I’ve been thinking about doing this from about 3 days after being made redundant. I have been working since I completed my A-Levels at 19, so this is the first time I have the opportunity to take some extended ‘leave’ in nearly 20 years! That means, I’ve been searching the internet for potential caravans for a couple of weeks to see what’s out there and what I can get for my limited budget.
I can’t afford a brand new caravan and to be honest, for my first van, I don’t need a new one. I love a bit of vintage and would rather love a used caravan well, than invest a lot of money in a brand spanking new caravan and hurting it as I learn how to do this!
First priority was to get my Dad on the case with me (he has been caravanning for about 40 years and has bought a few in his time) so we went to a few places to take a look, compare the prices and quality of second hand vans and get the best deal as quickly as possible because I’m impatient to get going!
I ended up buying my van from White Arches in Rushden. The starter pack included in the price gave me all the basic equipment I needed to start out and they had the full service history of the caravan and were great to deal with, agreeing to a few requests we had and happy to fix a few small issues.
So, here she is! My Abbey Freestyler (2002) caravan.
Just one careful owner before me, and was clearly really well looked after. She will be ready to pick up on the 3rd August, fully serviced and ready to go – excited!
One (wo)man and her (cara)van 