To Motorhome or not ?

The amount of storage space you need is a very personal thing. Do you want to carry bikes, sun loungers, outdoor cookware, aquaroll and so on. All I can say is that when we tour on the continent we see many “garage style” motorhomes where people have just filled the available space with non essential junk. Of course, if you want to take bikes or you travel with pets then you need the space. Sun loungers, picnic table and chairs for four? The list could be endless.

At the other extreme is us, and others like us. Two relaxing fold-up chairs and a small cover groundsheet to go under the wind-out canopy and not much else. No water carrier, no loungers no picnic table (we ditched the one we bought when we realised the Motorhome table worked fine outside).

There are plenty of Motorhome styles to choose from to suit every conceivable need.

What I would like to see in this thread is some useful comments about how those, like yourself, who have smaller vans, cope on a day to day basis, travellling around Europe, without much storage space.   And that is intended as a genuine request for someone who struggles to see how the other half manage.

BillC

A small van doesn't necessarily have "little" storage space. The key is to think carefully about what is needed and that extends to clothes, food tools, spares, equipment, leisure equipment, on-board water, crockery cutlery and utensils etc.

We use packing cubes and microfibre towels and mainly technical clothing which is lightweight and easily washable. Apart from coping with climatic factors e.g Artic Circle to southern Europe in same trip you need the same amount of clothes and footwear for a ten day trip or a sixty day trip you just need to wash it !

We have reduced the amount of crockery cutlery pots pans etc but still have enough to cover any cooking scenario we are likely to encounter.

We carry a good range of tools and spares appropriate to our mechanical competence a comprehensive first aid kit and a serious fire extinguisher.

We don't carry a huge range of outdoor stuff mainly just two folding chairs our needs are covered by a  built in awning and built in outside table.

We rarely watch TV abroad but take a selection of DVDs and books on i-pad (Kindle Ap and on paper) so we don't need satellite gear. We have a Mi-fi for urgent news and communication. 

We don't carry an aquaroll, a wastemaster or a big hose. We have a folding bucket a small grey water container a 10L and a 5L carrier for drinking water. These items cover all fresh and waste water scenarios on full facility sites and aires even though an extra trip or two to the tap is needed (the exercise is welcome).

We have grip mats and a tow rope and a washing line.

We have a good range of paper maps and guidebooks to suit the particular trip which may range  over several countries. 

With foresight organisation and ruthless pruning of the unnecessary  we can comfortably carry all of the above, logically and conveniently with space and payload to spare. 

Our choice of a small and relatively light van is entirely about mobility not competence.

On account of a personal emergency I drove 1850 miles in three days to get home from Eastern Hungary. I don't fancy doing that in a big van !!

Deleted User User.The OP wasn't asking about small vans, but some of the comments lacked understanding of small vans and the fact that many people like them. We never felt cramped in our first pvc, good design helped with that and even smaller vans are loved by many. These double as daily vehicles for some and on sites can be extended with good awning use. I think there are people out there who don't want to replicate home and just want the easy freedom of a small van. Each to his own. 

a great many MHers assume that, as a MH is a 'commercial' vehicle, it can be loaded to fill the available space....not so...

it already has plenty of stuff inside to add weight like cookers, heaters, batteries, furniture, lockers etc, etc......which add considerably to overall weight.

then we, the users, add kit galore like satellite systems, extra batteries, inverters, twin gas bottles, bike racks....

on top of that we then stuff the inside full of clothes, people, water, books, tables, chairs, ramps, water barrels, hoses, ehu cables, tool kit, crockery, pots and pans, food, drink, wine, wine, wine etc, etc....

with no tow car to offset a caravan's negligible payload, everything has to go in the MH, so some thought, and a little measuring is required.

i know there are some who havent a clue as to their all up weight, and many more who couldnt care less and would rather not know, but an overloaded van is not good on so many different fronts.....

take care...

Oh! Nearly forgot, for BB, we intend to visit the Wellington weighbridge before we leave!

BillC

After nearly 20 years of caravanning, we have just put down a deposit on a motorhome, Lunar Roadstar EL.  Our reasoning is that we are recently retired, and instead of 2 or 3 weeks on site (UK and/or France) recharging our batteries, we would like to do more touring - maybe 3 or 4 nights before we move on.  A lot has been said on the forum about size and layout.  We are all different, but we have gone for a 2-berth coachbuilt as it feels comparable to our 2-berth caravan.  The only compromise is the small kitchen in the Lunar.  We think we will buy e-bikes.  Good idea?

The gas locker door will only accommodate a 7kg bottle because of the diameter.  Our bottle is an 11kg re-fillable bottle which we will have to change. You have no idea of the issues to work around until you own a MH (and we don't even own it yet!}.  If you hire one, the hire company will have sorted everything and anything which you haven't even thought of.

It's a leap of faith!  Good luck.

Can't wait but need to be sure the pacemaker - installed last week - is going to make travel possible once again.