You know you are ready to move up to motorhoming when your back protests every time you wind up the stays, you make excuses not to tow, there's nowhere left to put anything, you feel the need for better security when free camping, you hate making camp in the rain and you need the "security" of a toilet right behind the drivers seat etc. Along these lines the book starts off on how to choose the right vehicle, as motorhomes are just as bigger minefield area as picking a caravan/camper. Very good sensible advice here on travelling lightly with a huge emphasis of the number one enemy weight. There are excellent lists of the estimated weights for everything you are likely to carry - a real eye opener! In our case we were over to blazes with books!

Collyn suggests that you buy the smallest vehicle that will suit your needs. He discusses the choice of fuel in great detail even to the point of explaining graphically just how a diesel works. There is even a chapter on building your own vehicle, such as converting an old bus etc. This is an excellent section and covers the weight of various materials etc. Electrics/solar/batteries is covered in excellent easy to read and understand detail and enough info is provided to allow you to easily assess your own wattage. The solar section even gives maps of expected sun hours all over Australia for both winter and summer. Lighting types and inverters are well covered, as Collyn is very heavily into self sufficient off road camping, so he really knows this subject. In fact his beach side house in Broome WA is completely solar operated using more than 30 panels. We liked the fridge section as it is not at all vague, and actual brands are mentioned. Building a fridge from scratch by fitting a 12 volt compressor to a small domestic fridge, is also covered.