Today let’s meet Ernesto ! Ernesto is an Italian caravan that has been chosen by its crew to travel. The passion that drives caravan travelers is the same as those who travel in a van or motorhome. But is it true that traveling by caravan can be more complex than traveling by motorhome? For the sake of profitability, some places do not accept caravans. They assume that caravans usually require larger and more spacious pitches, or even two parking spaces, and therefore force drivers to adapt… But keep in mind that CaraMaps also helps those who travel by caravan to find the best addresses for their itinerant trips! Let’s now discover the interview of Ernesto, member of CaraMaps, and its passionate crew!
Presentation of Ernesto and its crew
Hello Ernesto! Can you introduce yourself to the CaraMaps community?
ERNESTO : Hello everyone ! I am a caravan – ERIBA PUCK from 1992 – and I travel the roads of the world with my crew. Che Guevara once said: “My travel house will always have two legs and my dreams will have no borders“… I am a traveling house, no matter if my legs are wheels. What is certain is that the dreams I carry within me will never have borders. My name is ERNESTO and I am in favor of an itinerant tourism that is INCLUSIVE, FREE and RESPECTFUL of everything and everyone, without any distinction.
Do you travel alone or accompanied? How often do you travel?
ERNESTO: I travel alone as well as in company, and it is often my travels that make me meet new companions. I travel whenever my crew has a free moment. It doesn’t matter if they are towing me many miles. It’s a new adventure every time!
Was there anything in particular that pushed your crew to travel by caravan?
ERNESTO: My crew has a long history of tent camping and outdoor touring. However, they have always dreamed of a recreational vehicle. They spent a long time studying all the details of the countless options available and finally chose me. Me, a caravan, believing that it best met their needs.
What are your life and travel values as an itinerant traveler?
ERNESTO: My crew is very attentive to the values of EQUALITY, RESPECT, FREEDOM, DISCOVERY and MEMORY.
That is why, throughout the itinerant journeys we undertake together, we always strive to discover the different identities. We like to know the people, the customs, the food, the history and all the other little details of the places we travel through. Our goal is to travel by caravan in the world in total freedom, always respecting the people and things we meet. We are always ready to put ourselves on an equal footing with others, to help and to share deeply. We are convinced that it is always more interesting to discover commonalities than differences, always driven by a deep spirit of equality.
Ernesto’s travel habits
CaraMaps has noticed on your social networks that you have mostly traveled in Italy, Spain and France. Would you like to discover new horizons?
ERNESTO: Ah, what a question! There are so many places in this world. My crew doesn’t like to think about it too much in advance. They would like to discover every corner, which makes it impossible to predict their next trip. It will certainly be fun to experience and share!
Do you have rituals before or after you arrive at a new place?
ERNESTO: Before going on a trip, we like to be inspired by the experiences of other travelers and we don’t hesitate to go to the bookstore to buy books and guides that will help us plan our itinerary. We usually choose our main destinations and outline the itinerary by studying the different stages. Then we pack our bags and leave. When we return, we gather all our resources and turn them into travelogues. This reminds us of the many details of the experience that can be shared to inspire and help other travelers like us.
Are you more of a planner or an improviser?
ERNESTO: As we have already mentioned in part, the planning of our trips is basic and usually consists of a simple, rough itinerary that tends to change constantly during the course of the trip, being enriched by unexpected experiences. Our trips are the perfect fusion between careful planning and extreme improvisation.
Sharing experience and advice of traveling by caravan
We could see on social networks that your crew is traveling by caravan, which is different from a motorhome or a van. Can you explain us his choice of vehicle ? Advantages or disadvantages?
ERNESTO: I am a caravan and I don’t think that I belong to a different world than motorhomes or vans. I believe that we are all part of a big family, that of itinerant tourism, which, in my opinion, should never be limited to dictating categories and defining borders.
The basic principles of itinerant tourism, which brings together any vehicle or travel system, cannot be division and categorization. It is true that the parking or traffic rules are different for each vehicle and/or arrangement. But what unites us are the rules of the ITINERANT TRAVELLER. In Italy and in many other countries of the world, I can only camp in certain reserved areas. Outside these areas, I can stop and spend the night without necessarily turning my stop into a camp. Like any other recreational vehicle, the caravan can be equipped to not spill fluids on the ground. This ensures a comfortable life inside the cell, without external extensions and gives the possibility to stop without fixed supports.
So are there nuances between the different recreational vehicles? Are they distinctions related to shape, size (weight, width, height, etc.), layout and autonomy? Would this limit and/or expand travel and parking options? It’s true that categories don’t matter in this context.
Here’s my point of view : my crew chose me out of the many options on the market, simply because they found I was the perfect match for their needs. They were looking for an agile, small, all-season vehicle that was easily self-sufficient for maximum freedom to stop and go. An ideal vehicle for tourism. But also to enjoy more sedentary stays without ever giving up the use of a motorized vehicle.
The advantages of traveling by caravan are the following:
A SLOW TRAVEL that allows you to savor the details of the landscapes you cross.
AVAILABILITY OF THE CAR in case of long stops or necessities. This guarantees easy mobility. Both on long distances and on roads that are forbidden to most other recreational vehicles.
THE TRACTOR IS A CAR, which ensures comfort and safety. So the engine can be replaced over time by the most advanced versions, without having to change its means of transportation. The car can be used in everyday life as a family vehicle without taking up too much space.
SAVES money in the purchase, management and maintenance of the car, ensuring a high level of safety.
Nevertheless, there are disadvantages of traveling by caravan. We can summarize them as follows:
ABSOLUTE PROHIBITIONS: caravans are sometimes forbidden to park in areas dedicated to recreational vehicles, often, without plausible reasons. I think this is due to obtuse and restrictive visions. But also to a lack of knowledge, cultural heritages that are difficult to understand and subtle economic interests.
SPEED LIMITS: Like any other towed vehicle, the caravan is subject to speed limits on freeways and extra-urban roads. These vary from country to country. In Italy, the speed limits are 80 km/h on freeways and 70 km/h on extra-urban roads. But it is also true that learning to travel slowly greatly enriches the journey.
LIMITS ON UNLOADING TRAILERS: In Italy, France and Spain, for example, trailers may be parked in specifically authorized areas (private areas, campsites, recreational vehicle parking areas), but not in city centers. However, a trailer attached to a car can be parked within the rules in many parking areas, sometimes even in urban areas.
FALSE MYTHS that often lead the general public to view caravans with suspicion: to renounce their purchase, to have uninclusive or even denigrating attitudes towards those who travel with a trailer.
Let’s dispel a few myths of traveling by caravan:
It is not true that caravans or cars followed by their caravans need more space or take up more parking space. In fact, it is just a question of dimensions, related to the relationship between the size of the vehicle and the space available for parking. Actually, it has nothing to do with the categorization of vehicles: what about motorhomes over 8 meters?
I think it is not true that caravans are not autonomous, that they discharge liquids or waste water. In fact, like any other vehicle, they can be equipped with collection, sanitary and energy self-production systems.
It is not true that caravans are more difficult to maneuver, nor that they require specific permits. Nor are they subject to more restrictive parking and traffic rules than other categories of recreational vehicles. Sure, there are different rules, but each vehicle has its own restrictions, and again, it all depends on the size, weight, features and power of the tractor, just like any other recreational vehicle.
To give you an example, I can tell you that my tractor and I are similar or smaller than many motorhomes. On my own, I can reach the size of a city car. So I can find space even in the smallest parking spaces. I move freely, respecting the rules, on all types of roads.
I ride on highways with narrow ascents and descents, sometimes steep in the mountains. Also, I drive on urban roads through city centers with great agility. I can park almost anywhere, even in multistorey parking lots. Besides, I don’t have many height limits either, as I can easily pass through spaces of a minimum of 2 meters. I am motorized and equipped with the necessary comforts so that my crew can stop in total freedom even in the middle of nowhere, with a tested autonomy of 4 days.
However, I have been asked to leave just because I was a caravan and not a motorhome. I am sometimes surprised that people complain about my presence on a site that they thought was exclusively dedicated to their type of vehicle. Simply because they had arrived after me and had not found the place they were hoping for. It happened several times that I was censored and had my contributions eliminated in an application well known in the world of touring. I had regularly paid a subscription that allowed me to contribute. The problem surfaced when I added new locations. Photos of me parked inside them. I openly declared myself to be a CARAVAN. But I have also heard travelers say that we can have many adventures together. I have heard that I will guarantee my crew less limitations and more freedom than some others have with their own vehicles.
So I can conclude that cars attached to their caravans have different traffic and parking rules than other recreational vehicles. But there are also very different rules between vehicles belonging to the same category. In this context, I find it difficult to understand why the 8 meters MOTORHOME and the MINIVAN belong to the same category, while the CARAVAN is excluded from it. But in reality, I think the question that should be asked is the following:
Wouldn’t it be much more interesting to talk about what we have in common rather than our differences?
Would you have any advice to offer to those who would like to travel by caravan and not in a van or camper ?
ERNESTO: The first piece of advice would be not to give importance to the category the vehicle belongs to. I think it’s important that it suits our needs. In the world of recreational vehicles, creating divisions or differences is not helpful. Instead, let’s try to feel that we are all part of a big family that shares the pleasure of free travel.
It is true that, like any other means of transportation, the caravan has its own rules of circulation and parking. But if you are tempted by the idea of traveling by caravan, don’t limit yourself: travel, discover, enjoy and share.
We were also noticed that you were particularly active on our CaraMaps app and that your crew tagged us when they were travelling by caravan on social networks! Thank you very much and congratulations! Now, can you tell us how you use the CaraMaps app when you travel, how is it useful for you?
ERNESTO: We use the CARAMAPS application all the time to plan the stages and find locations at the last minute. On this application, we like to share our impressions and give other travelers information that could be useful to them. At the same time, we like to add places that have not yet been referenced, in order to enrich the application.
Of course, I would prefer that all the areas accept caravans. However, I find the option to indicate at each stop whether or not they accept caravans very useful. In this regard, I encourage all caravanners to actively use the app and add this information to the app when it is not provided. It is up to us to convey that we are all part of the same family.
What is your best travel memory? A favorite destination to share with the CaraMaps community of frequent travelers?
ERNESTO: Every trip leaves a pleasant memory. To this day, the longest trip and the most rich in terms of experiences to share was certainly the one to Atlantic Spain. We spent 24 very intense days and travelled about 4,800 km on local and national roads in Italy and Spain, between seas and mountains. A trip that we talked about a lot on social networks and that gave us a great desire to go back. I invite the whole community to follow us on social networks to discover this trip and many other beautiful adventures.
Do you have one or more unusual travel anecdotes to share with us?
ERNESTO: It often happens that my passage arouses interest and wonder. Often, when I am stopped, people approach me, intrigued by my particularity. They are surprised to discover that, despite my small size, I have everything necessary to ensure a comfortable stay for my crew. It’s when they hear about all my adventures that the surprise comes. They appreciate the fact that even a small caravan like me, which is more than three decades old, can face big journeys without any fear or limitations.
Would you recommend the CaraMaps travel app to other travelers?
ERNESTO: CaraMaps is a very useful application, even if it is not the only one on the market. Why would you recommend it to other travelers? Simple: because, unlike other competitors on the market, CaraMaps has an open and inclusive vision of the world of travel. CaraMaps does not hesitate to value the impressions of some over others and welcomes all expressions of outdoor tourism in its community. This feeds a big box of dreams.
Don’t hesitate to follow Ernesto’s crew adventures on their social media :
📱 Instagram : @ernesto_puck_1992
📱Findpenguins : Findpenguins Ernestopuck1992 !
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See also our other interviews: “Let’s meet João and Mónica and their vintage motorhome Parreirinha” “The radical change of life of Benoît Giffard” and many others!