There are hoards of books to help you plan your route, select campsites, restaurants, inns and roadside toilets (you would never have remembered the importance of that little detail if I hadn't mentioned it, would you now?).

Other than the frustratingly slow speeds you will manage on your new caravan, there are other disadvantages that only careful planning will protect you from. You will be reminded that you didn't plan well enough when you venture off the main road to visit a quaint little village and discover, to the humiliation of your entire family, that your lush, but oversized caravan brings village roads to a standstill. So before you venture off the main road, read your maps carefully.

Another joy you will discover is the camaraderie in campsites - the evening barbecues with your campsite neighbors, a huge backyard for the kids to run around silly all day and of course, the silent, cool breezes that assure you a sound sleep.

This is of course if you are lucky. Because you are more likely to encounter the caravanners' community made up of people who spend money on going abroad, only to take home with them. The most irritating for me are the blaring TVs - people will take their television sets with them so as not to miss the evening soaps. Although you will not be acquainted with the family parked next to you, you will be overcome with the sense that nothing seems different in their way of life, whether they are at home or at a foreign campsite. The only difference is that there are no walls to divide your home from your neighbour's.