Foreign caravanner

[Surfer01]

New to this forum. I am South African born and have caravanned through out southern Africa and we are now living in the UK, but thought it would be interesting to exchange stories, information etc with our American counterparts.
We own a twin axle caravan with an island bed. It is a 2011 Lunar Delta TI and can be seen http://www.lunarcaravans.com/brands/lunar/clubman-delta/delta-tihere.
The two us who are retired travel with 4 Yorkshire Terriers and a Norwegian Forest cat. We mainly use CLs which are a field on a farm for up to 5 caravans. Some have Electric Hook Up(EHU) and others don't. Those with EHU cost about £12 per night and those without about £8. Proper caravan sites average about £18-£25 per night depending on the season.
Hopefully you will find some of our stories interesting.

[frankdamp]

Welcome. My aunt and uncle, who lived in our home town of Leyland (Lancs), were dedicated caravanners. They towed a coach-built (pronounced "heavy") 18-footer all over Europe behind an Austin A55 sedan. I can't imagine dragging that thing through the Austrian Alps with only 55 horsepower and a 4-speed stick-shift!

They were long-time members of the "Caravan Club" and went to rallies at least a couple of weekends a month. If the "CC" still exists, you may care to investigate becoming a member.

I can sympathise with the language issues. We had them when we emigrated to the US in 1968 and now we have troulbe when we go back to the UK on vacation. Americans still have trouble with my Lancashire accent, even though I'm using an American vocabulary.

I got a real surprise a few weeks ago when I had an appointment with a local hand specialist, after I dislocated a finger. After a few minutes she asked "Where in Lancashire are you from?" Most Americans have no idea about the various counties in the UK, let alone be able to recognise local accents. It turned out that the surgeon was of Scandinavian citizenship and her father (also am orthopedic surgeon) had worked at Wrightington Ortho Hospital and she had gone though grammar school in Wigan, about 12 miles from our home town.

[Surfer01]

2Macs wrote:
Welcome to the forum. I looked up your caravan on the website and notice that air conditioning was an option. Do you have that option or even need it in the UK? Here, our TT's generally have air conditioning as a standard (A/C). We use them all over the U.S. in hot and cold environments. You see all kinds of RV's on the our highways from Motorhomes, 5th Wheels, Travel Trailers, Pop Ups,
Hybrids and so on. As you explore RV.Net, you will soon learn all of the jargon used on the site.

Last summer an air con would have been very welcome. It does not get hot like in Africa but the humidity is a killer.
When we moved to the UK 21 years ago from South Africa although I am English speaking I had to adapt to the language over here especially spelling as in South Africa we spell a lot of our words similar to US English. In addition a lot of our sayings have no meaning over here and we get a blank look. I have a cousin living in Rochester in Minnesota.
We call pitches with electric, water and sewage Fully serviced pitches and those with just electric serviced pitches. We do have some dealers over here that import American RVs and they are awesome and priced way below ours. The biggest problem is that many roads over here are rather narrow plus many sites cannot cater for big units.
Our motorways are very congested as it is only a small island and to do 150 miles can take you several hours. We prefer to use smaller sites like the ones in the farmers field as they are quieter and you get closer to nature and may see the occasional cow. LOL!
Our adventures camping in the bush in Africa are a whole new scenario as it was wild camping. No taps for water, no sewage facilities etc. You found a river for water and for sewage you dug a hole. Obviously not in the river. 🙂

[Pineapple_Kid]

Welcome to the forum.

We have been Rv Ing ( as we call it in the USA ) since 1993 for 4 to 6 months each year.
We have a friend who lives in Amsterdam who has on 3 occasions ( 2006, 2009, and 2012 ) has purchased a used Campervan for us to use in Europe for 3 months each time, Our friend is now looking for a Right hand drive campervan for us to use in the UK and Ireland the next 2 Summers. In the mean time we get around on the US mainland in a 26 foot fifth wheel trailer pulled by a Dodge Ram diesel truck
We have toured both Australia and New Zealand in rented campervans 3 months in both Countries which works out well for us because we can get down there in the USA winter. When we go home it is to Kauai Hawaii where we have lived for the last 25 years.
Enjoy the RV Net Forum but just ignore the cranks who will pop up with a nasty post now and then, I guess they have nothing better to do ?
Aloha From Kauai Hawaii
Leon

[Shadow_Catcher]

I am on the Teardrop & Tiny Travel Trailer forum which has a fairly large number of folks from around the world. One of the big difference between the EU and the US is distances. Our trip from Ohio to California was over 10,000 K. Camping can vary from very wild to very tame.
Our story of that trip http://tomandnancygrover.blogspot.com/

[2Macs]

Welcome to the forum. I looked up your caravan on the website and notice that air conditioning was an option. Do you have that option or even need it in the UK? Here, our TT's generally have air conditioning as a standard (A/C). We use them all over the U.S. in hot and cold environments. You see all kinds of RV's on the our highways from Motorhomes, 5th Wheels, Travel Trailers, Pop Ups,
Hybrids and so on. As you explore RV.Net, you will soon learn all of the jargon used on the site.

[2oldman]

Re-read rule #2: double posting. OH, welcome.

[rseymour21]

Welcome to the Forum! The terminology is a little different, glad you included a linked to a web site. Caravan to us would be Travel Trailer or TT.

No hook up's is considered Dry Camping
Electric and Water, kind of standard for many State Parks.
And gaining popularly "Electric, Sewer and Water" or called Full Hook ups.