Days out in my campervan in March 2026

I only had one camping trip in March, a weekend in Wales.

I stopped a night in Barry ready for a parkrun and a visit to watch Barry Town play football on the saturday before heading off to Newport in the evening ahead of visiting my nephew and his family on the Sunday before heading home via visiting a friend in Monmouth.

The campsite in Barry was approximately 3 miles outside the town so on arrival on the Friday night I drove down to the beach to check out the parking for the morning and back via Jenner Park to check out street parking for the afternoon.

The campsite was on a farm.

There were two sets of toilet and shower blocks. This one for general use and a set for disabled travellers as well as washing up facilities and good wifi. It was a very peaceful site with an amazing sunset.

There was some housekeeping as usual. Peter is left handed and I'm not and between us the electricity cable is getting awfully confused.

I really hate how this door opens where the cable is stored. To put it away properly is such a fluff, either from the outside or climbing in through the side door and manoeuvring in a narrow gap. It would be so much easier if the door was detachable.

The van is 2.07m but we have a solar panel fitted so I avoid anything with a height barrier, especially when the ground is uneven. I found a good spot for parkrun.

With great views of the beach.

And now I've mastered the art of folding the roof within a minute, it's lovely to be able to lie down with a cup of tea and read my book after a run with a spectacular view of the sea.

After the football I drove onto Tredegar in Newport where I stayed at the Caravan and Motorhome Club for a night. It's in the grounds of a National Trust Site which we've explored before.

The only downside is that check out is 12pm and the showers shut at 10.15am and it's a pain when you have to rush to pack up so you can get showered before the drive home. Some sites have two blocks and alternate cleaning times.

I pack all the fridge stuff back into the cool bag so when I get home it's ready to lift straight back into the house.

A clean tea towel sits under the bowl to stop it moving around and the dirty cloths are hung up ready just to be taken into the house. And fresh cloths are put back into the van straight away. All the other items, clothes and shoes are packed into the yellow bag ready to be carried in also.

The only other trip I had out in the van in March was to Bath when I took part in an Ultra Challenge. I could have taken the car but it was a long journey both ways around 2 hours each way with a 5 hour walk, so I took the van so I could brew up after wards and have a lie down for an hour to rest before the long drive home.

Our adventures in April took us to Tenby and May I'm off on my own to visit the grandchildren.

 

Days out in the campervan in February 2026

I'm aiming to camp out in the campervan every month this year and so far I've camped in January and I've camped in February and I've got 2 camping trips booked for March and 1 booked in April. The only thing that's going to stop me completing the challenge is not having enough days in the year for all the commitments I have lined up.

I visited child 2 and camped on his drive. Now they've had a 2nd child there is no room in the house other than an air bed and the bed in the van is far more comfortable plus I have my own space and I'm more than happy in the van. I just pop in first thing for the toilet and make a cup of tea and if they're till sleeping I go back out, stick the heating on and I'm lovely and cosy.

It's annoying being last vehicle on the boat as your'e exposed to the sea water for the full 7 hour crossing.

We've got a convertor so we can plug into the mains and not have to rely on the leisure battery and can use the plug sockets in the van.

There was one morning it was so cold outside that I couldn't open the sliding door and had to run the diesel heater and wait until the door defrosted.

Dry robes were made for days like these.

As there was only me in the van and I wasn't using it for cooking I was able to spread out and I kept my shower bag in the house.

When I travel alone I just pack straight into the wardrobe.

I didn't use the van during the day for the week so I could leave everything set up which made life so much easier, it's not often this happens, in fact I don't think we've ever done this before.

The last night I packed the roof up as it was dry after raining all week, which meant everything inside had to be put away so I could get the lower bed out. it took me about an hour to do.

I had to remember to open a window when I put the diesel heating on for ventilation.

I didn't have a table to work from and I had to keep moving things around so I could move around.

I also lost my head space and kept forgetting when I tried to stand up.

The best thing we like about the Ford Nugget Westfalia conversion and our reason for choosing it over the Volkswagen Campervan is that when the lower bed is is use we can still use the kitchen fully as it is located in the back of the vehicle and although this isn't the best photo we can access the back through the vehicle and not have to go outside to do so as you have to in the VW. The space in the first photo is where the kitchen would be in the VW and you only get one sliding door. In our vehicle you get access on both sides which makes parking a lot easier. Also when the roof is popped up, it pops above the kitchen and not above the drivers seat, giving you full height access above the kitchen.

I think I've camped in the coldest of the weather so far so the rest of the year should be a breeze. I've got a 2 week stay in August which will be my longest stay and challenge as I'm not sure about toilet blocks and shower facilities and I may have to move around to charge the leisure battery if I don't get enough sun light and to fill the water tanks but I do have a portable toilet and and outdoor shower will just need to buy a shower/toilet tent and find a disposable waste point. It'll be annoying setting up and packing away every few days to fetch supplies etc but initial camp site prices for where I'm going are extortinate due to the event I'll be attending.

Word of the Week - Camping

I'm aiming to camp in the van every month in 2026. I managed a night on my friend's drive in January.

I'm on my son and Dil's drive for half term. it's cold, wet and windy outside but lovely and snug inside. Peter opted to stay at home for the week which worked out well in the end as Birmingham reached the 4th round of the FA Cup against Leeds which was played on Sunday the 15th so after the match I drove on up to Birkenhead for the overnight ferry.

I'm only using the campervan for sleeping in, going out to it at 9pm after a shower and getting into my pjs, with a hot water bottle and a mug of tea.

I'm waking up at 7am and it's a quick dash into the house for a wee, refill the hot water bottle, make a cup of tea say goodbye to eldest grandson as he goes to pre school and back to bed in the campervan for an hour. It was tricky opening the door one morning.

The campervan has diesel heating that runs either off the mains or the solar panels. I've plugged into the mains while I'm at my sons, if I camp for just one night I tend to use jsut the solar panels. I only need the heating on for an hour at night and an hour in the morning to get the van warmed up.

I sit in my dry robe until it warms up.

When the diesel heating is running and the roof is popped there is enough ventilation with the canvas, but when the roof is down I need to have a window cranked.

I opted to sleep on the bottom bed on the last night (Thursday) as the canvas had dried and it was due to rain on the Friday and it could be 2-3 days before I might be able to dry it properly, so I dried round the external rims and folded the top down.

The downside of sleeping on the bottom bed is not having a table, but there are plenty of surfaces to put things on especially as I'm not cooking in the van either or even having to make a cup of tea in it.

I packed my clothes onto hangers and placed everything int he wardrobe, just taking what I needed into the house each day, just leaving my washbag in the bathroom.

I'm travelling home on Friday night so I'll be making a couple of stops on the way home for a coffee and a lie down on the back seats.

Days out in my campervan in January 2026

I'm aiming to camp every month of 2026 and I just about managed to fit one night in, in January with a night on my friends drive in Monmouth to save an early morning drive for the 9am start for parkrun on the Saturday.

Despite the cold weather and the rain, the van is very warm and I only put the diesel heating on for half an hour before bed and half an hour in the morning when I was getting ready. My friend gave me a lift to parkrun so the windows had cleared by the time I had to drive off, otherwise it takes an age to clear and is a bit of pain if you have to pack up and go.

I opted to pop the roof to sleep. A decision I'm slightly regretting now as it hasn't stopped raining since and I'm a bit concerned that the canvas wasn't fully dry when I folded it away. I just need an hour or two without rain when I'm at home or in work.

I didn't sleep downstairs as it's difficult to move around with the roof down and navigate the table and the bags as they're usually stored behind the bench seat which folds flat to make the bed.

If I'm only sleeping for one night, I don't bother with the window curtains on the front, I just hang a blanket for privacy. I also used my friend's house to shower and change and spend the evening so I didn't need to rotate the front seats for extra space.

The kitchen is in the back of the Ford Transit Westfalia which makes life a lot easier than a Volkswagen. It means we can access the back area without having to leave the van and if we do want to go round the back the up and over door provides additional cover from the rain and if the bed in the back is folded down it doesn't obstruct the kitchen area and we have access to to the vehicle through 2 sliding doors.

I made myself a cup of tea and a hot water bottle before bed and we have a water heater which doesn't use a lot of the battery which runs off solar panels when we're not on the mains. It also powers the diesel heater. 

I didn't fill the water tank for this trip. I just refilled a water bottle and made sure the leisure battery was fully charged before I set off.

My next trip is February half term to sleep on my son's drive. Now they have 2 children there is no room in the house for us. Peter doesn't fancy spending the week in the van at this time of the year so he's staying at home to look after the cat and keep warm and dry.

I'll be plugging into the mains, using the house for the bathroom and showers and spending the days and evenings in the house and other than a cup of tea in the van and sleeping in it, all the cooking will be done in the house.

Our eldest grandson loves it when Granny brings the caravan and loves to help make the bed and run the little hoover round after a day out and we'll set the table up and have a picnic when we go out for the day.

Days out in the campervan in December

Yes, I managed a nights camping in the van in December. I was cold and actually snowing when I pulled up in the Cotswolds and set up after work on a Friday night.

A little bit of benga takes place while I set up the van, much easier when there is only one of you.

My work stuff gets packed into this bag and placed onto the front seat out the way.

When I camp on my own I just pack my clothes straight into the wardrobe.

Whilst I waited for my friend Chrissie to join me, I cooked some soup for my dinner.

Directions given were 'turn right at the toilet block and drive straight on till you see the Christmas tree, I'm the pitch just after that'

Thankfully the shower block was heated and as always spotless.

The dry robe and yellow welly crocs are shared by all van users for bathroom runs, you don't mind going outside when you're properly wrapped up.

Filling the van with water and plugging the electricity in seems a big effort for just one night, but is so worth it as it saves going out in the cold and wet to wash up and it means we could run the heating all night.

There were a few house chores to be done after the trip, cleaning the fridge and replacing all the towels.

Removing everything that is likely to go out of date and restocking tea, coffee and sugar for day trips.

And making sure the water tanks both fresh and waste have been emptied correctly to ensure nothing freezes over the coldest months and valves have been properly closed.

I'm not sure there will be any camping in January as we have a weekend away booked in a hotel, but I may try and sneak in a trip the last weekend for a parkrun.