Bertie Bailey

To Tow or Not to Tow?

This was a tricky dilemma.... if I'm being completely honest it scared the hell out of me but how hard could it be?

So, in 2016 we traded in Suzy Swift (our motorhome) for Bertie, a 2013 Bailey Olympus caravan. He was the newest touring vehicle we had ever owned and he came with everything, built-in microwave, full size shower room with separate shower, 2 wardrobes, full size fridge, you name it he had it.

We had a VW Golf 1.9 TD to pull him with and after watching the Caravan Club towing DVD a few times, we were ready for our first trip.

We hitched up (this took about half an hour) and I tentatively pulled away. We made our way 20 miles down the road to a campsite in Wareham, Dorset. I spent half the time looking in the mirrors to make sure he was still attached and the other half monitoring my position on the road.

The first trip was amazing. The space was unbelievable and we had the freedom of the car to go exploring. After towing Bertie back home I was starting to feel more confident and it seemed that this was the best decision we had ever made.

Unfortunately a couple of trips later our cars automatic gearbox had a major meltdown. To this day we don't know if this was caused by towing Bertie or just a stroke of complete bad luck but we had lost all confidence in the car and made the hard decision to sell Bertie on.

We contemplated ending our camping days.... We thought about staying in yurts, gypsy caravans and pods but no one wanted to take our little dog Lottie so we had to find something else. But what?

We were soon to discover the Mazda Bongo and the answer to our prayers!