Woulld you live in your caravan permanently???

Ever thought of living in your tourer? We gave it a go last Summer.

Having sold our house in May, but not yet being in a position to move into our new house for a few months because of repairs and a proposed extension, we (grumpy, retired fifty-somethings) decided to live in “Vera” (our caravan) with our Golden Retriever for the summer months. What an experience!

Why buy a house?

Between May and the beginning of October we lived on 3 different sites moving every month or so, so as not to breach the CL 28 day regulation. What a breath of fresh air, literally. We never travelled more than 20 miles or so between sites, so that we were close enough to keep an eye on the building works. Despite being not too far away from where we previously lived, we discovered places and landscapes hitherto unfound. Not to mention a few pubs as well!

And what interesting people we met along the way, not just fellow caravanners, but site owners and “locals” too.

Take Jan and Aubrey; - a couple the same age also “touring” between house moves; albeit with an extra dog. What extraordinary hobbies they had; bat – spotting and bestselling author. And what of those brave, brave people who actually live in their caravan or motorhome permanently, because they went the whole hog and sold up their bricks and mortar. We take our hat off to them.

But how exhilarating and refreshing it all was. A different garden every few weeks, and never having to tend it. A site owner who played in a tribute band who had an encyclopaedic knowledge of music. A farmer who kept 3,000 pigs, and kept them so quiet that we didn’t even know they were there. Taking full advantage of the great summer we had, we never felt more relaxed. Who said house-moving was stressful.

But then we started to think about the money, or should we say the money that we could save. Council Tax, utility bills. Just ditching the house would save enough in Council Tax to pay 6 months site fees. Yes, we’d miss some sort of base, and winter in a van is not the same as summer. But why stay here? Winter rates on the Med are very reasonable, and the weather’s just that little bit better.

We love our new house, and may stay. But it has definitely given us food for thought. Never before have we looked at life in what seems to be an extra dimension. Loved every minute and may in future live every minute that way.

Would be very interested to hear of anyone else’s experiences.

And to our friends now in Portugal, France or Spain....hasta la vista.