Supercar or camper van: which one belongs in your dream garage?

What to do after a bracing autumnal/winter walk? In a car you kick everything off, get moving to get some heat in the engine and then, eventually, defrost. In the van, we put the heat on, swivelled the front seats around, cracked on with some hot drinks and played a game of cards. Life was slower, yes, but it was also happier. Provided no one falls out, the proximity is a boon.

Regularly told by your kids that they are thirsty, or hungry? Again, here was the car that had the answers on board. Or that they're bored? Seemingly they're far less so in a camper van, helped in no small part by the SUV-like high seating positions and endless views. And with a boot the size of little else, even with all our sleeping bags and duvets, they could bring their favourite teddies and toys. Happy kids, happy parents. 

At nights, four up was a squeeze, not helped by the fact that we're a pretty tall family. But could the kids care less? Of course not. In my varied experience, even of top-end luxury and all the tricks they can throw at it, there is no car interior more exciting than a camper van's.

The aforementioned swivel seats are a start, as are a sink and cooker. But throw in a pop-up roof, massively sliding rear seats and an array of switches and toggles and you have all a 12-year old (going on 45-year old) could ever wish for. Camping as a family is fun. Camping in a camper van as a family, two upstairs, two down, is actually quite giddying - and the appeal didn't wear off. And you can always pitch a tent next door if it does, although I guarantee no one will really want to be in it.

We enjoyed skipping from place to place in a way we simply wouldn't have done if we'd been staying somewhere that needed us to pack and unpack the whole shebang every time we stopped. If we woke up and wanted to head to the nearest beach, town or relative, we could be on the move in minutes. The sense of being in control of our own destiny was a cut above that engendered by any other means of transport I've encountered.

Before this experience, I'd wondered if the camper van's day was up. I'd certainly viewed VW's plans to garner a few headlines and reinvent the genre with the electric ID Buzz as an unimaginative attempt to engage some latter-day baby boomers into its customer base, rather than an a credible attempt to breathe new, emissions-free life into a still-relevant genre.

I reasoned that today we were all too time-poor ("Just get me there as quick as you can") and cosseted ("I want wi-fi, electricity and a comfy mattress") to give any credence to the idea of driving around with your home attached to an engine and wheels. Ever the spendthrift, I'd also pondered why anyone would spend so much up front (and, yes, I know the Marco Polo isn't the cheapest of its ilk, but the price of all camper vans is generally on the high side), and on fuel when the costs would pay for some pretty spectacular hotel stays if you saved the difference between the van and a 'normal' family car.