HPJOS

So we have a tent, sleeping bags & air mattress, camp stove and cool box along with a few other camping necessities. Thing is we used to camp before we had the little chap, now I am a little apprehensive.

Our Canadian friends think we are mad camping with a small child in a tent and are trying to persuade us to buy a trailer. Now they all have motorhomes and fancy trailers with bump outs that are probably bigger square footage wise than our first apartment. We are being steered away from trailer tents in Alberta because of the cold nights, apparently they are colder than a tent because you are off the ground and have the wind whistling around underneath you.

We would also need to swap one of our cars for something that could tow said trailer, another thing I really am not so keen on, particularly as, let's face it, we're probably going to use the thing 5 -7 times over the summer months.

Not only is there the initial cost but the campsites are more expensive (for the hook-ups) we'd need to pay storage fees when not in use and you've got all the maintenance as well.

But they seem like a great option, especially as they have furnaces in them for those cold mountain evenings!
I also like the idea of being able to drive down to Yellowstone or other national parks in North America and holiday there.

So for those of you that have a trailer/motorhome, do you get as much use out of it as you thought? If buying again would you do anything different? Would you go for a used over brand new? Used seems like the way to go just because of the depreciation and also because they don't usually get that much use. What maintenance is required? Tank cleaning/wheels/brake costs?

Thanks in advance
Helen

dbd33

I've been camping in Canada and the US many times with various combinations of children and dog, once with a cat as a well. Apart from having to hoist your food up a pole it's just like camping in Europe or anywhere else. For what you'd give that up in order to create a traffic jam and be hated by all right minded people I cannot imagine.

Jingsamichty

Nooooooo!!!! North Americans can't even go camping without sticking a V8 engine on their tents.

Keep it real - stick with the tent. Camping with a tent in Alberta is great!!!!

Piff Poff

We bought an older Vanguard motorhome, with the visions of coming home from work on a Friday, grabbing some gear, locking the house and away you go. Sounds fair?

The reality was Grabbing gear, locking up house and then trawling around Central Alberta for hours to find a site with hook ups, then getting a site without, because all the others were taken, being totally disillusioned with it and super stressed out as your trying to cook something for supper at 10 pm, because it's taken so long to get sited.

Camp sites we have since found out can be booked up, upto a year in advance (especially over long weekends), if it's a campground where it's 1st come 1st served, then people go out mid week, to site their RV and pay extra nights to make sure they have something for the weekend.

Storage can be as little as $30 per month (which to me adds up to a lot over a year). Fuel cost for our older RV were And it took us three times the journey time to get anywhere. We decided to sack the idea of the camping lifestyle that year and sold our RV. We have since bought a caravan but it needs work so haven't used it yet and will hopefully sell it this year too (minus the work completed). We often say we will get a big 'ole RV when we retire and just mosey around, I'm not sure we will though.

AmyDavid

We had to buy a trailer to house us whilst some work was being done on our house. When we first bought it we were all excited that we would keep it and go camping in it over the Summer...after a while the novelty wore off and it has now been sold. I am now perusing the tents to find a nice new one to go camping in this year.

My kids were 18 months and 3 when we first camped and we have never had any problems tent camping with them. They love it and I think they get more out of tent camping than staying in a "home on wheels".

Bob

Don't know if it's an option, but quite a few KOA sites in America have teepee's for the tent camping experience, but a lot more room and homely as you can have heat in them...just an idea to think about.

dbd33

Beyond that, the Wig Wam Motel offers concrete teepees with heat and a bathroom.

HPJOS

Thanks everyone for opinions, I think we will try the tent option this year. If it is a disaster at least there's not thousands down the drain!

To dbd33, we are no slow coach on the roads here but are frequently overtaken by crazy people towing huge trailers and fifth wheels, but that's a whole other topic of dission all together...

Have a great weekend!
Helen

Chookie

the place we have booked a week at to camp this summer does teepees and trapper-style tents if you don;t want to take your own...

this is where we have booked http://www.sundancelodges.com/about.html

they do teepees and the trapper tents although we are taking our own... 4 kids, 2 adults, and 2 tents on the same pitch - should be fun!

flashman

Why not try renting? Some sites have rental trailers and cabins and you can rent motorhomes.

Madwife

I have never camped in North America but have camped since I was a baby in the UK and all over Europe, in both Tents and RV's.

I have camped with my kids as babies in Tents before I got my van!!! My van was stolen just before christmas and I was very very attached to it.

I am a fan of old style cavas tents and have a bell tent, it is not so much of a fire risk as those things that melt if pitched too close to the roaring campfire. It is heavy but very easy to put up and you can stand up in it, roll up the sides to air it during the day. For the cold nights have plenty of blankets above and below you, warm up the tent with your trustee camping cooker for 20 mins or so but be mindful of the fire risk. An hot water bottles are a must at least 2 each!!! depending on how old your babies are make them sleep together or with you and a hat at night will help.. My son has a fleece blanket that he wraps himself in then gets in his sleeping bag and sometimes has a sheepskin too either on top or below.

I will get a trailer like an airstream when I get to Canada to replace the van I had here in my affections!!! I had planned to keep my 1988 3.5 tonne Merc van here at my dads to come back to on trips back to the uk. She was the best she ran on recycled chip fat had solar electrics with a leisure battery and an inverter so I could use 3 pin plugs, no hook up needed although she had one. I had a gas cooker with an oven and a wood burning stove. Full size double bed with proper matress and 2 wooden bunks and there was still room for 2 or 3 more on the floor.

I am mending the zip on my bell tent at the moment and need a centre pole as it was nicked in the van!! But that is easy enough then in 4 week I will be camping in the garden of kent and then one more trip then hopefuly over to Canada if it all goes to plan.

So basicly just go with the tent for now and see how it goes, why should it be any different to the uk.

Enjoy,

Sarah x

dbd33

It gets colder. There's more wildlife to contend with.

gryphea

WE camp in Alberta in a tent. It can be chilly at nights, less so in BC.

Try and buy a tent with full fly cover and one that isn't entirely roofed with mesh (try to keep some warmth in)

AzzHoylander

I would recommend a trailer. We bought ours from the states - the same one in Canada was double the price. Check out terryfrazersrv.com they will deliver the trailer to any border crossing you choose. We use ours every weekend throughout the spring & Summer months and usually do our last trip on Thanksgiving. We went to Sugar Lake near Lumby BC last weekend -it was beautiful. Every weekend we pick a different lake and head off up into the mountains with other families that also have trailers. Most trailers in BC have the suspension lifted so you can take them up in the mountains to more remote lakes. As well as seeing lots of BC and Alberta we have also travelled down to California Disneyland via the Oregan coast and via Yosemite National Park on the way back. I can honestly say it is the best thing we have bought since moving out here.

heckler

Camping here is fantastic, nothing else quite like it.

I would suggest a trailier, even a cheap tent trailer over a tent with a child, however that being said in the right place, at nice time of year and tent would work too. Certainly a good way to get your feet wet.

Have fun