Erstwhile tenters: or not?
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Like many if not most on here we started with a very basic caravan with gaslights, a very basic 2 burner cooker hob, no running water, (except down the glass windows), and luxury of luxuries, a Porta Potti ! Over the 30+ years we have changed to a current caravan with many of the features of our home.
The question is, why did we take up caravanning in the first place? It certainly wasn't to live in a tin box and masochistically have to go out in the rain to fetch and carry water and, whilst our modern caravan is now far more comfortable, the purpose of owning one still isn't to live in a tin box. If it was we would stay at home on the drive and have no need for a caravan site. Our reason, and I suspect the reason of many, is the opportunity to get to see many different places in the UK and overseas at prices that we perhaps couldn't afford if we went into hotels etc. I know caravanning isn't cheap any more but I think the reason is still valid. Yes, we have done without an EHU and we have pitched on a muddy grass but doing so doesn't prove anything, it just happened to be on a site in an area that we wanted to be but with no alternative available and we were able to cope.
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We camped all over Europe when young and also when first married. When we could afford it we graduated to a caravan and the extra comfort never tempted us to go backwards.
What still amuses me though is the Brit’s. obsession with wastemasters and the like. I think back to how we washed and washed up in plastic bowls then slung the water over the hedge. Heaven forbid somebody seeing you doing that on a Club site. Also, the WCs weren’t always close enough in the middle of the night but I leave it to your imagination as to how we solved that problem!
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Started when in the Army, borrowed all the gear off the Quartermaster, tent (usually a 9x9 for those in the know), campbeds, and a PETROL two burner stove and tilly lamps. In those days (60s) tents were brightly coloured, blue and yellow being popular. We always attracted a mob of kids when we pitched our black/green camoflaged monstrosity. I was told to keep an eye on current affairs, and get back quickly, because the tent was part off the Battalion Command Post! We then had trailer tents, fitted EHU after a while for about 15yrs until our 3 boys stopped coming with us, when we secummed to the comfort of a caravan.
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+ 1 for me too
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I do not think that most people want to replicate a 'home' experience per se, but with advancing years I certainly appreciate a degree of comfort and warmth.
I can no longer camp out the back of a car, in a two man tent, small gas stove and a sleeping bag.
I also tend to use sites with TBs which also are not only heated but sometimes contain luxuries like hair driers.
Regrettably old age tends to make these things a necessity.
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+1, fully agree, I certainly didn't apologise and fully stand by my posts.
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I don't go off grid very often because I'm married. It's that simple. I took her camping once and that was it. I took her away for a week in a holiday caravan and she loved it - I didn't. We bought a touring caravan when money permitted and were quite happy pitching on grass but EHU was a requirement for the wife. Now motorhoming and EHU less of an issue because battery technology has improved significantly although she still moans if no EHU.
Dislike motorhoming on grass simply because motorhomes and grass are not good bedfellows - I don't have RWD.
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