Hello everyone we are new to caravan life !

Welcome, SSN.

It sounds to me as if you’ve got things sussed. There’s merit in buying a second hand van to start with. You can always change it later if you want. You're also wise not to go too far from home to start with. 

Be wary of buying too much gear though, as I think most of us have bought more than we subsequently found necessary.

Enjoy your van.

Welcome seasidenana from me too.  Good to start near home in case things go wrong or you forget something.

Feel free to ask questions and our members will do their best to offer advice.  You might also get into conversation will others on site.  People are usually happy to help and chat to fellow campers.

Most importantly, enjoy your new van.

Welcome 

The most important thing to take with you ,is a "sense of humor" and remember that when on holiday nothing is a problem 

Thank you, we will post again when we get a trip under our belts ! 

Hi seasidenana and welcome to Club Together.  Great to hear from you and look forward to hearing how you get on. 

David

Do other people here think that while the dealer's doing the damp test & offering a warranty, it might be a good thing to also get an independent engineer to run a damp test?

Your dealer might well be completely straight, and hopefully is so. The tame engineer our dealer had working for him did a damp test which he claimed was independent and thorough, but it was far from the whole picture. The truly independent engineer's test we paid for was much more useful, as it included the parts our guy's tame engineer had quietly left out.

Enjoy your caravan, and have a great time :-)

You’re doing all the right things.  Enjoy your first trip to try everything out, and here’s to many more in the future.

Welcome to the group

Although the above all sounds a little downbeat it is actaully good advice and well meant. I would certainly think about it.

The other things you mention show you have looked into what's required and you seem to understand the weight/loading etc.

Ask away on here for advice but don't forget to ask on site too.

You live in a great part of our country for short trips away. Enjoy

Welcome, enjoy and remember the sense of humour. Some tips we have learned over the last 3 years:

1. If you can, film the dealer as he shows you how everything works, guaranteed you will forget 90% of what he tells you!

2. Plug your caravan electrics into your domestic electrics for a couple of days before you go (you will need an adaptor which your dealer could supply). Put something in the fridge and switch it on. It will get nice and cold and you can store stuff in it which will stay fresh on your journey.

3. Drive nice and steady, don't rely exclusively on sat nav, check out the access to the site on Google Street View.

4. When ypou hook up, double check everything before you set off, just for peace of mind!

Enjoy!

Welcome to the start of your adventures 😊

just remember we all started out as newbies, so if you are stuck, ask for help!

pegs for the awning, most come with basic metal ones, but if you are going to pitch on a hard standing pitch then you might like to invest in some heavy duty ones as some pitches are like trying to peg into concrete!  

I use a dead blow hammer that is filled with shot.  It’s lighter than a club hammer or normal mallet so helps with your payload and is less tiring to use, but as the shot moves down with each blow it does just as good a job 

good of luck and have fun!!!