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Advice for someone new to camping.. but desperate for (idea of) a Cali?

Interesting to hear upstairs uncomfortable @Quentin SF - sleeping upstairs and letting dogs have downstairs was entirely our plan - and hire company (O'Connors in Dartmoor) doesn't do mattress topper so will have to wait and see how good/bad we find it!

Everyone's comments are very useful ... I have distilled
  • Pick a site with good facilities for the first trial trips,
  • Pick easy meals or eat out,
  • Pack in small, squishy bags
  • Plenty of Dog towels and dog bag (yes we do have one of those already – they look hilarious)
  • Check whether there are straps for the awning if planning on using it otherwise, be very careful
  • Have fun (I file the Beer & BBQ under this one :))
Out of interest... I wonder is there a peak season for demand for buying California's? I assume around now i.e. just before summer when everyone is thinking like we are of getting on to enjoy the season..!
 
Sleeping in the upper berth is like sleeping in a tent - you hear everything. The temperature fluctuates wildly - unbearably hot when the sun is on it; cold on frosty nights if no topper is used. However, I find it far more comfortable to the lower berth which is warm, quiet and snug but lumpy and restricted headroom.

For your first trip out, I suggest cooking just one main meal, and planning all your other meals in detail. That way everything else will just fall into place.

One of the delights of California camping is cooking and eating local produce - but that delight can wait for subsequent trips away.


Follow my blog: www.au-revoir.eu
 
We quite often pre-cook meals and freeze them. They keep in the fridge very well. Heating them is easy and quick. We're camping now for the weekend and brought two frozen meals for Friday and Saturday night. We have a cooked ham for lunch today. Cooked breakfasts are made in the RidgeMonkey.

After a lifetime of camping and eight months and 7,000 miles of Cali travels, we are still making adjustments to what we bring and where we store it. Less is more.
 
3C1A1389-0B9A-460C-A932-21F084397D65.jpeg
Ahhh you must be in Vanieri then,...

Yes, that's the one! I did wonder about taking the mattress-topper upstairs; we might try that tonight.

Other things we've learned in the last day or two:

* The footwell is a good sleeping space for a medium-sized cocker spaniel. After we've turned the seats round, we put her bed there and slide the seats back to give her a bit more space. She’s fast asleep in front of the passenger seat now and seems very happy, but if you have two dogs and they’re not too big you could use the driver's side as well.

* The outdoor table, stored in the sliding door, is also arguably a better and more useful one for the inside than the fold-up one, and can allow easier access to the cupboards.
 
Mrs 5i1ver8ack and I slept upstairs for the first time over the last weekend (we didn't have the girls with us). We didn't use the heater at night, but we did use sleeping bags. We don't have a topper. We weren't cold. Actually, we slept rather well.
 
Hi,
I'm new to this forum, but for a while now my wife and I have been toying with the idea of getting a VW California. We have two medium dogs, and mainly like the idea that we can go away with them at any time without having to arrange dog-sitting, etc and go and visit parts of the country we've never been able to get to before. A friend of ours had an old T25 camper for years, and still goes on about how amazing it was. Following many people's very good advice on this forum, we have decided to hire one for 3 nights in a few weeks time first...

The one slight issue is that neither of us have ever even gone camping before... so the whole idea of it is a complete unknown! (OK: I went when I was 14!)

So my question is simply: What advice does anyone have, in order to best enjoy & experience the 3 day camping trip, for someone new to camping (let alone in a campervan?). Anything we should take / do? (I'll be honest: I'm more worried about the wife's reaction than mine..!)

The practicalities of dog ownership I anticipate being a challenge (they are well behaved so don't expect them to be a pest at camp sites, but they are needy, excitable, muddy.. and many other joys of dog ownership) but also the realities of camping are an unknown for us (night time toilet trips?).

There is so much else I want to ask... about choosing a California and everything else.. but I am trying not to get too caught up in it unless we've had our hire trip in case it doesn't work out.

I have looked around for similar posts but most people seem to have at least some idea of what they are getting themselves into! This is a really informative and useful forum by the way and so glad that I have found it - thank you.

Hey man.

We were toying with the idea of a Cali too for a while.
We were going to rent one but ended up biting the bullet and buying one. However we do wild camp often, so knew we’d like it - so you’re best doing what you’re doing.

No regrets so far, currently in Dunkirk coming towards the end of our first week break.
What you bring will be different to what other people may bring, people prioritise different things. You may, like us, overpack the first trip - but like a lot of things, you learn as you go along; what you need and what you miss - best not to overthink it.

If you’re travelling with a female best buy a Thetfort Porta Potti for sure. We always travel on a budget as we’re a young couple, so we don’t and won’t stay on campsites everyday. We downloaded an app called ‘CamperContact’ which shows you a lot of the camping stops, even ones which are free and provide toilets and electricity! Also ones which you pay for, which provide more facilities.

May be best getting a cage for the dogs, either for the cab area or boot (and remove the shelf/mattress to the downstairs) because the van can and will get messy quick, especially with dogs. If you’re sleeping upstairs, best to get a mattress topper as the VW original foam mattress is awfully uncomfortable.

Wet wipes and disinfectant wipes are a must. I’m a bit of a clean freak and also have a small portable vacuum which I charge when plugged in.

Obvious utensils, plates, black bin bags, small sandwich bags (for baby wipes, disposable lens cases etc), water bottles, washing up liquid etc.
If you’re wanting to impress the Mrs and she isn’t a massive fan of/novice to camping, best to go somewhere warmer i.e. down South, perhaps not Scotland in March.

Also, both remember, patience is key!
It’s a small space and you have to work around each other, it takes some getting used to.
You can’t beat the freedom though.

James
 
Hey man.

We were toying with the idea of a Cali too for a while.
We were going to rent one but ended up biting the bullet and buying one. However we do wild camp often, so knew we’d like it - so you’re best doing what you’re doing.

No regrets so far, currently in Dunkirk coming towards the end of our first week break.
What you bring will be different to what other people may bring, people prioritise different things. You may, like us, overpack the first trip - but like a lot of things, you learn as you go along; what you need and what you miss - best not to overthink it.

If you’re travelling with a female best buy a Thetfort Porta Potti for sure. We always travel on a budget as we’re a young couple, so we don’t and won’t stay on campsites everyday. We downloaded an app called ‘CamperContact’ which shows you a lot of the camping stops, even ones which are free and provide toilets and electricity! Also ones which you pay for, which provide more facilities.

May be best getting a cage for the dogs, either for the cab area or boot (and remove the shelf/mattress to the downstairs) because the van can and will get messy quick, especially with dogs. If you’re sleeping upstairs, best to get a mattress topper as the VW original foam mattress is awfully uncomfortable.

Wet wipes and disinfectant wipes are a must. I’m a bit of a clean freak and also have a small portable vacuum which I charge when plugged in.

Obvious utensils, plates, black bin bags, small sandwich bags (for baby wipes, disposable lens cases etc), water bottles, washing up liquid etc.
If you’re wanting to impress the Mrs and she isn’t a massive fan of/novice to camping, best to go somewhere warmer i.e. down South, perhaps not Scotland in March.

Also, both remember, patience is key!
It’s a small space and you have to work around each other, it takes some getting used to.
You can’t beat the freedom though.

James

I’ve found Park4night is pretty good app as well James.

Mike




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
All good advise, only thing I would add is perhaps consider a dog dry bag, if its wet and muddy its nice and easy to pop them in the bag and straight into the Cali to dry off, the bag keeps all the mess at bay, might be an expense you could do without for your hire experience but might be worth bearing in mind if you do decide to take the plunge
I’d like to see a pic of one of those being used! :thumb
 
8C611678-5938-4FB2-AF40-96764AC3E018.jpeg D6C9422D-A953-4A06-8E7E-23F3BC251CFA.jpeg

Don’t have any pictures of ours but these give you an idea
 
Hello All -

Some thoughts a week after our 4-night trial in the LTH T6 Cali... and it was a bit of a trial, because it rained every single night and quite a few of the days too! Drying things was a bit of a challenge. At the end we agreed that if we'd known about the weather, a VW campervan isn't the accommodation we'd have chosen! On the other hand, the fact that we lived in something not much larger than a car for four days in that weather, and were still married at the end of it, says something for the California :)

Overall, it performed excellently, but there were a couple of things that didn’t work so well for us.

Firstly, my wife wasn’t too keen on having to do all the cooking sitting down. Yes, you can stand up, but the worktop is really a bit low for that - it needs to be, to give you the view out of the windows (and I really did like the almost-360-degree view when we were having lunch on the quay at Brancaster Staithe).

More seriously, the beds weren’t all that we’d hoped. The top one we found uncomfortable, and the bottom one, though with a much better mattress and topper, was rather cramped for us. Rose, who has a few back problems to contend with, got about one good night’s sleep out of the four. I got about two and a half. I think we could make it work if we carried around a good mattress-topper for upstairs, and probably if we slept one-up and one-down. (Anyone ever tried an inflatable mattress upstairs...?) And of course, just getting more used to the environment would also help. But we do feel that if we’re going to buy a van, then looking forward to getting into bed at the end of a long day is important!

Lastly, everything was a bit cramped inside for two of us plus wet coats plus dog plus moist towels for all three of us, when we were unable to do very much *outside*. The Cali was great for day trips or weekends with a night or two in good weather, we felt, and that is, after all, mostly what we're looking for, but it made us consider alternatives again.

So on Saturday we went down and spent most of the day taking a much more careful look at Bilbo’s offerings, and we liked what we saw. Having searched this site for all references to them, I do understand the pros and cons compared to Calis - they are probably as expensive, some things like the heating are not as well integrated, some people don’t like their unusual roof (though I think we prefer it - it’s certainly extraordinarily quick to raise and lower), the trim isn’t quite as plush, it doesn’t have the flexibility of a big and expandable boot space and yes, you can’t take it to any VW van dealer for habitation stuff. I get all of that.

Against all of that, however, is a kitchen that works a bit better for us, a much greater ability to customise things to our needs, a firm with a very good and long-lived reputation, and beds that are more spacious and quite a bit more comfortable than the Cali's, even without toppers.

The Celex has a bed which is slightly shorter but noticeably wider than the Cali’s and (as a result of also losing the chair storage in the tailgate) leaves a comparatively huge amount of available floor space when the bed is down, including lots of room *under* the foot of the bed itself. Particularly handy for dog sleeping space! We found the cupboards and sliding doors worked better than the Cali’s timbre ones, and were easier to open and close when in bed.



We’re mostly tempted, though, by the Nexa, which has two RIB single seats that turn into single beds, leaving a gap down the middle so you can still walk up and down the van while both beds are down. During the day you can have one of them down and put cushions along the wall giving a bench seat with a view out of the sliding door. And there’s also an option where the seats will slide together, with a fill-in at the side, to make a double bed that, at 5’2”, is even wider than our one at home! The kitchen (at the back) is great for our needs. There is a loo, which we probably wouldn’t even carry because if you take it out there’s a good side cupboard, but if you did want one, it’s more discretely tucked away at the back. And if you want more space in any of their vans, you can just order a LWB version. Because of the Nexa’s layout, you can even have sliding doors on both sides if you want!

I think the key things I’d miss from a Cali are the large boot space - there’s probably just as much storage in the Nexa but it’s distributed in smaller chunks - under seats, in cupboards, etc. This would be an issue if we wanted a more general and flexible load-carrier. And I would miss the Cali’s neat table-and-chair storage - we’d have to work out an alternative to that (we have some ideas, but any recommendations for good compact packages welcome!).

Anyway, we haven’t yet made a decision, but I thought others might be interested in our feedback so far. I realise, too, that I’m posting in a Cali forum - I don’t think there’s a Bilbo’s equivalent where I might get the other point of view! - but you guys seem pretty good for balanced and constructive suggestions! Thanks for your help so far!
 
And I would miss the Cali’s neat table-and-chair storage - we’d have to work out an alternative to that

You could always fit the tailgate trim from a California with the chairs - they are quite often available on ebay. The door trim with the table in is also available but obviously only fits on a drivers side slider.
 
Ah, thanks, Andy - I hadn't considered that they might be available and fittable separately... interesting.

One nice feature you get on some of the Bilbos, if they have a seat or cupboard by the sliding door, is a short bit of table rail on the outward side, so you can at least clip the internal table on outside. Not really something to sit around, but handy nonetheless.
 
Ah, thanks, Andy - I hadn't considered that they might be available and fittable separately... interesting.

One nice feature you get on some of the Bilbos, if they have a seat or cupboard by the sliding door, is a short bit of table rail on the outward side, so you can at least clip the internal table on outside. Not really something to sit around, but handy nonetheless.
We looked at the Nexa for the same reasons you have, my wife also thought the cooker at the back/standing option would be better but when she tried it felt the bodywork/shelf over the cooker partially hid the hob and made working on it difficult. Obviously anything smaller than a full sized Winnebago is going to be a compromise, you pays your money..............
 
Having survived week long holidays with 5 plus a dog, a few other points:

In wet weather an awning - whether drive away or just sides on the roll out one, is the place to leave a wet dog, towels, coats , shoes etc.

Cooking - the hob in ours is used for egg & bacon sandwiches, boiling water for coffee, heating up soup & the occasional pasta. In summer the barbecue comes out. In winter we tend to end up in the pub for dinner. One of our main selection criteria for choosing a site is where can we walk to for dinner.

My Mrs idea of a holiday does not include trying to cook for five on two small gas rings!

Did you try dragging the downstairs topper up to the upstairs bed ? might have given you the best of both worlds.


In the Bilbo Nexo the Single rib seats still use the cab seats to form part of the bed, I can't see that being a more comfortable basis for a bed than the cali. Whilst you are left with more space at the rear of the van theres no large storage area when the bed is up. If you need to carry an awning for example if you leave it on the floor at the back you can't use the kitchen.

I looked very closely at Bilbos prior to buying our Cali 4 years ago, I don't know what spec base vans they are using now but when we looked they were using the smallest engine basic van & by the time you had upgraded the engine, & wheels & body coloured bumpers etc it was coming out more than the cost of a cali.
 
Hi Andy -

They can build them based on any van, really, so the 204 DSG is an option. We test-drove a 150, though, and it was fine - it's actually a bit zippier than the equivalent California because the vans are lighter.

Thinking about the Cali upstairs bed: I think it's 1.2m wide? If so, then perhaps having two of these side by side would be a good and compact solution?

Q
 
@Quentin SF Friends of ours have had a LWB Bilbos van for several years which they use a lot and they really like it. Bilbos are certainly have a very good reputation as converters.

The downside of the LWB van is that it doesn't completely fit into a standard length parking space. That may not be a problem for you, but when you start to consider something bigger than a Cali, you should maybe also look at some of the smaller motorhomes as well. They obviously have more space and all sorts of different layouts.
 
Hello All -

Some thoughts a week after our 4-night trial in the LTH T6 Cali... and it was a bit of a trial, because it rained every single night and quite a few of the days too! Drying things was a bit of a challenge. At the end we agreed that if we'd known about the weather, a VW campervan isn't the accommodation we'd have chosen! On the other hand, the fact that we lived in something not much larger than a car for four days in that weather, and were still married at the end of it, says something for the California :)

Overall, it performed excellently, but there were a couple of things that didn’t work so well for us.

Firstly, my wife wasn’t too keen on having to do all the cooking sitting down. Yes, you can stand up, but the worktop is really a bit low for that - it needs to be, to give you the view out of the windows (and I really did like the almost-360-degree view when we were having lunch on the quay at Brancaster Staithe).

More seriously, the beds weren’t all that we’d hoped. The top one we found uncomfortable, and the bottom one, though with a much better mattress and topper, was rather cramped for us. Rose, who has a few back problems to contend with, got about one good night’s sleep out of the four. I got about two and a half. I think we could make it work if we carried around a good mattress-topper for upstairs, and probably if we slept one-up and one-down. (Anyone ever tried an inflatable mattress upstairs...?) And of course, just getting more used to the environment would also help. But we do feel that if we’re going to buy a van, then looking forward to getting into bed at the end of a long day is important!

Lastly, everything was a bit cramped inside for two of us plus wet coats plus dog plus moist towels for all three of us, when we were unable to do very much *outside*. The Cali was great for day trips or weekends with a night or two in good weather, we felt, and that is, after all, mostly what we're looking for, but it made us consider alternatives again.

So on Saturday we went down and spent most of the day taking a much more careful look at Bilbo’s offerings, and we liked what we saw. Having searched this site for all references to them, I do understand the pros and cons compared to Calis - they are probably as expensive, some things like the heating are not as well integrated, some people don’t like their unusual roof (though I think we prefer it - it’s certainly extraordinarily quick to raise and lower), the trim isn’t quite as plush, it doesn’t have the flexibility of a big and expandable boot space and yes, you can’t take it to any VW van dealer for habitation stuff. I get all of that.

Against all of that, however, is a kitchen that works a bit better for us, a much greater ability to customise things to our needs, a firm with a very good and long-lived reputation, and beds that are more spacious and quite a bit more comfortable than the Cali's, even without toppers.

The Celex has a bed which is slightly shorter but noticeably wider than the Cali’s and (as a result of also losing the chair storage in the tailgate) leaves a comparatively huge amount of available floor space when the bed is down, including lots of room *under* the foot of the bed itself. Particularly handy for dog sleeping space! We found the cupboards and sliding doors worked better than the Cali’s timbre ones, and were easier to open and close when in bed.



We’re mostly tempted, though, by the Nexa, which has two RIB single seats that turn into single beds, leaving a gap down the middle so you can still walk up and down the van while both beds are down. During the day you can have one of them down and put cushions along the wall giving a bench seat with a view out of the sliding door. And there’s also an option where the seats will slide together, with a fill-in at the side, to make a double bed that, at 5’2”, is even wider than our one at home! The kitchen (at the back) is great for our needs. There is a loo, which we probably wouldn’t even carry because if you take it out there’s a good side cupboard, but if you did want one, it’s more discretely tucked away at the back. And if you want more space in any of their vans, you can just order a LWB version. Because of the Nexa’s layout, you can even have sliding doors on both sides if you want!

I think the key things I’d miss from a Cali are the large boot space - there’s probably just as much storage in the Nexa but it’s distributed in smaller chunks - under seats, in cupboards, etc. This would be an issue if we wanted a more general and flexible load-carrier. And I would miss the Cali’s neat table-and-chair storage - we’d have to work out an alternative to that (we have some ideas, but any recommendations for good compact packages welcome!).

Anyway, we haven’t yet made a decision, but I thought others might be interested in our feedback so far. I realise, too, that I’m posting in a Cali forum - I don’t think there’s a Bilbo’s equivalent where I might get the other point of view! - but you guys seem pretty good for balanced and constructive suggestions! Thanks for your help so far!
We have found that Helinox make very small, very comfortable and stupidly expensive chairs, beds and tables. We needed to save the space with two children and tent, cooker etc in the back of a car in the years BC.
We travel with four Helinox Chair 1's permanently in the back of our Picasso MPV where they fit in the floor gap behind the back seats. They look ridiculous but they are perfectly comfortable as the only chairs for a two week camping trip. The only trouble with them is that they are so low to the ground that you then also need to use a Helinox table or a table with adjustable legs.
https://www.helinox.eu/chairs/chair-one-2982.html
 
If so, then perhaps having two of these side by side would be a good and compact solution?

I realise that the link on the word 'these' is not very obvious above. 'These' are 60cm wide self-inflating camping mats...

I also realise that I spelled 'discreetly' wrong in my original post. Apologies to anyone else who winced at that... :)
 
If you are looking at non-Cali layouts, do take a look at the Westfalia City Joker.

The bilbo nexa is in my view very short on storage but big on usable space. I came from an older Westfalia T4 Exclusive which had 3 separate living areas in a LWB van. The ability to get away from each other on those wet days is very useful (one plays cards, one cooks, and a separate loo / dressing area). It was also a high / hard top. A brilliant van for camping, but not as an everyday vehicle.

But as @andyinluton says, there is no where to put a bagged awning and use the van at the same time.
 
I think the only answer is hire a Blbo & test the beds.

Compared to the average motorhome I reckon the Cali beds, even without additional toppers are pretty good. Our old roller team had a 3 inch slabs of foam supported on a sheet of ply as the main downstairs bed, that was constructed from 6 different cushions two of which formed the base of the main seating area. After a weeks use from brand new there were big dips & gaps opening between the cushions.

I actually find the cali upstairs bed with no topper more comfortable than the bed at home, it might just be that theres more fresh air, exercise & alcohol making me sleep better.
 
If you are looking at non-Cali layouts, do take a look at the Westfalia City Joker.

Mmm, yes, they do look nice, but they also make the California look cheap :)

The other layout I really like is the Autosleeper Topaz, but they don’t make them any more...
 
Hello Quentin SF,

We got our van only end of last November. Since then we simply had no time to use and test the camper properly. My wife and I are one of the group who actually never went camping in the last 30 years....:(.

I was hoping with only two adults and a small dog (Bison Frise) we will have some room in the van. But I also believe that the storage space in the California is limited.

For the cooking I hope that we can use the gas for tea / coffee and small cooking but stock up the fridge with ready food (M&S). I am looking for either the Quest oven (which I need to check if it can decently heat up ready meals) or the Daewoo QT1. If the Quest can heat up the ready meals I would prefer this.

I was hoping to store the device on the shelf in the cupboard. Hoping to keep the cooking to a minimum but with a maximum on outcome (... hopefully yum...).

But I hope in the next few weeks we finally can put the California and us to the test.

Eberhard
 
Hello All -

Some thoughts a week after our 4-night trial in the LTH T6 Cali... and it was a bit of a trial, because it rained every single night and quite a few of the days too! Drying things was a bit of a challenge. At the end we agreed that if we'd known about the weather, a VW campervan isn't the accommodation we'd have chosen! On the other hand, the fact that we lived in something not much larger than a car for four days in that weather, and were still married at the end of it, says something for the California :)

Overall, it performed excellently, but there were a couple of things that didn’t work so well for us.

Firstly, my wife wasn’t too keen on having to do all the cooking sitting down. Yes, you can stand up, but the worktop is really a bit low for that - it needs to be, to give you the view out of the windows (and I really did like the almost-360-degree view when we were having lunch on the quay at Brancaster Staithe).

More seriously, the beds weren’t all that we’d hoped. The top one we found uncomfortable, and the bottom one, though with a much better mattress and topper, was rather cramped for us. Rose, who has a few back problems to contend with, got about one good night’s sleep out of the four. I got about two and a half. I think we could make it work if we carried around a good mattress-topper for upstairs, and probably if we slept one-up and one-down. (Anyone ever tried an inflatable mattress upstairs...?) And of course, just getting more used to the environment would also help. But we do feel that if we’re going to buy a van, then looking forward to getting into bed at the end of a long day is important!

Lastly, everything was a bit cramped inside for two of us plus wet coats plus dog plus moist towels for all three of us, when we were unable to do very much *outside*. The Cali was great for day trips or weekends with a night or two in good weather, we felt, and that is, after all, mostly what we're looking for, but it made us consider alternatives again.

So on Saturday we went down and spent most of the day taking a much more careful look at Bilbo’s offerings, and we liked what we saw. Having searched this site for all references to them, I do understand the pros and cons compared to Calis - they are probably as expensive, some things like the heating are not as well integrated, some people don’t like their unusual roof (though I think we prefer it - it’s certainly extraordinarily quick to raise and lower), the trim isn’t quite as plush, it doesn’t have the flexibility of a big and expandable boot space and yes, you can’t take it to any VW van dealer for habitation stuff. I get all of that.

Against all of that, however, is a kitchen that works a bit better for us, a much greater ability to customise things to our needs, a firm with a very good and long-lived reputation, and beds that are more spacious and quite a bit more comfortable than the Cali's, even without toppers.

The Celex has a bed which is slightly shorter but noticeably wider than the Cali’s and (as a result of also losing the chair storage in the tailgate) leaves a comparatively huge amount of available floor space when the bed is down, including lots of room *under* the foot of the bed itself. Particularly handy for dog sleeping space! We found the cupboards and sliding doors worked better than the Cali’s timbre ones, and were easier to open and close when in bed.



We’re mostly tempted, though, by the Nexa, which has two RIB single seats that turn into single beds, leaving a gap down the middle so you can still walk up and down the van while both beds are down. During the day you can have one of them down and put cushions along the wall giving a bench seat with a view out of the sliding door. And there’s also an option where the seats will slide together, with a fill-in at the side, to make a double bed that, at 5’2”, is even wider than our one at home! The kitchen (at the back) is great for our needs. There is a loo, which we probably wouldn’t even carry because if you take it out there’s a good side cupboard, but if you did want one, it’s more discretely tucked away at the back. And if you want more space in any of their vans, you can just order a LWB version. Because of the Nexa’s layout, you can even have sliding doors on both sides if you want!

I think the key things I’d miss from a Cali are the large boot space - there’s probably just as much storage in the Nexa but it’s distributed in smaller chunks - under seats, in cupboards, etc. This would be an issue if we wanted a more general and flexible load-carrier. And I would miss the Cali’s neat table-and-chair storage - we’d have to work out an alternative to that (we have some ideas, but any recommendations for good compact packages welcome!).

Anyway, we haven’t yet made a decision, but I thought others might be interested in our feedback so far. I realise, too, that I’m posting in a Cali forum - I don’t think there’s a Bilbo’s equivalent where I might get the other point of view! - but you guys seem pretty good for balanced and constructive suggestions! Thanks for your help so far!
It sounds to me like the California Beach would tick many of your boxes.
Much more space inside, a much bigger downstairs bed, 360 degree all round vision, greater versatility and much less complex. It's also cheaper. You will need the VW Comfort mattress option and possibly a topper as well if sleeping downstairs but the bed is huge. You loose the kitchen but gain much more room instead. IMO it's more versatile that way. You can still have a self contained removable fridge freezer and cooker that can be left at home if you aren't camping. It also makes a brilliant day to day vehicle for general duties.

Try one out and you'll be suprised at just how much more flexible they are than the purpose built camper van. You'll also quickly discover that you'll be able to do all the same things but with much more space. The only downside to the Beach is that the essential parking heater is an optional extra and not a standard fitting.
 
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stevieb
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