An Affordable Caravan? We Found One!

By Kate, mum of two boys (one of which answers to Scooby) and caravan fan.

I have noticed these days, that people have a tendency to put barriers up that stop them from having a go at things.  When it comes to caravans for example, people think that they will be too expensive, that they are not affordable. It doesn’t have to be that way. You just need to think in a different way.

When I was a little girl, my mum and dad saved up and bought the family a second-hand affordable caravan. I loved it. It was like living in a dolls’ house when we went on holiday. It was old but had been loved and looked after and everything had its own special place where it was kept and it was comfortable. We had years of fun in it, travelling all over the United Kingdom with it. What a sight we must have been:  three kids in the back of an estate bursting at the seams with stuff, a caravan piled with more stuff and a roof rack on the car with a boat on top of it. Not to mention the bikes, scooters and barbecue. We often went to stay down in Cornwall or Devon and enjoyed so many camp sites and made hundreds of new friends.

So when I had my own child the memories of those great holidays flooded back into my mind. A lady I worked with always talked about her holidays in the caravan at the weekend and school holidays and the great adventures she had with her family and friends in her caravan. I always liked to hear about it but never thought I would ever own a caravan as my husband liked to camp in a tent. He said it reminded him of his scouting days. Also, I simply didn’t think a caravan was affordable.

Then one day Barbara at work said she was selling her caravan which they called Green Windows for £1000 and did I know anybody that was interested. Well, this made what I thought was impossible, possible so I did what any good wife would do…started scheming! I hatched a plan with her and managed to convince my husband to visit Barbara and her husband, who by the way had a caravan for sale.

One week later I was the proud owner of Green Windows. I bought her new towels, cushions and bedding. Knives, forks, spoons, plates… the lot and she was ready to go. Barbara had taken really good care of her and she was old but immaculate. “Plenty of life in the old girl yet,” Barbara’s husband had said when we paid for her. And he was right.

We have had Green Windows six years now and have endless amount of fabulous holidays in her. My husband loves going away in her, I love the comfort of her and my son feels like I did when I was small – it’s just like living in a doll’s house.  If it’s raining or blowing a gale it doesn’t matter because you’re snug and cosy inside playing board games, drinking wine, relaxing. Enjoying your holiday!

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When the weather is great you get all the stuff out: wind break, deck chairs, body boards, crab nets, buckets and spades, kitchen sink and you go off down the beach.  All your clothes are in cupboards or wardrobes so no searching through bags trying to find things.  You can flick a switch and a light comes on. You can make a cup of tea easily and sit and enjoy it while it’s still hot. You can have a barbecue but if the weather turns half way through cooking you can finish cooking it all inside… in a relaxed manner while drinking your wine! When you go to sleep you have a bed to sleep on which is small but comfortable and warm and there’s no danger of getting wet in the middle of the night. You have a toilet in the caravan so in the middle of the night you don’t have to find your shoes, put your coat on, find a torch, take your loo roll and stumble down the field to the toilet. However we do have one very important rule in Green Windows, we are a no Poo zone. All poos must be done in the campsite toilet, Green window’s toilet only accepts wees!

At the moment, she is stored at Anglesey and we have enjoyed many holidays in her there (including this half-term week.) We have stayed at many fabulous sites and enjoyed the wonderful beaches. We intend to have plenty more of that this year and if it rains it doesn’t matter. Because we won’t be damp, cold or soggy. We will be cosy, warm and dry in our luxurious and affordable Green Windows. Cheers!

If you want to try before committing to buying, you can hire from Camplify. Check out their huge range of affordable options from teeny to gigantic, all over the country!

Nice comfy bed to go with it? Bundle Beds are so snuggly! And make it even more cosy with a Jofli Bear to cuddle and share your journey with.

Great sites that welcome caravans: Petruth Paddocks Free Range Camping,  Riddings Wood Caravan and Camping Park,  Bay View Farmers Campsite, Forest Glade Holiday Park, Lee Meadow Camping, Warcombe Farm Campsite