And don't say "because I've always wanted one". > In our case we used to camp in a frame tent but we got washed out one time and with two toddlers (now 20 and 22) it wasn't fun. Our friends we were camping with had a 73 Westy with 3 kids tucked up here and there and a warm dry glow eminating from their little world. Our other friends also got washed out of their tent. That was whitsun bank holiday. By August bank holiday 3 x 73 Westy's were camped up together and it didn't rain. If fact we were never rained on again like that so could have carried on with the tent. You might be sick of hearing this, but they were cheap as chips and fit on your drive. £1,000-1,200 was what we paid. Or maybe you got fed up with package-style hotel holidays? Did you get it to go to shows and meet people? Did you camp anyway and still mostly do that with family and friends? Did you want a mobile disco?
'Easier' than camping. No tent to errect (regardless of how simple some new tents are) no tent to take down and pack wet.. Some where to change after a surf/cycle rather than dance around in the car park. Some where to cook food after a surf/cycle. Some where to sleep rather than the shed.
I always wanted one and always wanted to be able to just go go go at the drop of a hat on what is effectivly a bedsit on wheels. What I didn't expect was meeting a bunch of great people. These boxes on wheels really do change your life.
I was never into them at all. I got offered a cheap 1969 1500 baja beetle about 10 years ago, fixed it up and went to rtts and vanfest. I soon got fed up with pitching the tent and having no space to fit all the camping stuff in, especially when a westy would pull up, pop the roof and put the kettle on! I bought the bay about 4 yrs ago so I didn't have to worry about the tent etc, but the I got an awning so I am no better off!
They were my era really,everything rusted them days ;D but i wanted "fast"? cars and women too then lol. But Ive slowed down and i have time to spare and i used to camp too and do boating holidays ,the camper is good to just up and go if we want and sit by the sea or a canal any water really, have a drink watch the world go by and if we want to stay away we can. So i bought a bit of rust we can camp in................... 8)
had two and hated them both too tent like thats why i bought the van lol! next thing i buy is guna be a boat i hope
Bought one, doing it up my kids refer to "Wilma" as being a family member. Wilma has brought our family together !. My oldest is almost 13 (Female) loves "Retro Things", my son is 10 typical boy loves everything mechanical and the youngest almost 5(Female) loves what she is told to !!! Me and my Doris (the wife), well we have always loved VW Campers!, and fortunately we have reached a stage in our life where we have a small mortgage and can afford to be a bit daring. By daring I mean buy something do it up, give the kids some nice family memories. And then when they are old enough let them enjoy it as much as we did. Pass it on to the next generation an "Heirloom", makes all the bad language, blood and bruises worth the effort in the first place : : : :
alway knew my first car would be a beetle (and it was/is) and always loved camping. i went from all uber lightweight camping gear that i could carry while walking and hitching to a car with a dome tent and an airbed and so the camper was the next logical step. it's all been about the bed from roll mat to full width rock n roll bed. the three ages of woman
I was well into bikes until the unforeseen happened....children !, my Bro and Sis had continued the genetic code many years before, so I was on a course of bachelorhood and two lane blacktop to the horizon...all of them. My Eldest was a baby and I bought a matt black tin top late bay with marmite happens sprayed on the roof..., only other car I had owned before this was a mint Austin Maxi, had a problem with that as it lacked utility, so later when the pirates arrived a normal car wasn't an option.Cruised around in the late one for a while and then the same dude I bought the late off of, offered me a crossover Dormobile, the light...the headroom... :dizzy:so sold the tintop and then swapped a spare Yam 750 for the crossover, I do enjoy the fact I can plot up and have a bacon sarnie and a cup of coffee pretty much anywhere, and never again be woken at five in the morning with my tent flapping in my face due to a dutch Harley rider setting off early after a custom show.....you only get the noise in a camper and no flap That will be why I bartered and came to own a camper.
I have this Volkswagen obsession. I'm just a bit of a car nut generally, but particularly Volkswagens. And my wife isn't. So the camper combines my obsession with all things VW with something we can enjoy together.
blame martin dorey. i had a caravan and always planned to buy a camper to replace it, but i mean a proper one like a renault or transit..... saw his programme and decided a vw would still give me the "scene" i had with landrovers but also the camping. i've got used to having no space now and it's great fun meeting and talking to new people just becase of the van. that's campervan living.
I bought my camper on a whim ,never realy had "the cos I always wanted one" it was tax free so motoring was cheap and I liked just going off in the sunset... 8)
I've always liked VWs. I had a '72 beetle for years and my wife had a '70 beetle for even longer. The kids came along and we needed a sensible car.....so I got a Skoda Octavia! After a few years, I just had that need for a VW again....and a camper made sense with the kids. Holidays away (when we can, which is never enough) and days out are great. I have a fridge and a toilet ....... yes I know some people can't stand having a toilet in the van : but my boy has a medical condition (and having a toilet makes it much easier and less stressful for us to get out for the day). So the Skoda was sold and I now use the camper as my daily
I got mine by accident. I was cycling in the outer hebrides to take photographs. I was wild camping and my bike was weighed down with food, tent, water, cameras and lenses as well as a big heavy tripod. As I struggled from island to island an old couple in a motorhome took pity on me and at each ferry crossing they were waiting for me and made me coffee and some food. I loved it because to unpack my bike to get the stove and coffee stuff out took ages. I did get some good pictures but as the weeks went on it starts to get boring unpacking the bike and setting up the tripod for a photo. The wind was always strong and always in my face and some mornings I had to crack ice off my tent before I could pack it away. Sounds a bit miserable, and it was even though the Outer Hebrides are outstanding. I decided that I needed to have a motorhome for my next photography field trip. Back home I went to a huge motorhome sales place and looked at all the white boxes they had for sale. None of them really appealed to me because they were so 'institutional' and soulless. I was just looking on the computer for a motorhome and stumbled across a vw campervan. It struck a chord in me and I saw that I could do things to it that would make it mine and not just out of a [glow=red,2,300]FACT[/glow]ory. I nearly bought the first one I looked at but they wouldn't drop their price (thank god because it was a heap), I nearly bought the second one I saw but my offer was conditional on it passing an mot and it didn't. The third one I looked at I bought which was my Australian import. I didn't know anything about them. Had no idea there was a club for them. And It makes me smile even when I'm just walking past it to get in my boring modern car to go to work. ;D
We do a lot of walking, and I had always envied people that we saw sitting in their campers after a walk with a brew. I really thought my camping days were over Like Birdy, I never thought that I would meet so many great people I never thought I'd be going to fancy dress shops either trying to sort out a Mardi Gras costume :-
always liked them , few mates had them then when i came out the forces early 90 s , i couldnt settle , so got myself a bus and pottered round the country , lasted 12mths b4 it was relieved of my ownership by some lowlife . got my latest about 4yrs ago travelled europe took it off road after a expensive learning curve upto Tromso in Norway. nearly finished now can t wait to get back to gettin out n about
