Fifth birthday..

Californiaman · Dec 30, 2015

Our California turned five on Christmas eve and tonight, we will be celebrating our 365th night in it. What a fine machine, we've loved every minute.

Our heads have however been turned by the new Hymer Van 314. So, whilst we didn't get each other anything for Christmas (who needs that extra clutter in a Cali - especially when the weather is 'changeable'?!) we may be treating ourselves to a slightly bigger van in the not too distant future.

Happy camping everyone!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Skylark2.0 · Dec 30, 2015

Californiaman said:
Our California turned five on Christmas eve and tonight, we will be celebrating our 365th night in it. What a fine machine, we've loved every minute.

Our heads have however been turned by the new Hymer Van 314. So, whilst we didn't get each other anything for Christmas (who needs that extra clutter in a Cali - especially when the weather is 'changeable'?!) we may be treating ourselves to a slightly bigger van in the not too distant future.

Happy camping everyone!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Nice, just had a look.

Maybe a motor campervan this one?!

How long is the bed? Couldn't find it on the website.

Have fun!

RedCali · Dec 30, 2015

The liittle Hymer Van looks very smart - our daughter thinks the bathroom is very desirable and l like the look of the bed and ,of course, the red cab!

Hotel California · Dec 30, 2015

http://www.hymer.com/de/van
More space , better bed , shower ,....

But it does not drives as smooth like a Cali , cost you more on tolls , diesel,...
Harder to find parkingspots , some places you can't even enter villages in France.

Stick with your Cali... :thumb

Freeley · Dec 30, 2015

I'll look that one up. We fancy a burstner so will be moving up at some stage, probably not till retirement though. Hopefully only 5 years time but we'll see!
Until then I think we'll hang on to our cali which is currently 6 years old. In another 5 years we'll still be nowhere near your total though!

Sent from my Galaxy S6

jts46 · Dec 30, 2015

IT IS ALSO A FIAT (wash your mouth out)

John

Freeley · Dec 30, 2015

Most of the good motorhomes are it seems. Doesn't bother me personally, I suspect reliability wise they're probably better than cali's!

Sent from my Galaxy S6

Paulro · Jan 1, 2016

I think it looks very good. It definitely looks more like a small motorhome with all the wood trim but I do like the bathroom and shower.
I can see the bathroom being a positive factor for many people.
Although I have just reached the teachers retirement age I, and my partner, like to wild camp and still enjoy figuring ways to hoist a shower bag up a tree using pulleys or whatever.
There might be a time though where this becomes more of a hassle than a challenge and so this looks to be a possible alternative.
We, like so many here love the California and, because of its size, where it can take us. Currently, squeezing through tight spaces in foreign cities is a one of the things we love, but again, there may be a time where we feel like that's a bit too much of a hassle. One thing for sure. I'll never park in an area alongside loads of huge camper vans, like I see in Alvor, Portugal where the owners sit in their chairs all day surrounded by mud after storms when, just 100 yds away is a beach voted in the top 10 in Europe. Odd.
Anyway, enjoy your new choice.
Presumably there's a Hymer forum?

motacyclist · Jan 1, 2016

Paulro said:
Presumably there's a Hymer forum?

Probably, and I bet they argue about whether the Hymercamp or the Hymervan or the Hymermoblie is the best!

Not to mention Fiat or Mercedes!

CYCLOPATH · Jan 2, 2016

I like the look of that, loo, shower, bike garage,
And I bet the front seats turn without opening the front door.
I have many more years making the most of the Cali's size benefits, but I could see a time come when the extra luxury will keep me on the road.

Borris · Jan 2, 2016

Californiaman said:
Our California turned five on Christmas eve and tonight, we will be celebrating our 365th night in it. What a fine machine, we've loved every minute.

Our heads have however been turned by the new Hymer Van 314. So, whilst we didn't get each other anything for Christmas (who needs that extra clutter in a Cali - especially when the weather is 'changeable'?!) we may be treating ourselves to a slightly bigger van in the not too distant future.

Happy camping everyone!

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

Congratulations. Very nice.

Borris · Jan 2, 2016

At some point during our two year research/dithering phase before eventually deciding to buy our fabulous Cali, we seriously looked at some motor homes. To be precise, I became rather smitten with the Mercedes Auto Sleeper Winchcoombe. However, after kicking the whole concept around for a few months we returned to the Cali because we wanted the spontaneity and freedom to take off at the drop of a hat and to wander down the narrowest of lanes. The aforementioned motorhome is well appointed, luxurious and about the same size as a small cruise liner so not really suited to such adventures.
However whilst we have no plans at this point in time, there is a small part of me that says that one day, when our priorities have changed, we will be drawn back to the seductive capacious luxury of this vehicle with its huge bath room and well equiped living area. Until that happens we have a lot of Cali adventures to look forward to.

Californiaman · Jul 1, 2016

Thanks for the positive comments. We did indeed order one - months and months and months ago. It seems the order / delivery process is reasonably similar to that with VW! I'm happy to say that it has now been built and will shortly be winding its way to the UK. There is then another bit of a wait whilst paperwork is completed and then it'll be ours!

We obviously got our timing a bit wrong what with the £ against € etc but there you go.

So our beloved Cali will be up for sale shortly. I must admit, the Cali has been awesome and we've loved every minute and we are entering into this with significant trepidation. I don't think I will have the connection with the new van like we do with the Cali - it is more a family member than a van however, the extra features should suit our style of camping very well indeed. As others have pointed out, the driving experience won't be the same and it is a bit bigger. The reality though is that we've always saved the Cali for best - high days and holidays - I've never used it on my commute and whilst the driving experience is indeed very good, we do in fact spend most of our time sat in it drinking wine rather than driving. The size thing is also a bit of a non-issue - its 22cm wider and honestly people take much bigger vans into places that I just won't go anyway!

...anyway, I've got to go and pack the van for what could be one of our last trips in it! Both :bananadance

and

Teejay · Jul 1, 2016

Californiaman said:
Thanks for the positive comments. We did indeed order one - months and months and months ago. It seems the order / delivery process is reasonably similar to that with VW! I'm happy to say that it has now been built and will shortly be winding its way to the UK. There is then another bit of a wait whilst paperwork is completed and then it'll be ours!

We obviously got our timing a bit wrong what with the £ against € etc but there you go.

So our beloved Cali will be up for sale shortly. I must admit, the Cali has been awesome and we've loved every minute and we are entering into this with significant trepidation. And I don't think I will have the connection with the new van like we do with the Cali - it is more a family member than a van. However the extra features should suit our style of camping very well indeed. As others have pointed out, the driving experience won't be the same and it is a bit bigger. The reality is that we've always save the Cali for best - high days and holidays - I've never used it on my commute and although the driving experience is very good, we do in reality spend most of our time sat in it drinking wine rather than driving. The size thing is also a bit of a non-issue - its 22cm wider and honestly people take much bigger vans into places that I just won't go anyway!

...anyway, I've got to go and pack the van for what could be one of our last trips in it! Both and 8-(

If it works for you then I say good luck ! Happy travels : :thumb