towing

Towing lessons and/or an accredited course would be a great idea if you have never towed anything. They will go through things like hills, windy conditions, van sways, weight distribution, trailer connections, braking etc , which would take a lot to write on here in detail. When armed with that knowledge you can get some practice under your belt with a lot more confidence.

Mark.

Intended tow vehicle details ?

go electric brakes and then it is pretty simple, once upon a time you could go down to a shopping centre car park and practise but all weekend trading kind of kills it but find a place and practise practise, my wife and I use a radio we still rant and rave and provide entertainment to all but over time you improve, just chill out and if you ever stay at a park that offers the marriage saver, they park it grab it as a saviour.

Cheers

Dont be nervous, if you are nervous you may panic. I actually enjoy towing and look forward to the reversing bit. Not sure why. Maybe I like to challenge myself.

Dont tow too fast. Better fuel economy and you may just arrive alive.

Dont make it more compilcated than it need be. Just remember what works and do it and remember what doesnt and obviously dont do it.

The idea of the CB radios is a good one. Beats yelling at your wife, her yelling back, you then misunderstanding her and then BANG and you know what is going to happen next.... A caravn can be small place to hide if you are fighting (and the whole park gets to hear it so you are then in even more s#1t with the missus.

If someone wants to overtake you dont slow down as they already know what speed your doing.

If the car parks arent vacant for practice, look for a new suburb that is under construction and go out there on Sundays when they are off. You will find somewhere.

And dont worry. You are about to have the best experiences of your life. You are buying a van to have fun. Just learn from your experiences. And you will get plenty of advice along the way from fellow travellers as we all think we know everything about towing, and packing and driving and the best holiday spot and fishing and camping and BBQing and and and...... GOOD LUCK :)

Wolfpack

All the above advice is good - and your intention to do a course is smart and necessary. One other - don't buy a van any bigger than you really need - less effort to tow, pay for the fuel and park.

The course will deal with the essentials and cover the worry things like trucks passing, backing, good loading and weight distribution hitches etc.

Then get out in the vacant area and practise like mad. Even before you get the van, try to borrow a trailer (bigger the better) and practise backing, cornering etc etc. so you have a bit of an idea before you hook on the van and go to the course. But don't do as I did 35 years ago and get too confident with the trailer and jackknife it. Cost me a new tail light lens!

Until you are A1 expert, always have your missus out the back of the van but visible to you to stop you backing into a tree!

Enjoy the wonderful world of caravaning.

Max

Wolfpack,
From what you have said I would suggest that you go and hire a caravan before buying. If you feel comfortable after a trial then you can buy with confidence, if you feeled stressed when towing and manoeuvring then you haven't wasted your money. A motorhome which is not articulated like a car/caravan is much easier to manage.
cheers

I suggest you invite me along and I'll show you what's what ;-)

Somewhere nice and quiet would be nice.

Well, you never know ;-)