Sean Norris van fleet success: from one van to many

Sean Norris, father of two from Watford, is embracing the caravan sharing economy, turning his passion for campervan holidays into his own family business, Carefree Campers.

In April 2019, Sean joined Camplify and began hiring out his campervan when not using it. Just four months later, he expanded his fleet by investing in another campervan to meet demand. Now he's hiring out three!

What’s your most memorable camping experience or experiences?

I did my first campervan trip when I was 18 and drove down to North Africa and the Sahara Desert. I bought a derelict minibus from my old school, a Talbot Express, rebuilt the engine and converted it to a campervan that I called “Vini the Van”.

I spent about a year driving across Europe and down to the Sahara. I had lots of adventures on that trip, packing bulbs in a factory in Holland, drinking peppermint tea in a Bedouin Tent in the Atlas Mountains, and breaking down in the Sahara next to a big sand dune called Erg Chebbi.

I had to hitch-hike out of the desert to get spare parts, so I could get back and fix the van. That was a great trip.

What made you start your Campervan hire business?

We have always had camper vans, caravans and/or tents as a family. We converted a campervan a few years ago and soon realised we weren’t using the van as much as we thought, so we offered it to friends and family to use.

That gave us the idea to try renting the van out. Last year the rental income covered the cost of running the campervan.

What is the most enjoyable thing about hiring out your camper vans?

Because we love camping and road trips it’s lovely to hear about what people have got planned and what people have got up to when they get back.

Do hirers still receive the personal touch of a “peer to peer” hiring experience when they hire your vans?

We have only got a couple of camper vans so everyone that hires from us picks the van up from our house and gets a hand-over from one of our family. It’s really nice to be able to do that as it means we can explain how to get the most of their campervan trip.

What are the most important extra touches that you feel really makes a difference to your hirers?

The 3 things that we get asked most is; can we take our dog, does the van have a bike rack and is there somewhere safe to park my car.

We are really happy for people to take a dog on holiday, and we make sure we give the van a really good clean when it comes back. We have a bike rack we can attach to our campervans and are happy for people to leave their car with us when they go on holiday.

Any plans to add more camper vans to your fleet?

We really like designing, planning and converting camper vans, so we will probably convert another van next winter. We quite fancy building a luxury campervan next.

Where are your favourite places to recommend that customers visit?

Lots of people are talking about trips to Scotland at the moment, however, it’s a long drive from Watford! One of our favourite places to stay is the New Forest. It’s only an 1 ½ drive away, there are some lovely campsites and cracking pubs hidden away all over the place.