Yes, it’s true. We are selling our Lunar Clubman ES. I suppose it’s a decision we have been building up to for a while now. It’s a decision based on pure logic. If we incorporated emotion I’m sure we would stick with what we have because, the truth is, we love our caravan. He is a part of the family.
With emotion aside, there are a few reasons why we feel now is the time to move on to another caravan. Our decision is based around a few key elements and these are summarised below:
1. We are a different family now.
When we purchased the caravan, our requirements were for a family of 4. Since Tom moved away and no longer holidays with us, we are just 3 people that use the caravan. With that in mind we feel that the current side dinette layout doesn’t offer us the maximum in comfort or flexibility.
2. There are things we don’t like
The caravan is great, works fine and is well loved but right from day one – the caravan has had some annoying attributes. Such as little to no space in the kitchen area for preparation or serving food. The toilet is on the wrong side of the caravan, so the cassette must be emptied into the awning.
3. We would like to try something different
From a fixed bed to a twin axle we are up for trying something completely different to our current caravan. We know what we like, we know what works for us but most importantly we know what doesn’t work for us as a family in this caravan.
4. We are outgrowing the caravan
It’s true. The bed in which Chloe sleeps is 1 year away from being too small for her. It was part of the reason why Tom needed to move out to the awning. The bed is simply too short for a teenager.
We are going to be documenting and recording videos as we search for a new home from home. We have no plan, we don’t know which brand we are going to choose, it’s a scary time for us, but for the time being this is our video where we shared with the world that we are looking for a new caravan.
I hope you can join us on this upcoming adventure.
Exciting news, we have purchased a new caravan a few months ago, we went for a dealer special, 6 berth twin axle and we love it, we have had a few niggles since we picked it up which I would like to share with you so you don’t fall fowl to them.
I am sure you will but check that the van has all the equipment as per the specs list ours was missing a load of stuff most obviously the heavy duty corner steadies.
We checked the van as per our comprehensive check list but there was a three things that we didn’t even think of these were that the waste pipe under the sink was securely glued ( ours wasn’t and had an almighty leak inside while in France at about 2am when it came loose with a bowl full of water being let out to drain away) and then that the shower was adequately sealed our tap housing was not sealed properly which caused another flood ☹️ And the other thing we didn’t really check and I’m still not convinced is working correctly is the Ariel and booster.
The dealership have been good to us but it was annoying having a mobile engineer out to fix the issues and we are still waiting for a replacement carpet as the water caused them to deteriorate.
Be Lucky
We are away in Dorset at the moment we have a Swift Freestyle 2010 with a double bedded side fixed bed the problem is when the person by the window gets up in the night we both get disturbed also the Sergeant PSU failed with no 12v anyware including the pump and the fridge after resetting the system shutdown many times it it came back up again missing most of the lights, so it’s being repaired when we are back. We have now decided it’s time to get a new or nearly new van. We will be with you all on your quest for a replacement unit. All the best Peter & Margaret Bradley
Looking forward on what you guys decide on? It took us ages to decide and finally we went with a Bailey Valencia Mark ll 2013 model. This was are first caravan and and our first 2 years ago and we wish we had done it 10 years ago!
Keep up up the great work you’re blogs are the best
Regards Iain
Ps you need to make a trip up to Scotland and try and catch a Haggis
We have the same problem with a 13 year old daughter who seems to eat sleep and grow at the moment. Our van is the same layout as your current one but the side dinette is over 6ft long and my wife likes to use the shower in the van.
On our last trip to Holland we had a good look round the Caravan showroom in Delft. German vans such such as Hymer and Knaus offer slightly wider vans (240 and 250) which have bigger beds for all. There are many UK dealers so they are worth considering. You will have the door on the right hand side of the van which would not bother me but some don’t like it. We will be getting a Hymer when it comes to changing the van soon.
We have just purchased a new Bailey Vego similar to the ones you reviewed earlier this year this is the one with the transverse double bed, we tried many vans out this weekend but came back to the Bailey. The problem with a traverse double bed is getting around it at night for some reason the Bailey was ok but a similar Swift was very tight. We could have gone with single beds and a rear double but found the storage access on the Transverse was much better. Also what swung it for me was the fact that the gas bottles are stored on the side of the van over the axle. Our tow car only has a 70kg nose weight! so a much better arrangement, for my wife it was the enhanced kitchen workspace. Peter & Margaret Bradley
Hi, would like to say this website and your YouTube videos are brilliant and have helped my wife and I no end. We recently bought a caravan after 30 years of not having one and are now the proud owners of a swift elegance 580 and we love it. Our last van was a 1979 Colchester. It was quite a shock to go in a caravan after so long (no foot pump for the taps and central heating, what will they think of next). We had our first couple of days trial run this last weekend in Anglesey and everything went without a hitch ( thanks to watching your videos).
Good luck with the caravan hunting, as you say a caravan is a compromise and will probably never be 100% perfect. I’ll watch with baited breath to see what decision you make.
All the best and thanks.
Good luck with the changeover.