As early as the 1700's, people have embraced the idea of a home on wheels. Originally embraced by nomadic people and the earliest frontier settlers in the US, the earliest mobile homes and covered wagons were used for practical purposes rather than recreation, providing accommodation and shelter for artists, itinerant workers with products to sell or services to hire or slow migrations. This meant they had living quarters as well as a means of transporting people and their supplies and equipment. Of course, the original home on wheels was horse drawn, but no sooner had the motor car been invented than people started building homes on the chassis.As early as 1910, basic shelters were being built onto cars and trucks. From the 1920's and 1930's, coach builders began experimenting with motorised homes. These were prohibitively expensive and did not capture the public's imagination. The onset of World War Two stopped the development of luxury and leisure vehicles, but from the 1950's people began to think innovatively and creatively about the ways in which motor vehicles were used. From simple beginnings such as fold down seats enabling a work vehicle to be able to transport a family on the weekends, to windows along the body of the vehicle, by the 1960's the motorhome and campervan industry was established and a real surge in popularity occurred. They were referred to as motor homes, caravans, campervans or recreational vehicles (RV's) depending on where in the world you were.
The key to this success was the affordability of being able to customise a campervan: it could be a simple two berth for a pair of New Zealand youth driving through Europe, or it could be an elaborate home away from home for a wealthy family. They could be bought outright or offered for hire. Popular camping sites began offering facilities for campervans with powered sites and dump sites for waste. Creative solutions to space constraints abounded: pop up roofs for headroom, awnings for extra living space, compact cooking and bathroom facilities, fold out benches and clever fold away tables making the most of the available space. As the industry developed, so did the innovation. Vehicles could be altered to use alternative sources of industry. Campervans ranged from elaborate and bespoke homes to standardised for hire vehicles.These days the campervan industry remains diverse: From those living in motorised homes full time to those choosing campervan holiday as a way of exp loring the world without having to seek separate accommodation and transport options, and very different cultures have arisen. Some users prefer to follow the comforts of campervan ready parks; others are interested in getting as far off the beaten track as they can. Some people prefer to buy a converted vehicle; others prefer to hire a campervan to have the assurance of regular maintenance and a standard quality. In relatively small countries like New Zealand, a campervan is often the most practical option in the absence of large scale public transport links and ensures travellers are never caught without accommodation.Many people seem to be born with an innate urge to explore and travel, and for those who are unlikely to be satisfied by a package tour and want to experience other places their own way, it seems unlikely that motorhomes and campervans are going to disappear from our roads any time soon.
For camper rentals in New Zealand check out
3 Berth Motorhome Hire
