Looking at Buying A Motorhome. Advice Welcome!

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Hey, I am the ultimate no paraphernalia man!  

We travelled long distances without an awning, Aquaroll, wastemaster, barbecue, satellite dish, outdoor lounge furniture,  bikes, remoska, microwave or extra freezer.  And no indoor shower either.

.You can certainly travel far and fast without them - whether it’s with a smaller motor home or with the smaller caravan we chose - just  4.2 metres internal space.

 

Perhaps not such a big leap for us. We have never had an awning and the associated items that tend to go with then. Although there is quite a lot less space in the MH, cutting down on internal clutter means we don’t feel particularly cramped when living indoors. The big major plus is, that the seats are so much more comfortable than either of the two caravans we had.

My first MH after the caravan was a Marquis Majestic 125. 150BHP Peugeot Euro 5 engine. More than adequate unless you are taking on the Stig or Clarkson. Moderate height transverse double over a reasonable sized low height garage that took two folding bikes plus table & chairs and the other odds and sods. Lounge wasn't massive but adequate and all on 6M. Had mine up-plated to 3500 but never used all of it. Never spent longer than a month though view of the jungle back home.

Think outside the years of caravan experience would be a good start.

Exactly what you want to do, and how you will choose to use your MH will be the key. Using it for proper touring, quick set up and pack up? Move on more frequently than with a van? Use it for getting around daily off Site? Or......

Have lots of comforts around you? Pitch up and leave it on a pitch? Rely more on walking, cycling, public transport once pitched up?

Nothing wrong with either choice. Slightly smaller outfit will be best for first option, getting around, carrying less, much more mobile. You will have the benefits of your private loo, your mobile catering options, your dry, warm nest wherever you go through the day. Second option, size of outfit won’t be as crucial as it’s just left on Site. 

We have a small AS monocoque (no leaks😉), we are both tall, like our comfort, and tour with big dogs, carry ebikes, and a large chariot for our elderly dog. We tour all seasons, so well used to cold and wet as well as hot and dry. We spend weeks away, hopping from place to place, vehicle goes out with us usually. Tables are integral, store nattily behind one of seat backs, clip together to be freestanding for outdoors. We carry two comfy but light chairs that slip into bathroom during transit, or in Fiamma box if we aren’t carrying bikes. Floor space behind cab is free for dogs, pull up catering. We have clothes needs down to a fine art, everywhere has a laundry of some kind for longer trips, we don’t carry too much. Any bulky/ heavy storage goes under side seating to spread load, not that we have much. Fitted with a roll out canopy. 

Life is easy if you travel light, keep clutter to a minimum, use your storage wisely. Set up takes 10 minutes, pack up takes 10 minutes, but we have comfort, warmth and easy access to bathroom and cooking at all times. Think totally different to a caravan and it becomes very easy.

Funnily enough, David, most of the M/H owners we encountered in the dim and distant past of Nov 2019 spent a lot of time showing how much stuff they could each cram into their vehicle. Not quite 'and the kitchen sink' but certainly the obligatory rechargeable full size Dyson [we only have a Shark, does this ostracise us? ]

We do intend to travel much lighter to enable quicker getaways. Our caravan was bought the day before we left for France and Spain and was 14 years old at that stage. The logic was that if we didn't like towing a full size van, there wasn't a great deal of money lost and we would have plenty of time to see if the layout works. We had 89 nights in 'Swifty' and, assuming we have to crush it and use it as a paperweight, a complete write off of our investment will have cost us £37.38 per night!

Pack down is a pain, because of cleaning the towball, fixing the mirrors, reloading stuff into the car etc whereas M/H owners seem to just wash up and go!

Swifty is a small 2 berth so the usable space is probably not much less than a M/H has, but the reduction of 'associated kit & caboodle' AND the looking ahead to the time when the towcar needs changed has pushed us towards the convenience of a Motorhome. A European Tour or even into Scandinavia/Baltics is on our wishlist, and, whilst we could do it with the caravan, I suspect that the experience might become more endurance test than holiday.

Nothing is cast in stone yet, and if this year's holiday season is curtailed, we may stick with Swifty for a little longer

Everyone's advice and suggestions has given us a great deal of food for thought, so thanks to everyone who has 'chipped in' with Replies. This is not going to be a repeat of the Swifty 'buy Thursday AM, start holiday Friday AM' escapade.

A final thought; I had a heart attack in Spain in late January 2020 and the thought of just jumping into a M/H instead of pushing & pulling a caravan for the last couple of feet has an appeal!

Steve

Yes, I've done it too, just with a rucksack but then you need a few facilities to make it more enjoyable...

We previously had the same small van as Deleted User and it was a great little van with cavernous storage because it was high off the ground and the under bed storage was deep, it was an excellent design all round. Good storage makes a difference, vans with outside lockers are better.

Our 16 year old 'Swifty' is 6.21 metres overall length, but, at that great age, she needs the equivalent of incontinence pads, zimmer frame and other aids to keep going, so there's a decent amount of kit carried for any running repairs [locked out of caravan in rainstorm because of worn lock springs to mind]. Remoska earns its keep, cooking cakes, stews etc.

Steve

Steve, you'll find the same appeal with the lack of a need to wind corner steadies or fetch and carry water too.

Travel light and the packing up routine certainly is wash up and go (and unhook the EHU).

Good point re the EHU, TW!

Our ideal holiday would be pitch up, wind out a canopy for sun protection, table & 2 chairs for eating, then tee shirt & shorts and off on the bike to explore.

Need to lose the 'complete Anal Retentive' label a former work colleague awarded 'in her professional opinion' that compels me to load another 1/2 dozen 'just in case'.

I know those foreigners buy food and household consumables, because we see them doing so when we are in the local supermarket ...

Steve