Marcin Legeżyński Houses On Wheels

Do you like the freedom of planning your holiday by yourself and favour camping options over the all‑inclusive hotel packagesall‑inclusive hotel packages [all‑inclusive hotel package]all‑inclusive hotel packages? Does the idea of pitching a tentpitching a tentpitching a tent and taking all of that additional equipment for temporary accommodationtemporary accommodationtemporary accommodation seem like a lot of hustlehustlehustle to you? If so, you may consider buying or renting one of the many types of caravanning vehiclescaravanning vehicles [caravanning vehicle]caravanning vehicles.

One of the most popular caravaning options is a camping trailercamping trailercamping trailer. These self‑contained vehiclesself‑contained vehicles [self‑contained vehicle]self‑contained vehicles can be towedtowed [tow]towed by regular passenger cars or vans to anywhere suitable. When you reach your chosen campsite or other destination, you can detachdetachdetach your trailer and use your car to drive around. Modern camping trailers offer large space inside, some with a built‑in toilet, bathroom, and a fully‑equipped kitchen. A downside of planning your holiday in a trailer is that you will be bound by driving speed limitsbound by driving speed limitsbound by driving speed limits in most countries. Towing a trailer, you won’t usually be limited to 90 km/h outside of towns. Travelling will take longer, but when you detach it at a campsite, you can drive without further limits.

Another option is a campervan. These range from affordable and relatively basic van conversionsvan conversions [van conversion]van conversions, where sleeping space and other basic amenitiesbasic amenities [basic amenity]basic amenities have been built over a regular van chassisregular van chassisregular van chassis, to large and luxurious Class A motorhomes, which look a bit like full‑sized buses. Campervans usually have a small kitchen which is often powered by a choice of gas, battery, or mains electricitymains electricitymains electricity, and a two‑burner gas hobtwo‑burner gas hobtwo‑burner gas hob and grill. They generally have dual‑voltage lightingdual‑voltage lightingdual‑voltage lighting which can work from either a dedicated batterydedicated batterydedicated battery, or from AC powerAC powerAC power, supplied at a campsite via a hook‑up cablehook‑up cablehook‑up cable. Larger models may include a water heater, space heating and air conditioning, a portable toiletportable toiletportable toilet and an internal shower. Choosing a campervan over a trailer will mean less trouble attaching it to your car. Also, driving a campervan is no different to driving a large car and it is easier to manoeuvremanoeuvremanoeuvre it on narrow roads or streets. You will be subject to the same speed limits as all other drivers, so travelling will take you less time than it would if you were towing a trailer. On the other hand, once you park your campervan at a campsite and arrange all the cables and pipescables and pipes [cable and pipe]cables and pipes connecting it to water and electricity supplieswater and electricity supplies [water and electricity supply]water and electricity supplies, it will not be as easy to drive to the nearest shop or other places. Of course, you can always take your bicycle with you on a campervan and use it for local travelling.

Whichever type of vehicle you choose, one question remains: should you buy it, or rent it? The cost of buying a caravaning vehicle can be the same or much higher than buying a car, depending on whether you are considering a new or second‑hand trailer or campervan, its size and number of berthsberths [berth]berths, the standard of equipment, and so on. You may come across a reasonably priced, older vehicle and make an effort to refurbishrefurbishrefurbish it. Owning a camping vehicle is a great idea as you don’t need to pay high rental feeshigh rental fees [high rental fee]high rental fees and it will be always available to you, in or out of season. On the other hand, if you only manage to go away one or twice a year, it may be more economically soundeconomically soundeconomically sound to hire a trailer or a campervan. Booking your rental can be difficult in peak seasonpeak seasonpeak season, so you should plan your holiday in advance. Also, you must be prepared to pay a refundable depositrefundable depositrefundable deposit towards any damages. This will be usually returned to you in full.

1 Źródło: Marcin Legeżyński, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.