We have endure enjoyed 33 years of holidays together since we first met, so how did we end up with a caravan.
Aged 18, in 1985 we took our first flight to the sun as a couple and flew to Menorca, looking at the pictures, back when we had beach bodies and big hair, or in Steve’s case .. had hair.
Fast Forward a few years, 1986 buy house, 1987 get married, 1989 move house, a time of limited holidays as we paid the mortgage and the bills. One of us became a HGV driver, one of us became a Special Needs Assistant. The key life change was the arrival of our two girls in 1991 and 1996 and a desire to enjoy family holidays, but how to do it? Holidays don’t come cheap. We bought a frame tent, our luxury three bedroom palace. Many of the things we love about our caravan today became evident in those early days, new destinations, fresh air, evenings without TV drinking wine and talking … but, it was blimin’ cold … note the wooly hats and jumpers, and that was just to go to bed. We would often look at the caravans on site with envy. We never even said “one day that will be us”, we simply thought we knew our place and would never have the means to purchase a caravan and enjoy our perfect holiday, but warm and dry too!!We camped for about eight years, mostly on Camping and Caravanning Club sites and pretty much loved every minute until one particular trip to St David’s Bay when it rained every single minute. We realised that holidays under canvas were not guaranteed sun, and anyway, our finances were slowly improving.
We would try to holiday three times per year, starting to combine cheap deal Static Caravan Parks (Easter), a newly purchased Dome Tent (Summer) and holiday cottages (Winter) to maximise the kids holidays and minimise our funds. We even found a ‘Static Caravan’ in Normandy, France, where we alternated beach days with War history days … “Dad, are we looking at beaches or graves today?” My sister’s employment gave her promotion opportunities that led to her relocating to, Geneva – Switzerland. This in turn gave our family the opportunity to holiday cheaply in, guess where?, Geneva – Switzerland. Then she moved to Cincinnati – USA. Oh dear, another cheap family holiday. We evenFrom 2007 to 2012 we started to holiday in luxury apartments in Turkey (3 times), Crete and Montenegro in stunning locations with stunning views. As beautiful as these places were a pattern would emerge of days by the pool in the sun, then evenings spent getting ready and finding a restaurant for evening meals. Three of us were happy with this arrangement but The Boss found it “too hot” and a bit repetitive.
2013, another upheaval. Steve has what he calls The Wobble and decides he is unable to continue his role without his head exploding. Some may call this a breakdown, he just says the income was trapping him and the luxury trappings were ‘not him’. He throws in the towel just before our Montenegro holiday, again – another story, but in terms of holidays we have moved back a step financially as he returns to HGV driving on zero hours and approx 30% his previous salary. This is where the caravan ‘nearly’ comes in. 2014, our girls are now 22 and 18, we decide to leave them home and holiday as a couple. Simple holiday? Sure. Let’s throw the tandem in the car and cycle approx 40 miles per day in every country of the UK plus as many Scottish Islands we can … In two weeks. Chirk (only just in Wales, sorry Paul), Ironbridge, Crosby, Blackpool, Windermere, Stranraer, Belfast, Oban, Isle of Mull (one too many miles nearly had the tandem thrown into the sea at Tobermory, pictured above) Isle of Skye, Inverness, Edinburgh, York, Peterborough, and many places in between. An amazing trip but every night we had to check in to a hotel, or B&B, or at a kind friends house before washing and thinking about evening meals. We were tired and needed some ‘us’ time with our feet up drinking ready chilled wine. How could the trip have been better?… “Let’s buy a caravan”
If you want to read how we feel about caravan now – see links below.
And Breathe
https://inpursuitofadream.com/2016/06/27/and-breathe/#more-258
An Evening In The Life Of
https://inpursuitofadream.com/2017/01/18/an-evening-in-the-life-of
Well that brought a tear to my eyes. Beautifully written.
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Thank you Anthea
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Enjoyed reading this. . We to decided to buy a tourer after a particularly wet summer . Have never looked back , even the grandchildren enjoy camping with us.
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We’re looking forward to grandchildren. Hopefully they will love caravanning too
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What a story! Great to read about how you progressed through from camping to cottages and villas to caravans. There is nothing like being in the outdoors and breathing in all that fresh air, especially with a glass of wine in your hand.
Thanks for sharing
Will – Digital Editor, Caravan magazine
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Thanks for taking time to leave a comment.
Off on a trip of a lifetime (for us anyway) in a couple of months, touring Europe celebrate our 50th birthdays. Can’t wait.
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We camped with tent, then caravan for first 20 years of married life. Then bought mobile home in South of France so sold caravan. Decided in 2001 to re-locate permanently to Mediterranean resort where mobile home was. Bought house, started small holiday business and sold mobile home/s. Now about to buy caravan again and return to our first love, holidays which give freedom, versatility and a home from home.
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What a lovely story. Thank you for taking time to share it with me
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Great story, I think that’s what life is all about…creating memories, much better than possessions! We’ve just started out on our caravan adventure, so many places to visit and memories to make.
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Thank you. I hope you enjoy caravanning as much as we do – enjoy your travels. Looking forward to reading about them 😊
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