Why buy a motorhome anyway?

[Lizzy]

Hubby and I used a tent for many years before going self catering in some lovely cottages around the UK. Then I began to see more and more campers on the roads - which triggered a longing to look-see. BUT - by the time we've searched, bought, paid for insurance/servicing/standing up on a farm ......... why bother? Plus all the 'optional' gadgets and gizmos that we can be seduced into thinking we require! It's no longer a case of getting up and going - it seems that most sites need to be booked ahead. We could have a jolly good time in hotels for the cost of even a 'used' motorhome. With no need to prepare meals, access to larger bed/bathroom, no worries about the home being nicked or broken into - also we would still have the use of our car to get out and about to the various sights we want to visit. So other owners - what advantages do you have? Convince me that it's worth it ;-) Am still looking forwards to the Bath and West and NEC though!

[peteS]

Go when u want (use cl's less busy excepy BH's) Come home when u want Get up when u want take as long as you want to get there Eat when you want If the weather turns nasty move on (try doing that in a hotel) Do I need to go on. Pete

[Brian Kirby]

Lizzy

You really need to think this thing out!  Only you can decide, because only you know what you like doing, and how you like doing it.  No one else can tell you if you'll be happy in a £20,000 micro camper, or in a £150,000 behemoth, or whether you'll like driving, or living in, either.  Have you considered a car and trailer caravan?

All I'll say is that the motorhome won't depreciate as quickly as a car, although it will depreciate, and generally it will last longer than a car.  On the other hand, if you buy a second home it will (generally) appreciate in value.  Hotel prices will increase year on year, and you'll almost certainly have to buy all your meals out.  That costs.  Self catering, generally, has to be booked, so if the weather is lousy while you're there, you're stuck with it.

Once you hit Europe, you can go pretty much where you like and, once you've bought the 'van, the costs of using it are pretty much lower than anything other than a tent.

If you can afford to stay in hotels for three months on end, twice a year, do so!  If you can only spend a couple of weeks away each year, don't buy a motorhome, go to a hotel anyway. 

In the field of motorhomes, the rule is, there are no rules!

[Lizzy]

This is getting to sound like fun! Hubby is an archer so our first thought is that he will be able to compete in more competitions further afield ;-) , also entering the few weekend competitions too: with home comforts on board! Then there's walking holidays .......... Northumberland, Lakes, mid-Wales [we already know the sites there]..........

[Brian Kirby]

[QUOTE]Lizzy - 2006-08-30 9:01 AM This is getting to sound like fun! Hubby is an archer so our first thought is that he will be able to compete in more competitions further afield ;-) , also entering the few weekend competitions too: with home comforts on board! Then there's walking holidays .......... Northumberland, Lakes, mid-Wales [we already know the sites there].......... [/QUOTE]

Lizzy

Your uses sound relatively static.  Motorhomes come into their best when you move around a lot.  If all you want to do is go somewhere, pitch up, and then go home again, get a caravan.  If what you want to do is stay somewhere for a day or so, and then move on, etc, etc, etc, then a motorhome is probably better. 

Either can give you home comforts in about the same measure, provided you choose carefully and go mainly to camp sites. 

If you want to pitch up in the middle of nowhere the motorhome (generally) has greater endurance as a stand alone vehicle, but even then not much beyond 4 days or so, as fresh water and battery charge will tend to run out, and the waste water and toilet tanks will be nearing full. 

If you want to exceed that length of stay without services you'll need a generator or solar panel to keep the battery going, but you'll still need to get to a tap and a drain for the grey, and black, wastes.

Hope this helps

[howie]

Hiya Lizzy. Like many others my introduction to camping came at a very early age. This form of holiday was often enforced by financial restrictions i.e. it was cheap. From here the bug for this type of leisure activity was caught and even though we have tried just about every other sort of holiday this remains our favorite. Forgive me saying this but the impression I get is that something regarding motorhomes has caught your imagination and you have thought, that looks great, lets give it a go, in which case you could be heading for a costly mistake. You mention the expense of buying a motorhome, and in this respect I can only offer my own experience. We have in the past owned a large coachbuilt, and yes, we do miss the space and luxury this van gave us, but for the past few years have used a hi top conversion. The reason I mention this is that it answers your question justifying the the initial outlay. For the price of a fairly upmarket car, we have a dual purpose vehicle that covers day to day use with the added bonus of useing it for all our holiday needs. Is it worth it you ask. Well the money we have spent on motorhomes would have covered many luxury holidays abroad for years to come and I can only stress that the choice of van or indeed holiday is a very personal choice for all concerned. Howard.

[Bristles]

[QUOTE]peteS - 2006-08-29 6:57 PM 1) Go when u want (use cl's less busy excepy BH's) 2) Come home when u want 3) Get up when u want 4) take as long as you want to get there 5) Eat when you want 6) If the weather turns nasty move on (try doing that in a hotel) Do I need to go on. Pete[/QUOTE] 1) You can do this in a hotel 2) You can do this in an hotel 3) you can do this in an hotel 4) this applies to everyone 5) you can do this 24hrs a day 6) Not a problem, just check out and move on "Do I need to go on" yes.

[colin]

For work I used to spend 4 nights a week in Trust House Forte hotels, so when in UK I don't like staying in hotels. In winter I often stay in NT properties or similair, or go abroad and stay in Hotels, but only good quality hotels, I long ago gave up going to the usual rubbish (in my opinion) Hotels used by mainstream Holiday companies. My favorate holidays are always in my little T25 camper, but not on big sites with all the facilities etc. but on small farm sites or similiar, as long as they have good toilet/showers and not pay/token ones. The benifits over camping? (something you are used to) Setting up on site, for us, involves turning on gas. Van walls keep out noise, the other weekend inlaws(in tent) complained of railworkers chainsawing at night, we where undisturped. Van is much warmer and dryer than tent. When its time to pack up, switch off gas, let off handbrake, you're away, no worries of that last minute shower that wets tent. p.s. only problem is when you go with inlaws you become the mobile tuck wagon when you go off site

[howie]

[QUOTE]Bristles - 2006-08-30 6:46 PM [QUOTE]peteS - 2006-08-29 6:57 PM 1) Go when u want (use cl's less busy excepy BH's) 2) Come home when u want 3) Get up when u want 4) take as long as you want to get there 5) Eat when you want 6) If the weather turns nasty move on (try doing that in a hotel) Do I need to go on. Pete[/QUOTE] 1) You can do this in a hotel 2) You can do this in an hotel 3) you can do this in an hotel 4) this applies to everyone 5) you can do this 24hrs a day 6) Not a problem, just check out and move on "Do I need to go on" yes. [/QUOTE]Not for the purist perhaps, but how about this as a compromise. Whenever we go on extended trips we quite often stop at a hotel overnight after every five or six days. We find the benifits are as follows. Soak in a hot bath, wash, change and press clothes, treat the wife to a meal she does not have to cook and no washing up for me, and a chance to rest up and charge batteries both mental and electrical. We normally stop at hotels that are central to resorts/towns and have suitable parking places. This also means we get to explore the place in detail without any worries. Maybe other motorhomers do this, I don,t know, but it certainly works for us. Howard.

[Bristles]

[QUOTE]howardtcz - 2006-08-30 11:37 PM [QUOTE]Bristles - 2006-08-30 6:46 PM [QUOTE]peteS - 2006-08-29 6:57 PM 1) Go when u want (use cl's less busy excepy BH's) 2) Come home when u want 3) Get up when u want 4) take as long as you want to get there 5) Eat when you want 6) If the weather turns nasty move on (try doing that in a hotel) Do I need to go on. Pete[/QUOTE] 1) You can do this in a hotel 2) You can do this in an hotel 3) you can do this in an hotel 4) this applies to everyone 5) you can do this 24hrs a day 6) Not a problem, just check out and move on "Do I need to go on" yes. [/QUOTE]Not for the purist perhaps, but how about this as a compromise. Whenever we go on extended trips we quite often stop at a hotel overnight after every five or six days. We find the benifits are as follows. Soak in a hot bath, wash, change and press clothes, treat the wife to a meal she does not have to cook and no washing up for me, and a chance to rest up and charge batteries both mental and electrical. We normally stop at hotels that are central to resorts/towns and have suitable parking places. This also means we get to explore the place in detail without any worries. Maybe other motorhomers do this, I don,t know, but it certainly works for us. Howard.[/QUOTE] This is a good compromise. But I believe which ever way you slice the cake the bottom line is virtually only a different life style. Obviously, one can shower in a nice wash block, one can iron in their M/home or Caravan and go out for a meal whenever. As a caravanner, I respect everybodies choice of their leisure activity as I expect them to respect mine. I suppose the major difference is that in hotels by and large one is waited on and perhaps sometimes pampered as opposed to self catering in a broadly speaking manner. It's called freedom of choice.

[Lizzy]

When we go to archery competitions I'm sometimes not even in the same field! Due to safety restrictions. Usually I sit in the car: read, write letters to pen-pals, sleep with the radio on softly ....... so if we have a motorhome I can watch tv and have own loo on board! [saves walking across fields in the rain ! ] Iron - on holiday (lol) ;-) I hardly bother at home :-D but I like the idea of pulling into a hotel complex occasionally for other comforts. Certainly food for thought here - thanks!

[howie]

If you think about it Lizzy, the ways you can use a motorhome are endless. Archery, boot sales, photography, fishing, walking or even just day trips and picnics are all pastimes where a van comes into its own. As for going round the country letting fly with bows and arrows, another case for Health and Safety i,m afraid. Howard.

[Lizzy]

Which is why I'm often parked in a different field to the archers ;-) We are into target shooting, though do a bit of field archery too. But game hunting is illegal in the British Isles with bows and arrows :-( although in the US ........... *-) Off to Spalding this weekend for a competition so booked into a posh Hotel!

[Lizzy]

Shoot was abandoned due to gusty high winds :-( Hotel was OK - little niggles that needed pointing out to management, like not getting the early morning alarm call (!) Off to Bath and West on Friday - anyone going?