A driveway awning for the camper van

We purchased a camper van in November 2023, it was something we'd wanted to buy for years, but with a family of 5 children it was never practical, or affordable, so on our return to the UK in June 2021 it was top of our list, but with Covid restrictions in place it still was practical. Then we had our aging dog to consider and the arrival of grandchildren meant we didn't have the flexibility to adventure further afield and our son settling out in Australia saw us visiting him for 2 consecutive summers once covid restrictions on travel were lifted as it had been 4 years since we'd been able to see him.

Once the dog had passed, the grandchildren were now a few years old, and the cost of camper vans stabilised, the time was right and we purchased the Bobster, named in honour after our beloved dog Bob.

Bob was a well travelled dog, having started life with us in South Africa in 2013 moving with us to Dubai in 2015 then in 2020 he relocated with us to the UK spending his last 3 years doing what he loved the most, walking the Malvern Hills.

Our first few trips away were one or two nights down to Brighton, the Forest of Dean and mostly days trips, where we could pop the roof and brew up a cup of tea, have a picnic and mostly, due to the British weather, shelter from the rain, turn the heater on and dry off after a walk on the beach or along the cliff tops.

Our granddaughter decided she wants to join us for the odd trip now and we decided to purchase a drive away awning to give us a bit more space.

We were getting fed up of playing Tetris, rearranging the van every time we wanted to pop out somewhere once we'd parked up. Having to pack everything away properly for a trip to the shops or visit somewhere. Even at night time we were having to bring in the table and chairs due to the rain and we had no where to sit other than inside the van when it was raining. The odd night was ok, but two nights was getting a bit cramped.

We also didn't want to be cooking anything more than soups, pastas, beans on toast in the van. You don't want to be cooking bacon, then sleeping in the same vehicle. So we thought a drive away awning would give us somewhere to sit, store things when we went out and we could cook more foods in for longer periods away.

We've noticed that during the school holidays and over bank holidays are now asking for minimum two night stays, especially over weekends and the prices have shot up dramatically. Campsites near beaches with access to nearby shops, restaurants are now at prices similar to hotels, with one place we found in the Forest of Dean at over £100 a night for pitch and a charge of an additional £20 per person per night. This would have given us access to electricity, water and a communal toilet and shower block. But they had a restaurant and shop on site. It also meant we wouldn't have to leave the site during our stay. But at those prices it made more sense to purchase an inflatable drive away awning at £600 and stay at another site that costs £29 a night with the same facilities, minus the restaurant and shop.

The town is only a 45 minute walk away from this site, it also where my mother lives and only a few miles from our granddaughter and set in lovely grounds with a fishing lake and lots of open space in which to play and also benefits from being quieter with less pitches so more relaxing without the additional night life that we are trying to escape from when we go away.

Pitching the awning was supposed to take 8 minutes with two people according to the instructions, but it took us 53 minutes. I guess we'll get quicker the more we do it.

The drive away part was simple. I just held the kaddor strip that slides into the side of the van before inflating the tent and Peter drove out slowly.

On arrival, he drew up level with the grass and I inserted kaddor strip and he drove into position slowly. 

It took around 2-3 minutes to complete each way. I'm not sure if it's something that could be done on our own, we're going to give it try next time we use it which we will be mid September, but if we do go away on our we won't be needing the additional space and it would only be for a night anyway and when I have gone on my own, I usually camp on a friends drive.