Living in a Caravan Vs Living in a house

I would love to live full time in a LV but not in the UK.

We have friends that have been doing so for 6 years now, they do still have a house in the UK which they rent out so yes they have a bolt hole.

We could sell our house, I don't have any sentimental feeling towards it, its just bricks and mortar, somewhere to live. After living in 17 different properties while OH served in the Army I thought I would feel feel possessive about owning our own house but I don't. I like our house, I like where we live but it wouldn't bother me if we sold it.

Being close to family doesn't mean that you have to spend a lot of your time with them. Both of our sons live hundreds of miles from us but we talk to them often and we see them as and when we/they can.

That would not change if we lived anywhere else, even touring abroad we could still go and see them or they come and see us.

We prefer the outdoor life that we have when away in the MH to indoor life we have at home. Due to the weather here its not possible to do the things we enjoy all year round.

I quite like the idea of not having the space to horde possessions, I am for ever trying to down scale our kit since we settled down here to live, we never had this amount of kit while moving every 18 - 24 mths with the Army.

I do enjoy having a garden though, however its big and it will become a problem as we get older. 

I know I couldn't live like Malcolm and his wife does but they do seem to be quiet happy to do that. 

I can see that others on here have lived a long time in the same house/town maybe that is why they feel the way they do. I have spent most of my life moving around this country and abroad so don't have the same ties. No school friends that I still meet, no work colleagues that I still meet up with. Short term friends and work colleagues all my life but I do have thousands of them.

Even my Aunts, Uncles and cousins are scattered far and wide, same as OH's family. We don't feel the need to have big family dinners or get together's. We are not estranged from our family like Malcolm but they are not the be all and end all to us either.

 

Something I see when I visit places like Bristol (in my area) are vans on the streets, I think there are a lot in the south, around Brighton and Worthing etc. What happens if someone run out of funds or decides not to pay site fees?

Similar to Oneputt's question really. Everything is possible on a reasonable income but what happens when it's attempted on a dwindling income or credit card borrowing etc. It is possible to get income support even if living in a van but is it more of a struggle to cope with that lifestyle or a bit easier with bricks and mortar?

Im definitely with TG on this one....we dont 'miss' our home/family sufficiently to stop us going away....after all, in an emergency, a two hour flight will have us back here.....or them over there...

one thing that folk forget is the huge savings in gas, electric, rates etc that are (can be) made when shutting up shop for a long trip away..

im not saying that trips are self financing, but there is certainly a huge contribution in moving costs from 'here' to 'there'....

not only that, 'away' costs are often significantly lower than at home, especially for food, drink and entertainment...

'living' in a van in a warm climate doesnt present the 'cabin fever' issues that some might expect....even at home in winter, we are out (walking or cycling) pretty much every day, unless the weather is really bad...

when away, its a rare occurence to be 'stuck inside'...But 'stuck inside' on a foreign campsite often means being able to use facilities like indoor pools, table tennis......and Happy Hour...

making a change lime this would entail a mindset change, although for us, we wouldnt need to sell or rent our house, which gives us a different perspective over a true 'lifestyle swap'...

being away, in different places, allows a change in lifestyle and the chance to see so much of the uk and Europe, but for us it would have to be the majority in somewhere warm to allow us the outside living style we currently enjoy.... 

i admire anyone considering the change, its about seriously weighing up the 'you only get one life' viewpoint against the 'play safe and plan for......(what?)' camp.

Yes we both have wellies and space to store them in the caravan.

There is plenty of choice of sites and prices available as long as you are not confined to a particular area. If you need a cheaper site, you can get one for £5 a night if you don't have EHU.

I have similar views BB. If retaining home unoccupied there is no need to feel insecure however. 

The user and all related content has been Deleted User

I need to go to specsavers, thought you said lovely life not lonely life Deleted User User.

I think the OP is spot on when he suggests that living permanently in a van detracts from the whole point of having a holiday home. Whilst I have no experience of living permanently in a caravan, I do have a similar experience.  I was fortunate / unfortunate enough to have to retire (the first time) at the age of 42.  I bought a new yacht and my, then, lady friend (now my wife!) and I , cleared off to the Med for two and a half years and had the adventure of a lifetime. She did have a house which was rented out whilst we were away, so we always had that element of security if anything went wrong.  We were probably physically fitter than we have ever been since having no transport other then our folding bikes, we walked or cycled everywhere.  We even had a shopping trolley which we used for the big supermarket shops and had to lug a pile of stuff back to the boat every week or so!

However, although an idyllic lifestyle in many people's eyes, the fact of the matter is that, eventually, being permanently on 'holiday' became boring - to the extent that we started to question what the purpose was.  Perhaps it was a reflection of our relatively young ages.

Needless to say, we returned to the UK and both started working again but I look back on that period with many happy memories. Would I do it again - yes.  Would I choose that as a permanent lifestyle - probably not - especially as we have got older!

If a decision was made to sell up and live in a caravan, what happens with regards to vehicle insurance, and tax, is the caravan insurance much higher if you live in it, contents cover, a lot of things we have is covered in the house insurance, registering with a Dr, what address do you use, can you use whatever touring site you are on, does the club let you do that, do they still have the PO addresses, assuming you don't have  a family member in the area you want to be in. So many questions.