My wife and I (both from the US) are in the midst of our around the world trip and are thinking that the best way to spend the next 6-8 months will be to buy a used caravan in Europe somewhere and make our way around on the open road, camping, on our schedule. No plans or trains, just an automobile...

It seems doable from what I can find on the web, even though there are definitely some hoops to jump through with insurance, registration, etc... Insurance is compulsory and CRAZY expensive. But is there any real difference in insurance depending on where you buy? Registration has a few different directions to go - register it in a country and come back every year for inspections and re-registration; list it as an "export" thereby avoiding the registration but increasing your insurance costs and leaving the country where you bought it (theoretically for good), or register it under a third party (ie dealer, family/friend in that country, some dude on the street...) so that it's not actually in your name.

And I know that the Schengen visa is always a possible issue, but let's just push that one to the side. We're not going to worry about it.

We'll be flying to Europe from Hong Kong in a few weeks and we're thinking that we'll just head to the cheapest destination available. I have a thought (though possibly misguided) that Germany will be a good place to find a good, used caravan (being the home of VW and all), so Munich is at the top of the list right now. Plus it's one of the cheapest places to fly into from what I can find at just over $400 USD per person for a one way.

So, all that being said, has anyone ACTUALLY bought a vehicle in Europe and travelled around for an extended period of time? Any advice on the logistical side of buying/registering/insuring/etc... that you can offer? Any other thoughts, of course, are welcome too. Any recommendations on where the best place is to do it?