When the bug bites…

My husband Mike has always been a keen camper. Me… not so much. But, I was prepared to try. So, when our kids, Andrew and Amy, were two and four years old, we bought a bulky eight-person tent and everything else we needed. It was wonderful, but pitching camp tested our marriage and patience. We sold the tent shortly thereafter. Through the years, we’ve tried many different camping setups: more tents, various caravans (from the 1980s to the 2016 Jurgens Xcape), as well as all the camping trailers, fitted with everything you need in every nook and cranny. After 12 different options over 16 years, we finally believe we have the best and easiest: a Land Rover Forward Control camper from the seventies. I’ll admit it’s not the most attractive rig and it’s old – friends and family has given it a number of names: the Thing, It, the Ice-cream Van, and Rex – but it has everything we need. Our camp is set up within five minutes, and we have coffee on the boil, watching our friends put up tent poles and guy lines. Should our kids (now 16 and 18) come along, we bring two dome tents. I’m a typical “glamper”; I love all home comforts. Our amenities include a double bed, bedside table, a clothes drawer; a fridge/freezer, a cassette toilet, gas stove, outside shower, solar, plug points, and an electric blanket, to name but a few. We’re totally off-grid and self-sufficient. The Land Rover turns heads and sparks interest wherever we go. We leave it ready with all our camping needs, so we only need to pack food and clothes before we’re off on our next adventure. I went from not being keen on camping to now loving it. I love that we can go most places in our 4x4 van – we find the most amazing places to explore. We want to live life to the fullest and we don’t want to miss out on any adventure – big or small. Our travels have taken us around gorgeous South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Namibia… and we can’t wait to discover more! Camping takes you to more places than you can think of.