Unite The Family With A Caravan
I believe the best way to combine adventure with the comforts of home is with a family caravan trip.
Caravan trips is the term used mostly in Australia and the UK but in the US it's called RVing, recreational vehicle camping, or sometimes trailer-camping.
It's actually a very broad term used somewhat differently in the US vs.
in the UK and Australia so let's look at some of its characteristics, some similarities and a few of the differences..
Originally, many hundreds of years ago, the word caravan meant a group of camels or other type of pack animal going long distances from point A to point B and transporting goods and/or pilgrims in the Middle East.
It's different nowadays of course.
Now a caravan usually refers to a vehicle, usually built on a truck chassis (i.
e.
frame) with a living accommodation built onto the back which will have, at a minimum, some sleeping spaces.
Depending on the size of the unit, it could also have a small kitchen, tables, sitting area and even a bathroom/shower facility.
In the US you'll find all different sizes of these caravan units...
some actually being extensively customized buses.
This type and size of unit has been, up till recently, more common in the US because of low gas prices there.
What's fun about family caravan vacations regardless of how big the caravan unit is it's like taking your home with you.
Mom still gets to make the meals, the family still has a dinner table (or breakfast or lunch table), the kids have a 'living room' (albeit not very large) to play in, and mommy and daddy can still 'tuck the kids into bed' at night.
Depending on the length of trip the family is taking, the money saved on family caravan trips can be quiet substantial.
Sure, gas expenses are a bigger factor but the numbers still work out in favor of caravanning.
This is especially true if you've got a large family that would make aggregate airfare expenses very high and also when you factor in the cost savings of being able to prepare your own food.
One of the biggest advantages of family caravan trips is that even though you'll usually have some idea of an itinerary you retain the flexibility of changing your plans at any time...
staying longer, not staying as long, going to a lake rather than that river, etc.
You're not constrained by a pre-planned schedule and the 'open road' truly becomes your domain.
Family caravan trips are very popular in the Australia...
perhaps because it's such a big country.
The US is big too and a lot of families take family caravan trips there too but observers suggest that the reason caravanning isn't as common in the US is because more people travel by air in the US (or at least they did before the price of gas got so high and before airport security procedures became so annoying for many people).
Many years ago, back around the late 40's and 50's in the US...
these units were simply called 'trailers' or 'mobile trailers' and they were not self-propelled.
Then they gradually diverged into two types...
one type got so big as to be almost immobile.
Today the term 'trailer' in the US (when applied to a mobile living accommodation) actually implies a lower middle- class or even 'poor' economic status.
In the US now, the static type of caravan is often called a 'mobile homes' or 'premanufactured homes'...
especially if it's fairly large and well-appointed.
These are not associated with the word 'caravan' at all...
ever.
Nowadays, in the US, Australia and the UK, these types of units can be small or they can be 'palaces on wheels'.
They can be mobile, very modern and used in a fashion similar to timeshare vacationing...
i.
e.
families can either buy and use their own family caravan, rent a caravan type vehicle, or go to a vacation area where the family can rent time in one of the units just like they might rent a house for a while.
The basic caravan unit is not usually very large.
You'll find them set up in 'parks' or areas specifically designed to provide safety, electricity, plumbing (sometimes), internet service, and sometimes even basic 'community' facilities like a convenience store, swimming pool, tennis courts, etc.
The big difference here is that this type of caravan unit can't be driven around.
It just sits there...
and people pay for their time and enjoy it there and/or in the surrounding area.
Caravan parks are a great way for companies to add value to an area without actually planning and building a traditional housing developing or full-sized, full-scale hotel.
Families like these family caravan trips too because they can drive their family vehicle to caravan park, set-up shop in the unit for whatever amount of time they plan on being there and then use their own vehicle to get to know the local area better.
Whether a family uses the totally mobile family caravan unit or leases the static type caravan unit is strictly a matter of individual preference.
The basic benefits are still the same: families get to take a nice trip, stay together in a cozy setting, keep expenses minimal and share a lot of good times together.
No doubt about it...
family caravan trips are great fun for the whole family.
If the home can move...
then home truly is wherever the family wants to go.
Caravan trips is the term used mostly in Australia and the UK but in the US it's called RVing, recreational vehicle camping, or sometimes trailer-camping.
It's actually a very broad term used somewhat differently in the US vs.
in the UK and Australia so let's look at some of its characteristics, some similarities and a few of the differences..
Originally, many hundreds of years ago, the word caravan meant a group of camels or other type of pack animal going long distances from point A to point B and transporting goods and/or pilgrims in the Middle East.
It's different nowadays of course.
Now a caravan usually refers to a vehicle, usually built on a truck chassis (i.
e.
frame) with a living accommodation built onto the back which will have, at a minimum, some sleeping spaces.
Depending on the size of the unit, it could also have a small kitchen, tables, sitting area and even a bathroom/shower facility.
In the US you'll find all different sizes of these caravan units...
some actually being extensively customized buses.
This type and size of unit has been, up till recently, more common in the US because of low gas prices there.
What's fun about family caravan vacations regardless of how big the caravan unit is it's like taking your home with you.
Mom still gets to make the meals, the family still has a dinner table (or breakfast or lunch table), the kids have a 'living room' (albeit not very large) to play in, and mommy and daddy can still 'tuck the kids into bed' at night.
Depending on the length of trip the family is taking, the money saved on family caravan trips can be quiet substantial.
Sure, gas expenses are a bigger factor but the numbers still work out in favor of caravanning.
This is especially true if you've got a large family that would make aggregate airfare expenses very high and also when you factor in the cost savings of being able to prepare your own food.
One of the biggest advantages of family caravan trips is that even though you'll usually have some idea of an itinerary you retain the flexibility of changing your plans at any time...
staying longer, not staying as long, going to a lake rather than that river, etc.
You're not constrained by a pre-planned schedule and the 'open road' truly becomes your domain.
Family caravan trips are very popular in the Australia...
perhaps because it's such a big country.
The US is big too and a lot of families take family caravan trips there too but observers suggest that the reason caravanning isn't as common in the US is because more people travel by air in the US (or at least they did before the price of gas got so high and before airport security procedures became so annoying for many people).
Many years ago, back around the late 40's and 50's in the US...
these units were simply called 'trailers' or 'mobile trailers' and they were not self-propelled.
Then they gradually diverged into two types...
one type got so big as to be almost immobile.
Today the term 'trailer' in the US (when applied to a mobile living accommodation) actually implies a lower middle- class or even 'poor' economic status.
In the US now, the static type of caravan is often called a 'mobile homes' or 'premanufactured homes'...
especially if it's fairly large and well-appointed.
These are not associated with the word 'caravan' at all...
ever.
Nowadays, in the US, Australia and the UK, these types of units can be small or they can be 'palaces on wheels'.
They can be mobile, very modern and used in a fashion similar to timeshare vacationing...
i.
e.
families can either buy and use their own family caravan, rent a caravan type vehicle, or go to a vacation area where the family can rent time in one of the units just like they might rent a house for a while.
The basic caravan unit is not usually very large.
You'll find them set up in 'parks' or areas specifically designed to provide safety, electricity, plumbing (sometimes), internet service, and sometimes even basic 'community' facilities like a convenience store, swimming pool, tennis courts, etc.
The big difference here is that this type of caravan unit can't be driven around.
It just sits there...
and people pay for their time and enjoy it there and/or in the surrounding area.
Caravan parks are a great way for companies to add value to an area without actually planning and building a traditional housing developing or full-sized, full-scale hotel.
Families like these family caravan trips too because they can drive their family vehicle to caravan park, set-up shop in the unit for whatever amount of time they plan on being there and then use their own vehicle to get to know the local area better.
Whether a family uses the totally mobile family caravan unit or leases the static type caravan unit is strictly a matter of individual preference.
The basic benefits are still the same: families get to take a nice trip, stay together in a cozy setting, keep expenses minimal and share a lot of good times together.
No doubt about it...
family caravan trips are great fun for the whole family.
If the home can move...
then home truly is wherever the family wants to go.