#1 - From tent to motorhome – pros & cons of owning a motorhome

So let’s get started with a question: why camping and campervans? Let me answer that with my story…

Motorhome parking - Lago di Fusine, IT

How it all began

Like many of you, I like to spend time outdoors – walking, riding bikes, hiking, and camping. My first camping trips were with a tent. A few friends, bikes, a campfire, and all was good.
 

Camping with friends

Then I met my wife, we got married and kids came along. The amount of camping kit that a family has to bring along and setup on the campsite was increasing. Gradually I got tired of setting up tents, assembling chairs and tables, inflating air mattresses… And if you wanted to change sites every few days, the whole process started again, so we stayed on one site for as long as we could.

Our family camping setup

Owning a motorhome - Pros

So I bought a used full-size motorhome. It was roomy enough for the whole family, you could cook, eat, seat and sleep with minimal fuss. We could stop almost anywhere, prepare a meal for kids, go to the toilet, wash up or even take a shower, spend a night. Even at campsites the setup was minimal – park it, roll out an awning and you are set. If the temperature drops, turn on the heating. We visited quite a few new countries and places with our new rolling home, and really enjoyed it. In some countries (like in Slovenia) registration, insurance and tolls are also cheaper for motorhomes, which is nice.

Our Arca Motorhome - That's daddy's toy! :)

Cons

But our rig was big. You couldn’t use it on a daily basis, in parking garages, it was clumsy on narrow roads and tricky to park. Traveling speeds were low, it was loud at high speeds and fuel consumption was high. And driving on a hot summer day without AC meant grumpy kids that want to drink all the time (and use the toilet after that). The motorhome had to be insured, registered, serviced – along with two other cars that we were using. To prevent an impact from the elements it’s the best to store a motorhome on a dry parking with a roof, and that is hard to find (and/or expensive). As we were living in an apartment building with limited parking space, we had to store it somewhere else, and it was a chore to get it prepared for the trip – I had to drive to the storage location, change cars, drive the motorhome back home, put all the stuff in (clothes, food, bedding, fresh water..), and then set of. That usually amounted to almost a day, so the weekend trips got shorter even before the start.

Some of our trips - Balaton, Slovenian and Croatian seaside...

After a couple of years we decided to sell the motorhome in favor of a smaller  vehicle – a van.

My van - Renault Trafic

But more on that in the next post, where I will explore pros & cons of owning and using a van.

Whata are your experiences using (and/or owning) a motorhome? Let me know in the comments below...

God bless you all and take care!