This may cause some argument, which is what I want. My friend wants to purchase a travelling home. I have a caravan and think it is great as once parked and set up, you have the advantage of using the car to visit places nearby without having to undo all the work setting up. Another friend has a motor home and he thinks its great. The one who wants to buy is unsure what to go for. There is no family involved in taking trips away and the only other part in the equation is two dogs which he would want to take along. Convincing arguements for either would be appreciated.
Having had both, we prefer our motorhome. As you have already pointed out yourself, there are advantages and disadvantages to both. I doubt that there will be a convincing argument in the end to make your friend decide, as I really believe it is down to personal preference.
You can try listing on a piece of paper advantages and disadvantages for both and then simply going for the option with the least disadvantages. However, one disadvantage might weigh more than 2 put together and so on. The main, obvious one, is of course the fact that with a caravan, once on site, you then have the car to run around in. With a motorhome you don't, and if you want to go out, you have to pack things away (although that doesn't take very long at all). But then again, you could always tow a car with a motorhome, so then you would have a car to run around in. But would you want to do that, as you are then towing, the same as with a caravan?
It is, at the end of the day, purely down to personal preference.
Has your friend any experience of either? Perhaps he/she could try both out in practice to see what they think.
Not saying you should get one of these instead of a caravan or a motorhome, but it is well worth considering. ( Best of both worlds???!!! )
------------- Love a lot. Trust a few. But ALWAYS paddle your own canoe!!
Minds are like parachutes:- They only function when they are open!!!
Those who talk don't know.
Those who know don't talk.
We have a motorhome and love it and for us it is the perfect solution and ticks all our boxes and we love the freedom it gives us and I particularly enjoy having all our home comforts with us whilst we are travelling around but my best friend has a fabulous caravan and for her it is the perfect solution too and she much prefers having a car to get around in ........... so really like Ina says, it is a personal thing.
I think if your friend likes to tour around and move on every couple of days or so and who would also like to use his vehicle for days out or visiting family etc then a motorhome might suit him best and if he is the type to wildcamp then he may welcome the extra freedom. Also you say he has 2 dogs and I know we find that with having a little dog ourselves a mothorhome can often solve a major problem that a lot of dog owners face. If we are touring around and decide to visit somewhere on the spur of the moment where dogs aren't permitted then we can leave her quite safely in the motorhome with none of the problems associated with leaving a dog in a hot car. We can leave our rooflights open and our windows on the second catch which although perfectly secure it still allows fresh air to circulate and our little dog is quite happy to sit looking out of the lounge window until we return. Obviously if you were out for the day in the car with your dogs in tow and you wanted to call in some place where dogs weren't permitted you would not be able to do so, so easily especially if it were a hot sunny day, so a motorhome may give your friend a bit more freedom from that point of view. However, if your friend is the kind of person who would like to park up somewhere and spend a few days chilling out and relaxing in the one place but who would also enjoy having his car to get around the area or for trips to the shops then a caravan may be a better option and so really only he can decide what are the important factors for him.
Tell him good luck and whatever he opts for tell him to enjoy it.
Sooh
------------- The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
As others have said, it comes down to what will suit your friend best, no matter what everyone else thinks or says.
For us the motorhome works well, we carry cycles to give us mobility without having to move the motorhome every time - also gets us a bit of exercise thrown in - can't be bad! Have seen people with one of those kiddie trailers on the back with a dog in it, so that might enable them to take the dogs as well, depending on temperament.
Public transport is also available within walking distance of quite a few sites which is another possibility.
If you do your shopping en route from one site to the next, then that removes one reason to need to leave the site, anyway.
There is the option too with a motorhome to tow a car behind you and we do tow a little 2 seater Smart car from time to time but to be honest it is not that often we take ours with us as we find generally our motorhome can access most places but it is nice to have the luxury of that option and if we know we are going to be somewhere for a few days then it certainly does have its advantages. If it is any help my husband says he doesn't find towing it a big problem and we have a special Bantam trailer that is built purposely for towing the Smart.
When we have taken the Smart with us it has proven to be very useful and allowed us to see so much more of the area or country we are visiting especially places with tiny winding roads or narrow streets.. I know when we toured Morocco it enhanced our experience incredibly. We were able to visit out of the way places and gorges that a large motorhome could not easily access and it also created a lot of interest from the locals. Whenever we pulled up anywhere whether we were in the Smart or just towing it, the locals would gather around our Smart and take photogographs of it and whole families would stand beside it whilst they had pictures taken. My husband often took some of the staff on the campsites we stayed on for little rides in it due to their fascination with this little car and we have some fabulous memories of our time there.
I know if you choose to tow a car that, that is another vehicle to tax etc and of course a lot of people could not justify or want the extra expense but in our case we needed a second car anyway so a little Smart killed 2 birds with one stone and so it is actually driven every day. The road tax for a Smart is only £30 per year, fuel consumption is 60 mpg and if it is involved in a minor accident, because the body work is made from plastic panels the panels are very cheap to replace. It can be (depending on which model) semi or fully automatic, it is great fun to drive and finally another plus point is it is very, very easy to park in small spaces.
All in all if anyone does fancy buying a Smart for towing behind their motorhome then the extra expense to keep it on the road is minimal and if, like in our case you did need an extra car in the household then maybe the savings you will make on the upkeep of running a second vehicle might prove to be doubly beneficial but of course as it only a two seater it would not suit a large family or a family with a large dog. Our little dog fits perfectly into the back of the Smart behind the 2 seats and I think we could just manage 2 of her size in the space but a large labrador size dog might be a bit of a squeeze so I would not reccomend it.
Hope this helps alleviate any concerns from anyone thinking of towing a car and if there is only 2 of you and you feel you can afford the extra expense then a little Smart car might be a considerstion.
Sooh
------------- The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
PS By the way I still talk as if we still have our Swift Kontiki 'Winnie' but she is now sat at the dealers waiting for a new home but I cannot as yet talk about her as if she has gone lol! Come September we will have our new Auto Trail (Winnie MKll) but until then please forgive me if I still talk about "Winnie" her as if she is still with us ha ha!
Sooh
------------- The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched - they must be felt with the heart.
Amazing family weekend with old steam engines, classic car displays, market stalls, and full catering and bar. And camping on site - Save £25 by booking in advance.
Topic: Caravan or Motor home.
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Come September we will have our new Auto Trail (Winnie MKll) but until then please forgive me if I still talk about "Winnie" her as if she is still with us ha ha!
