ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to discuss the people that inhabit the campsites, people for whom the caravan and the motorhome has become a primary home, or a seasonal extension of an already existing domestic dwelling. It looks at both the reasoning around, and the consequences of, a turn to caravan life, identifying the overlaps as well as the disjunctures between aspirations and the actual agency and possibilities to fulfil them. Edward and Petra’s story of their decision to become caravan residents is directed by a narrative of how an excess of things became unbearable and brought them to a crisis point. Caravan and motorhome advertisements visually place the caravan distanced from urban environments, playing on portrayals of freedom through mobility and closeness to nature. Downsizing to a caravan is also commonly seen as a withdrawal from practical and time-consuming tasks that come with the maintenance of a house or a larger apartment.
