Living in a Caravan Vs Living in a house
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We've been out in ours now for 3 weeks or so, and hope to stay touring this trip till just before Easter.
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Glad someone got it
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I didn't watch her do it, I'm only going by what she told me! Anyway, that problem is resolved. We're getting water through the taps using the onboard tank whilst the empty Aquaroll is disconnected and being stored in the awning until the temperatures go above freezing.
That proves that living in our caravan is as good as living in a house. So there's no way I'm going to waste money buying or renting property when that money can be used in our enjoyment of staying on CMC sites! After all, you can't take your property with you when you go! Your house gets left behind and someone else gets it and then its too late to enjoy your life with the money that you worked so hard to get all your life.
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I can't afford to buy or rent anyway, it would financially cripple me, so it's not an option for me. I would feel absolutely miserable trapped in four walls and being unable to afford to go anywhere or move my caravan off the driveway!
To me, it beggars belief, that anyone who is retired would want to be trapped in one place by a house when they could use that money to have the latest model twin axle caravan with all the mod cons, latest model Range Rover to tow it and have money to tour the world, meet new people and enjoy visiting new places. The world is your oyster, yet you choose to be trapped physically and financially by your house!
Best thing is to sell up and use that money to get a life before its too late!
From what I've seen here on this forum, some of you have between quarter of a million to half a million quid tied up in property that if released could buy you the life of your dreams!
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Maybe we are living 'The life of our dreams' Malc. Nicely secure in lovely houses which have been paid for with the option ('Option' being the operative word) of going away for lovely holidays and surrounded by wonderful friends and family, and happy in the knowledge of passing on a little of our hard-earned cash when we die to our loved ones! The feeling is comfortable to say the least.
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I'm sure your loved ones can provide for themselves like you had to when you were their age. You need to love yourself, taffyY, by enjoying doing the things that you couldn't do when you were their age because of being trapped by a job and mortgage.
If I had half a million tied up in property, I would be off to the estate agent to get it on the market without further ado! Once sold, I would get that money into my bank account in cash savings. I would then get the best possible brand new tow car of the year and upgrade my caravan to the latest model 8 ft. wide, 23 ft. long twin axle. Once fully equipped, I would be off getting a life with it!
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Exactly, taffyY. It would be good for you to have such a fun or funny life! No worries about your boiler breaking down and cash in the bank available to you!
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I think the point you keep missing M is that we do have the choice and choose not to live in a van full time. For me not having a choice, as in your case, would not be the fun option that you consider it to be. I am happy for you. You have found a way of life you enjoy and are able to remain positive, even in these exceptional weather conditions.
It's just not for us.
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My wife's just successfully defrosted the caravan kitchen sink drain and washroom drain using the hairdryer. So water is now flowing down the drain without any problem. The taps are already working because of the onboard tank. So the weather is not a problem for us, SteveL. It would be more of a problem in a house. What if the drains in a house get blocked by ice? I doubt that they could be defrosted as quickly as in a caravan.
The site is having more of a problem with frozen outside taps than we are with the internal taps in our caravan.
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If you never try it, SteveL, you'll never know how much better this way of life is!
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M, the costs to "run" my house for a month is £375 , why would I want to give that up and stay on sites that ,1 ,will cost me more ,and 2 ,I would have to move site every so often , with staying at my house I can grow veg and flowers and carry on with my hobby of wood turning in my shed ,how could I do that if I stayed on sites ???, but for you that wouldn't be a problem because it appears your wife does all the work and you sleep in the awning , since this cold spell our plumbing has not frozen ,so we haven't had to buy a hairdryer to thaw it out , your arguments for living in a caravan just do not stack up ,and as you get older and less mobile you will find out
but M ,you do write a good story
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We remember the property we had in China that was in an ideal location. It was a flat on the 18th storey with a view over a lake and you could see surrounding countryside for miles all around. However, even a brilliant view can become boring after a while if it never changes. When we put the property on the market, it sold within one week because the whole block of flats had been newly built when we bought it in an ideal location. That enabled us to get the necessary cash savings into the bank that gave us sufficient money to set up our present life here. We have not regretted it. It's the best thing we ever did!
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We are all different Malcolm.
We have a house and a touring caravan and would never dream of having a seasonal pitch. A touring caravan is designed to 'tour' both here and abroad not to be restricted to a couple of seasonal pitches.
Out of interest how many different sites did you stay on last year?
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Looking at your situation Huskydog, it comes to my mind that you are still having to work hard running a business and having less time therefore to pursue other interests. If you were to sell up everything and retire, you would have a huge amount of cash savings in the bank that could be used to enjoy your retirement, have the latest model towcar of the year and the latest models of more spacious 8 ft. wide caravans that are now on the market. All of this could be purchased just using a proportion of that cash in the bank and then you've got the lovely life ahead of you that we are enjoying now!
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Firstly I enjoy running my business, I can decide when I open and close ,can you choose when you work ??, and why would I want the lastest model of towbar and wide caravan ?..
I'll let you in to a secret M , but don't tell anyone else , I already have a lovely life
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Hi, Swifty 2018. In the last year we stayed on Northbrook Farm CMC site, Cirencester Park CMC site, North Ledaig near Oban when we visited Scotland, Lancing Fruit Farm CL, Baltic Wharf CMC, Bristol for Christmas and New Year and yes we did have a real Christmas tree and lights for our awning. In addition, Alderstead Heath CMC and Gatwick and two other CMC sites whilst in Scotland last summer and three other CMC sites in England including Littlehampton. All this has given us a varied and interesting way of life.
The 21 night rule of having to move is actually a benefit to us because it enables us to get a change of scene and location within a reasonable period of time. We find that more enjoyable than being stuck in one location all the time. Like they say, 'a change is as good as a rest.'
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"We're getting water through the taps using the onboard tank whilst the empty Aquaroll is disconnected and being stored in the awning until the temperatures go above freezing."
"That proves that living in our caravan is as good as living in a house"
How does that work out then? I've not had to move my house during one of the worst weather periods for a few years now. I have had constant hot & Cold water at the taps and no drainage problems and I have sat in a centrally heated conservatory watching the wildlife take advantage of the offering put out for them without having to think about going to work later in the evening. I'm also not going to have to up sticks after 21 days.
I will however collect our caravan on the 19th for a week away which is one of many trips booked this year. And have the freedom to go/stay wherever we wish subject to getting a pitch.
I would never change anything, we have the best of both worlds.
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That maybe the situation in your case, Milothedog. However, when we had property in China, we couldn't buy a caravan because there were no caravan dealers there, nor were there any sites there to park a caravan on. Whenever we went away, we had to use hotels and flights at a much higher cost. There is no doubt about it, that we now have a much better way of life.
The disadvantage in your case is the financial restriction of having cash tied up in property that can restrict what you do in other ways.
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And that's the point MM "we"
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Having had to live in our caravan for 4 months between houses, I certainly wouldn't want to do it again. In fact it almost put us off caravanning altogether. It was 18 months before we could face using it for a holiday! Even now I can only manage a week to 10 days away at a time. It's not for everyone. 😉
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Going to work in the evening is not too bad, Milothedog. I have time off in the day to do other things plus two, three or sometimes four days/evenings off. Also working hours are mostly three to four hours per evening which can almost be looked upon as just an evening out meeting people, except I get paid for it rather than spending money in a pub!
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I did say earlier MM I would never change our life style. Having thought about it that's not strictly true. If I were offered a way of life that meant my Wife could have her health and mobility restored to that of a normal able bodied person then I would give up any and everything for that to happen. But its not going to happen unfortunately.
If I know one thing MM your health and well being is the most valuable asset anyone can have. So in that respect you are lucky and better off than some who are less fortunate.
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Perhaps you needed a bigger caravan, H&T and a bigger awning to go with it. Our caravan and awning plus two side annexes if needed are as spacious as an averaged sized bungalow and we've been living happily and comfortably like this for nearly three years and have no plans to change to any other form of dwelling.
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Malcolm. That appears to be only 12 sites in a full year, we have visited more than double that but still manage to spend much of the time at home.
We also have no need at home to fetch and empty water, empty the toilet, defrost drains, erect and take down awnings etc etc. I couldn't stand being in a caravan for 12 months of the year even if it was 8ft wide.
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