The Touring Landau was unlike anything that had previously been seen before – and it was created with the camper in mind. Containing luggage and cargo compartments, a designated place for camping equipment and a toilet on board, the motorhome was the vision of luxury. Don’t forget, most toilets those days were found in outhouses in the gardens!

Come the 1920’s, building managers and manufacturers were beginning to convert 2nd hand panel trucks and buses to be used as camping vehicles. Local designers got on board and started adding their input, basing these motorhomes on the interiors found in buses, airplanes and boats.

However, during World War Two, the production of such vehicles was halted and was not resumed until the 1950’s.

Where did the name come from?
Motorhomes was the name coined for these vehicles in the 50’s by Raymond Frank who actually went on to design and create his first motorhome so that he could take his family on holiday to the mid-west of America. Mounted on top of a Dodge chassis, the 27-foot long motorhome soon caught the eye of other holiday makers who quickly asked Frank whether he would create and build one for them.

By the early 1960’s Raymond Frank has sold 7 motorhomes and decided to open a business. Frank Motor Homes, Inc. was opened and was a huge hit, especially with those who didn’t want to go down the trailer route for their holidays!

As happens in business, other manufacturers quickly cottoned onto the motorhome and the fact that there was an interested market available and in 1966, the Winnebago was launched – still to this date one of the world’s most recognisable names when it comes to motorhome travel.

Motorhomes now
Since the birth of the motorhome and the subsequent boom featuring the Winnebago, motorhomes are often found around the world and are a popular way of travelling around a country and seeing new things. In fact, just last year, in America, over 43,000 motorhomes were sold.

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Things have changed considerably over the past few years, with more and more electrical devices and gadgets around to keep little people entertained, but what else should you have in your kids bag?

Movies, games and apps
As just said, devices and gadgets are for more common these days, with many households home to a tablet of some description. Load it up with apps (and battery!) before setting off and encourage children to play on it for short spells when bored. Also pack a few DVD’s and earphones, so that your kids in the back seat can watch their favourite movie on the go either by the in car system or a portable DVD player.

Travel games
These never go out of fashion! Travel games are a scaled down size of popular board games, such as Monopoly, Guess who and Connect Four, these games can entertain kids and adults alike for hours. Also, these travel sized games are handy as they are smaller than the original size, so can be stored in travel / hand luggage sized bags nice and easy without given you too much more weight to carry!

Books
Colouring books, magazines, story books, travel books – books are an essentials! Encourage the children to dive into a book to help them escape, like Harry Potter or The Hunger Games or simply crack open the colouring pens and get creative. Magazine are also popular, especially with boys who might find a book to daunting.

Oldies but goodies!
If nothing else and the kids still get bored, why not revert back to the old tried and tested games like I Spy and first to spot a yellow car!

Hopefully with a mixture of all of the above ideas, you will be able to enjoy your holiday travelling, with all of your hair intact!

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