We'll the wife and I are in the process of buying our first caravan so we are somewhat nervous and excited at the same time . At this stage it all looks a little overwhelming... What to get for the inside , what to learn about hook up, reversing , parking ,how to set up ....argh!!!!
The point of my note is there a place to go that provides some simple checklists that we can use rather rely on our guess work
All you have to do is ask the question on here and you will have many answers from people that have been there and done that but first you could try the search option up the top of the page as you will find most of the questions you will think of asking will have already been asked in the past.
Cheers
Jon
__________________
Home is where we hang our hats - Home now in Yamba NSW
My first advice to anyone starting out is "DON'T TRY TO BUY EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU NEED IN THE FIRST VAN YOU BUY"
If possible even hire a van for a week and take it somewhere close and just start talking to others about what they have and how they like it..
If you must buy a van buy something you can use for awhile until you work out what it is you like and then sell it or trade it in on the one you are going to be happy with..
You may even decide that vans aren't for you and you want to be a happy motorhome owner..
You need to work out if you are going to travel from CP to CP or free camp/bush camp wherever you can..
I personally wouldn't own a van if you gave it to me.. having said that we are now on our 4th motorhome becoz we keep changing our mind on what we want in it..
, but would not the size of the vehicle dictate the size of the Van or what ever they plan to get.. - Having the right mode of getting around over the size of everything else..
Start at the Front and work back.. the More information the better the responses you get..
ie.. Like I have seen this great Van.. it 40ft long weight's 4 ton loaded but I only have a small Rav4 to tow it..
So the question to be asked is.. What is the tow vehicle going to be..?
Juergen
__________________
IF I say something Dumb.. Just Smack me..
I'm full of Knowledge.. I don't profess to know EVERYTHING, but I'm constantly Learning new thing's..
For our first van we did everything back to front and it worked out ok. Bought the van then the car. Everyone is different and need different things. We took that van around Australia including Tassie , just loved it but after the last big trip decided we really needed an ensuite? Bought our 2nd van and we are very happy with it.
So just sit down and make a list of what you want and don't want. Whether it's single beds, dbl bed, pop top, full stove and oven, shower toilet etc etc. maybe hire a motorhome and then a van and weigh up what you like? we didn't do that and we were ok.
Don't buy every gadget you see just get the essentials and this forum will help you with those decisions.
Practise the hook up and setting up, we took the van to a large car park on a Sunday and practised the reversing. still learning on that one!!
As Bob said, work out how you are going to camp and look at the appropriate equipment.
Welcome to the wonderful world of camping and meeting some very interesting people.
Consider doing a towing course. Could save you a lot of grief and will certainly make you more confident about heading off with whatever van you get. Just doing such a course will give you an idea of must-have things.
My first advice to anyone starting out is "DON'T TRY TO BUY EVERYTHING YOU THINK YOU NEED IN THE FIRST VAN YOU BUY"
If possible even hire a van for a week and take it somewhere close and just start talking to others about what they have and how they like it.. If you must buy a van buy something you can use for awhile until you work out what it is you like and then sell it or trade it in on the one you are going to be happy with.. You may even decide that vans aren't for you and you want to be a happy motorhome owner..
You need to work out if you are going to travel from CP to CP or free camp/bush camp wherever you can..
I personally wouldn't own a van if you gave it to me.. having said that we are now on our 4th motorhome becoz we keep changing our mind on what we want in it..
great advice. if I had my time over, I would hire a caravan. we bought what we thought we wanted and now we have sorted out "what we want" - and are going to upgrade only to find the vans lose value every day you have it. so choosing the wrong van first time means you lose a lot of money. good luck. and welcome to our playground. hope to meet you soon.
Consider doing a towing course. Could save you a lot of grief and will certainly make you more confident about heading off with whatever van you get. Just doing such a course will give you an idea of must-have things.
I agree absolutely!!
Also, put some thought into the type of travelling you want to do? Stay on bitumen or go bush on dirt roads?? It makes a huge difference to the type of van you choose, and the type of tug... or motorhome.
