A new start.......

The beginning is here in the world of towing a caravan, sounds simple to alot of experienced caravan owners, but being a HGV driver with alot of knowledge of heavy long loads, suddenly thrown into the caravan world.  13pin, 7 pin or twin.....and what do you mean alko hitch, which one fixed, swan detachable.....reverse sensors mmmmmm why is that a problem, but how did i get here to start with.

Depression...very easy to get into but a stuggle to come out of it, ok wasn't suicidal just felt really down, i do still have a few bad days, just come to the point of "is this it", "what else is there", i worked too much with little time for myself, always going around with a smile and cheery, helping others before myself, and finally got to me one day when I broke down in the back garden, I was missing something, a hobby maybe, need something to challenge me, life was getting boring, need time for myself and family, now it's time to turn things about, after months of wondering what can i do, what do I like, what am i good at....

My love of boats I came across this 32 feet boat in norfolk, a project boat to do up, going pretty cheap, this would give me the challenge and time I need, so off to norfolk to check it out, but sadly already sold time I got there, started to feel low at that point, then on way back I stopped at a caravan sales, yes a caravan this would give me time to relax and chill, also abit of challenge, but along the way looking for a second hand caravan I somehow bought two kayak/canoes, had no roof rack to pick them up so had to source those but then i ended up buying a two seater kayak/canoe aswell, bit of a project that one. Ok set my budget at £2500 for a caravan due to I didn't really want to spend to much, but that budget didn't last too long while out looking at caravans at that price, so my budget went up, then seen a caravan we liked (yes the missus has to like it aswell), but no towbar.

I joined The Caravan Club first as it was the first step, it was a way to make sure I follow this through, first place i visited was Club Together, my first question was about towbars and weights, received some helpful information, with that off for fitting, swan neck with twin electrics as caravan got twin leads and alko, only cost £249 at a proper tow company, they took 3 hours to fit it and they did a fanstatic job,even  works inline with my reverse sensors, but wait still been trying to get storage for caravan been everywhere near me with the same story "sorry full up, there's a waiting list", until finally I found one at last minute, so booked straight away, contacted the caravan owner saying I will buy her, then you realise how much you need to buy for the caravan, fitting out another house but on smaller scale, amazing how quickly the cost mounts up, just waiting for Friday to pick her up.

Friday 04-11-2016........The owner gave me tips and help with hitching, as we pulled out of his storage with caravan in tow headed home to give the inside a good clean and me stripping her apart to find out everything that I had just bought, after 4 hours heading to storage to park her up where she is now, going back Thursday to give a good polish with Bobby Dasler, just hope it is good as some say, but as I type this story I have already booked our first pitch in the lake district with launching facillity for the kayak's through he Caravan Club, this will be our big day as to whether i bought a complete lemon or great little caravan (well not little at 23 feet), hope the photo comes through, but this story is dedicated to all those who helped me along the way to finally do touring with all the tips I've received about our 2017 trip to italy, weights, towbar, and more, it's great to be part of a communitity that helps those who need advise, tips, help......maybe pitching up near you soon, happy caravanning to everyone and i will let you know how thing go when we've done our first of many weekend....happy caravanning and great times ahead...