Do you go camping enough ?

[Rob C]

Well this is a very interesting subject.
We are lucky that we get away every month on RDO weekends and generally a weekend in between.
As my wife is retired she is convinced that it is not enough.
I have only 12 months to go till we can go anytime.
I think that every one is different and you buy a camper with good intentions but life's struggles change plans. I,m sure that when you use your CT any thought of what it cost will not come into your mind. If it sits in the driveway all year all the stresses are forgotten when you back up and hook up for your special trip. To take the family somewhere special forgoes what it might cost.

Rob

[PenUltimate Destinations]

I'm satisfied we use it enough to justify it, at about 6 weeks per year for the past 5 years. Not too bad considering we both work full time and have 2 young kids.

The best part is that the kids love it. Every holidays they want to know where we are going, what we're going to see. That stuff's priceless. And it is also fantastic for the relationship with the Mrs - I'm blessed that she loves it as much as I do, and we just get to hang out and spend time together.

In that perspective, cost is irrelevant.

[shrek4]

The best part is that the kids love it. Every holidays they want to know where we are going, what we're going to see. That stuff's priceless. And it is also fantastic for the relationship with the Mrs - I'm blessed that she loves it as much as I do, and we just get to hang out and spend time together.

In that perspective, cost is irrelevant.

This. X 100

Yep, we're lucky to be able to buy a new off road caravan which we hope will last us many years to come. Not bad for us given we're still young (me 35, mrs shriek a tad older) so, many years to left to go  camping with kids (4 and and make lots of memories. Looking forward to it.

[mjharps]

We average about 5-6 weeks per year I guess.

We keep a pretty good log of our travels and actually do tally how much it has cost us per night! Even though the numbers start out frightening, with each trip the cost per night drops.

The smiles of the kids faces and the adventures we share as a family make every cent worth it.

And like most of you, our camper and camping planning is as much of a hobby as it is a family adventure.

[Dueller]

We get out and about once a month but not always with the camper. I don't see the trailer as a financial investment, rather it's more of a lifestyle improvement. My 4WD an camper give me quality time away from the daily grind and we like the fact that it's ours and setup the way we want with all our gear ready to go. It's a hobby that I enjoy tinkering with in the shed on those rainy days and it's a home with all the creature comforts I need when we can get away for extended periods of time. I never thought of myself buying a camper trailer but now we have we are glad we took the plunge and have not one single regret other than not doing it earlier! At the very least it's opened the doors on a new lifestyle and being ours, ready to roll, it's a great motivator/ excuse to hit the road more often than not. So no we don't go camping as much as we like but ill say yes to being a great investment in our lives.

Cheers,
Matt

[Redback]

We've been averaging twice a month for 11yrs, I reckon that justifies buying ours, although this year not so much.

It's pointless having a camper if you only use it once or twice a year, you can hire one for less.

Baz.

[Beachman]

On average ours is used for 3 weeks of the year, then another week or so in a tent for overnight trips up the beach.

Is it enough to justify it’s initial cost, probably not. But when we get a day or two of rain while camping then that alone justifies the initial purchase price as the kids and wife are dry and happy. So if they are happy I’m happy.

[tk421]

I've never bothered to work out the costs and monetary worth. There's other qualitative benefits to getting out that some have mentioned - time with kids, new experiences, recharge out of the rat race).  There's also hidden costs of staying at home you forget about. We are a family of 5 so one trip to the cinema in Sydney is not cheap, and a day trip to Taronga costs over $120. School holidays get expensive. So even a few weeks a year is worth it IMO, for more than just money.

We are planning to get out more since our recent acquisition. Aiming at least two weeks long trip once a year and a few weekends in between. Sydney>Fraser via New England highway last year, NE Tassie this year, Syd>Adelaide via the Darling River Run next year etc etc. Our kids love getting out even though iThingies are banned on camping weekends. They still talk regularly about our Uluru to Darwin trip 3 years ago.

We've also got a permanent van on the NSW South coast. We really need to use that once a month to justify the park fees. But we usually are down there for a weekend every couple of months and spend 1-2 weeks and Xmas and 1-2 weeks at Easter there. Those 4 weeks pay for itself if you look at hiring a house/cabin over the same period.  Its an extravagance, but being 300m stroll to the beach on the edge of a National Park, but away from the school holiday crowds down in tent city is gold.

So with that and the CT, we'll have a lot of great family experiences over the coming years, but a really crappy looking garden

[gutters]

Not trying to be morbid, but we look at it with the view that in 10 years our kids wont want to know us, so we get out and about with them while we can enjoy it.
Then we have an asset that we can use to enjoy our lives when they are doing their own thing.

x2 this is exactly our approach, getting ready to head off again this afternoon.

[shakey55]

We're the same.
If $$$ were the limiting factor, we wouldn't own one, or the boat, or V8 Hilux, the Missus would drive a Prius not a V8, I wouldn't go fishing, racing or drink beer either.  (life would really suck if I lived like that)
But I choose too, so I pay.

Shane I'm with you.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[theins]

Bought ours last year for a 3 month trip.

Looked at selling it afterwards, but finally decided against it.

Currently we are averaging a weekend a month - not enough for our liking but that's what we can manage with Life/Work balancing issues...

Thought about it from a financial perspective - and the way I am looking at it is that if we continue to average a weekend a month it is financially worth it.. The problem with this approach is that you can't put a value on waking up in a national park or on a beach somewhere.. 

Our tent setup took significantly longer than out camper so would not want to go back..

Having the camper sitting in the driveway also allows us to be flexible. Though not planned we will now go up to the Big Red Bash in July...

So - no regrets and worthwhile... wish we could be out more often....

[Bird]

Currently we are averaging a weekend a month

I reckon that's more than double many of us on here.

[theins]

I reckon that's more than double many of us on here.

Still feels like it is not often enough.. Given the small amount of time it takes to set our camper up (hardfloor) we found that even an overnighter somewhere is worthwhile.. It is always prepared that we essentially only have to put some food and - more importantly - drinks in the fridge and we are ready to go..

[loanrangie]

Not enough but then my trailer cost less than a set of big tyres so no big deal if it doesnt get used enough.
 I wanted to get away over the summer time but a badly broken leg had me laid up for 3 months and now its catch up time doing all the things i couldnt do before.
 Hope to get out more often this year.

[Artie01]

In a word...NO....but when I do the family and I love it, so bugger it, im keeping it.....the look on my kids faces during our camping trip at times is worth it to me..

Swanny

That about says it for me..... its all about us folks

[dirtpilot]

My golden rules when it comes to toys,

1. Never buy new

2. Never finance it

3. Look after it

Hiring sounds good but you need to book it, pick it up, put all your gear on board, clean it straight away afterwards, remove your gear and return it. Kind of defeats the purpose of a quick get away.

If you buy used, someone else has taken the $ hit and if you don't finance it, its only costing a bit of rego per year and maintence.

[dales133]

My golden rules when it comes to toys,

1. Never buy new

2. Never finance it

3. Look after it

Hiring sounds good but you need to book it, pick it up, put all your gear on board, clean it straight away afterwards, remove your gear and return it. Kind of defeats the purpose of a quick get away.

If you buy used, someone else has taken the $ hit and if you don't finance it, its only costing a bit of rego per year and maintence.

Couldn't agree more but I'd add a point before all those...try before you buy preferably.
I own alot less than some and more than others but I don't borrow money on anything other than vehicles and I never buy them new either

[Grahame]

I get away for about four weeks a year, three of those would be in the van. I'd love to do more but work gets in the way of life. For me, once I've made a decision to buy or do something I don't rationalise it any further. It goes to more than the CT or van, there's also the 4WD that doesn't get enough use to justify it financially either. The same goes for swimming pools, spas, and Thermomixes.

Anyway, as the old saying goes, at the end of the day, he who dies with the most toys wins.

[Barry G]

I get away for about four weeks a year, three of those would be in the van. I'd love to do more but work gets in the way of life. For me, once I've made a decision to buy or do something I don't rationalise it any further. It goes to more than the CT or van, there's also the 4WD that doesn't get enough use to justify it financially either. The same goes for swimming pools, spas, and Thermomixes.

Anyway, as the old saying goes, at the end of the day, he who dies with the most toys wins.

My Jackaroo and Heaslip are themselves a 'journey' of getting them to where I want.
They will eventually do some big trips, until then it is a series of 'shake down' trips to get it all together! 

[Palmer]

We are currently "between" our CT's (having sold our old one and waiting for our new one to arrive) and I can say that I really miss having it in the drive ready to go whenever we want.
I too once vowed that I'd never buy new, but the price difference between a new Jayco swan and one a couple of years old was bugger all so it's a new one for us.

[nab]

We average about 5-6 weeks a years away in the camper. We made a conscious effort to get away as much as possible after a crappy year a few years ago - we didn't go camping once and family/friend issues and deaths were unfortunately happening every couple of months. That changes your perspective a bit I reckon.

The kids (5,3 &1) absolutely love going camping. To be honest they would love spending time doing anything with me as I work a bit as we all do but when camping they have my full attention for the 3-days or 2-weeks we are out there. No phone reception means nothing to take away the enjoyment of seeing the kids having an absolute blast!!!

When we get home there is usually another day or two cleaning/drying it but that is part of the fun of camper ownership, as is the few days spent organising and packing beforehand.

I also have as much fun tinkering with it as I do using it so the enjoyment is not just limited to the actual time it is used.
I reckon if we only went away twice a year it would still be worth it!

[Campa]

Were lucky to have so many beautiful places in such close proximity to Brisbane for a quick weekend trip once a month, and usually we'll do a couple of longer trips during the year.

[achjimmy]

Best we got to with the Expanda was 55 nights away in one year.  But been busy with kids sport/school and reno's but hope to get away for a weekend every month plus a couple of week longs through the year. I happy with that given the return on investment etc.

Some of the trips money can't buy so no alternatives.

The boats another story, actually the fishing gear doesn't even justify itself so we won't go there!

[stiffbreeze]

Bought ours 2nd hand so don't mind if its sits in the garage more often than not.
Overall though, we probably use it 6 weeks a year - xmas, a random week roadtrip and plenty of weekend getaways. We also use it when we visit family as it's easier with the dog.

Likewise achlimmy, our tinny is worth 4 times what we paid for the camper and we take it out way less, so i guess value doesn't really matter at all for us. We enjoy both and keen to use more when life permits.

[duggie]

I have owed my Trackabout since new  (mid 2009), on average I/we use it six times a year , not enough, but that is all we can fit in. I bought a Trackabout because I knew that I was getting a quality built camp trailer that will last me for a long bloody time.

I will get many years out of my trailer and many many enjoyable trips away.

Too many people are over concerned about how much the resale of their camp trailer will bring them, rather than enjoying what they have and where they can go.

cheers duggie