Campervan Holidays

I have always resisted the idea of taking a camper van holiday. Somehow there was too much freedom associated with having just a car and being able to choose whether to tent it or stay in a hostel or a hotel and so on.

On the one hand there is the convenience of having a really fantastic and luxurious home on wheels that can keep you in absolute comfort during the wet, cold and windy periods. The time when you look at your window and see the poor sods who have a tent which is flapping in the breeze, being beaten in by rain that is simply pouring down and imagine them huddled inside with little room to move and nothing to DO except to curl up in their sleeping bags and hope that it will ease or cease all together. (It almost makes you want to invite them over for a hot meal and a drink) Then of course there is the convenience of NOT having to walk to the ablution block in the middle of the night when nature calls. With in built cupboards and refrigeration there is no problem with your clothes, there is no problem with your touristic purchases, there is no problem with storage of food and of course you have a lovely soft bed which you do NOT have to pack up every morning!

The downs sides of camper van travel are also there though.

Basically they are BIG!

I have this nightmare of what it will be like to try and squeeze that bulk into the car park between two cars BOTH of which have parked JUST ON the white line. The concept of reverse parking into a space is simply not something my mind can grapple with especially at this hour of the morning.

I can recall the number of times I have been in a nice speedy little vehicle coming up behind one of these lumbering monsters on a one lane road going up a steep hill and being slowed to a ridiculously slow speed.

Still I am going to have to experience everything so this time it will be a camper van!

Still in the discovery stage we are finding that there are heaps of alternatives ranging from a simple VW type of combi-van arrangement which has no toilet or shower and where the space is so crammed that for a short term trip it is probably OK but for anything over a few weeks of duration you need to have your head read to take one on.

Then there is the Euromobil class - this is usually a sort of Ford Transit long wheel base or a Mercedes or Dethleff chassis with the accommodation built in. Generally they look quite sporty because they do not have the main bedroom overhanging the cabin but have the bed in the back of the vehicle with the front being devoted to the lounge kitchen arrangement. Generally well equipped and nippy with a fuel economy of around 11-14 litres of diesel fuel to 100 kilometres of travel this is really as economical as my old four wheel drive and a lot more roomy.

The next level of comfort is the truck chassis with the caravan built on top of it. Once again these are extremely well equipped and have good fuel economy for the long haul and for the longer duration travel.

Then of course you can get into what I call a mobile mansion - this is really the size of a coach that can normally take some 45 people on board and as you can imagine it is built for the person who wants to really have a home that they can transport anywhere.

What we have found is that prices are variable for rental and not at all that cheap. However the good news is that if you are going to Europe then GERMANY is the place to rent.

There are several firms that are easy to spot one being DRM and the other being McRent. The latter company apparently having been started by an executive departing from the first company and wanting to get all of the profits and not just a salary.

My advice to people is to shop around!

The Internet is a good place to see what is on offer. Since most dealers will have to deal with the same companies they are in competition with each other to give you a good deal. Pick at least ONE site which offers to match any written offer or better it. Then go as far afield as possible and find someone who is so hungry for business that they will discount their profit margin and give you the deal of a life time. Be especially on the look out for someone of this ilk in another country while the deal matching company is in your own country.

Then get a quote on the best deal you can find and challenge the home company to match it. When they do you have not only obtained the best deal you could BUT you have saved a few hundred dollars again on the deal by ensuring that with a direct payment into the company's bank account via the Internet you miss out on credit card charges and currency conversion costs which can get quite high being around 1-3% of your overall costs.

Of course if your local firm does not or cannot match the offer then take it from the dealership you have found that is willing to do a little more for you and advertise them to your heart's content on the web and in your blogs so that they can get the benefit of having been nice to you.

Keep your eyes on this site.

As we discover more about the joys of using a camper van for an extended holiday we will be posting what we learn and at the same time entertaining you with our holiday snaps and stories of our adventures!