lady considering leaving it all behind, is the way to go a campervan or would it drive me mad? is it possible to hire someone to tow my van. i am a confident driver but have never tried towing and parking a vehicle. how much do caravan parks charge a night

well hello Patricia and welcome to the forum, depending on finances, if I was a single young attractive female (such as yourself) I would lean towards a motorhome, something like a ford 21' Winnebago, oh now I hear you saying "gawd love a duck thats to big for me" but actually they are no harder to drive than a car just start out in the less populated areas of Australia, south aust., northern territory, western Australia or even out the back of Queensland until you "tame the beast" once you get to know all it's foibles then you will fall in love with it and take it anywhere with confidence I dont think you would enjoy a campervan, the making up and putting away of the bed is a constant drain, and to tow a van is an art all to itself and besides you really dont want to rely on someone shifting your rig for you caravan parks vary enormously, one could conceivably pay from $5 per night to $120 per night, the closer one gets to the east coast then the cost rises exponentially, but with a self contained motorhome you can quite easily "free camp" there is a big loud mouthed, long winded feller on this forum who knows a bit about free camping, oh thats right it's ME!!!! anything you wish to know on that subject just ask, and we will make something up that should sound plausible

Hi Patricia and welcome to the forum. Before making a decision it would be wise to test a few options that you think will suit your intended plans. Eventually when I head off I will use a van and 4 wd so I can leave the van and head off to more remote locations or at least have the ability to. If you already have a van is it suited/size and condition to what you want to do ? If it is maybe you could hire a suitable tow vehicle ,get a lesson or two on parking and backing and take off for a couple of weeks as a test. Your questions should get lots of comments particularly from the solo ladies/gents out there i think. Mike

Hi, welcome to the forum. Yes for a single femm fatale I'd go for the motorhome solution, easy to drive, self contained less hassle than towing.
If you go down this route then you would find that most people who sell these new will give you a lesson or 2 in driving it but these days most are automatic turbo diesel. If you are inexperienced I'd stick to new unless you have a trusted male associate who can give the vehicle a check over or it has a motoring association check done.

I hate to disagree with TWO gurus, but I am not convinced of the preference for motorhomes. IMHO, the use of a motorhome restricts your mobility too much. There you are, nicely set up in a campground, C park etc, and you need a litre of milk or the morning paper, and you have to fire up the rig to go into town. (unless, of course if you have a big rig towing a small vehicle). In addition, there are some places you are going to miss in your travels because you lose the opportunity to drop the van at a park and take off with your vehicle to access areas which are 4WD only. I have found my little van (13 foot living area, 18 foot overall) is a breeze to park, reverse, and set up. I can LITERALLY be tucked up in bed in 2 minutes from turning the engine off, and no more than 10 minutes to pack up in the morning from an overnight stop. May I respectfully suggest that the first thing you should consider doing is borrow or hire several vehicles (Motorhome, Camper Trailer, Campervan and Caravan) over the near future and see which you prefer. If it is your intent to stay mainly in Caravan Parks, I hope you're well-heeled. At an average of $30 a night, that's $10,950 a year and a lot of parks are dearer than that, especially during peak periods. Mike

Hi Patricia and welcome.
you are going to receive so much advice you will probably go into overload.
Met a lady last year who just started solo and was on her first trip. She was towing an A Van behind a small 4 cylinder car.
Before i could ask if she wanted any help, she had popped this A Van up,tied her big Alsation
to a tree (the side my van was parked) and was making coffee. Took about 5 minutes.
Suggest you wait for the GN ladies to reply as they may be aware of concerns that we mere males are oblivious.

John

Hi, being a single 60 something female and having travelled for 18 months I am more than happy with my 13 foot off road caravan and Nissan Xtrail. Goes wherever I want, easy to tow and as I prefer to stay a week or longer in most places, I can set up comfortably and come "home" from a day away without having to pack and unpack each time. Have met single women with motorhomes, several were looking at the caravan option because of the above reasons. Hope this helps and good luck.
Cheers Helen

give over dave, if i was a single young attractive female, would i be wasing my time writing in a grey nomads column?

You bloody well tell em Pat.

Just grab the bloody wheelbarra luv, throw a couple of wheat bags in it for a swag, toss in the billy an tea, a few pound a flour, some water, and chain the dog to the front (let the bludger do some work). 
An yer on ya way.

I'll lend ya a camp oven an a rabbit trap, an ya use the barra for a wind brake and at chair the same time, what more da ya want.
An if I spot ya on the wallaby, wecanaveayarn.
HooRoo. ps get a good at an a mob a corks.
Can't blame ya given Melbourne ya back.
pps An ya as young as ya wanna be.

-- Edited by Road Ranger at 06:48, 2009-03-10

hate to bore you with my life story, but during my childhood actually lived like that, i still get nightmares whenever anyone mentions camping. but i would like to see some of australia as i have been overseas quite often, so am striving to overcome my post traumatic stress syndrome, re camping.

Hi Pat,
I went for the Campervan option, as I'm not comfortable towing, and not confidant enough for a larger rig. The Hi-ace is very easy to drive,[couldn't believe it when after a 10 hour drive back home when I picked it up, I got out, and felt as though I'd been sitting in an armchair all day.] and park. Another big factor for me, was the ability to just slip into the drivers' seat, and take off if I was uncomfortable at any time, without having to pack things up before I could get away.
Cheers,
xina.

-- Edited by xina at 16:47, 2009-03-10

very interesting zina, have you had any car problems. whilst overseas my spouse and i had a hiace and had many mechanical problems with it. but it was a very nifty van and very light to drive