Best “gadget” we have been taking on trips (before lockdown obviously) was a Phillip’s air fryer cooker - good for frozen foods or crumpets / croissants in the morning…electric too so great when on site and not too bulky, about the same size as a few cereal boxes…esp as we don’t have an oven…lol
Yes the shower normally gets used every day when away, even if we stay on a site with showers.
One of the best gadgets we bought in our 'vanning days was probably our Remoska cooker. It uses far less power than an electric oven, yet cooks like one. You can buy one from Lakeland - IIRC they’re made in the Czech Republic, and the recipe book that comes with it has some rather unusual concoctions…
On lockdown my mother asked for an over the counter cooked chicken, she likes them because they are moist, succulent etc. Well supermarkets are not providing, so out came the Remoska…about 50 minutes and you get a wonderful roast chicken, better than the supermarket…mum was happy👍
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The other best “gadget / thing” is the drive away awning - we use Vango Kela 3 Tall - great for additional outdoor space and storage for van contents when staying on one site for a while and using the van for touring!
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Thanks to all so far for their contributions - all is useful food for thought for anyone like me contemplating getting mobile. Clearly any solution is a compromise between space/comfort, long distance travel ease, local travel ease, and more, and everyone’s balance may be different: but hearing others’ experiences and choices is invaluable.
VW T5.1 owner here. Sleeps 4 on its own, add on the drive away awning for more sleeping/storage/eating space. We also pitch a toilet tent behind with a Thetford cassette loo and pressurised solar shower. Takes about 10 minutes on a site to turn it back into a van for driving about whichever area we are in, and is car park friendly!!!
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Golden rule in buying a motor home, buy the smallest that works for you. Car park friendly is a big bonus.
That said we are going away in our van this summer and for the first time we will hopefully be making full use of the built in loo and shower, I suspect there will be queues at the shower/WC building.
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Should be banned, hideous plastic boxes clogging up the countryside
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My wife and I used to attend the ALMS races at Sebring and Road Atlanta (Petite Le Mans) every year. We used to see a bunch of large land yachts, motorhomes costing $500k and up. There was one we saw where the owner opened up a panel on the back to reveal a garage for his MINI. He invited us to hang with him on the roof of his motorhome for a birds eye view of the race. It was quite elaborate for a RV roof. We befriended each other because my wife was so enamored by his beautiful German Sheppard.
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Thanks to Richard for kindly re-opening this thread.
With consideration for the valuable information from experienced people here, and weighing up pros and cons, we looked at a few motorhomes/campervans and caravans at one dealership last week, and made some tentative decisions. Our joint reference is for a campervan, without the wider body common to coachbuilt motorhomes, and without the limitations of a caravan.
We want it to be comfortable for 2 and capable of managing occasionally with 4 people, and having a ‘bathroom’ with toilet and shower. The design that caught our eyes was a Fiat Ducato conversion with a bed on the roof accomplished with a pop-top. It seems several brands offering similar designs: Eldiss/Compass CV80, Hymer Free 540 & Free 600, and Dreamer Fun 43 UP and 55 UP. The one we saw and liked was a Compass CV80, which seemed ideal - but at some 2.9m tall looked huge from the front! It was a 6m long one - almost 20ft - and that concerns me because it is a long body to get around in some tight places, and on paper I am attracted to the shorter 5.4m (18ft) version that Hymer and Dreamer do, though inevitably tighter for space inside. Some of the others are slightly lower as well at 2.7m. However, Hymer seems rather pricey compared to the others (though all are expensive).
Does anyone have experience of these designs?
Some pics for those unfamiliar:
The Compass 6m we saw:
And the Dreamer 5.4m layout (with similar roof bed):
The European tour is approaching 
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That does look lovely, and we gaze longingly at them on campsites. But we’d never own one. We tend to go to sites for a few days, or even a couple of weeks, and then travel to places in the car. People with motor homes very rarely take them out for the day, but go out on bikes or the bus, or sit inside watching TV like dullards. A 6m motor home makes it very hard to get into small towns and villages. So that’s why we have Dora. Towing is a bit of a drag but once you get there you can leave her and go out in the car to visit places. Upstairs beds can be good but as you get older do you really want to clamber up, and then clamber down when you need a wee in the small hours?
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The previous Jack Russell and I used to spend at least six months a year in France.
We had one of these.
Auto sleeper, Nuevo ek. Well screwed together and with a good resale value.
Not sure anything smaller would have worked for long periods.
Room to dry clothing in wet weather. Doesn’t have qualities similar to a Bosch oven when left in the sun shine.
Anything larger would have been less manoeuvrable and stress inducing on small roads.
We used mainly municipal and France Passion sites.
I sense the ability to park a camping car off site in the U.K. becomes more and more difficult.Aldborough park up and buyfish and chips to eat on the long arm had just been banned when I finished and sold up.
N
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No personal experience but I know three people with variations from this firm.
One got a large one (!), the other two smaller ones. All are tremendously happy with them and even I, as a home on wheels sceptic, am quite impressed.
By chance we were talking to a chap yesterday who was convinced enough to abandon his VW deposit (and waiting time) and switch to one, so I guess they must have something!
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Imho, having owned an Elddis, i avoided the make when we bought our new van. Cheap fixtures and fittings being the main problem.
Our current van is a Pilote, which i am pleased with but it does also have some minor issues, however the van itself is well engineered and feels like it will last.
Hymer/rapido have a good reputation for quality, but i have not viewed their panel van ranges.
Oh and the Ducato cabs have just been refreshed, if your buying new, it may be worth making sure its the new style.
Thanks for all latest responses - very much appreciated!
@anon4489532, a caravan is very tempting, your model in particular ticking many boxes. The points you raise are well made: we envisage parking up and travelling a lot by e-bikes, though indeed their range is limited and if we wanted to go out in the van even the 18ft version would be very tight in small villages etc (and it would mean packing up home just to go out for the day).
I looked up your the Eriba, and it is very tempting, thought to have space for 2 extra people gets too large - however the 530, or maybe vebpn better the 430 should be very good for just the two of us. Against that it means the hassle of towing, including lower speed, and my wife is very uneasy about driving with something like that to tow. From a different angle, where we live on an island one possibility with a campervan is just to go and spend the night at the other end of the island, or to take the telescope to a good viewing location, set it up to cool down, or taking long photos, an dsit in the van having a cup of tea and reading for a couple of hours (the telescope rather large to do that as well with a car. I suspect we wouldn’t do either with a caravan - but not completely ruled out yet.
Regarding up and down the ladder, the campervans we’re considering have a downstairs double bed that can be left made, so once we become to old and decrepit to manage upstairs safely, the can be reserved for our companions on the odd occasions when we sons or whoever join us.