Caravanning offers more than freedom. As the ideas in this column show, part of the fun is in creative problem solving. Why not send us your suggestions?

If the grass area around your pitch is muddy, your towcar can make ruts in the grass or get stuck. The solution: get two lengths (I used 4m lengths) of half-metre wide green plastic garden mesh in 50 mm guage and the same in 19mm guage. Place the 19mm mesh on top of the 50mm and fix together at intervals with cable ties. It gives you two user-friendly portable paths which can be pegged down on the pitch, adjacent to the caravan, to suit your car's wheel base. The paths are lightweight, harmless to the grass, easily hosed clean and can be rolled up for transport home. Most garden centres stock this mesh. The cost was around £20.
Carol West,
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

In order to fill the fresh tank on our Thetford toilet, we open the washroom window, attach a fill hose to the washbasin tap and direct water into the fill point until the tank is full. Don't touch the hose to the fill point in case of bacteria transfer. This saves having to carry and fill another container especially for the purpose
Hugh Lyall,
Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland

My awning got caught in a terrible squall, badly damaging one of the poles. I contacted the manufacturer, who wanted to sell me a complete new set of poles at a hefty price. Instead, I took the pole to my local blacksmith who bent it back into shape. It cost just £10.
David Narey,
Diss, Norfolk

When you make a trip to the disposal point to empty your Thetford, take a throw-away polythene apron with you and put it on before you empty the tank. It prevents your clothing getting splashed by unpleasant liquids, or becoming stained by the chemical fluid. If you want to be environmentally conscious, buy a thick cotton apron or use an old one just for this job.
Neil Stephen,
Claygate

Do you sigh heavily at the thought of squeezing your awning back into its bag when it's time to pack up and go home? You need worry no more. Take an old sleeping bag (with zips intact), open it up, lay it on the ground, then simply place your awning on top and zip round.
Linda Smit
Shrewsbury

In France, very few shops and services open on a Sunday, and this includes petrol stations. You are not supposed to travel on ferries with a full tank of fuel. So, if you are driving long distances in France over a weekend, be sure to fill up at the first possible opportunity and keep the tank topped up whenever you can. On a recent trip we made, the only petrol station we could find was unmanned and required French credit cards. Thankfully we bumped into an English-speaking Frenchman who paid for our fuel with his own credit card. We reimbursed him with cash, but you might not be so lucky.
P Warburton,
Sheffield

To stop the toilet roll unravelling in transit, slip an elastic band over the paper. When you arrive on site, just slip the band to the side of the holder.
Maureen Parry,
Mold, Flintshire

To prevent injuries as a result of tripping over awning pegs, dip the ends in yellow paint and let them dry. This makes them extremely visible and will make it easy to find your pegs when packing up.
Brian Good,
Horley, Surrey

My son bought a 1980 Buccaneer. We were amazed at the condition of the windows considering the age of the van. The lady selling the van told me that she used T-CUT to clean the windows. It gets rid of all scratches and polishes up into an immaculate shine that I can’t top.
Iris Mynett ,
Rugely, Staffordshire

French supermarkets and service station 24-hour facilities can only be used with a French credit card. If you visit France often and you don't want to get caught short, why not open a French bank account? We joined Credit Lyonnais, which was a simple procedure. All we needed was two utility bills and the latest pay slip. Shortly before we go to France we transfer sufficient money to meet our expenses. The commission charges for the transfer are usually less than credit card interest rates. We pay for autoroute tolls with our 'carte bleu', which cuts queuing times at booths.
Dave Heatley,
Frampton Cotterell, Bristol

You don't have to spend money to improve the security of your caravan. Use your caravan mover to position your caravan nose-first in your driveway. Then place your wheel clamp and hitchlock in position, lower the steadies and remove the jockey wheel. Taking these simple measures makes the van much more difficult for a thief to take it off the drive before he can hitch up and drive off.
Bill Metcalfe,
Via email

We use an electric hotplate for most of our cooking electricity is cheaper because it's usually ‘in with the price', and if you're cooking under the awning it's obviously much safer than using gas. We bought our hotplate for about £25 and it has paid for itself many times over. We now carry the 907 GAZ cylinders only, and don't have to waste so much time searching for refills.
David Willdigg
Crewe, Cheshire

WANTED: TOURING TIPS
Do you have a great idea for getting the most out of your van? Send it to Stacie Pardoe, Practical Caravan, Broom Road, Teddington, Middlesex TW11 9BE or to stacie.pardoe@haymarket.com.