How did you learn to tow & where is my Avatar?

30+ years in the RAF, towed things MUCH bigger and MUCH more expensive than any caravan.

On a more serious note both my wife and I did the Practical Towing course with Diamond Driver Training via the club. Worth every penny, my wife went from "I'm never towing" to doing over half the towing/reversing in a weekend.

I learnt to tow as a 'gradual process'.  Years ago, just aster we got married we got into holidays in a tent.  Realistically, this was the only way we could see ourselves going to France etc.  We gathered so much stuff around us that my father had a friend who let us borrow an on trailer, which we had on more or less permanent loan.  We used this for a couple of years and then thought to ourselves, while we are towing a trailer, it would we just as easy to tow a trailer tent, so we upgraded.  Then some 4/5 years down the line we upgraded to a small 4 birth caravan (we has the first 2 kids by this time).  The rest, they say, is history.  We just continued to upgrade.  We just gained to towing experience as we got larger units to tow.

David 

........don't ask about avatars!  It's a bit of a sore point.  Mine works because I haven't changed it fo 5 years or so.  There appears to be a problem with those who have tried to add an avatar more recently.  Perhaps we might eventually get a fix.

David 

My avatar is starting to take on aspects of the picture of Dorian Gray.

I was 27....there was no such thing as fear.  Just hitched it up and towed it 200 miles home. 

But avatars are something else! 

I just got behind the wheel and did it! Remember- take your time and give yourself time for every manoeuvre. Take turns WIDER-than you normally do ( if you don't you could clout the rear corners of the van) Don't let other vehicles bully you! We all had to learn. Once you get the hang of it you'll be fine. 

Like many others I just picked the van up from the dealer and drove home. I had previous experience of driving and reversing tractors and trailers which helped.

Take the advice given above and enjoy.

My husband did the club Practical Caravanning course before we picked up our first caravan (having had a motorhome) in 2011.  I often felt that I wanted to learn to tow, so I booked myself on the course last July at the venue you have booked.  It was brilliant, and great fun.  The instructor was so patient and kind.  I have since towed our caravan several times, and managed to get it onto a pitch without using the motor mover, which is more than my OH can do!  

I passed my test at 17, it was a Friday and on the Sunday hooked my race car and trailer on and off I went ,just gave every thing extra room and extra stopping distance, and that was it ,and driven all sorts of different things since

In answer to your 2nd question ,sorry I don't know where your avatar is

I think you are all amazing! When we picked up my caravan I was literally shaking in my shoes and then driving it out of the dealership we had to go down a slip road to join the main road, drive a half a mile then off and under the road and back the other way with another slip road to contend with! I swore there and then if I ever saw any caravans joining from a slip road I would move lane straight away as I can feel their pain!

Got my booking confirmation for the course and I am actually looking forward to it, bolstered by some of your experiences with the course.xx