YES, A MOTORHOME! BUT WHICH ONE?

I have made the final decision; I am going to rent a motorhome to experience if this is as fun as I think it is. With this great intention, a lot of questions immediately come to my mind: when am I going to do this, for how long, where do I rent that camper, is it somewhat affordable, what about the insurances, do I still have to buy ‘camping stuff’ for this? These are all questions that are fairly easy to address. However, the most important question is: what kind of motorhome do I want to rent? 

I have been visiting the large Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf in Germany for many years, which always takes place around the end of August, beginning of September. An annual event that, if I may believe the press, attracts no less than a quarter of a million visitors with seven hundred and fifty exhibitors displaying their ‘wares’ in twelve enormous halls! Contrary to what the name of this event suggests, it is not only caravans that are exhibited. Literally everything that has anything to do with camping is shown here: tents, folding trailers, caravans, accessories and yes, also motorhomes. Every self-respecting motorhome builder is present here with their various models. Varying from the large behemoths known as ‘liners’ and then (decreasing in size) the so-called integrals, semi-integrals, bus campers and campervans. The first category, the ‘liners’, includes motorhomes that look more like a luxury apartment on wheels than a ‘camper’. With which you are – depending on your opinion fortunately or unfortunately – not even welcome at most campsites due to its large size and high weight. Lengths of up to fifteen meters are no exception, and often the side walls can also extend, creating enormously large living and sleeping spaces. With even the possibility of taking a real car into the garage. To accentuate the fact that this is an extremely luxurious product, they often show an exorbitant sports car in that ‘garage’. During the last event that I’ve visited, they even used an Aston Martin for this, I think a car that costs more than my entire house on its own. These liners look more like trucks or buses, certainly not something you think of when you hear the word camper. No, these are not actually camping equipment. These mobile homes are more suitable as – as the word suggests – a portable home. With which you travel from performance to performance as an artist, or, for example, as a home base for a (wealthy) fairground operator. No matter how they are used, these behemoths have little to do with the free and happy camping and feeling of freedom in my humble opinion. On the other hand, I fully understand and appreciate that we all have different tastes and opinion, so let me not be judgmental. However, although I can’t believe my eyes looking at these moving palaces, it never occurred to me to go on the road with them. And even if I wanted, to be fully honest, I couldn’t afford it either. The price of these types of motorhomes runs very quickly into the millions of euros. I recently saw- on a British TV program – that although they are available for rent (which apparently is often done by artists), even those rents are way beyond my budget. In short: not for me. 

My focus has always been on the medium-sized motorhomes, the so-called ‘semi-integrated’ and ‘bus campers’. The first, the semi-integrated models, are often based on a Fiat Ducato chassis, with a total length of about six metres or more, a width of two metres and a height of just under three metres. A lot longer, wider and higher than a normal passenger car. As a result of the space you have in them, it is mostly equipped with a fixed bed in the back, a small shower and toilet room, a kitchenette and – when you turn the front seats around – a real sitting annex dining area. Ideal for traveling for a longer period of time because you have enough interior space in case the weather is bad. With prices that, depending on the luxury and the brand, dangle between seventy and one hundred thousand euros. Or far above when you start ticking boxes everywhere in the extensive options list. All in all, quite a lot of money, for which to be honest, you get a lot of space and luxury.  The ‘bus campers’ also fall into this category, although they are just a bit narrower and often a little shorter, which makes them more manageable when driving. 

It almost seems like a foregone conclusion that I will be renting a ‘semi-integrated’ for my ‘test period’. Especially since – when I visited the camping fair in recent years – I always found the bus campers a bit too small. The semi-integrated model therefor seemed to be the logical choice. And especially if I was going to camp with two people (or even three) for a longer period, which was of course the intention when I was still married. But now, as a single person, I may be able to make a different choice. Because in addition to the many advantages of more space, there are also disadvantages to both such a semi-integrated and bus camper. One of those disadvantages is related to the mentioned dimensions, especially with the semi-integrated. Like the bus camper, it does offer a lot of living space inside, but its width makes manoeuvring on the road more difficult. As long as you follow the highways and major provincial roads, this is not a problem. However, as soon as you end up on narrower back roads or in small villages, it’s a different matter. Then you must be careful not to push anyone off the road or hit anything. It could be due to (the lack of) my driving skills, of course, I don’t rule that out. Taking turns is also a lot more difficult, since such a camper generally has a longer crossing at the rear and therefore ‘fans out’ at a turn. I haven’t even mentioned the height yet, so you always have to be careful with trees along the road. Parking is not easy either. It is too long for a normal parking lot and too high for a parking garage. Add to that the fact that you can’t have it in front of the door for more than three days at home (at least due to the village regulations in the Netherlands), so you always need a place to ‘store’ it when you’re not using it. These storage or parking facilities – if they are available at all – are usually located in rural areas, including at farms. This means that you never have the camper directly at hand. You always must make an appointment for the collection and return of the camper with the associated (sometimes high) costs, which curbs the feeling of flexibility and freedom quite a bit for me. 

What’s it going to be? After a long ‘thinking process’, I came to the conclusion that it will not be a semi-integrated or bus camper. Which leaves the ‘campervan model’ as the only option. That’s why I focused all my attention on this model at the recent fair in Düsseldorf (in Germany) and the subsequent fair in Utrecht (in the Netherlands). If I compare all my desired specification and the way I intend to use it, the concept of ‘flexibility and freedom’ is very much present in a campervan. To me, it feels more like camping with ‘a tent on wheels’ than having all the luxury in a ‘tiny house on wheels’. And it’s precisely this camping feeling that has always appealed to me. Which is why I had purchased a folding trailer in recent years. Here too, you basically sleep in a tent, with the joy of a good and large bed with a slatted base. No shower and no toilet, hence relying on the facilities at the camping you stay at. And that has worked out very well in recent years. Is it then going to be a campervan in the end? And if so, the question arises again: which one?

 At the fairs that I visited, I was amazed to see that the choice of brands and versions of campervans is huge, larger than I had expected. During Corana, the sales of motorhomes and particularly of the smaller campervans had gone through the roof. Traveling and camping in your own cocoon or bubble became very popular. This, although there certainly were delivery problems, increased the diversity of brands and models. There are even now fully electrical versions, albeit still with a limited driving range. In that large variety to choose from, for me however, there is one model that stands out from the rest. A brand and model of which no less than a quarter of a million have been sold worldwide to this day: the Volkswagen California campervan. With variants that – with increasing luxury and equipment – listen to beautiful names as ‘Beach’, ‘Coast’ and ‘Ocean’. Needless to say, that the Ocean is the most desirable model fully packed with all sorts of nice features. The current version of this VW campervan, the so-called T6.1 is the evolved successor of the ‘mother of all campervans’: the famous Volkswagen T1. You do not see this car often on the road anymore, with its recognizable split front-screen. But if you do, it immediately puts a big smile on your face. It brings back the flower power memories of the sixties and seventies of the last century. Those lucky ones who possess such an ancient T1 have something very special and something very, very expensive. Even worn-out T1’s nowadays have a price tag that easily exceeds the hundred thousand euros. With the luxury and safety level of a Fred Flintstone car. And being a beautiful sculpture, it’s not very handy in today’s world. Although the current T6.1 has a lot of the T1 characteristics of the days gone past it’s a lot more modern. It is based on the spacious Volkswagen commercial vehicle platform ‘Transporter’, adapted to be used as a campervan. With a large folding roof such that you can create a lot of headroom and space at your destination. Beneath this folding roof there’s an ‘upstairs’ bed that sleeps two people. It takes a little bit of climbing through a narrow hole via the upturned front seats to get there, but when you’re there, sleep will come easily. As for the climbing, for me as a ‘young and athletic guy’ this should be no problem at all. And if it does for someone, you can create a bed ‘downstairs’ by folding down the chairs. The latter means that you can no longer sit comfortably downstairs, so I feel like I would prefer the upstairs and take the climbing for granted. On the left side of the campervan there’s a small kitchenette with a hob, sink and fridge. All in all, almost everything you need for pleasant traveling and camping. The only thing that is missing is as said before an indoor toilet and shower. No problem as for the toilet there are many alternatives. You can for instance add a so-called Porta Potti, a compact chemical toilet that you can use on the go. As for the shower, the T6.1 has an outdoor shower, unfortunately only with cold water. Which is great for the warmer days to rinse off, but not for taking a what I would call ‘normal pleasant warm shower’. Which means that, when looking for motorhome spots, it would be important to look out for places where hot showers are available. Or, like an experienced out-door fanatic like me, enduring a freezing-shower. Fortunately, there are more than enough motorhome places with showers, and otherwise I can always stay at ‘normal’ campsites. A big additional advantage of the VW T6.1 is that it is a very compact car that you can also use for daily trips. Due to its height of less than two meters and length of around five meters, you can even store it in parking garages. A very handy size! You can therefor use it for both camper trips and as a normal car for daily use without the need to have a separate (second) car. Two for the (let it be high) price of one. 

 When I look at all the advantages it looks like an easy choice: the (now with the full name) Volkswagen California Ocean T6.1 is definitely going to be my ‘I’m going to try it out‘ model. In which I will experience if camping is as appealing as I think and hope it is. And if the try-out is successful, it could also be the model that I might buy. 

 All that remains now is for me to answer ‘when, how long and where’ to rent. Summarized: it will be a long weekend from Friday 18 ^th to Monday 21 ^st of October 2024. After some research, I’ve ended up with the rental company ‘Roadsurfer’. A German company that has more than a hundred campers for rent in the Netherlands alone at any given time, including a complete army of VW Cali Ocean T6.1s. With clear rental conditions. The reservation can start and with it the anticipation of my first motorhome experience!