Hello everyone out there in Grey Nomad land from Jayne & Wayne.

We have no suitable tow vehicle, no caravan and no idea

Looking for suggestions/thoughts on suitable set up for us "just turned 60" newbies to van life.

Happy to be directed to a more appropriate forum topic area.

Looking forward to being educated before we spend the kid's inheritance.

JAYNE & WAYNE

G'day WMM1956 and welcome to the forum. Do feel free to join in the fun games - Who is This under the Digress section and Pick this Place under the general section. The latter is a great way to find new places to visit.

In a way you are lucky in that you can pick both tug and van to match each other.  Be careful to check towing and all up weights for the pair, and ideally have the tug a fair bit heavier than the van to ensure the tail does not wag the dog. Unfortunately it is very hard to make suggestions as they are both a personal choice, and you havn't really state what sort of things you wish to do with your rig - on-road only, totally off the grid camping or something in between, all of which will influence what rig you will eventually settle for.

Pete and Marion

Welcome to the gang Jayne & Wayne, enjoy here and out in the playground.

"No idea" No worries. I don't suggest what to get etc as everone is different so just have a good look through the different sections of this great forum and you will pick up heaps of ideas of do's and dont's. 

I live and travel with what is in my Signature below and love both. 

Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Thanks for your prompt reply Marion and Pete.

At this stage we're most likely to be doing "long weekend" ventures, the odd 1-2 week break and hopefully an extended break up north to warm up. I'm still working full time at the moment, however, only one good tattslotto win away from retirement.

We're really looking forward to learning and understanding what to look for and minimise mistakes.

Regards,

WAYNE 

Thanks for the welcome Doug.

You sound like a character and someone who might be able to provide some sound advice. 

Looking forward to hearing from you again.

Regards,

WAYNE

And it's welcome from us two 2 wmm1956 that was a good year hey , as said everyone is different some like light campers some big Riggs and some I between personally I'm a fift wheeler kinda guy nothing beats them for safe towing but there not everyone's cup of tea.

Woody

Also a warm welcome from me WMM1956

Hard to recommend a caravan and tug, as we are all different with different requirements

If you look around with a pencil and notebook
Find a year and model, of a caravan, which ticks most of your boxes
Then find out which vehicle/s will safely tow it

Or also with notebook in hand
Find a year and model, of a vehicle, which ticks most of your boxes, then find out what weight it can safely tow
Then find out which model caravans, are within that weight range, and then look at all of them

It is normally a compromise of having something, which ticks most of your boxes, and then adapting to whatever you have

Hope that you will be happy with whatever you choose

Thanks for the welcome Woody. 

Yeah a lot happened in 1956

We're just in the investigation phase at the moment. Hopefully set up by the end of the year.

Really appreciating everyone's input.

Take care out there.

Regards,

WAYNE

Fantastic advice Tony. Certainly so much to think about, however, as much as it's about the available funds, it's equally about safety and functionality for us.

We're not "princesses" and certainly happy to compromise and adapt.

Now, I better go get my note pad, sharpen my pencil and do me some learning.

Keep safe on the road.

Regards,

WAYNE

Welcome to the site Wayne, like you I am a 1956 vintage but unlike you I was given the opportunity to retire early at 59. Having recently been through the same process of trying to find  the right van and also something to pull it with. My advice would be 1) don't rush out and buy the first nice van you see there are plenty out there to choose from 2) when buying new you can negotiate a better deal when a caravan and camping show is on 3) make sure that the tug you buy is going to be big enough to handle the van 4) don't listen to what the car salesmen try and tell you about a tug's towing capacity do the sums yourself and ask others who have had experience using them. The more time that you take in making your decisions the more chance you will have of avoiding a big headache down the track.

Good luck BB

Thanks so much for getting back to me BB. Great chatting to a fellow 56er

Great advice and we're certainly not in any hurry to get set up. We've got some friends who are "vannies" so we'll also enlist them for advice. My theory is in throwing the knowledge net far and wide to get the best catch of information.

Unfortunately I'm a few years off retirement, however, hope to scale back to part time in the coming 1-2 years which would allow more opportunities for van travel....well that's the theory anyway.

Take care and stay safe out there.

Regards,

WAYNE