Will an "Expanda type" van suit us or full van the way to go?

Hi Dianne

yes the expandas beds have been shorter since they went to hardlids in 2008. iam 6ft and only manage because of the extra length if you sleep on the inside. the outer sleeper is limited in length and you ideally dont want to be streching out against the canvas if its wet. i do not know if the Rapids beds are longer but they are good vans by all accounts. The only thing i have noticed with a couple of Rapids touring around is beds that have bowed presumably from Kids jumping on them?

Dianne

Travel will always be a compromise, so I’ll offer up a question, rather than an answer.

How important is it to have toilet, shower, and washing machine, and how will your trip be affected without them (could be positive & negative). They sound like great additions, but to get them you will need to go into a van of reasonable size. Adds to cost, might be limiting in some cases, and less flexible...

There are plenty of camper trailers that provide a lot of configuration options that allow quick overnight stays, to more elaborate set-ups for extended stays. Is it an option to go this way, which potentially makes travel easier in terms of access to off-road? This type of travel can be combined with overnight, or multiple days in cabin style accommodation, enabling re-stocking, washing, and a break for being in the caravan, or camper trailer. Something you might find welcoming when out on the road for extended periods.

Good luck with it, and enjoy the trip when you head-off!

We returned in December 2011 from 16 months travel around oz. We have a 6 and 3 year old. We started the trip with a 17"6 coromal corvair pioneer dual axle, reasonable offroad van. Double bunks, no shower or toilet.

After 10 months we traded it for a 23" royal flair family flair van with triple bunks, separate shower and toilet, no washing machine.

We did a lot of free camping as well as van parks. We got tired of not having the shower and toilet in the free camping spots. We do a lot of off road travel as well, so we leave the van in places and the patrol is fully set up for remote works. We had 4 swags with us ( tucked inside the tinny on the roof).

You will never be able to have everything. In saying that the next time we go we'll get a Kimberley camper trailer with boat loader to save the back tracking to get the van. The Kimberley has a shower room attachment on the side.

Happy journey.

I have a Rapid! fold out both ends, and the dinning area at the front so when the cushions are down we can sleep long ways which is around 7"8 of sleeping space.

I sleep there with Kids 12, 9, and 3, so they watch T.V all good fun for them.

Bowed bed ends interesting... mine haven't and I have yet to see one bent!
But I think it's possible if you try to fold the bed ends up with out un locking the fold down bracket from inside the van. Operator error I would expect.

Cheers.

Hi Dianne,

I would recommend the Expanda 18-57.6. The best of both worlds. It's a full van with the kiddies having bunk beds and the main bed is fold out. Toilet/shower which is MUST and larger fridge.

Enjoy

Mick

Ji Shane and Diane
We recently bought a 16ft expanda and love it best of both worlds
Im just over 6fft and have no problems getting comfy in bed.
If i stretch right out my toes just hang over the matress.
Thers only my wife 11 yo daughter and myself so we went the 16 footer with shower toilet because we dont need bunks.
As said above the 18 ft expanda has all you need.
Cheers

Why not a Work 'n'play Jayco. Shower and toilet and fold out bed at front with single beds in the back or take them out and install your own bed.Plenty of room to store the 'stuff' that goes with small kids.

I was talking to an elderly gent in Tassie who was travelling here from the mainland and he had one of these vans and he had a full on loungeroom in the back. Very comfy.

Hi, I have commented in the past on this topic after having done 3 months with 2 kids in 2011 in our Windsor rapid and being 6'3" with a wife who is 6'2". The expanda/rapid/transforma depending on manufacturer name does a good job for a family touring, all the benefits stated by the manufacturers do exist, but as a previous reply stated you must take a pillow with you when you test the bed length as that few inches in from the side makes the difference when you are going to do it night after night. It is all well and good for a week here and there but on a really long trip can be a pain if you can't stretch out. We started out sleeping east west across the van but within 6-7 days we resorted to sleeping the other way along the length of the van with the couch extending the bed to over 7 foot long. The different models all use different bed end folding techniques, again no trouble for infrequent users but any extra 5 minutes to setup night after night had us chose the rapid over the jayco/coromal/other brands, as it was 2 handles unlocked and each bed was done. The condensation inside the bed ends is a nothing, we camped in below zero temps a number of times with no condensation with 4 occupants. The irony is we had the offroad model and with a full size van we would not have seen half the places we went, yet we came home and sold the rapid to buy a full height 20ft long van with combined shower/toilet due to amount of free camping we did which will probably not see too many really remote areas. Unless money is abundant you will end up with a compromise no matter what you buy. Brad