Hi everyone- considering buying a motor home

There are other types of Aires as well ET and plenty of them. Here’s two.

Thats all part of the experience for me. I can honestly say that I enjoy doing all of that

There are some lovely Aire type stopovers appearing in Scotland as well Steve. Photo below of one we used back in early June, had fresh water, waste water, CDP dump, foot/cycle paths adjacent, short stroll into village with eateries, farm shop, cafe, pubs, all for £5 per night. This is the kind of place we love to use to supplement our nightly average. We overnighted here on our way out, and then a two night stop on way back home, very nice. 

Yes but it could be said equally that you have to tidy up inside every time you want to leave the site? Perhaps you are the tidiest person but we use our caravan as our house, and will leave things lying around in the caravan where we want them which would be needed to be put away before driving off. Likewise washing up has be done there and then rather than we'll do it all later if you want to move off 

We can have our caravan out of storage and off on the road within twenty minutes so not sure where the idea of dissuade one from the spontaneity of a spur of the moment short trip away is actually true, and of course on a club site we can certainly be away in our car faster, or as fast than a MH, especially with EHU, screens, ramps and putting up your maker on the pitch. Also we have the choice of going anywhere and parking anywhere with our car unless it's a smaller MH.

Setting up on site takes about 15 minutes, not much longer I've noticed than a MH with its EHU, ramps, screens, and certainly your filling and emptying of water and waste takes far longer at each time, as we use SP it's a one off thing.

Of course having an awning will take longer but that's the same for a MH as well.

I'm not saying for one moment one is better than another, it's all balances and checks and what suits one won't suit another which is what people are telling the OP.

Likewise I've not found setting up tedious in any way ever, it's all part of the fun.

 

The number of stops folk might take on any trip could be inversely proportional to the difficulty of the pitching operation.

If stopping just requires 'parking' on a spot and applying the handbrake, it's not really an inconvenience. If that stop also puts you right into the heart of where you want to be, perhaps a town or city, then a win win.

that town might only hold interest for a day...a stroll, some sightseeing, a drink, a meal, whatever..followed by an overnight in the van and then off somewhere else. Often, these might be the 'grim' places mentioned by ET, but if they just serve a specific purpose, I have no qualms about using them for a night at a time.

visiting a number of places in this way feels no more difficult than doing that in the car, with the added benefit that we don't have to back for a caravan😉

some stops, as TDA and SteveL have shown, can be pretty as well as functional. We've overnighted in many a lovely spot, miles from anywhere but breaking a long journey.

however, none of the above precludes us from also enjoying longer stops at countryside sites as in ETs picture, nor really long breaks at full fat destination sites, which we do each winter.

the MH makes all of these forms of vanning simple and straightforward. What we don't do is choose a site somewhere when we really want to visit somewhere else, just because we 'have a car'. If we want a few days in A and want to visit B (which is miles away), we would probably include B as part of the trip...

As above, just a different way of doing things...some stops for convenience, some for visiting, some for feet up for a while.

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My only tip is to consider buying an electric bike to take with you in, or attached to the back, of your MH.  I find one invaluable for getting to local shops.

Everyone has their own way, our bedding, toiletries and everything needed for any length of break is always there, even a few tins and spare clothes for the first night. Packing clothes doesn't take long even for a few weeks away.

There's been a few times in the past when we've come home from work and decided there and then to book a site and off we go. I would miss that capability if I did things like you but as I said no right or wrong way, it what suits a person better.   

 

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I know what is better for me ,but I couldn’t tell someone else what would be better for them , so I won’t . 

I have had both , caravan and motorhome and both are good for me