
mel

 

[eatonl]

Let's hope so, planning on staying fairly close to home as we are bound to forget something

thanks for the advice

 

[Grandad Mick]

Hi and welcome lisa.
When my wife and I started our first site was 13.5miles down the road luckily we had all we wanted.I would say that depending on your level of skill / confidence in towing I would advise going on a toeing corse which on of the for mentioned clubs run,all the best in your new venture for many years.

 

[Beachball]

Hi Lisa This is a belated welcome to the practical caravan forum