New Cali owners with young boys

Hi, we have just purchased a Cali 6.0 and picking it up next week. We have 2 boys (3yrs old and 8mths) so we’ll be looking for ideas on how to travel with young ones

weecamper2019 said:

Hi, we have just purchased a Cali 6.0 and picking it up next week. We have 2 boys (3yrs old and 8mths) so we’ll be looking for ideas on how to travel with young ones

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Treading these boards myself, got a daughter who’s 3 in December and a son who is 11 months. Did our first trip a couple of weekends back and my first tip is to bring the grandparents as well if possible

Take a look at the Cinch range as you’ll almost certainly need extra space, if you buy the Hub and the windbreak you can make a little self-contained room and pen for them to play in. We take a little table, lots of games/activities and somewhere for them to sit, I’ve learnt through my one trip that distraction is also the name of the game.

We’ve done camping with a wee one from the other side of the glass. We’re tge grandparents, and took our 10 week old grandchild with us (and daughter & son in law) to Norfolk. A great week!

Hawthorn37 said:

We’ve done camping with a wee one from the other side of the glass. We’re tge grandparents, and took our 10 week old grandchild with us (and daughter & son in law) to Norfolk. A great week!

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Can I borrow you when my parents aren’t available?

weecamper2019 said:

Hi, we have just purchased a Cali 6.0 and picking it up next week. We have 2 boys (3yrs old and 8mths) so we’ll be looking for ideas on how to travel with young ones

Click to expand...

When we go away for the summer we take a tote toy bag and my wife usually buys them v small presents for the first 3 days. Lego, sticker books etc. stuff that will occupy them while you have a lazy breakfast.
We also have lidded insulated coffee cups so when you inevitably have to take them to the loo whatever you still have warm coffee afterwards.

Very low table and picnic blanket to play on.

Even if you don’t want an awning or Cinch, we carry a v small Decathlon pop up tent to put the car seats, prams etc in when you arrive.

We bought our California when my wife was pregnant and that child is now 13 and her brother 10. 14 happy summers.

We unusually have always slept up top and put the kids to bed downstairs but others seem to do it the other way around.

Welcome to the club

Ours are 5 years and 3 years (having had the Cali for the past 3 and a bit years).

First and foremost tip - make sure ALL of your kid-related items are in the far right cupboards. The last thing you want in the middle of the night is a fold-out potty for the kiddos tucked into the left half of the cupboard whils the beds out

The biggest challenge we have with any camping trip are the chairs. Isofix or seatbelt - both are a nightmare as you cant fold out the bed without them being stored; and there's not the space to store them inside. A popup tent is an absolute blessing for short trips, or a driveaway awning for those longer stays.

And whatever you do - make sure you get an awning/gear that can be put up solo. We got a Vango Galli III Low, thinking the space would be great. It is - however it's an unruly beast, and the mrs is on point with the kids, which leaves me to wrangle it single handedly.

Agree that the Galli III is a 2 person job! Great once it’s up though.