I am a 47 model and have had 5 years on the road so nothing ventured........ age is not the problem - the wrong state of mind can be. Go for it :) Personally I refer a caravan towed with a 4x4 rather than a motor home towing a car. Drop the van and still have a decent vehicle to explore with. Shower/toilet combo for me is a must, but I do tend to free camp where there is a toilet available - or near by. I feel that single beds give more room - can be used as couches also.

Welcome to the gang Old and tired, enjoy here and out in the playground.

Gee mate, I feel old and tired today and I tell you that for free.

I am a full time GN and proud of it. I choose to travel with a 4X4 towing a 20ft van with full ensuite. I do it that way cos I thought if towing a car behind I might just as well tow a CV and have a decent 4X4 to play in. No regrets at all. There are pros and cons in all ways of travel.



Keep Safe on the roads and out there.

Old and tired wrote:

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Hello there. 

We are looking to set up a motorhome or a caravan and need a bit of advice and guidance please. I have not towed a caravan for forty years now, and fear it may be beyond me. I am a 1948 model. We want to have an easily accessible vehicle or rig that we can use for short haul trips in Victoria, and we are not bothered about staying on made roads. We see ourselves staying in caravan parks, and the odd night in a motel on longer trips. We are planning to do the big lap in sections, with no more than say eight or ten weeks on the road at any time. The plan, subject to your input, is to buy a mid sized vehicle, and find a professional crew to fit it out to a minimalist level. Our budget is about seventy to eighty thousand. Vans: Hyundai iload, VW Traveller, Ford Transit. Any thoughts?.....  Hope you can help! 

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 G'day RFG

Gee mate - I can see we're all oldies of the same sort of vintage !!

I am going to be a bit different from the above responses - I am a confirmed motorhomer, had a caravan when the family were growing up and will never go back to having one. The constant hassle [to me anyway] of hitching and unhitching, down on my knees for winding the stabilisers etc. just got too much for me.  [I know others here will love to respond, but I ask you to hold off a while]

Whatever you get will be a series of compromises - nothing is 'perfect'.  So, may I offer you my 2-bob's worth as to our motorhome life. 

We're on the wallaby for 280-300 days each year, and if we use a caravan park it is extremely rare these days.  We love the MH for its ease of driving, ease of parking, ease of zero setting up ... we arrive, turn the motor off and walk to the stove and set off the kettle [sort of thing] and we're done.  Occasionally on a slope I need to drive a wheel up onto a 2" block of wood - hey that's the hardest bit.

In a CP, we have a designated site, so we can drive away and come back again to the same place.  In a town's showgrounds, or out on a river bank say, we walk to others close by and ask if they need anything at the shops, take any orders and off we go leaving our table and chairs on-site, knowing others will be there for us, as we are there for them when they go somewhere.  If there's no-one around sure, we shove it into the boot ... takes a minute or so, but so what?  We have a small sign made from concrete mesh saying "motorhome is away for a while, come and visit us later"

The other big thing with the MH is that it's all-in-one.  If we need to spend a penny, the loo is alongside us; if we need to do something on the internet, the laptop is there with us; if a camera battery goes flat the charger is there with us; if we want a cuppa or a snack, the makings are always there with us ... there's never a need to take a thermos or a box of food with us in order to have the break, and there's never the comment of 'oh bugga - the xxx is back in the caravan at the van park'

Food wise / shopping wise, just like a caravanner, we visit the shops twice a week for everyday items, we have UHT milk in the cupboard, we have tins & packets of food always available.  It's all there, nice 'n easy

ps- for the $$ you're mentioning, I suspect that you can find a pre-loved unit already waiting for you - ln need to get someone to build it.  Try the large MH dealer in Melb, Sydney, Brisb or Newcastle if you're close to there

Hope this helps

Phil

-- Edited by Ozzie_Traveller on Wednesday 30th of August 2017 08:07:57 PM

Thanks spida

i guess we will not know our capability til we give it a try. We are living in England right now, but I am sort of retiring at Christmas and we are coming home. I will maybe hire a van and see how we go.

 

O & T

Thanks Doug

Iam a 48 model as well with a caravan and fwd can't understand the comments about hitching and un hitching a caravan being a big deal, it's a ten minute job a monkey can do in my opinion, if thats  a big deal you must have some serious health issues...