Might become a caravaner

"CalzoneGolem" (calzonegolem) 08/03/2015 at 09:14 • Filed to: None

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Took my family camping for the first time. Great success was had!

There was much trepidation beforehand. Mostly from my wife. She has been dead set against not going camping when we got together so we’d never gone.

We started off pretty easy. Paid for a spot in a campground on a lake with a pool and bathrooms and showers. We slept in tents on air mattresses, I brought wood and made a fire and cooked on a propane grill. On a scale of one to Bear Grylls it rated about a 3 in difficulty.

The kids were excited from the beginning which was nice.

I threw around the idea of a VW camper van and some tents for future and my wife was all about it. Then I looked at prices. Even $10k doesn’t seem to buy you much. Saw a nice one for $9k but it needed an engine. There are plenty of cheap and scary RVs and plenty of nice really expensive RVs.

It seems like the best way to get a nice living space is to get a trailer.

The cheap option: $2-4k seems to fetch a nice trailer that I could tow with Bullmobile.

The less cheap option: $2-4k for a larger decent trailer or a slide in and a truck.

I like the cheap option because it is cheap. I like the less cheap option because I can buy a truck.

kanadanmajava1 > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 09:25

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If you cooked with a propane grill what did you do with the wood? Or was the wood your food?

My username stands for Canadian beaver so I will support your choice of food.

CalzoneGolem > kanadanmajava1 08/03/2015 at 09:47

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I burned the wood for entertainment, warmth and s’mores. I need some more gear to completely cook in the fire. Actually I just need a grate that would have fit over the fire pit.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 09:58

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I’d choose the less cheap option. There are five vehicles which everyone should own in their lifetime.

-something big

-something old

-something fun

-a UJM

-a truck

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 10:06

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Did you mean “caravanist”?

CalzoneGolem > G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 08/03/2015 at 10:07

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I have an old fun truck see my avatar. I will never own a motorcycle.

Guess I need a one of those 24’ RVs

CalzoneGolem > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 08/03/2015 at 10:07

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No I won’t be doing it professionally.

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 10:12

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I’d say just get a GMT400 Suburban.

Van Man, rocks the Man Van > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 10:12

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Sorry. I guess I need to go back and watch some more old Top Gear episodes to study up.

CalzoneGolem > Van Man, rocks the Man Van 08/03/2015 at 10:22

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Me to.

kanadanmajava1 > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 10:38

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I have this kind of Trangia portable cooker. It’s pretty nice if you have to carry the cooking hardware somewhere as it is really light. The only problem with this is that you cannot refill the burner unit when it is burning.

CalzoneGolem > kanadanmajava1 08/03/2015 at 10:49

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That looks pretty intense.

HammerheadFistpunch > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 11:14

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Pop up tent trailer. They are the miata of family camp trailers: small, cheap, light and the right answer.

CalzoneGolem > HammerheadFistpunch 08/03/2015 at 11:19

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Yeah that’s what I was looking at. Pretty decent amount of room when deployed and pretty small when not.

William Byrd > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 11:24

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Nice, did the same this weekend. I was going to toss a futon mattress in the Jeep GC and get some misquito netting to build a “tent” but my Wife wisely suggested getting a tent. Which I did, and it was fun. Almost everyone around us rolled with a caravan though. The “pop-up” seems like a good starter option.

HammerheadFistpunch > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 11:25

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we split ours with some friends to defray the costs and to make sure we didn’t feel bad about it sitting around 90% of the time. Its got forced air heater, hot and cold water, shower, toilet, a slide out eating area and 2 king beds and we are into it about $3500. for the money, its definitely the way to go.

CalzoneGolem > William Byrd 08/03/2015 at 11:33

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It looks like you can get a lot of functionality in a little package.

CalzoneGolem > HammerheadFistpunch 08/03/2015 at 11:37

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Sounds like a plan! My quick CL search turned up this bad boy.

http://maine.craigslist.org/rvs/5130154709…

My tow vehicle will probably be a major limiting factor here.

William Byrd > CalzoneGolem 08/03/2015 at 15:12

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That’s not what she said.

I basically need a more comfortable place to sleep. I don’t need a living room or kitchen, that’s why you camp, to sit by the fire cooking food. The pop-up seems like a nice option, plus you can tow it with most vehicles (2500’ish lbs).

CalzoneGolem > William Byrd 08/03/2015 at 15:18

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Yeah, it really sounds like a winner.