So much to learn....
Hi - wife and I have just bought our first ever caravan, the result of a spur of the moment decision. Rough timescale from "Why don't we get a caravan?" to proud owners of a nice little starter twin-berth jobbie - approximately 2 weeks. Never even considered it before but now it just seems a logical, and quite exciting, thing to do. We will be regularly posting dumb questions on this excellent forum, so please be gentle with us as we confront our near-total lack of any knowledge of things caravanning....
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Welcome. Let the good times roll😃
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Welcome to the hobby and the forum.
Advice 3 don't be in a rush to buy all those nice extras that the sales folk say you will need.
Ourselves and most posters on here have garages and attics full of items that we thought we should have, only to find we don't need them.
PS, a mover is not one of them, brilliant piece of kit even if its a small caravan.
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Welcome and “ Don t Panic”, Take one step at a time ,we all started at the beginning and sometimes make little mistakes, usually when rushing to get out and about.
Ask any questions big or small I am sure someone can help in some way. Enjoy your new hobby, we all love ours. By the way It can become addictive. As your travelling home from one trip you tend to start discussing the next.🤙
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Welcome billandelaine. You’ll never stop learning in the caravan owning game, and don’t let the mishaps put you off. If we had we’d have given up years ago.
Like some have said, a motor mover is a good addition, unless you are very confident and proficient at reversing your caravan onto a pitch and don’t mind being the centre of on site entertainment (although knowing how to do it is a very useful skill that only comes with practice). If you’re a complete novice at caravanning, attending one of the club’s courses is a good idea. In fact, if you both drive, both attending a course can be a good idea as each of you will appreciate what information is needed when guiding your other half onto a pitch. Having said that, going on the course at the same time and working as a pair isn’t necessarily beneficial. I went a few years after my OH, and those of us working with other course members witnessed a lot of bickering between the couple there when undertaking the practical tasks and, of course, the man knew best, but the woman did better!
Don’t rush out to get an awning. They’re useful, but by no means essential. A full awning is heavy and can be time consuming to put up, and completely baffling if you’ve never done it before (OK for longer stays if you intend to use it as an additional lounge & dining room), but a porch awning is lighter and quicker to put up. Good to store your chairs etc., and useful for a short trip.
We also have a 2 berth caravan. Rather than making up the seats into a double bed every night, we use the sofas as two singles with quilted mattress covers, single fitted sheets (which we leave on during the day and cover with throws), pillows & single duvets. We then only have to move the back cushions about and get the pillows and duvets from under the seats. Saves a lot of messing around and backache.
Enjoy your new caravan, and do let us know how you get on.
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We've found this forum really useful - as a direct result of your advice, once we pick it up next week, the van is going straight to have movers fitted before we even attempt to bring it home. And we're both booked on the first available manoeuvring course, but we'll try and control the bickering......
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Only been caravaning for two years and have given many a lol still learning no
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Good luck with your van we still make mistakes two years on been laughed at a lot when pitching on site enjoy the fun
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Don't forget that the only dumb question is the one that you did not ask. For you will never know the answer!
Even when on site there are usually plenty of people who can help you out, from the Wardens to your neighbours on the next pitch.
Not forgetting those of us here who are 'experts', yet still manage to argue between ourselves.
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Even the most experienced folk continue learning all the time, especially as new products come on to the market that 'we just can't do without'....
A forum such as this is an excellent way of sharing ideas. For me, that is one of the main aims of Club Together.David
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Hi. We are new to caravanning too after buying our van late last year!! We have it in storage on a local site who pull it out for us and we have had a couple of trial mini holidays in it. Trust me- we have already had a couple of disasters. One being replacing the jockey wheel only to have a practice tow round the site and leaving it down!! We are on our second jockey wheel now!! So we just laugh about it now and lesson learned!! But we love our new way of life and look forward to joining in the discussions and learning new things.
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Don't worry about asking 'dumb' questions or worry that you will make mistakes. I have been caravanning for over 40 yrs. We are going away on Tuesday. This morning went to put a little water in the flush tank of the Thetford toilet without realising that I had not put the stoppers in the rubber drain pipes! I now have a nice clean area where the bottom waste tank fits!
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I would suggest reading through your caravan users manual and writing down the basics of how to set it up and use it ie. Getting the hot water system working and the space heater running for the cold weather etc.
This information can then be readily at hand for your first few trips and a reminder for when you start to use your van again after a winter layup.
But you'll soon know how it all works and using notes will become a thing of the past.
So enjoy it, take your time and start making memories.
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!! Just keep on enjoying your new toy & let us know what you are doing please 
