Virgin Caravaners!!

[Binksy69]

The Mrs & Me have fancied the idea of caravaning for a while now. The freedom, and the fact we have a dog, leads me to think it makes sense.

In November, we had a look round some dealers to see what was on offer. As a result of this, we purchased a 2002 Avondale Rialto 480-2 and had a towbar fitted to our 2003 Renault Laguna.

We havn't been out with the caravan yet, but can't wait till March when we have a week off.

If there is anybody out there who either has, or has had a caravan like ours, we would appreciate your views/opinions on it.

Regards, Mike & Nic.

 

[cris_408518]

I know nothing of your caravan but it sounds fine. If you can't do a run before your week off I suggest a few trial use runs at home ( or storage site) for newbies. Spend a few Saturday and Sundays using it. Sort out whats comfort for you, what you eat and use the cooker and fridge, and try out the water and heating a few times. Work out how the telly set up works if you intend to use one in the van. Even spend a night or two in it and you should end up on site with an idea of what you are doing.

If you have an Awning, put that up before you go to, and label the poles so you know where it all goes and amaze the people on sites.

 

[emmerson2]

All of cris's advice makes sense. The only thing I would add to it is, for your first outing, don't go too far from home. That way it's easy to pop back for the things you forgot.Cos, rest assured, you will forget something! Welcome to the wonderful world of the greatest holiday lifestyle ever invented!

 

[cris_408518]

We became Minimalist caravanners some years ago, as we found we were carrying gear that was never used and extra stuff when in fact most sites have washers and dryers.

We headed to Cornwall once a good few years back leaving late as my wife had gone to Sainsburys "for FOOD supplies", as we pulled off the A38 at Marsh Mills Plymouth for a couple of days stop over. On our left was the new Sainsburys and just up the hill behind that site is Asda. So I was stressed for leaving late and hitting the traffic and hauled the food 180 plus miles for nothing and then ended up camped just along the road from another Asda or thr like in Cornwall.

Some of our best caravanning equipment purchases have been found at hypermarkets when we managed to forget something as well, especially in France.