The Club magazine wants to hear from you
We have an article for an upcoming issue of the Club magazine about the new season and we’re looking to talk to people to find out how they tour.
Have you planned all your touring for 2020 or do you go spontaneously at the spur of the moment? Have you ever been away with your family together on a Club Site, maybe your family have stayed in our Experience Freedom glamping accommodation?
If you think you could help us with this article, the editor of the Club magazine would love to give you a quick call to discuss. Please post below with a brief description of how you tour and who you tour with and you might find yourself in the Club magazine! 
Comments
-
Hi Rowena, as you know, I’m completely off grid now using the new technologies that have allowed us so much freedom. With a caravan, I scout the book for off grid sites but generally, I book early in the year to get a pitch but I never seem to have a problem due to the fact that most are chasing EHU sites leaving all these beautiful off grid sites fairly free to get a pitch. Grass is my choice and as untouched as possible!
2 -
Hi Rowena. We have 8 weeks already booked for this year, but may go more depending on the weather at the time. We have been members of the club for 20 years but have started booking private sites more than years ago, one of the reasons being that we like to book a certain pitch in advance and know that the pitch that we like is empty and waiting when we arrive, and not taking pot luck when we arrive after 12 noon. Our family are staying at Hillhead the same time as us on a tent pitch, because it's a great site for our grandchildren. We also look for sites with large dog areas because we have two fast whippets who love to run.
1 -
We are very much spur of the moment nowadays, plans can change on the day we set off. Hence we seldom book much in advance. We are living proof that despite comments to the contrary, it’s perfectly easy to tour UK without booking in advance. We often ring a place up while on the road. It’s usually a tour of some sorts for us, hopping from a mix of sites, primarily CLs and the smaller, quieter Club Sites. We have utilised alternative accommodation for family members occasionally, with us in MH. But not used the pods.
0 -
I've booked a ferry crossing. About the only other thing I shall book in advance will be my MOT and habitation check.
1 -
Already after only 4 post's the variation in how we holiday shows. That's what makes it such a great hobby
0 -
Caravanning now for about 7 years, our touring has evolved, triggered mainly by two factors.
1. We retired - prior to that, we tended to booked a whole year ahead, focusing on 2-4 night bank holidays and weekends, but still needing to plan in longer, long haul holidays (not in caravan!). We had one favourite site (Incleborough Fields), which we felt was our ‘local grab some sea air’ site. Other sites were limited by distance for the 2-4 night stops, but we tried very hard not to repeat any.
Now, we avoid bank hols, and don’t worry whether we are away for a weekend or weekday. We watch for better weather forecasts, but don’t always get it right. We look for places of interest near sites (National Trust, safari parks, exhibitions, shows)
Both before and after retirement, we tour mainly as a couple using Club sites, although once or twice a year, we go with my brother and his wife who also have a caravan.
2. The extra time afforded by retirement allowed us to try European caravanning, which means that we now pre-plan 4-6 week touring trips in Spring/Summer, and have visited France, Italy & Spain. For these we tend to pre-book only the ferry, and use ACSI card to roam when and where we want, which takes us to a wide range of sites, some of which are ‘club’ sites, others not.
so now our caravan holidays are a mix of 2 types.
1. Shorter 3-7 nights in uk, normally arranged at fairly short notice
2. Longer 25-45 nights European trips
2 -
Also like David and a lot of others we used to have a lot of holidays over the channel and spent 3 months in Spain in the winter quite a few times, but now when we get on junction 10 of the M6 and our Shogun smells the air in Devon there's no holding her back.
0 -
Five years as a caravanner and 25 as a motorhomer. We travelled in Britain only for the last 15 years. We've used Club sites or CLs and Affiliated sites but can't remember the last time we used a commercial site. To me, caravanning was about family time, motorhoming abroad was for new experiences as a family, and now Britain is for the two of us to follow our hobbies together.
0 -
As 51 yr members we are making use of club sites as often as we can with our third rescue collie, ,as the stickeron the caravan my Daughter bought for us says "on an adventure before dementia" And 216 nights away in the caravan last yearall in the uk is a record we may find hard to exceed in the future, we have numerous sites booked this year already,and hope to do some more but we now tend to have to work round NHS and such appointments
0 -
We’ve been caravanning for 25 years, first with the kids and latterly on our own.
We plan the year ahead, particularly for longer holidays and bank holidays but also for any special weekends such as 1940’s or 1960’s events and similar which we plan to visit. We aim to have the bank holidays booked pre Christmas using CL’s, plus new year at a CMC site. We also plan and book longer holidays, either abroad with ferry bookings or researching UK areas using CL’s.
For weekends, we usually decide and book about a week before - at the latest, the Tuesday before the weekend.
We don’t travel without booking and prefer sites which use email or online booking.
1 -
Update - we took part in this, speaking to Gary Martin and the result is a piece in the new magazine. You can see us and our cat Evie who likes to travel with us.
2 -
dont tour very much in the UK and not very often on club sites, mainly because we sometimes take the Gkids and we like to find a site with some activities e.g. pool, lots of outside space for games, cycling, close to beach, even without the Gkids i do love a daily swim. Off to Spain 14th April will return some time in June but again do not use recommended club sites, I do use RP for insurance , like to keep insurance all in one place even if it is a bit more expensive. Ferries i book via BF using a guest code very kindly offered by a CT user, but i am sad to say I do save up the club magazine as bed time reading whilst away, normally 3 months worth, and all my Which magazines
0 -
I spotted another forum member there in print as well…
1 -
Rowena got 3 booked can't make any more, waiting to see how coronavirus pans out, we have Elderly in laws in granny flat to take care of, also the government may put a block on travel to certain areas, what is the clubs take on the corona situation
0 -
The magazine wants to hear from us? I want to hear from the magazine. Anyone seen May's issue yet?
0 -
The printers have shut down, there is a war on you know.
0 -
Rowena, we started caravanning in the early eighties, when our only Daughter was 4 years old, l can remember pulling onto Godfrey Davy site in Cornwall pitching up and that's the last we saw of her until dinner or tea time what a safe environment it was, maybe not so safe as then but still safe. Now we are in our late sixties we are now motorhomers and still book CMC sites tried a few others over the years but none come up to the CMC, even the caravanning and camping club does not compare in our view. We only travel the UK no thoughts of traveling abroad to many places here undiscovered. We have tried the CLs but we like the club sites far more going on, love watching time go by sat under the awning canopy with glass of Rioche watching the sun go down in mid summer, can't wait to get to Sandringham, the smell of the fir cones in the forest and stoll upto the house. l am just hoping things will be ok for at least couple of weeks this summer. We always book in advance, l just wish there was some way of keeping a few pitches clear at weekends for those that want a week to 3 weeks holiday, l know l said we book in advance but December is far to early and that's when all the weekends are booked even if people dont require them. Upto now l have Sandringham booked early July not hopeful, Bridlington September, York Rowntree November hope we don't have any floods will keep August free and October, will do last minute booking in them months, might try New forest in October will wait and see. We love being members of the CMC, never really had problem over 20 years not even when we were members in the early years we was in our twenties then, some said it was regimentated but we didn't find it so
0 -
Being retired and now in our mid-80’s, we tend to take our caravan out on two trips only per year. This now comprises, for trip one, 6 weeks in France with 3 or 4 nights at Winchester club site during our homeward journey. Trip two, usually in September, is taken at an adults-only site in the UK, and commonly lasts for anything between 3 to 5 weeks. Occasionally we may make the odd (low season) 3-nights mid-week stay outside these times - this could be at either a CAMC site or an independent one.
We pay minimal visits to CAMC sites because we feel that the charges are a bit steep - no question that the amenities are very good, but this has no value for us because we always use the excellent facilities in our caravan.
With the lock-down, and our caravan permanently hooked up at home, the fridge/freezer in the van has become an extra facility to reduce the need to go to the shops.
We have resigned ourselves to not using the van for 2020 - our biggest regret is not being able to go to France this year, and this will be first on our agenda when restrictions are eventually lifted.
2 -
By now we would have normally made 5 trips out in the van, 4 of them 4/5 day trips to North Norfolk and depending where Easter comes along a trip abroad for at least 3 weeks. Would like to make these trips longer but other commitments get in the way.
Generally speaking I usually come up with 2 or 3 ideas then we sit down and agree where to go and what to see. This year we had decided to take a month and visit the French Pyrenees. In fact we would have been leaving next weeks. Usually I book the ferry and the destination site but everything else is Ad Hoc.
Whether we make it abroad this year is in the lap of the gods. It is Mrs One’s big birthday at the beginning of August so even those plans are on hold
0 -
Be aware that the article mentioned in Ro’s opening post happened back in the March issue.
But it’s still interesting reading about the touring of others😁
0
