The long-awaited feedback on the Isabella Cirrus Air 400 awning has taken me slightly longer than I anticipated, and I can only apologise for that. The truth is I simply became overwhelmed with what I wanted to discuss and document. In fact, because I wanted to compare it with our other awnings and be completely fair to this awning, I decided to not just create a video but a companion blog that goes into far greater detail. So, after the holiday, Angela and sat down and made a list of all the awnings that we could compare against this Isabella. It would be so easy for me to say, this awning is ..read more

I alluded to the fact that the relationship between the car and myself is not a happy one in a recent video. And, several months later on, I can confirm that we were not on speaking terms until very recently. Ok, so to make it very clear, the car starts, drives and stops. Up until last week, the car has been riddled with many small faults that have accumulated to the point of me not enjoying the experience of the new tow car, and if truth be told the confidence in the car was at an all-time low. So in no particular order here are the issues, some of which I have fixed, some are still on going ..read more

The caravan VIN or sometimes referred to as the CRIS number or indeed the chassis number holds a lot of useful information about the caravan. I recently made a video about the very subject. Below is a written version of that video, where I explain what the VIN is, what information it holds and how you can use it – but of course if you just like the video version well here it is.       The Caravan VIN The VIN will be dotted around the caravan. It will be stamped onto the A Frame, either etched onto or have a no-tamper sticker on windows and can be found in some gas lockers. The ..read more

It’s that time of year where the Caravan, camping and Motorhome show is preparing to open its doors once again. After a hiatus for what seems years the show is returning to the NEC. Although there are some notable absences to who is exhibiting at the show, the overwhelming demand on tickets and what looks to be a record setting attendance really does show how popular the leisure industry has become in recent times. Of course, we have to thank the one thing that has caused the cancellation of the last few shows. Indeed the pandemic caused a record surge in demand for caravans, motorhomes and ca ..read more

It seems lately all I’ve discussed on this site is the trials and tribulations of our tow car, so to keep the rhythm and theme, here is another one. This time, it’s good news. We have finally bought a Volkswagen Touareg. It is difficult to say correctly and spell for me, however, I collected the car this weekend. It is the 3 litre TDI V6 variant and in a fortunate turn of events has a detachable towbar too. So, surly this means we can get out in the caravan next weekend, doesn’t it? I asked a question in the form of a poll on twitter asking if you’d have any hesitation buying a car that alrea ..read more

Do you ever have times in your life when you just mutter to yourself “Give me a break” or experience runs of bad luck that no end of logic or analysing will help solve what’s going on? Be warned, this is a long post, I can’t seem to separate the topic, its all quite integral, so grab a cuppa and let me begin. It’s Saturday 30th October, and Angela would like to visit Glastonbury. We’ve never been and would like to spend a day out in the Somerset town. Full of good eating options, holistic shops and being just over an hour’s drive, why not. Chloe is staying at home as she has some homework she ..read more

Caravans are pretty useless without a tow vehicle. They are even more impractical with a broken tow car. At the end of last year, I spectacularly broke my car. One of the turbos decided to let go, pulling oil through the core, into the intercooler out the exhaust and filling the DPF with all manner of goodness, it was (at the time) conceived to be terminal. I managed to “break” the car whilst towing in single lane traffic whilst on route to a weekend away. Once recovered, the quote I received from my trusted garage was around the £4,000 mark to fix the issue. The value of the car simply made t ..read more

Be honest, when you are sat waiting for something how often does the Guinness surfer advert of the 90s run through the back of your mind? “Waiting, that’s what he does….Tick followed tock followed tick..” supplemented by that amazing soundtrack of Leftfield… yeah, I recall it often. Today is just one of those occasions, I’m sat in a waiting room, about to meet a man about a dog. This dead time waiting for someone has given me space to consider the recent announcement of the new rules on towing a trailer. To understand what has happened, we need to know what was in place and how this now effect ..read more

I’ve just finished watching the Bafta winning drama Chernobyl again on Sky Atlantic, and there is a line of dialogue delivered by the late Paul Ritter in episode one “Not Great, not terrible” and this sums up our year thus far. No matter how I fudge the figures, no matter how I try to convince myself it’s okay, the fact is we have only used the caravan for 8 nights so far this year. At the point of writing this article, that’s 8 nights out of 111 possible nights we could have used the caravan in 2021. So, what on earth has happened? The reason isn’t as clear as “COVID”, I mean that would be an ..read more

Caravan holiday bookings continue to rise, and with interest in Certificated Locations becoming ever more popular, a new website and App dedicated to CL site bookings has recently been launched. I had a brief conversation with Ted Howard-Jones one of the team of people behind this new venture to get more information about the new system.     Hello Ted, so first off introduce yourself Hi Dan, well, I’m a farmer who has diversified my small farm and one of our enterprises is a CL. In a former life, I was in marketing and app development. 6 years ago I helped to set up the CL Owners Gro ..read more