There comes a time in life when most people decide "We want to see Australia!" The next question is "How do we do it?" Well that is the $64 million question. For some people it will be flying, for others cars and motels or bed and breakfasts. But, for the majority it is a matter of choice between motorhome and caravan.

We have tried and used both over a number of years and will tell you honestly what we have found to be the pro's and con's. Like most of our friends, we have started off with a tent and a few accessories, all packed in the back of the family car. This was particularly the case when children were young. Then as we baby boomers became more a little more financially comfortable, we decided the comfort of a proper bed would be nice. Probably like mine, your back started to say "What about me???" This caravan episode was great for short holidays and weekends, but as we neared the time when we too could go Around Oz, we decided the convenience of being self-sufficient with toilet and shower, being self-contained all in the one vehicle and not having the set up and pull down each time we stopped was the way to go for us. This article merely scratches the surface as it doesn't cover campervans at all, however this site contains lots of info on the smaller van style motorhomes based on the Mercedes Sprinter etc.

With a motorhome you have to be organised - you can't duck down the shop if you forgot the milk unless you are prepared to uproot your whole site. I have found this wasn't very hard to do. With a caravan you have the option of detaching the car from the van, leaving the van at the caravan park and exploring elsewhere. We explore where we stay - so far we haven't found anywhere we couldn't go. By the way, we have passed the four wheel drive, rough it, stage of touring and exploring, preferring gravel and dirt roads where you don't have to go through gutters and ruts up to the top of your wheels. Similarly with the four campervans now long forgotten.

Motorhomers tend to be more free spirits and prefer to have a combination of free camping and caravan park camping. Both generally love national parks and state forests. A motorhome is taller, hence you have to watch for overhanging trees. With a smaller motorhome around the 17 foot mark, you can still park in the normal suburban shopping centre car park which you can't do with a caravan. Both can have shower and toilet facilities, but the length of the car plus caravan with these facilities is considerably longer than a motorhome. When you get older - this applies to my other half - the convenience of having a toilet beside the bed for nightly "twinkles" can be very comforting.

The biggest advantage of a motorhome over a caravan is that if you feel threatened anywhere at any time, you can just go through to the front of the vehicle and drive off - you don't have to take up the stays, pull down the pop top or camper trailer and pack up all the loose bits and pieces. There is a lot more storage space in the motorhome and most owners have a habit of putting things away as they go. In a camper trailer for example, you have to collapse the walls as they are not designed to be driven other than in a flat stowed position.

Most modern refrigerators have more leeway than older ones and are less demanding of being parked on totally flat land. With a motorhome you use ramps or chocks to level your wheels, whilst with a caravan you adjust the jockey wheel height and your stays. If you have a shower or sink, then obviously the flatter the park, the easier water drains away. Of course, you don't want to be sliding sideways or lengthways in bed. The smaller the motorhome or caravan, the easier to find flat ground to park. Generally speaking setting up a motorhome is easier and quicker than a caravan. It is absolutely definitely easier on your back with almost zero bending being required.

Talking of beds, there is yet another choice to make - do you want a bed which is made up permanently or is it OK to have a lounge or settee for daytime use and then make up the bed at night. In some motorhomes you can have the best of both worlds - a bed over the cabin and either lounge settee or chairs in the body of the vehicle. Quite a bit of your time is spent outside when camping, so you don't need massive interior space, but think what would happen if you got stuck in a rainy period for several days - you do need to make sure that you and your partner won't get on each other's nerves - you both need your bit of space. This is where a separate bed and lounge can be very advantageous - one can escape to one end of the vehicle and one to the other.

A motorhome can be as big as 35 feet (11 metres) or small as a coaster bus 13 feet (4 metres). Most people go for something in between. The golden rule is only buy as big as you absolutely need. The smaller the unit, the more cost effective, especially for fuel costs.

There are obviously pros and cons of motorhomes as opposed to caravans. Many, many motorhomers used to be caravanners and before that tenters. It doesn't make one method of travelling right and the others wrong - it is just what suits your needs and your lifestyle.

Do your research - visit and revisit the retailer where you find your possible dream machine. What suits you might not suit another person or couple. Nothing is right or wrong - the only that is right, is what is right for you! One word of advice - do try to have a crystal ball and anticipate what you will be doing in a couple of years time. For example, will you want to do more and longer travels than now - if this is so build this into the size of vehicle you purchase. This is probably our major failing in so many areas - not consulting the crystal ball. When you find out how to do so successfully, could you please let us know????

Chrissy Eustace