Well, here we are, just over a week of being on our latest adventure, and it is quite an adventure. I don’t think we’ve still got into the groove of our current situation. Being on holiday in a caravan is one thing, being in it over an extended period is quite another. On the whole most of us are sedentary people, we like to stay in one place most of the time.
So, I’ve learnt a few lessons already. Firstly, campsites aren’t always open and aren’t always available to book as they are full. Of course I sort of already knew this, but I’d thought since the CAMC introduced deposits, they’d be more availability. But of course the fact that more than half are closed, means the other half are full. This is a big issue when you have to find a site.
Our current situation means we need to be in a certain area once a week, we (voluntarily) “babysit” our granddaughter (of course we don’t babysit as such, as we are grandparents) once a week, thus meaning we need to be close. This brings up some logistical issues, namely finding sites in an area where there really aren’t that many.
10AMP Hook Up In Cold Weather
This has meant we’ve also had to find CL’s and CS’s. Now, we don’t mind a CL in the sumer for a couple of days on a Farm, it’s pretty idyllic, isn’t it? Of course it is, who doesn’t like being on a working farm when it’s sunny and dry, “Oh look a sheep, oh look at the funny goat”. Lovely. However, take that same idyllic scene and transport it to a rainy cold day in March. Not so great. Oh and throw some mud and a 10AMP hookup.
I can hear those die hards now, “Nothing wrong with a 10 Amp hook up, just manage your usage”. Naturally, you have to do this. But, at 4 degrees, you need to have the heating on. And guess what, 1KW heating doesn’t ever bring it up to a comfortable heat. So you pop it up to 2kw. Pop! That’s the electric gone. Ok, heating stays at 1kw, boil the kettle; pop. Hmm, boil water for a cuppa on the gas hob, that’s ok. Use the microwave. Pop! OK, this is getting embarassing.
Modern caravans, in the winter, are very difficult to manage on a 10 AMP hook up. With tow of you in the caravan one of you is going to use the kettle or microwave on auto pilot and forget the heating is on.
We have Swift Command and on that you can set a limit, so I set it to 10AMP on a CL, when usage gets to 10AMP it will turn something off (heating). OK that’s good. Then you forget the heating is off.
Of course, the sensible thing is to run heating and maybe fridge on gas. But when you’re paying £25 for the pitch them take into account gas usage, we’d rather stay on a 16AMP site.
Weather Dependant
Having a nice time in the caravan is weather dependant. I don’t mean a bit of a drizzly weekend away, I mean longer term in the caravan. It can be miserable when it’s raining.
Not New Age Travellers, Influences, or Vegans
The real problem is just getting used to this temporary new life. It’s not like it is on instagram. Maybe it would be more like on Instagram if the sun was out most of the time, but it is March, and it’s better than work, surely?
I’ll just say here, we haven’t seen the photos of van life and though “Oh that looks great” We’re not eating Avocado on toast and aren’t born again Christians and we are definitely not “van lifers” trying to earn a living as influencers.
What Next?
There have been difficult days, we’re doing our best to stay positive and hold out for better weather 🙂 We know we’re doing the right thing, it enabled me to retire seven years early, we are now a cas buyer, whch the proceeds of our house sale now in the bank. We just need to find a property with a house market that’s slow – there are more campsites open than houses available haha.
We have more sites booked now and will try to keep sites booked in advance. I’ll be videoing the sites we stay on. Once the schools are on holiday, we’ll go further a field for a couple of weeks. The problem is, what we should have done is book sites a while ago, but with the packing up the house, arranging storage etc, we weren’t in the right head space.
We are getting used to it, but it’s not like a holiday at the moment, it’s like living in a caravan 🙂 Once the weather improves we will certainly be able to relax a bit more. Rain and mud in a caravan, as most people know, doesn’t get the best out of the caravan experience. Having said that, it’s not all bad..
We’re off to a CL next with grass pitches, however, the owner has said we can stay on the yard. I’m not entirely sure what that means, but at the moment, it’s our best alternative for being in an area we need to be in..
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