Campers: flexibility and improvisation as true luxury

30 years ago, a camper vacation would not have been the envy of everyone, since they were not viewed with enough cache to spend time planning routes, belongings, light points, bathrooms and activities. Or, even worse, leave events to chance and improvise as you go,
were, in the end, perceived as more work than reward.

Also three decades ago, a camper vacation implied a commitment: if you wanted to travel in one,
practically the only possible option was to buy one equipped for it or build it yourself. Today, thanks to Instagram, what you want is to escape crowds. In a crowded world, unspoiled landscapes are the real luxury, and the ability to park virtually anywhere means the views available have the potential to be as stunning as you’d like.

This type of tourism has been very popular in Germany for decades, and auxiliary industries have sprung up around camperization.
In the 1950s the legendary collaboration between Volkswagen and Westfalia was born, and now it is possible to buy a camper van from the factory. Although VW is the leader in this segment – all generations of its van have proven to be versatile canvases for modification – other manufacturers have tried to get a piece of this lucrative pie and, for example, Mercedes or Ford offer their own models for it. .

It is precisely in Germany where he was born
Roadsurfer Five years ago. A couple accidentally found a new business renting their camper to their friends and they gradually expanded, until they had a presence in France, Spain, Italy, Portugal, the United Kingdom and, more recently, the United States.

live in a campervan

The premise is simple: have a fully equipped van that allows you to go on adventures. It is paid per night and returned as it was delivered: clean and with a full deposit. Although it is already impossible to reserve one for Easter, the company wants to boost its weekend rentals —and even offers variable prices in low seasons—.

In a well-equipped camper, you don’t miss the luxuries of built-up living. On the contrary,
if the experience is good, it may be discovered that there is no turning back.

It is, for practical purposes, a more comfortable way to camp: you have two double beds, two gas stoves, running water, storage space, blinds, a fridge capable of freezing, a picnic table, a powerful sound system, shower and heating. In the largest there is even a bathroom, although the authentic experience begs to do without it in favor of the bushes.

The obvious advantage to camping—or staying in a hotel—is mobility. If the area where you were planning to camp has a bad weather forecast, it’s as simple as packing up your gear and going somewhere else where there are literally better winds. In this aspect, traveling by campervan is very similar to sailing.

Another aspect in which it is identical to sailing is in the need to be organized.. In small spaces, any disorder seems much bigger, especially in spaces where everything has an assigned place. Certain precautions must be taken, but the good thing about being rented is that some actions —such as making sure that when the roof is lowered the mechanism does not get caught in the fabric— are more of a curious condition of German engineering and do not have time to become a nuisance

Campers are obviously a very popular modality among outdoor athletes. Climbers want to lose as little time as possible in reaching the slope. Roadsurfer makes the bike rack come standard, but the surfboard rack is optional.

But one of the groups that can most enjoy a campervan are couples with small children. The company has a net for the upper bed that allows it to be converted into a safe crib for them.

Roadsurfer rates are clear
—around 100 euros per night—but waking up in a dehesa, surrounded by dew, fresh air, the singing of birds and a pinkish sky of an Extremaduran sunrise is priceless.

drive a camper

The behavior of a camper is, in essence, everything that is expected of a van that carries several extra kilos on it. It pays to be sweet on steering and acceleration, though the camper lifestyle doesn’t encourage you to drive fast anyway.

Of course, as Roadsurfer has chosen the most powerful and best equipped versions as a base,
these are vans capable of driving on the German Autobahn and they have powerful diesel engines, automatic transmissions, Android Auto and even heated seats. Consumption is reasonable considering the volume, with an average of 6.1 liters from Madrid to Trujillo.

One of the concerns when traveling by camper is the possibility of finding areas where the Civil Guard does not present problems —it is illegal to camp in unestablished areas. For this reason, from Roadsurfer they have reached agreements with rural houses and town halls to be able to have areas in which, for an additional price, users can park the campers. Of these, called ‘spots’, there are already about 200 in Spain, and the goal is to at least double them. In Germany, on the other hand, they already exceed 2,000.