Every year Mrs Adams and I watch Glastonbury Festival on television. Every year Mrs Adams makes some remark about how it would be nice to go along with the kids.
Whenever such remarks are made, I find myself staring at her in disbelief, an ugly expression on my face. Although I haven’t done either for a number of years, I have extensive experience of both Glastonbury and camping. I can think of little worse than to combine a rock festival, young children, sleeping in a tent and all the hygiene issues this raises (yes, I’m fully aware that comment will attract the ire of many readers but it’s how I feel).
You see Mrs Adams has never been to Glastonbury Festival. Until last week, she had also never been camping.
Last week’s camping trip came about because we were offered the opportunity to use a motorhome for a few days. It was made available to us by a rental specialist called Motorholme.
A break of this nature isn’t the kind of thing I would normally do, but it seemed like a great way to introduce Mrs Adams to the concept of camping. I also thought the kids would love the experience.
Thankfully I was proved correct on both counts. Here’s what happened.
The motorhome was ginormous. It was a Chasusson Flash 25. It measured 8m in length, was 2.3 metres wide and 3.2 metres tall. Throughout the course of the weekend there were many, many bad jokes about the film from From Dusk Til Dawn, which stars George Cooney, Quentin Tarantino and Salma Hayek. In particular there were many comparisons between me and the winnebago-driving pastor Jacob Fuller who battled fearlessly against the vampires within the Titty Twister bar (if you’re not familiar with the film, here’s a synopsis).
The vehicle could accommodate seven. There were bunk beds at the back for the kids, a comfortable double bed over the cab for Mrs Adams and I and by re-arranging the rear seating you could create another double and single bed.
For this particular venture, we visited Fairfield Farms campsite in Westham, near Pevensey in East Sussex. We went along with our good friends Howard and Beth and their young daughter. These guys are hardened campers and stayed alongside us in their own tent.
Our home on wheels had a fridge, small fridge freezer compartment, gas-powered grill and hob, small kitchen area with sink, chemical lavatory, shower and TV/DVD player (oh, and a USB jack for charging wireless devices). In theory it also had hot running water but I couldn’t figure out how to make this work.
It was a bit claustrophobic at times but it was very comfortable and met our needs well. As for the kids, they loved it. Having bunk beds, neither child was particularly keen on going to sleep at night but once they did drift off, they slept for longer than they do at home.
There were ducks, geese, cunie cunie pigs, ponies and sheep on the campsite. We went for several walks to visit the animals and also spent a day visiting both Pevensey Bay beach and Bexhill on Sea.
I’m not too sure how or why, but Helen, my eldest, developed a love of football on this trip. I think it was possibly having a large expanse of land to play on without the risk of accidentally sending a ball into a neighbour’s garden.
There was some rain during our brief stay. Having a kettle and somewhere to sit down and have a cup of tea in the dry made quite a difference.
Would we go away using a motorhome again? I think the answer is yes. Two nights was probably about the correct length of time. In fact Mrs Adams has even made noises about sleeping under canvas (albeit in a destination like the South of France).
I can see many practical uses for a motorhome. Apparently they’re used quite a lot on film shoots or at exhibitions or shows when people need to live on site for a couple of days. As it happens we have a wedding to go to later this year. We’ve been advised that accommodation could be an issue and we’re seriously considering hiring a motorhome to get around this. It would give us space to store clothes, cook our own meals and avoid running up huge bills eating out.
In terms of cost, you can hire a motorhome for as little as £99 but for our trip it would have cost several hundred pounds. There are, however, many different variables and different packages available so you can probably find something that meets your needs.
Disclosure; A motorhome was provided to us for the duration of the trip by Motorholme. Thoughts and opinions are my own.
33 thoughts on “Camping in the luxury of a motorhome”
I have a slightly geeky obsession with running one of these – or something like it – one day.
Does the hire company deliver and collect? Strikes me it could be awkward if you have to cart the kids to and from a collection depot.
I must say I don’t know about delivery and collection. You’d be surprised Tim, there are at least two locations within a 20 minute drive of your locality where you can collect a vehicle.
id love to own a motor home, but the cost just ends that thought right there. You say it sleeps 7, we are a family of 7 and only ever went away once in those numbers and never again, then we stayed in hotels, its not possible for two adults to manage 5 kids, seriously. I also cant imagine what it would be like if it rained with that many people in such a small space. i think the ideal number for camping is 2 and that would be just me, exploring northern Europe with the dog for a couple of weeks.
I do agree with you about combining festivals, camping and kids, very sensible
My word, going away with two is enough of a struggle. Going away with seven….wow. I certainly wouldn’t have attempted that with a motorhome. Interestingly, while researching this piece I noticed several moto home rental companies have actually parked their fellts INSIDE the perimeter of some rock festivals and you can buy an all-inclusive ticket that includes rental of a motor home!
Ok now THIS is my kind of camping! Looks fabulous – a far cry from sleeping under canvas and dodging rain clouds!
It was fun, although two days was enough. That said, I’m not sure the double bed was actually bigger than the one we have at home!
I’ve always fancied trying a motorhome! I am most definitely not a camper, although my family love it. I went to Glastonbury when I was 18 and loved it, but I have no urge to camp again (which is why the Wychwood Festival is so great for us, we can go home!). We’ve been on holiday on my MIL’s canal boat a couple of times, which I suspect is similar to a motorhome and I loved it. Sadly the rest of my family didn’t, so that will never happen again!
Hehe. I keep saying we should go camping… perhaps at a festival… with the kids. And then not actually doing it. Wonder why?
But I would like to own a caravan or similar. No space to put it though. For some reason it hadn’t occurred to me that they might be hirable. Huh. Must investigate!
I’ve always been tempted by a motor home too, but maybe a smaller one as I guess the one you had was pretty fuel intensive. We hired a VW campervan back when the kids were small and they could sleep on a shelf but there’s no way we’d all fit in one nowadays! #countrykids
That looks fab, I’d love to try out a motorhome, so would my kids! I’ve camped at Glastonbury-the toilet experience was enough to put me off ever doing camping there again 🙂
Oh Glastonbury toilets. Whenever I went I opted for constipation and hedgerows whenever possible.
I don’t have many things in common with Mrs A but I too have never been camping or attended Glastonbury so I was really fascinated by this Post. Camping is one of things that we keep promising to do but I have never been brave enough to go straight to Canvas.This could be the perfect introductory point, a type of Glamping that can accommodate the kids! But the Van looks huge – does it feel like you’re driving a bus and where does everyone sit when it’s on the road?!
It’s an option I think we may just consider. Great review & I love the photos & film references, v funny x
Oh it was fun to drive but you need to be confident! It felt very weird driving the family car afterwards. You see the seat where I’m sat reading stories? There are seatbelts there for car seats etc. That’s where the little ones sat during the journey. My advice; take it easy, go for one or two nights and stay reasonably close to home. That said, some of the more enterprisin motorhome specialists have actually parked their fleets INSIDE the grounds of some music festivals and you can buy tickets that include motorhome rental! Probably not ideal for a first time camper though.
Like others before me I have also been intrigued about motorhomes. I am a bit of high maintenance kinda gal, in that I don’t sleep well when I’m not in my own bed. How comfy or not was the adults bed?
Thanks
Katrina #CountryKids
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I am a big camping fan – we have a beautiful bell tent, and have done several trips with our now 2 1/2 year old the past two summers. Looking forward to the first one of this summer in a few weeks! Having said all that, we’re seriously considering looking into a campervan. It wouldn’t be quite as kitted out as your motorhome but I think especially if we’re going to have a second kid to think about (some day!) tents do have their limitations… And even as an avid festival goer I would definitely veto Glasto in a tent with kids! Unless it was glamping… Maybe… 🙂
Oddly I used to own a campervan (about 20 years ago, long before having kids). It drank fuel but I had such fun. Glad to hear an experienced festival goer and camper agrees with my approach to Glastonbury! I am not alone. Have a good trip.
Renting an RV is on our must-do list… I actually love camping, but I’m very much a fair-weather camper, so this appeals to me! We did loads of caravan holidays when I was a kid, and I loved it 🙂 This looks like it could be a lot of fun x
As I said Srar, not the kind of thing we’d normally do, but this was such good fun. The toddler still talks abnout it now!
Awww this is my dream. We always go camping but sometimes if its raining too much it could be a drag! #countrykids
It rained while we were away and stayed perfectly dry. It was glorious! The other benefit over tents is that you can close all the windows and the vehicle stays dark so you don’t get woken ridiculously early.
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Thank you for sharing this John. Your post on availing motorhome hire in London has inspired me to get one for my upcoming trip to Italy. The conveniences you’ve mentioned here are exactly what I am looking for. Having a motorhome while travelling will not only provide me with a means of transportation, but it will also give me a comfortable place to stay in.
Enjoy your trip to Italy. I hope it goes well.
This looks awesome!! Think i’ll be off there in my campervan next year..
It was a really fun experience and we’ve been talking about hiring a motorhome again as it happens.
This looks amazing!
This is very good informative post about Motorhome!
Thank you ever so much for commenting. I am delighted to hear you enjoyed the article.
Worthy Read! The experience shared by you gives the absolute Budget Campervan in Scotland feel of camping and roaming round the roads in a luxury motorhome.
Thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts.