Caravan

Could this be our new home? It would only be for 3 or 4 months.... Here are the positives as we see it
 

The biggest reason is to save money. Rather than loose money on rent (and breaking a lease) we will buy a caravan then re-sell it. Luckily we will buy off-season then re-sell when its warmer and caravans will be more in-demand (note the caravan pictured that we have our eye on has had 36 bids on it and nearly 3000 page views on Ebay so we are confident it will sell easily).

Here is a big list of more good reasons to live on-site and brave the caravan lifestyle;
 We get to settle into our new address, get to know our neighbours and change our mail to its new permanent address. We will be able to walk to school easily, ride our bikes on the creek, walk to the shops and enjoy all the fantastic features of our carefully chosen new address. We won't be competing to find a rental property (our choice of which will be quite constricted by our dog). Instead Minnie will be able to play in her new big block and get to know our neighbour's dog. Richard will be very happy to get the car back and be able to drive to work once again. We will only need to move house once rather than twice, this reason is highly motivating to me having lived through so many moves in recent years.

To further convince ourselves of this option we have thought through some coping strategies. We have access to my parents beach house on the Mornington Peninsula a 1.5 hr drive away (bearing in mind we will have to negotiate this with them and go to the effort of 'the big clean-up' each time we go there). I am also sure Richard's parents who live in Gisborne will look after us on the odd weekend. An extended Queensland holiday will hopefully be affordable if we save on rental money, perhaps timed with the couple of weeks when the house is being installed at the end. The neighbours who normally use our block as their backyard (there is no fence) will possibly be open to us using their washing machine and having the occasional shower (they have two). We will need to have a conversation about this soon. I imagine the local swimming pool will become a regular haunt (the caravan has a shower & portable toilet). 

This caravan has a split system although being the middle of Winter we only anticipate using the heat option!

We plan to attach an annex for extra storage and room to move.

Triple bunks perfect!

Hopefully there is enough headspace to allow for jumping when the boys are going cabin fever kerazy.

The downsides to choosing to live in a caravan versus renting a house are obvious. I'm sure we will often feel cramped, cold, and frustrated by the inconvenience of such simple living. We won't have our tools, and resources that help when living with 3 young boys. Everyday challenges will possibly be amplified through lack of personal space and limited options. I think I can hack it though. I'm sure it will be memorable at the very least!

I'm half expecting friends and family to hold an intervention soon! In the meantime any advice or tips would be most welcome...