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CAMPER TRAILERS - WORTH THE INVESTMENT?

It’s no secret in our household that my wife likes her comforts (think bubble baths, feather pillows and running water). It was this love of all things luxury that saw us invest in a camper trailer when our youngest was just a few months old. 10 years on and it is still as functional as the day we got it (although we don’t use the walls and annexes as much as when we had 2 small children both running in opposite directions).

We’ve considered selling it as it only gets used once every couple of years, but the resale value would not be worth anything near the $15,000 we initially paid. While it’s possible to get camper trailers much cheaper than this, it’s also possible to get caught up in the options and spend way more than double this amount depending on your requirements.

While the extra storage, comfy bed, running water and kitchen sink are very welcome, camper trailers definitely have their drawbacks. The biggest issue for us, is the time it takes to fully set up and pack up camp. It can be up to 2 hours or more for one person (when the second adult is running interference on kids who just want to either explore every centimetre of a new campsite or get home to their wifi and electronics).

While a couple of hours isn’t so bad when you plan to stay for more than a few nights or a week in one place, if you are trying to cover a large amount of ground every day, pulling up at camp on dark for a 2 hour set up and packing up at first light ends up being a mission. We found that at times like these we preferred to stay in cabins or hotels along the way because we just couldn’t face the pack up and set up every day.

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So, if you’ve decided a camper trailer is worth the investment for your family, where to next? I always recommend people go to the 4WD and camping shows held a couple of times a year so you can get a feel for the different options available and work out what will work best for you. Do you want a soft floor or hard floor, inbuilt stove or benchtop stove, fridge in the kitchen or in the car? Looking at the different options will help you decide what is going to work best for you and your family. Exhibitors usually have their best deals on offer during these shows so it’s definitely worth waiting until you go to make your purchase.

Work out how much you want to spend before you go as it’s easy to get caught up in all the shiny extras and add-ons that look great but you might not actually use. I always recommend going on the first day of the show (usually a Friday when the kids are at school) as the exhibitors seem to have more time to answer questions and show you their products than on the crazy busy weekend days full of “tyre kickers” and people just looking.

If you are in Brisbane, my favourite camping show of the year is the pre-Easter camping, boating and 4WD show held at the RNA showgrounds. It’s got all the big exhibitors and most of the 4WD royalty doing presentations each day. Below are some photos from this year’s show.

Get exploring!

Hanko