Hello folks....we are thinking of buying a Jayco jpod. we have never had a caravan before and we are both in our 70s. Just looking for something easy so that we can go away for maybe a couple of weeks at a time....does anyone on here have a jpod or has any personal info on them??? Thanks
We have had various caravans and camper trailers over the years and have realised that, at least for us, we need more comforts now we are getting on in age (65 and 71). My opinion of those types of vans is they are great for fair weather camping and for storage at home,, cooking is difficult during wet weather as is setting up. If in hot conditions they can be quite uncomfortable as well. Even getting into bed can be testing if your joints are a problem. Most of those types of vans have limited storage particularly inside for clothing etc.
Personally if we were to scale down we would look at a small pop top or rear entry van.
Our daughter, who travels alone has a Jayco Penguin which is a neat little camper but in our opinion they are expensive for what they are. She loves it but we consider it hard to set up. The bed configuration does not worry her and setting up and climbing in and out is ok as she is in her 40s.
You decision will be yours but I think you need to consider where and at what times of the year you will be using it.
Good luck with your final decision and enjoy your travels at least after the current restrictions.
Regards
Angie
-- Edited by bentaxlebabe on Tuesday 21st of April 2020 04:06:31 PM
I do not have the type of RV (Recreation Vehicle), you are asking about
I am also in my 70's, and as bentaxlebabe has said above, there may not be much comfort, in that type of RV, for people our age
As any future travelling is up in the air at the moment, due to the lockdowns, there would not be any rush to purchase an RV
Also one of my neighbours, has informed me, that in our area, about a hundred and something kilometres south of you, the price of caravans are coming down
As you have never had a caravan before, (this is only my opinion, of knowing now, what I did not know then)
It may pay to just hire an RV, of the type you wish to buy, for a week or so, just to see if you can adapt to it
Hope that this info, is useful to anyone in the future
Hello Maree,
Again welcome to the forum & all going well, we'll see more of you here. The forum offers lots of advice to both novices & experienced travellers. Don't be shy in asking.
I wonder what you have come from - a single vehicle & staying in motels, etc or from a tent & are getting sick of dragging your aging bodies up off air mattresses on chilly mornings, having to pack it all up before moving off, etc.
We did the gradual thing as did a number of other members here - tents of various sizes, a camper trailer (I think they call them "tent trailers") that I built up from a kit, then to a Jayco Eagle Outback camper (trailer as per Jayco's wording) & now to the pop-top. Mind you our ability to go to "adventurous" places diminished as we changed units!
I've seen the jPod a few times that I've had to get something from the local dealer & had a look at it (the basic one). To me it was a tent with a hard casing to keep the weather out with few facilities. Their more up market ones offer more goodies at a price (as always). This van is based on the Teardrop campers, just a bit bigger.
As you're in your 70s, as pointed out above, we need a few more comforts like heating, cooling & a toilet. You're from Perth I see & it can get almost as chilly in the SW as it can in Canberra which convinced me that an onboard toilet was a necessity. Getting out of bed at 2-3am in the morning when it was around -4 to +2 degrees & having to walk to the loo changes your ideas on camping basic or "in luxury".
Have a look though the forum - the "Search" with "Advanced Search" is a good tool, have a wander (when this virus thing is over) through caravan parks & ask questions of owners of various units (when we had our camper trailer, everyone including us, were interested in how we all did things) & hire one for a week/weekend if that is possible. You don't have to travel far to try it out. We tried our camper trailer out at Keelbottom Creek (some 40kms away) & "no I didn't see the reason to take the doona!" We had a decent blanket but froze after 2am when the temperature dropped significantly! Other than heading north from Townsville, the doona was a regular item to take!
So ask yourselves what you want to see, where do you want to go, is the "van" ok to tow behind your car (keep an eye on weights including ball mass, ATM)? Set your budget & don't go over it. Have a look at second hand units.
Mike suggested the Avan - another good unit. Angie mentioned the Jayco Penguin - that has a heavy ball mass (was too heavy for a Subaru Outback that friends had). It also has a bed that sits lower than the opening windows - ok in the southern areas but no good in the north.
All the best is your search - keep us posted.
__________________
Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
We went round Australia for 4 months in our Avan Cruiser which I fitted with an airconditioner for Darwin and for down south when experiencing frost we had a gas heater for warming the van before going to bed and a feather doona to stay warm. Carried a pop-up shower tent where we placed our porta-potti and either a bucket of warm water for a flannel wash or a pressure hand held shower. The pop-up shower was just outside the door so no real trouble if you need to go in the night. Took maybe half an hour to setup everything when free-camping but that's part of the fun. Have a small van like the Avan means no problems towing etc that you get with a gin palace and just need a normal car/SUV. We also found we spent virtually no time during daylight hours inside the van only going into the van after dark for bed which is always a lot earlier than you are used to at home.
We were in our 70's on that trip and it was a ball!
Many thanks for your reply and valuable insights. Weve never caravanned and havent even camped in 20 years. Didnt need to as we lived on the canals and it was like a holiday every day. Weve now downsized and moved into a lifestyle village. Since the covid stuff has happened we no longer want to cruise. We have some lovely friends who have caravanned a lot so we thought we might be able to go on convoy with them. We have a subaru forester and dont really want to upgrade the vehicle. I think the suggestion of hiring for a week is the go....there is a crowd over here called Funky Campers so will probably go that route. We have also looked at the Ezytrail Parkes and we like them.
I am also in Perth and have caravanned for many years. As previous posters have said, try hiring a similar unit to what you are looking at and try it. At your age you really want to have something relatively easy to set up, otherwise it becomes a real chore and takes the fun out of it.
My cousin has one of the fold down AVan's which he tows with a Forrester, and loves it. With it's solid walls and roof it is just like a regular van once set up and is the work of minutes to have ready to climb in it. Very easy.
Even though it has the A shaped roof it is surprisingly roomy inside. I would seriously look at those as an option as the Forrester is limited in what it can tow but these fit the bill without you needing to swap cars to something larger.
Hello again Maree,
Our son had a 2009 model Subaru Forester - we had it for two years while he worked overseas. Looking through the manual I found the max towing capacity was 1200kg meaning the max ball mass would be120kg.
I have seen that in later models, the weights have been increased but in ANY vehicle, one should not stress it by towing/loading to the maximum weights.
Three others now have mentioned the Avan Cruiseliner so this vehicle should be high on your listing - either new or second hand (have someone check any second hand units out for you). We saw a couple in Portland with one a couple of years ago, they had it well outfitted but for me, they are limited - being 6'6" tall!
All the best - happy looking & hopefully happy travelling (soon?).
__________________
Warren
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If you don't get it done today, there's always tomorrow!
My understanding is that the j-pod is rather like the T-van in that it has a hard shell and the bed is in that. Set up would be quite different from the Jayco Campers that have to be wound up. I would say if you want something simple go for it. We had, among other campers, a Vista RV which had a hard shell and was great in any weather because it had a hard shell. Currently we have a full size van. We've had 4 campers and 4 vans.
Do not know if this link will work but the one I saw this morning was not unlike a Teardrop, but it had Shower and Toilet, + could be optioned up with Solar, starting at just under $30,00-00, only had a quick look at a couple of the photos but was surprised what they had in it, main downside would be to me that the Dinette converts to the Double Bed for sleeping. Worth a look I would think.
Without going g back to the website I am pretty sure it was a Winton model.
Suggest you also have a look at the Adria Action 361. Packs all the facilities of a full size caravan into a small and light package, good build quality, can tow behind a Forester. George Day in Maddington is the dealer.
-- Edited by Mamil on Friday 24th of April 2020 10:02:05 PM
