Certification applies to Offset Alpine Printing
upfront | welcome
Independent , always
As you ’ re reading this our growing team here at ROAM is gearing up to enter our fifth year of publishing .
We have some exciting plans ahead we look forward to sharing very soon . As always , we ’ re grateful to our readers and advertisers who ’ ve made it all possible , especially those who ’ ve been with us right from our launch at the start of 2013 .
It ’ s certainly an exciting time to be in the RV travel industry as it continues to grow year on year .
I had some interesting feedback in recent weeks in response to a comment published in our last issue questioning whether the industry ’ s peak lobby group , the Caravan Industry Association ( CIA ) was really doing enough to ensure new RVs were up to scratch in terms of quality . We noted that more than half of all the new caravans , motorhomes and camper trailers built are not covered by the CIA ’ s compliance program . This is because some of the key manufacturers have simply refused to sign up to it .
Several readers wrote to tell of specific problems they ’ ve experienced with their new purchases . In most cases we ’ ve passed these letters directly on to the manufacturers concerned .
A senior industry figure also called me to urge me to “ back off ” on raising these types of issues , saying there ’ s no future for businesses in this sector that didn ’ t continuously take a “ positive ” stance .
I ’ d like to think we are mostly positive , but we haven ’ t shied away from taking up issues people raise . I would note that at least two other major caravan and RV publications have signed secret sponsorship deals with the CIA , which would effectively render them impotent in terms of making any sort of objective commentary on issues like the one I ’ ve just described .
As a young journalist I was taught that real news is something somebody somewhere doesn ’ t want published , the rest is just PR . I ’ m pleased to say that thanks to your ongoing support , we ’ re still practicing real journalism here .
I hope you enjoy this issue including some amazing vintage caravan photos from the private collection of industry veteran Jeff Chrisfield who I thoroughly enjoyed meeting recently .
Our own living legends , Mal and Laraine Leyland , have been back on the road in South Australia and share their experiences traveling down the Strzelecki Track . They also have some exciting plans ahead for 2017 , which I hope to share with you in our next issue .
Until then , Happy Roaming .
Rod Bruem , editor @ timetoroam . com . au
# 23
Australia ’ s favourite print and digital RV & Travel magazine .
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Time to Roam is published bi-monthly and distributed by Time to Roam Australia Pty Ltd PO Box 999 Lismore NSW 2480
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Digital Marketing Phill Terry m 0425 255 495 e phill @ timetoroam . com . au
National Sales Manager Print & Digital Sharon Heugh p 02 6621 2761 e sharon @ timetoroam . com . au
Editor Rod Bruem e rod @ timetoroam . com . au
Journalist Ian Wakeling e Ian @ timetorroam . com . au
Administration Manager Jo Grenfell e jo @ timetoroam . com . au
Contributors Richard Robertson , David Cook , Trevor Worden , Brett Toll , Cathy Wagner
Travel Editors at Large Mal and Laraine Leyland
Proudly Printed in Australia by Offset Alpine , Lidcombe NSW
Design and Production Mitch Morgan Design , mitchmorgandesign . com
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