Leaving canvas behind

McAllister1

Hello! Me and the OH have had an old folding camper ...a Combi camper...for 4 years and have loved getting into camping and went to France, Germany and in the UK.We are secondary school teachers so have holidays and camped for approx 6 weeks last year but we found the canvas so restrictive, much as we loved it. We couldn't do weekends unless absolutely sure we could dry it out , and then the put up and down was a fair job. We used to chat on campsites to various people and admire their setups and have been round the houses on what to buy, from Trigano pop tops to van conversions and back again. We like to go canoeing and have a big Canadian canoe as well as bikes and this caused problems when we eventually started looking at bigger motorhomes but felt in the end it couldn't decide what we bought. 

Fast forward to lockdown and we inherited a bit of money so have bought a Malibu Carthago which should be registered to us very soon. We are really looking forward to getting away from Chelmsford on a Thursday evening when we both finish,  driving for an hour or so to get away from home then another little drive to get to the sea or elsewhere on Friday. At least that is our plan.

I've subsequently been a bit spooked by stories of vans bring stolen and wonder if we need more than the Thatcham tracker? But I am mainly looking forward to seeing more of the UK and also travelling through Europe again when that is possible. 

We fancy rallying as well as we are fairly social types ...we joined North Essex though tbh Chelmsford is probably somewhere in the middle so not sure how that works. We shall see!

I am glad there is a site for advice and chat from more experienced motorhomers and caravanners. Any advice on places nearish to us welcome. We want to get down to Folkestone a fair bit, and Rye, which we know but are looking forward to exploring Suffolk more too.

Plenty for an intro...thanks for reading!

Amanda

cyberyacht

Welcome to CT from another Carthago owner. Should be a whole lot warmer than a folder! If you want a site near Chelmsford, I can recommend Mill House CV Park, Chelmsford. No facilities block but  a fair number of hard standings. Half mile walk across the fields to the bus stop. Canal walk adjacent to site.

ABM

Welcome Mac1 and may you have many years of fun with your new toy !!  { And within this Club too  }

Not sure how to advise with the worries you have. With the Thatcham Tracker I'd be inclined to use as highly visible as possible bar-type across the steering wheel and a good insurance company !! I say this purely because many in this mobile world say they would not really want the stolen vehicle back since they would not know what had taken place in it 

McAllister1

Oh thanks!! Great idea. We go near there with the canoe - it is a great idea for a nearby spot especially for the first few trips.

We were ofc limited to sites with loos and that is another big benefit ( autocorrect had that as bog benefit!). It would get us on the road for the night . The OH has a stressful job atm and it feels like this will help us make it to retirement. 

Thank you for the welcome

DSB

 Welcome to Club Together, McAllister1.  Great to hear from you.  We're just all keeping our fingers crossed for a better year in 2021 so we can get away more frequently in our units.  Do let us know how you get on with it all.

David

McAllister1

Thanks... I  will get both I think. It isn't too much hassle to have a crooklock/ chain thing. Our camper is insured through the camping and caravan club so will look at theirs and the one here as well .

Takethedogalong

Hello and welcome, hope things go well for you😁

LLM

If you are serious about an alarm I suggest you talk to Eddie at Vanbitz.  They do the ultimate grown up alarm the: Strikeback Growler.