Travelling heavy or light
When we used to winter in Spain for three months we travelled down from Calais loaded to the max. Here are most of the things we took.
Dog food for three months, so our dog had the same as at home.
Two bikes.
A full size awning for a twin axel van.
A washing machine and spinner.
A 1.35 Mitre sat dish and stand.
Clothes for two people.
Out door kitchen and gas ring.
One dog and travelling crate.
Can anyone beat this, but we do tow with a large Shogun that can gross over 6ton towing.
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more to the point....its what we bring back from Spain....a garage full of Rioja and Tempranillo
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It does depend very much on the wine and how purchased. A particularly good Provençal rose we like, works out at £15.50 for a 5 litre box, when bought from the supplier. Wines of a similar origin / quality bought here would be £60 for the same quantity, 380% more expensive.
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Much the same from the Barossa Valley, South Australia. Just hope that we fare as well when we are outside the EU blanket!
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We became more and more minimalist as we became older - so for summers in the south it became smaller caravan, no awning , no water rollers, no barbecue, no satellite dish, no dog, no bikes, only two outdoor chairs and a table, always pitch under a shady tree, and we just started buying rarer/ more unusual wines than we could find at home - Alsace dry white muscat for example.
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I'm not sure if we come under the heavy or light category, I would have said normal
When abroad for 8 - 10 weeks we take.2 ebikes
2 chairs
small folding table
Gas BBQ (Cadac) small one
85cm Satellite dish and tripod
Sun canopy 3m very lightweight
Washing machine/spinner
240v/12v Cool box
Clothes for 2
We don't do awnings or ground sheets but we do have a mat for outside the door.
Apart from the washing machine I think most folk take the above items, don't they.
We don't bring back loads of wine maybe a couple of the cartons but not always.
When we go away in the UK we don't take the sat dish or the cool box, sometimes not any of the above, oh except clothes
Depends on where we go and for how long.
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Light to Medium, whether UK for a few weeks or 'overthere' for 9/10 weeks.
2 Ebikes
2 Recliners
1 Table
1 Dog
1 Canopy (3.5 metre awning rail roll out)
Clothes for 2
Books, books and more books
Drink lots of Cider and wine (preferably cheap wine as it all tastes the same to me)
Don't do washing machine, spinner or washboard.
Don't do barbecue, TV, or awning
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Light
Chairs which fold into a bag
Small folding table which has a removable top and becomes a seat/stool.
Food, drinks, books, music, usb and wind up radios, clothes
New dog (hope she likes travelling?!)
Integrated Thule wind out canopy so nothing to sort for that except storm straps.
Used to take lots, Lafumas, awnings etc kept at home now, BBQ sometimes.
This gets us round the UK and Offshore Islands.
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Definitely light.
No washing machine, airer, BBQ or other extra means of cooking, bikes, table, awning, step, books, satellite rig, cool box. Sadly, no dog.
We have 1 factory fitted roll out canopy, 2 folding chairs, Kindle, clothes for 2 for a fortnight, smallish TV wall mounted.
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Agree with that philosophy. Good to figure out what you don’t really need. We bought a picnic table and sold it because we now use the motorhome one which is portable. Never used the oven and the microwave packed up but we haven’t missed it. No Aquaroll or waste container of course but a collapsible bucket is useful. Never used a TV and have no bikes.
Wind -out canopy is good to have and we also have a half awning mat which helps if it’s muddy. Very small BBQ but we don’t use it very often. A fishing rod for France which I shall probably downsize to a telescopic one. Can’t manage without the 5cm Duvalays unfortunately.
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fwiw ...
Medium. Prefer easier up to speed cruising along as light as sensible, regardless of any payload capacity.
Caravan & car on strict diet for not needed prior to grand depart & return. Don't own a travel washing machine (bit shocked at some !) - use site facilities as and when available. Certain odd branded items we will carry an extra one of, but only if a known un-available at destination.
Very careful about dragging un-needed stuff back as well so odd bottles maybe if a rarity or special - ever broken a bottle in the car ? Cannot see logic to loading up bringing Wine or Beer back, even better stuff unless your a posh shopper.
M
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We left Spain loaded with wine and met up with the family in France and finished the lot off🍷🍷👪😊
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We are light, no b-b-q, telly, awning as sun canopy suffices, If we need washing then use sites facilities. We do take some food stuffs as well.
Camera gear for me and painting stuff for Mrs One still leaves plenty of room and weight to load up our favourite wines for the return journey. If I’m travelling alone I often take a bike with me
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For our 2 x annual summer holidays in Europe each of 6 weeks (ish) we definitely fall into the light category. No washing machine (why? We use site facilities), no bikes (OH not confident). But we take small gas BBQ, have Fiamma roll out awning with an extension giving 5mtrs shade area, In/out water containers, 2 comfortable lounge chairs, small outside table and TV for DVDs if dull evenings. Add to this normal stuff for caravan. I like to travel with nothing on the floor of caravan and can get Aquaroll and Wastemaster, table and books (we like to read but they are so heavy) in the car (VW Tiguan) without folding rear seats down. Don't bother bringing too much wine or beer back as the 25% offers in UK for wine usually allow top up of 'cellar'. However, if in the Agde area we will bring back some Pic Pol which is much cheaper there and maybe a local St Chinian wine as we used to live there. We ALWAYS take too many clothes forgetting that shorts/sandals (no socks please!) normally go on first day 'over there' and that those smart slacks/skirt/shoes hardly get used and of course must take spares just in case.
We have seen folks getting washing machine, fridge/freezer, bikes, chairs, awning etc out of their caravans and just wonder how they keep within the caravan loading allowance?
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To be honest David I would rather drop off other items just to take the washer
I like to do things when I want and where I want. Getting up early to wait for a place in the washing machine queue just doesn't do it for me. Getting dog hairs all over my clothes isn't my idea of a clean wash either. Wringing clothes out I can do but it doesn't do the clothes much good. If we were only going for 2 weeks I wouldn't bother but 10 weeks its well worth it.We have plenty of weight allowance and room in the car so most of what we take goes in there.
Having done tenting and wild camping in our youth I much prefer comfort and ease in my retirement
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We would certainly not want to bother. When we have been away for 8/9 weeks abroad we have always had sufficient clothes for that length of trip, always allowing for a bit of hand washing in between. Can't really see the need. But then we are hardly in one place for more than 4 days so hardly time to do washing. In the past what we have used is those vacuum bags to put fresh clothes in to reduce storage space.
David
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I don't think we own that many clothes! We can just about manage 4 weeks.
We also have the little washer/spinner and these days take it with us if we are away for longer than 4 weeks, OH is not a fan of the CAMC site machines, they often do not rinse properly, and these days we use quite a few CLs.
The other thing we always take is our breadmaker, it has been to the far north of Norway, and pretty far south in Italy.
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Service washes at launderettes, dhobi washes in India - hand the dirty stuff in in the morning, collect clean stuff in the evening - all nicely ironed too.
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Gosh you must take a lot of clothes with you.
We rarely spend more than 4 or 5 days in one place but I certainly feel the need for clothes washing, not to mention towels, tea towels and bedding. Clothes, bedding and towels are quiet heavy so why carry more than you need. I would hate dirty clothes hanging around the van for 9 or 10 weeks.
Edit, I remember once going over to the block to put washing in the machine, it was already in use and 2 baskets waiting. We were wanting to go out for the day so no washing done. When we are away on long trips we don't have to bother about things like that, I can do a wash after breakfast hang it out and then go out for the day, washing all nice and dry when we return. Much better than hanging around most of the day waiting for a machine.
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The only thing we now keep in the van are: clothes (but only enough so we can wash and wear); bedding; towels; kitchen utensils/ plates/ glasses etc; cleaning materials; toilet bags; one gas bottle. We travel with nothing underneath the seats or the fixed bed. We do have a fixed rollout canopy though.
Everything else goes in the car: outside chairs; roll top table; Cadac + extra gas bottle; fresh and waste water containers; collapsible bins; small side table; small set of steps; electric hook-up lead; awning (on the odd occasion we take the sides); rotary washing line etc; odd bits of food; groundsheet.... etc
In the car we just take what we need. In the winter the 'outside stuff' stays at home. These days we tend to use mainly serviced pitches - I haven't taken the aquaroll/ wastemaster with me for 12 months now, but am eagerly waiting for news of the new proposed 45 litre fresh water and waste containers (from the company Colapz) to replace the aquaroll and wastemaster.....
Years ago, we kept everything in the caravan and the car was empty. These days, most of the 'outside' stuff travels in the car. It's easier to unload it from the car and pack it again after, than from the under beds of the caravan.... and it keeps the caravan within weight limits, and it means we only take what we use.... Our rule now tends to be... outside stuff in the car, inside stuff in the caravan.
David
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We don't bother with a washing machine but certainly don't take enough cloths or bedding to do anything like 8/9 weeks. In this country we use the site machines, don't even bother with the rotary drier anymore, as it is rarely safe to leave out all day, if your not staying on site.
In France we have found most sites have a washer. Even small municipal ones. Often tucked away and you have to pay at reception for a jeton. What they don't have, particularly in the south is driers, they are not needed in the hot sun, so we take our rotary one. Also useful are the laudomats in many supermarket car parks. Particularly further north as they do have driers. You can load the machine and go and do your shopping. This time as we were in a MH, I went back to transfer it to a drier, while OH unloaded the trolley into the fridge / cupboards. Then just a short wait for it to dry before we could set off to our next location. The one we used last year had contactless card readers, so not even any fiddling to find change.
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