First, try out your new caravan at a campsite. Use it for a few days and see how you get on with it. Also, observe what other caravan owners have. It’s great fun to walk around a campsite and have a cheeky stare.

Change the mattresses

It took us only one night to realise that the mattresses that came with our caravan were really uncomfortable – think concrete hard. A quick trip to Ikea provided an easy solution. Unzip the covers from the original caravan mattresses as you will need these. Then put the foam part of your new IKEA mattresses inside the original mattress cases. The mattress size in the caravan is an odd size – in ours it’s something like 75cm whereas a standard single mattress might be 90cm wide. Mark the new width with a pen on the foam mattress and simply cut away the extra foam using a large, sharp non-serrated kitchen knife.

Reconfigure the “U-Seating”

Most caravans come with seating arranged around a dining table, usually at one end. In our case, we have bunk beds at the other end for the children. The children’s end also had a small table. At night, you need to lower the dining table, lay out the seat back cushions on top of the table and it forms your double bed. We found this to be uncomfortable because of the gaps between the cushions. Our solution was again Ikea. We bought some wooden lats, cut them to size, and then added a mattress. Again, we cut the mattress to size. Then we had a ‘permanent’ double bed. The small table in the children’s area was sufficient for our dining needs as most of the time we ate outside. It worked well even for winter camping.

Add a carbon monoxide and smoke detector

For peace of mind, buy a carbon monoxide detector. In the very, very unlikely event that the gas flue is blocked, you will be warned if the levels of CO are rising. You can buy combi units that include a smoke detector and temperature. It is very useful and you’ll always sleep better. (In case you are wondering about the flue – this is the chimney from the heating system. When it snows a lot, there is a risk that the snow blocks the chimney and the waste gases (CO, CO2, etc) back down into the van; hence for winter camping you always buy an extension piece for the chimney if you expect snow).

Air Conditioning unit

This is the subject of another post, but if you are handy, you can remove one of the sky lights and replace it with an air conditioning unit. It’s not as hard as it sounds. Having air-conditioning was a game changer when camping in places like Sardinia. Granted, it is somewhat noisy inside, although not too much from the outside that it would disturb your neighbours. It does add wieght.

Television and Satellite

When the children were very young, this was essential especially on those winter evenings when we would all bundle up on our bed to watch a programme together. Plus, I couldn’t miss the finale of Downton Abbey. We had a TV on a bracket and a rotating dish on the roof. But more recently, a 4G SIM card and a Netflix/Amazon Prime/YouTube subscription superseded this. Everyone wanted to watch something different. The downside of the TV and satellite dish is the extra weight. Some campsites have cable TV you can plug into. Or you can bring a stand-up satellite dish and place it somewhere on your pitch. But our observations are that this is (nowadays) all a waste of money. Retailers of caravans love it when you buy this very expensive option. Best avoid and put the money into an air conditioner and a decent awning.

Roll out Awning

Awnings are the subject of another post. But: it is a very good investment to buy an awning that is permanently mounted on the side or top of the caravan. Then, within a minute you can roll it out. It is best to get an awning at the time of buying a caravan because you want the dealer to mount it for you. If mounting it, ensure you mount it on the side just below the top beading rail – not on the caravan roof. The latter just invites rain ingress at a later stage when the waterproofing around the fixing bolts ages. The downside of a roll-out awning is again the added weight, but also the fact that you must bring it in the moment it gets windy. Excellent brands of roll out awnings are the Thule Omnistor range. Our take: get it.

What not to customise

Do not attempt to modify the gas system yourself under any circumstance. This means for heating, refrigeration (by gas), and boiler – you should seek out a service partner.

Do not block the fresh air vents which are often quite big openings at both ends and usually placed in a locker. These have a metal grill to prevent critters coming in but must remain unblocked at all times even in Winter. It’s really tempting to think “ooh, that’s cold” and put a blanket or something over them. Don’t do that!

Fancy alloy wheels. Don’t bother. Steel is good enough. Aluminium (alloy) wheels cost more and they deteriorate the moment you take the van winter camping due to the salt on the roads.

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