Camper trailers can be a great way to go if you’re looking to head out into the great blue yonder and explore what Australia has to offer. But if you’ve never done it before, you might be finding it hard to work out whether the camper trailer option is for you or if you’d be better off choosing another option.
When it comes to the great outdoors, there’s no lack of choice, and to a great extent, it depends on how ‘authentic’ an experience you’re looking for, in other words, how many creature comforts you’re willing to go without on your trip. If it’s for a series of relatively short trips, then you might be perfectly happy with a tent chucked in the back of the car. However, if whatever you choose is going to be your de facto home for a period of time, read on…
Here are your options, in ascending order of ‘comfort’…
- Camper trailer
- Campervan
- Caravan
- Motorhome
The first distinguishing feature between all of these is price – a nice motorhome can easily set you back over $100,000 but is as close as you can get to your own home ‘on the road’. One luxury motorhome – a German one we believe – even had a tray underneath where you could store your open top Mercedes roadster.
So here are the advantages of choosing the camper trailer option…
Advantage 1 – Cost
Caravans and campervans are of course less expensive, with the humble camper trailer coming in at the most affordable end of the scale – in fact you can get hold of a decent secondhand camper trailer for not much more than $2,000-$3,000, even though the top end ones can set you back significantly more than this. So the first advantage of a camper trailer is… price.
Advantage 2 – Easier to tow
It’s much easier driving a car with a camper trailer hooked on the back than a conventional caravan. Caravans, being bulkier and heavier, really need a more powerful car engine and rear vision is not as good as with a camper trailer. Also wind has much less effect on a camper trailer than on a caravan when driving.
Advantage 3 – Just the right amount of creature comforts
Camper trailers, although not as extensively kitted out as caravans and motorhomes, still come with some of those conveniences it’s nice to have on a roadtrip, such as a kitchen, storage room and beds that you don’t have to set up each time (and that are more comfortable than sleeping in a tent).
Advantage 4 – More waterproof than a tent
Particularly hard floor type camper trailers, which have a raised floor, so less in the way of rain problems.
Advantage 5 – Doesn’t take up the entire driveway
A camper trailer has a much smaller footprint than a caravan and is easy to tuck away in a corner when you’re not on the road.
Advantage 6 – You’re still a ‘camper’
Sometimes part of the fun of camping is just that – a connection with the outdoors. A camper trailer gives you the best of both worlds – the good bits of camping with some of those ‘little luxuries’ at hand!
There are a variety of different types of camper trailer as well. Perhaps the best option, if you’re still working out whether a camper trailer is for you, is to hire one for a short trip, or even hire different types so that you can compare them. Once you’ve made your choice, give us a call and get a loan arranged for your new purchase if you need one!
Image credit: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:JaycoPopupCamperClosed-2009-11-19.jpg
