New to California life

[Norfolk Jim]

No 2 children are the same; one will enjoy going outside and feeding the chickens etc while the other will want to play inside. Our 2 boys (who are 33 & 35 now) had to put up with our camping holidays as money was short then; one in a travel cot and the other a small sleeping back all in a 3 person hike tent is a real test of a family but gradually things got better and we bought a trailer tent!!!! OMG this was a new experience but the boys still had fun - my wife was and still is incredibly inventive with them!!!!! Probably one of the best items was a book of pictures of various things/items/animals etc which they ticked off as we travelled - things like double decker bus, sheep, boat and so on. The delight on the youngest face at 6 years old when he shouted 'DEER' when we arrived in Scotland. Later we rented cottages and in their teens they got bored.........we did in the end as well being fixed locations. All I did was pine after a campervan and more so the boys as it meant going so many other places in one holiday and so it happened in Jan 2015 we bought the VW in my Avatar and we hope to get our first Cali this year. My nephew and his wife borrowed our van and went to Wales with his 4 year old taking all the advice we gave him and came back saying 'Wow'. Our boys have now used it several times for trips abroad; one proposing to his now wife on Amalfi coast, the other surfing in Bairitz and then proposing to his now wife in Cornwall while in 'Colin'. All I can say is if you fail to prepare, then prepare to fail! Music. books, toys and adventures will happen; my boys used to go away in early twenties somewhere warm but now steal the camper for the Lakes, Wales and now following us to Scotland so we now argue over who has it when!!!!! You'll always have tears - we do; we've just had a week in Galloway with dog not settling at night we still had some fun though

 

[Cumbrian Cali]

Hello
We got our California T6 at the end of the summer last year and only now getting around to making it our own.
This forum has been so helpful in getting me started however I am feeling a bit overwhelmed with what to buy and how to make in work for our family of 4 (my kids are 4 and 2). We went away for 1 night last week and it ended in a lot of tears, I would really appreciate your tips on how it works for your families.

So sorry your first trip didn't go well try not to put any pressure on yourself and there's already some great tips on this thread Ours are 6 and 3 and we got our cali just before christmas, we've had 2 4 night stays and and a couple of weekends as well as day trips in the van so far, with a 2 wk trip coming up. We have a basket of toys we take and a ta let with a few films on for our youngest as he sometimes just needs quiet time and it helps. I found instagram really helpful, following some van families on there who share the tips on how they travel with kids and also where they travel to and things they do , if you want to share tips or ideas to try and help please feel free to message (if thats allowed on here) xx