When Glamping Becomes a Lifestyle
For most of us glamping is a holiday option; a few nights in the countryside surrounded by nature, enjoying a brief spell of the slower pace of life which glamping demands. Some of the more well-appointed glamping accommodations make us think “I could quite happily live here”, and some people do end up making the decision to switch from the busy modern life to a lifestyle akin to permanently glamping.
The key aspects of glamping that appeal to someone looking for a lifestyle change are the proximity to nature and an increased reliance on the natural environment, whether that’s using solar or wind power for electricity, recycling rainwater for bathing or having a wood-fired or biogas hot water system. Being more connected to the source of your needs necessitates a slower pace of life and a deep connection to the world around you and this is very appealing for people who feel lost in the rat race and yearn for a simpler life. The seclusion and freedom is also a very appealing aspect, especially if you’re used to living in a town or city surrounded by people all the time.
Turning glamping into a lifestyle can be a solo (or couple’s) pursuit involving building accommodation from scratch, often restoring and converting a vehicle into a living space which works off-grid. It’s the allure of travel which drives many people to create a glamping lifestyle on wheels, allowing them to live in harmony with the environment through a self-sufficient home space which can take them far and wide. The beauty of a moveable home is that it can be settled somewhere more permanent when needed, so this option is versatile and grows with the person or couple choosing the semi-nomadic glamping lifestyle.
There are also eco-communities which embody the glamping spirit by living in harmony with the natural world in a more permanent way. The accommodation is mostly self-built with the entire community pitching in with their skills to create homes for everyone on the site. This really is a lifestyle commitment – you won’t be able to commute to the office everyday when there’s work to be done in the community helping raise livestock, tending the vegetable garden or doing maintenance jobs. In other cases, glamping becomes a lifestyle when someone falls in love with the idea and starts their own glampsite, deciding to live on-site in a glamping structure while managing the business.
Singer Elizabeth Wynn accidentally took this route after she moved to Spain with her then partner. Her plans didn’t turn out as expected so she took the opportunity to build her own mobile tiny house when fate delivered a plot of land and an old van chassis at the same time. After living the glamping lifestyle for several years Wynn moved back to the UK to care for her father. Returning to Spain after his death she found that the tiny house no longer felt like home so she renovated a farmhouse nearby, renting out her mini home to holidaymakers looking to be inspired into the glamping lifestyle.
Next time you go glamping and think “I could quite happily live here”, what’s stopping you? Plenty of people have successfully made the transition to a glamping lifestyle with no experience of building, living off-grid or growing their own food and all these skills can be learnt and attempted very easily.