Active campervanners
Hi,
I've been a member this time around for a few years having previously been a member for a few years and then switching to the Camping and Caravan Club. Whilst it would appear to me that many members are retired and have large outfits that they come away in to relax, there must be a sub group of younger people in campervans who use their vans as a lifestyle purchase to get away to places like national parks to enjoy walking, cycling, maybe meeting up with others at festivals, and sharing musical or other interests. My questions is, "where are these people?". I virtually never come across them within the club. Do they belong to other clubs? Am I in the wrong place?
I would be interested to hear from others who share my interests in walking, cycling, music and astronomy to hear how they use their campers in pursuit of these hobbies.
Comments
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Hi, CL.
I suspect many younger campervanners don’t belong to any major club. You tend to find younger families more in C&CC rather than CAMC but I suspect the younger folk camp with similar minded people within the vanning and van life community and are probably grouped more by hobby interests rather than under the banner of a club. Check out YouTube for examples and interest groups.
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Latitude festival in Suffolk is in full swing this weekend.There are photos on their website showing young people with VW campers who are there. Have a look. It answers your question of where some of the youngsters are.
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You obviously are missing the ones who are older and active as we are out on the hills or bikes all day.
There are several members that I know of personally who haven't quite started dribbling into their Horlicks yet who like to spend time climbing the highest hills and mountains in all of the UK, several who think nothing of a bike ride exceeding 50 miles, quite a few who disappear to the snowy hills for skiing, not to mention those geriatrics that like to swim or just go for long walks.
I'm well into my 60s now and have just come back from walking in the Malvern Hills with my elderly wife. We have some friends in the club who can give us a good decade and walk twice as far as we do.
The main difference we find is that these people do by and large, although not exclusively, park themselves on CLs, usually closer to those areas that have such opportunities for exercise.
The vast majority of people we encountered on the hills this last week were not youngsters at all and surprisingly those young folk who were walking what are quite modest hills were struggling. Usually there was 1 fit one for every 3 unfit ones.
We are definitely out there.
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Totally agree WN, although we are one of those who don’t exclusively use CL’s. Both pushing 70 we are just finishing a week at Hawes. MH hasn’t moved since we got here. Walked every day. Although apart from today they were somewhat moderated from our normal due to the temperatures.
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I can see the OP maybe thinking not being seen must mean inside 'relaxing' rather than being out all day. 😀
We are retired but have a tiny outfit. The variables are endless.
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Good luck to her I say.
We came across an 85 year old not so long ago who was walking the Pennine Way.
It's not just the exercising though. we have used CLs or Sites to get to Art Galleries or Museums or Concert Halls at all sorts of places big and small.
I can't see how you can categorise someones leisure activities simply by an age.
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Just to temper the discussion and balance it a little I have seen a lot of folk, not just on club sites, but in the village I live in, who have virtually given up exercise once they have past a certain age and are happy to do so regardless of what it might mean for their health.
Plus there are people who would want to partake of such activities but are now unable to due to their health so it's not a black and white issue.
We will continue to carry on as long as we are able to as I am convinced that my exercise "regime" (too strong a word really for what it is but it will do) and my dietary habits has gotten me this far.
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We still walk, cycle, do outdoor theatres, love dark sky watching. We no longer tackle the big hills anymore, but we do cycle miles. But rarely do we stay on Club Sites, like others, we are usually to be found on CLs, often quite remote ones, as that’s where the best walking, cycling and dark skies can be enjoyed. We like to stay in the lovely places, not just drive for the day, so we use Sites on places like North York Moors, Hadrian’s Wall, Cornish and Devon coast.
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I suspect you are looking in the wrong place? I suspect the people you are looking for are more inclined to inhabit Social Media like Facebook, Twitter or Whats App. There are probably dozens of Facebook Groups out there that would meet your requirements. Often older working people who belong to the Club probably want to relax at weekends rather than be active. When I worked I was often on my feet from when I got in to when I left so a relaxing weekend away doing very little was a luxury. As we get older many of us suffer from joint problems which can of course be corrected by surgery but you are rarely completely the same afterwards!!!
David
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I do pretty much what I did when younger but I do it a whole lot slower.
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I'm walking less this year due to a strained achilles tendon which plays up a bit if I walk more than two or three miles. When it comes to using the bikes, main roads are out and many country lanes have too many budding Paddy Hopkirk's/Colin McRae's. Not all canal towpaths are readily bikeable either. As I'm 77 in a few weeks, I'm realising that anno domini is fast overhauling me.
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I would imagine joining one of the motorhome clubs where rallies are organised in places where outdoor activities are more likely to take place will produce results. However I see lots of people setting off for walks, cycling etc when staying on sites in many of the places we visit so I haven't noticed people aren't going out and doing things. In fact I feel quite lazy in some places!
My conclusion would be you're not in the wrong club but you might be in the wrong place!
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Well I can't think of anything I do now that I didn't why I was much younger and the other way round as well. As I said certainly slower and maybe not as in the same risk free manner.
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Thank you everyone who has responded so far. There are some useful pointers in here. I will have to take a closer look at the CL's because, I agree that they are in the more suitable locations, but my recollection from the times I've considered one is that they usually don't have toilets, showers, hookups , but maybe I'm wrong. The C and CC special interest groups sounds a good idea. I wasn't aware of those.
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You'd be surprised at what you find on some of the newer CLs,CL.
You could find yourself on one that has fully serviced hardstanding pitches with shower and toilet plus Electric Hookup. There is the odd one that even has it's own toilet on each pitch. One we stayed at has an Elsan point on each pitch. This year we have stayed on 1 Fully grass but with individual water tap, 1 Fully Serviced with H/s and Shower/Toilet room (closed due to covid), 3 with a mixture of H/S and Grass pitches, 1 with H/S pitches but with a toilet available to use. All with EHU.
The variety nowadays is greater than it's ever been.
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