Why a caravan?

I have mixed experiences of camping, including being lined up like sardines in giant triangular tents as a Girl Guide, cramped up in a solo tent at a work festival and fantastic family holidays in childhood.

From about the age of ten, my parents took myself and my two sisters camping in France. We would drive to ready-pitched tents with all facilities included which was just as well.

We took luggage for a family of five in a variety of cars – the pinnacle of which was a brand new British Leyland Metro. This was a small, beige (although the colour was called champagne as it was the eighties) hatchback with very little power and not much luggage space.

My Dad didn’t let that stop us though – he just got a roof rack. This was in the days before the sleek, streamlined luggage compartments of today. He piled it high with bags of stuff, wrapped it in tarpaulin and bungeed it in place. The spectacle of the lump on the roof which was about as big as the car must have looked impressive! As for bringing back a few beers – no problem, that’s what the footwells in the back are for. Just as well my sisters and I only had little legs.

During those happy times in France we travelled to Brittany, the Vendée and all the way down to Languedoc. I remember shelling and eating fresh prawns with baguettes in a tent during a storm, dressing up in seaweed on the beach, the standing stones of Carnac, numerous pretty towns and fabulous beaches. Evenings were spent having barbecues and socialising when we travelled with friends.

I wanted to recreate this feeling of freedom – but with the extra comforts of a caravan.