PORTALOOS and tow bars have never featured high on fashion's hit-list until now that is.

Yes trendy types, it's time to dig out your thermos and plastic cups because the In Crowd are swapping the Caribbean for the caravan site and down-to-earth celebrities are getting back to nature with this inimitably British method of holiday making.

Helen Mirren, Patsy Palmer and Mark Owen have all confessed to a passion for the mobile home from home. Founder of the uber-cool Red or Dead brand, Wayne Hemmingway has also come out as a caravan fan.

Indie icon Jarvis Cocker, another caravan enthusiast, set the seal on the future of this new holiday trend with Pulp's testimonial to the great outdoors, We Love Life.

Gone are the days of 70s graphic print interiors and primitive caravanning facilities. You need sacrifice neither your comfort nor your style to join the fashion pack round the campfire.

Fashion guru, Ralph Lauren's super-stylish interiors for retro American caravan brand, Airstream, have redefined kitsch caravan cool.

If space is limited, the cute pastel Pod caravans are small enough to be towed by a Mini and would not look out of place in the car park at Harvey Nichols.

For a splash of colour try the brand new TB caravans from Germany which hit our shores this month. In acid bright livery, these compact vans are the latest word in funky design.

Nikki Nichol, spokesperson for The Caravan Club explains that today's technology means carvanning no longer means going without your mod-cons.

She says: "The toilets these days are not the chemical loos of old. When you empty them you just remove a cassette from the back of the van, it is very sterile.

"Caravan Club sites have excellent facilities and you can have a chat and make friends while you are filling up your water tank. It is not a hard slog."

She adds: "Caravans are so luxurious these days, they have top-of-the-range shower cubicles, cookers, fridge-freezers and CD players."

She said young people will buy a caravan together and go off to the beach to go surfing.

"We have a site in Brighton which is great fun with a group of people. We have over 200 sites throughout the UK, some near big cities and others in the countryside."

She thinks the spontaneity of hitching up your van on a Friday night and setting off into the wild blue yonder is part of carvanning's new appeal.

"Young people are going caravanning as they realise you don't have to book in advance and plan a package holiday. With a caravan, every weekend can be a holiday."

True aficionados use their mobile retreat to get away from it all but if being too far away from urban action makes you panic then you do not have to head for the hills in your van.

Take some advice from Caravan Club member Mark Owen. He says: "I love carvanning and I love caravans. They are great to take to rock festivals, as you will know if you have even seen the toilet facilities there."

For a couple desperately seeking a little time together away from their whirlwind lives, there is nothing cosier than a caravan made for two. But the sociable, friendly atmosphere of most campsites means that the past-time is ideal for those looking to make new friends, or for something more.

Should you need a push in the right direction then log on to hitchuptolove.com. The brain-child of outdoor leisure retailers, Barrons, this website will help you hook up with like-minded 'vanners before you go on holiday. With over 1000 thirtysomethings visiting the site every week there is bound to be someone who wants to join the caravan of love with you.

The only Caravan Club site in Wiltshire guarantees that you can go to sleep listening to lions roaring. Longleat is one of the club's most beautiful parkland sites. For more details write to: The Warden, Longleat Caravan Club Site, Warminster BA12 7NL or ring (01985) 844663. It is open from March 28 to November 3