Camper, Caravan or Pop-Top?

So after deciding that we wanted to travel, our next decision was what to travel in.

I always saw myself travelling around in a van #vanlife. By van, I mean something along the lines of a Sprinter or smaller. However, it actually didn't suit us for what and where we wanted to do and go.

This lifestyle is all about finding what works best for you, and so, this topic is highly subjective in my eyes.

We hired out a motorhome back in Easter this year. Little did we know, that we would be using this trip as a comparison to what we were going to do the Big Lap in. We hired it out simply just for something different. We wanted to go down south which was last minute plans (as per usual for us), so everywhere was booked up being Easter holls, and so, hiring out a motorhome was the perfect option. We got lucky to get booked into a park in Esperance and also to find Sasha, who we hired out "Le Petit Chateau" from. Sasha was so pleasant to deal with from the first enquiry, to picking the van up and dropping it back off again. So glad we hired privately over a big hire company as it adds to the experience a lot more, making it more unique. Check out her camplify here: https://www.camplify.com.au/rv/motorhome-rental-shoalwater-wa-le-petit-chateauyour-little-castle-on-wheels-luxury-motorhomes-lp1/12089

But anyways, you didn't come here to find out about our Esperance trip now did you? I'll stop rambling and get into the good stuff!

The motorhome that we hired out was a VW Crafter, 2013. It was 25ft long and beautifully decorated! The decoration of this van is what inspired a lot of what we wanted in our van.

Take a look at these pics to see what I mean:

Just stunning isn't it! The light and breezy feel really opens up the space. It also soothes the mind as it creates such a peaceful atmosphere to be in. Both are very important for full time living in a van. The latter however, is a big factor for us. We wanted to be able to travel in something that we will be able to do everything in happily i.e. cook, eat, shower, sit and relax, blog and to even be in while feeling unwell (to be as comfortable as possible while feeling uncomfortable is important).

The benefits of the motorhome include:

• Your vehicle to travel and live in are all in one. This means only one registration to pay for per year and only one vehicle to insure.

• Easier to manoeuvre than a caravan.

• You can hear if anything is falling around while you drive, so less risk of serious damage to items (Dependant on model of motorhome).

• Quicker set up and set down times compared to caravans.

• No need for a wheel jockey.

The downsides of the motorhome include:

• As your vehicle and living space are all the one, if you've set up camp and realised you need to zip to the shops or whatever it may be, you'd have to pack up everything just for that. It's a blessing and a curse at the same time.

• It can be very loud while driving as you hear everything bounce and jingle around.

• Living spaces are smaller, lounges need to be turned to beds and vice versa.

• Smaller shower and toilet space.

• Not as much storage space both inside and outside the living quarters of the motorhome.

• No solar power (This is based on the one that we hired. Solar panels may well be added but that's an extra expense to be considered to add to the already costly purchase)

• You can't take them off-road.

After learning all of this, we decided to go for a caravan.

We wanted to be able to live off-grid for long periods. This is where the water tanks capacity comes in of high importance along with solar power. A lot of these off-grid areas in Australia are down dirt tracks/corrugated roads which only semi-off road vans or off road vans can go. 4WD accessibility was also another must have for us and this trip, so having the Cruiser as our towing vehicle allows us to go off and do our own thing while our van gets to take a rest!

The storage both inside and outside the van as well as on top of the roof of the cruiser allows us to carry everything we need for all seasons of the year plus camping away from the van itself. This means that if some roads are just too rough for the van, we can leave it by the closest village/town and head off in the cruiser and swag it.

Figuring out what type of caravan is right for you is the next step. You can either go hard-top or pop-top.

Again, both have their pros and cons.

Hardtops are always in one position, so no need to juggle items around to set up and set down the van for travelling in, whereas, pop-tops need space to be able to fold down so you would have to allow for that.

Pop-tops will blow in the wind while you're inside it at night time and can make noise while hardtops shouldn't be as noisy.

Pop-tops may rip and tear which can then leak and will need repairing while hardtops are generally sturdier and shouldn't give you as much grief. That's not to say that you won't have issues with leaks, it very may well happen.

Pop-tops take longer to set up and down at sites compared to caravans.

Pop-tops are usually lighter and lower behind your vehicle to tow than caravans so they would be cheaper on fuel as the wind wouldn't be catching them as much while on the road.

Pop-tops are usually cheaper than hardtop caravans.

For the above reasons, we went with a hardtop caravan. We didn't want to be constantly folding up and down the pop-top van. We didn't want to be moving stuff around inside all the time to allow for this either. We wanted space that was always going to be there to utilise. We wanted to be able to set up our van as quickly as possible in all weather conditions. We planned to live in the van full time for at least 1 year, so we needed something spacious yet compact and wanted to have an ensuite too. So for us, it was an easy choice to make. We're now over 4 weeks into our trip and still stand by our choice.

But as I said before, everyone is different, along with their wants and needs. My advice would be to "try before you buy" to give yourself the best insight as to what works for you, before finding out the hard way after you've spent all your money on it!

What it boils down to are the following:

• Budget

• Full time living or weekend tripping

• Personal preference

• Caravan park or off-grid stays

Stay tuned for our next blog where we will give you all the deets on our caravan and our car.

We hope this blog has helped you. Best of luck in your hunt for your home on wheels!