Well, we tried it
By Fleur
@Fleura (32490)
United Kingdom
September 6, 2025 5:00am CST
Several of our friends have invested in camper vans/ motor homes, and they do look cosy and seem like a convenient option. Go wherever you fancy, no need to pay for a hotel, no need to put a tent up in the rain, never forget things on a day out because you have everything with you etc.
And when I suggested renting a motorhome as an idea for a family holiday the girls, especially Little One, were super enthusiastic. We have previously done a lot of camping in various tents, we have stayed in the usual assortment of hotels, holidayed in a few cabins and cottages and had one holiday on a canal boat so it appealed as something new to try.
Well we tried it! It certainly wasn’t a particularly cheap option as the rental fees were quite steep, and then of course you use quite a lot of fuel which is expensive. And you still have to pay for camp sites, unless you just stop on the roadside (and in many places overnight parking is not allowed) so that’s not cheap either. But it can be a good option when you want to explore and are not so sure where you will end up, and especially when the weather is wet!
We spent a week touring the north of England and southern Scotland with ours. The hire period was actually nine days, but the first day was just picking the van up (which was supposed to be between 2 and 4 pm but in fact they were an hour and a half late handing it over when we picked it up!) and return was between 8 and 10 am, so those two days really didn’t count for much.
On the whole it was a good experience. There’s a lot to say so I’ll have to write more about the pros and cons!
8 people like this
8 responses
@LindaOHio (199928)
• United States
6h
How was maneuvering the big camper? I'm glad that you enjoyed it for the most part.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (54765)
• Canada
5h
Several of my in-laws have owned motor homes over the years.
They found it great when their children were young.
Today camping is much different, with the cost of the camp site as well as the fuel, but it is achievable and could make for some wonderful memories to be made of family vacations.
I am happy for you and for your family that it was so enjoyable, and I hope that if this is the right way to travel for you that you can all do it again sometime.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (158822)
• United States
2h
I do hope you all had a good time overall. 
There were several times that Pretty and I pulled over in a parking lot and slept in our car when we were driving places. Only one time did anybody say anything about it... A police officer in one small town woke me up to ask what I thought I was doing... When I told him I was too tied to drive further so parked in a Walmart parking lot as far from the building as we could get, (Walmart was closed.) He told me it was "illegal" to part in their lot but if I'd follow him to another location down the street, we could sleep in that parking lot as long as we wanted.
After I started working at Walmart, I asked the store manager about that and he laughed and said no Walmart wants people to sleep in their parking lot but it's not illegal anywhere in the US.
I think the cop just wanted to see if I was sober enough to follow him to the other lot. I didn't wake Pretty and slept until around 7 am the next morning when traffic in the parking lot woke me up. Pretty kept sleeping until about an hour later when I had to stop for a traffic light on the drive home. (She was in the back seat buckled in inside her sleeping bag.)
There were several times that Pretty and I pulled over in a parking lot and slept in our car when we were driving places. Only one time did anybody say anything about it... A police officer in one small town woke me up to ask what I thought I was doing... When I told him I was too tied to drive further so parked in a Walmart parking lot as far from the building as we could get, (Walmart was closed.) He told me it was "illegal" to part in their lot but if I'd follow him to another location down the street, we could sleep in that parking lot as long as we wanted.
After I started working at Walmart, I asked the store manager about that and he laughed and said no Walmart wants people to sleep in their parking lot but it's not illegal anywhere in the US.
I think the cop just wanted to see if I was sober enough to follow him to the other lot. I didn't wake Pretty and slept until around 7 am the next morning when traffic in the parking lot woke me up. Pretty kept sleeping until about an hour later when I had to stop for a traffic light on the drive home. (She was in the back seat buckled in inside her sleeping bag.)
@JudyEv (362419)
• Rockingham, Australia
3h
When we went to Ireland to visit our son, we couldn't stay with him and his wife (long story). And we couldn't afford accommodation for the period we intended to stay so we purchased a motor-home in Ireland intending to sell it when we left. We bought a second-hand one thinking we wouldn't lose so much when we sold it again. Anyway, we enjoyed it so much, travelling through England, Scotland and quite extensively on the continent for three months that we kept it at our son's, went back two years later and had another two months in it in France. Then we had a minor accident, continued to use it to our last day at which point the insurance company wrote it off and paid us what we'd insured it for - which was the purchase price. That's a long story shortened a little.
We also hired one in South Australia and that was expensive.
We have another motor-home now and are heading off tomorrow.
@AmbiePam (102505)
• United States
4h
We had a small one for a very short amount of time (my dad bought it to sell to make a little money). But it was so small it wasn’t comfortable. It was fun for an all day trip though.
My sister and her family didn’t have money for one, but they wanted to tour all the national parks. So they turned a big van into a sort of camper. Since the kids are so small it’s not yet too hard to fit them and my sister on one full size air mattress. They are having a blast with it. They still stay in a hotel on occasion, but the van has been there little adventure.
@porwest (106969)
• United States
4h
We own one, a pull behind, and we have a lot of fun with it. But you're right, it's not exactly cheap by any means. For us, we have the cost of storage (about $110 a month), the cost of insurance ($100 a month), and because we financed it, we have a payment of $386 a month. Then there's the annual winterization cost ($200), and the need to change tires occasionally and other things, like last year we had to replace a valve in the bathroom, this year we'll have to replace a seal on the toilet...
It can really add up. BUT, it's worth every bit, I must say, and so long as we can afford it, I am okay with spending the money.
