Caravanning converts!
Until last June the thought of staying in a caravan filled myself and Malcolm my partner with horror. How things have changed. We have a horse that competes with a professional rider in 3 day eventing, and the cost of following him around the country staying in hotels was becoming very expensive. So my mother (god bless her) decided to buy us a caravan, something cheap an cheerful to see how we got on. We hadn't a clue what we were buying, but the Bailey Ranger 4 berth was clean and tidy and came with a full service history seemed to fit the bill and the budget. We had only had it 3 days and hadn't used it when the horse picked up an injury and was off for the rest of the season. Now I'll admit if it hadn't been bought for us it would have been straight on a well known auction site, but not wishing to appear ungrateful we thought we had better have an outing in it. Friends of ours who are keen caravanners were determined we would use it and booked us onto a site for 3 nights and came along to help us set up etc. Now I personally thought 3 nights was 2 too many, however we loved it! And so did our rescue Greyhound. The first thing we did when we got home was join the caravan club and booked 2 more long weekends away. We are now completely converted to caravanning, our Bailey has been called Chalky the Hut, has just sailed through its service and we're off for the first outing of 2017 this weekend to Lower Wensleydale. We have 4 more holidays booked and the horse is now fit and ready to compete again, so we are looking forward to following him around the country. A big thank you to the Caravan Club, with your friendly staff, lovely members on sites who offered their help when needed. You have changed our perception completely and we are looking forward to many happy years ahead. We now also have serious caravan envy and will be looking to upgrade Chalky next year.
Comments
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Great story. So glad you found fellow caravanners so helpful. Happy caravanning in 2017.
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My husband was the biggest 'anti' caravan person you could wish to meet, that was until October 2015 when we went looking at a local dealers 'just for something to do' on a rainy Sunday afternoon, then decided to go for a 'cheap caravan' just to try it and bought something 4x what we were intending on spending and found we love it!! I used to think people were mad when they told us you don't have to go too far away to get the benefits of a caravan but this has turned out to be totally true. We have been to sites no more than 45/50 minutes away from home and when we are all set up we could be anywhere. Plus we've met some lovely, helpful people so far along the way. Unfortunately we can't take it out as often as we'd like at the present due to family issues but we go every Bank holiday we can get and are off for a week in Tredegar in June. Our two dogs are big fans too so we are always looking for dog friendly places to go.
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We went out to buy a tent in 2015 and came home with a caravan. We have just upgraded in June. I'm sat in our new caravan in West Ayton Scarborough. We love it. Enjoy your caravanning in 2017
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Ha ha, you could be talking about my wife and I. We did exactly the same thing in September last year, only we had 5 days in the North Yorkshire moors near Pickering. We loved it and discovered so much. We have since been down to Cornwall stopping off for 2 days at Tewkesbury Abbey and Cheddar. Great holiday.
We also have caravan envy and are looking to upgrade our little Swift charisma which I bought on ebay without telling the wife
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i wanted a caravan for years, and kept trying to "save" but something always popped up and ate the savings.
I was on my way home from a business meeting and realised i wasn't far from a caravan sales site, can't hurt to look i thought.
Well, spent more than i ever imagined, but got a great sprite major 6 with fixed bunks for the kids. (like new)
I didn't realise the size until they brought it home... i had never towed anything as big before, but have driven a large vehicle - (Double decker bus) in the past.
Eventually took it out - not far just 20 mins away, and we all loved it! People are helpful too when your on the site willing to lend a hand with the awning etc. once I've set up - i feel relaxed. Kids love it, just need good dog walking sites and child friendly sites.
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We have just bought a folding camper. My wife took some persuading but it was the only way we were going to be able to afford holidays. Unfortunately it was north of Manchester and we live in Devon!! But picked it up on the Saturday 3 weeks ago and stayed in a CL site near Stafford and despite heavy rain overnight we can't wait to go out again. Hope we do not look to out of place next to all the caravans and camper vans!
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Hello and welcome the canoeists.
Nice to see different outfits on site. If you enjoyed a wet night in late autumn you'll have no problem.
This is the story section which as you can see attracts responses. If you want to ask questions check out the discussion area. It's not an intuitive forum but you'll get used to it - we manage 😉. There's much knowledge amongst our members and we're happy to share 😂. You'll find we all do things slightly differently proving there isn't one right way!
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hi we've just brought our first caravan and picking it up on friday i know people think we must be mad doing it now but this time to start caravanning the roads are quiet and hopeful the pitches are a bit less busy so if i have to do it a few times to pitch up people hopefully won't be looking too much because ive never towed before and if we survive a few cold nights with the dogs then think we've cracked it and hopefully be ready for 2019
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