I have read posts about females towing and solo caravanning but
My sister has just lost her husband . She wants to try and still go away with her caravan on her own. She doesn't drive !!!
So she wants me or someone to site her van on a site where she can get to on public transport. I don't know how this wool work. But admire her for wanting to try. She said she is going to try for a few months then make up her mind if it's worth keeping the van. I don't want to be negative . But the battery will need charging and then the van will need cleaning. She is able to do most things but the battery and cleaning the roof will not be easy
I have often read of people the same but not when they can't or don't drive. Also I have read that people on here try to continue on there own. Is there an easy solution.
site it on a site with ehu, that will sort the battery out! As long as a site is near to public transport (not all are) then this would not be a problem and would allow your sister to keep her camping independence.
Would this also be a spur for her to learn to drive too?
Would a tent be more suitable with willing friends/family dropping her off at sites initially.
Sound's possible. If she had electric hook up, battery will be charged anyway. There are firms that will clean the van. I'm sure there would be willing drivers to take the van for her. Even if it means that she pays a small fee.
Good on her for wanting to try it and not just giving in straight away. Sorry to hear about her loss.
I agree that siting the caravan on a site she likes within easy independent transport reach would most likely be best . Even if it is a short taxi ride with the suitcase but walkable without one from public transport it would be better than relying on others to move it . Some site owners will wash the caravan too for a reasonable fee ready for when the owner uses it .
Go for it! the reasons you gave for not doing it don't stand up as anything more than excuses. Even somewhere like a CC or C&CC site where they do storage and will tow in and out would be suitable and additionally they charge per person which would help her costs. A good bit of the roof can be washed off with a long handled brush. Fair enough it isn't going to get polished but the worst of the grime should come off without too much problem.
As a lone caravanner since my wife died, I don't regret carrying on with the 'van and have met some lovely people in my travels. Most people will offer to help out if they see you struggling with something but you do become remarkably resilient and learn to manage things on your own where in the past it would have taken two people.
From my point of view I would try to find a site that is not too commercial. A site with regular clients and friendly owners/wardens makes a big difference and helps to give that little bit of reassurance that might be needed on the first few visits.
Rather than thinking about why she should not do it, try to find the positives and build on them.
------------- 'A sure cure for sea-sickness is to sit under a tree'
Any valeter will clean it I would have thought. Battery sorted with ehu. There are people about who will site the van for her if she cannot find a friend to do it.
All she has to do is find a site. No reason to give up.
Some lovely replies thank you so much.
I can help her but there is only so much that I or we can do.
It is sad but I'm glad she is going to try.
I want her to try driving but she says deffinately no.
Thank you all so much for you coments and advice all very helpful.
xx
The roof would be more of a problem, but she could try One Dry Wash for cleaning the sides of the van. You just spray it on wipe it over with one cloth and go over it with the second cloth to polish it up. It cleans and polishes in one. The beauty of it is you can do just a bit at a time. You can do the roof with it too, but you'll need some step ladders, obviously. I use it on site and tend to do one side a day (usually while the wife is doing the washing up!!) Does a really good job, IMHO.
not all women are stupid you know and it would maybe be the makings of her,she would make new friends and if she is on site there are many willing hands to help out on any problems she would be likely to have,there are usually people who come round sites and do caravan cleaning,share in her independance and just make sure she gets a good site with plenty shopes etc in the vicinity and she will be fine ,i wish her lots of luck
The seasonal site we chose collected our caravan for us and set it up.
A mobile caravan washer visits the site.
Does she want to try different sites or is there one that she would prefer?
I can get by train to ours. The station is 3 miles down the road. Buses outside the site if I want to go off for the day. Nice little village next to site.
It was a spur of the moment decision earlier this year for us. Chance of a little caravan bought off family. Visited a site we found on this web-site, then visited the van. Went back to site next day and paid. The campsite offered to move the van for the cost of diesel. By the following weekend we were set up!!
We had thought we would have to buy a bigger car to tow, where would we store the van, no room at home.
Wouldn't a site be happy to store the battery in the ofice and give it a charge every now and again? It all sounds quite feasible.
How about this for an option. We are all in this together, so maybe folk could volunteer to help those in their local area with problems like this. Towing the van to a site, maybe picking the battery up at the end of a season. Many a time our tow ball is empty.......If she just lets folk know where the van is to be sited maybe someone on here lives just around the corner and has a bucket and sponge.
Phil
Phil
------------- If you're not on a fell your wasting your feet and for 2014 it's.......Feb Castleton Mar North Yors Moors; Apr Sutton on Sea; May Thirsk; Jun Clapham/Riverside (Lakes); July Wharfedale; August Crakehall; Sept Knaresborough; Oct Wirral Park/Clitheroe
Quote: Originally posted by nora on 21/9/2011
Some lovely replies thank you so much. I can help her but there is only so much that I or we can do. It is sad but I'm glad she is going to try. I want her to try driving but she says deffinately no. Thank you all so much for you comments and advice all very helpful. xx
Two years ago I was in practically the same position as your sister, but my partner didn't die, he left me for another woman. He also left me with a big people carrier I couldn't drive and a caravan I couldn't tow. When it finally sank in that I was totally on my own I took the plunge and signed up for a course of driving lessons as no way was I going to give up camping. It took a while but I passed my test in March last year and since then there's been no stopping me. My confidence shot through the roof and every available weekend since then, plus holidays from work (apart from winter), I've been camping in various parts of the country and love it. The freedom I have to go where I want when I want without having to rely on other people is just brilliant. Last September I booked myself onto one of the Caravan Club's weekend towing and manoeuvring courses which was well worth doing, and though I've not got round to towing my 'van yet (I've been too busy camping!) I now have the knowledge and confidence to do so when I want to.
If your sister has only just recently lost her husband then she'll probably still be feeling very raw and with no clear idea of what she wants to do long term, but getting her 'van sited so she can use it will be a big help for a while, and she'll figure out the practicalities as she goes along. As for cleaning the roof, I use a step ladder and a soft brush with a telescopic handle to do mine, and if there's a bit in the middle that gets missed well so what? nobody looks up there anyway!
Show your sister this post and tell her to book some driving lessons - believe me, it'll be just about the best thing she's ever done!
------------- Tigermouse
I have a very temperamental personality - 50% temper and 50% mental
Not everyone has it in them to be a good driver, and maybe this lady realises that. To drive on today's roads you have to be pretty confident, almost aggressively so, as there are so many inconsiderate or plain bad drivers around. Driving lessons are also very expensive, especially if you need a lot. I must have had hundreds, including a residential, total-immersion course, and still failed several tests. I finally managed to pass driving an automatic car, but was never happy and tended to bump into things - not people, thank goodness, and not at speed! I finally realised that I suffer from dyspraxia (a posh name for poor coordination/clumsiness) and gave up driving before I did major damage. So some people are just not cut out to be drivers.
------------- Il vaut mieux vivre ses reves que rever sa vie
Quote: Originally posted by iwalani on 23/9/2011
Not everyone has it in them to be a good driver, and maybe this lady realises that. So some people are just not cut out to be drivers.
But how will she know that unless she tries it?
I never wanted to learn to drive as I always thought I wouldn't be able to do it, but having been left on my own I realised I had to learn or I would never go anywhere.
I know driving lessons aren't cheap but if this lady can afford it then I'm sure it won't do any harm for her to give it a try - if it doesn't work out at least she's given it a go, but if it does work out then she'll gain a whole new lease of life.
------------- Tigermouse
I have a very temperamental personality - 50% temper and 50% mental
After my son died I became agoraphobic - still am to a degree. Caravan was a mix of feeling safe in my own caravan but challenging meeting new people and going out on my own - even to the local shops.
OH used to come with me but I go alone now. We sold the campervan so have no towing facility any more.
I found a lovely peaceful site complete with storage and a tow on and off facility. It works for me so far. Sometimes I have to psyche myself up to go as I could easily back out, but I know once I get there I will enjoy it. The EHU charges the battery up each visit.
It does help to build my confidence. I can't tow yet, my car is too small anyway and can't afford a new one just yet. But I'm not ruling it out for the future.
I think your sister is showing courage to try to do this as it could possibly be challenging for her at first. It might be the way she manages to cope and carry on. She will find her own way to do it and if she knows you are supporting her and she finds her own way of managing, however that is, I think its brilliant! I find that if I ask for help if I am stuck, mostly people on site are very helpful. I have washed the van myself a bit at a time. Must admit the roof has been challenging! I bought one of those brushes attached to a hose which works like a syphon from a bucket of water. Works really well. I did notice an ad for a mobile cleaner so that could be a solution.
I hope she tries it as Tigermouse says, she won't know unless she tries.
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Topic: Loan caravanning
