International Women's Day at Camplify UK

Happy International Women’s Day! International Women's Day (IWD) has been celebrated for over 100 years to recognise the achievements of women across the globe. Here at Camplify, we are celebrating not only the women that make Camplify great, but we’re excited about sharing the stories of some of our successful female van-trepreneurs that are stepping up to being their own boss, shaping their own future and taking control of their own financial freedom. Many of our female owners are sharing their vans because it provides what they are looking for; flexibility, work-life balance, and the opportunity to push themselves to new heights of achievement; all the while Camplify is here to champion and support each one of them!

We’d like to introduce you to a couple of our fantastic female van owners, and share a little about what sharing their van with Camplify has helped them achieve.

Meet Sarah

Tell us why you first decided to buy a van, and what triggered your decision to share it?

We bought our first motorhome, Coco, a number of years ago, we fancied the freedom that a motorhome gave us with storage and space to live comfortably whilst out on adventures!

Soon after buying Coco, a global pandemic and our first baby meant that when the world started opening up again, and as we had a baby that never slept, we thought she deserved to have some adventures without us, instead of sitting on the driveway gathering dust.

Did you have any doubts or worries about sharing Coco, and how have you overcome it?

We were worried that people would not treat Coco with the love and care which we wanted them to as she is so special to us. However, all our hirers have just been so lovely and respectful and have loved and treated Coco as their own. We have started to do personalised video tours for all our hirers the night before (often I'm in my slippers, and a neighbour always seems to interrupt!). But the we find that the video is a great record of Coco, offering reassurance for us and the hirer, as if there is any damage we can all see if it was there before the hire.

How sharing your van changed yours and your family's life?

The additional income has meant that I have not had to rush back after maternity leave, and I’ve been able to spend more quality time with my daughter. It also means that we also have lots of fantastic places to visit as so many hirers like to share their adventures and pictures with us, so we can't wait to get out and explore more of the UK!

Do you have any van plans for the future?

We are currently on the look out for a little day van to add to the fleet, but we are quite specific about we want, we want an old lady that we can really customise. We have seen a few but none that we have fallen in love with......yet!

What's your advice to other female van owners or women thinking about becoming a van owner?

Do it! It is flexible, you earn an additional income, meet great people and the support you receive from Camplify is brilliant. The whole team is so supportive and responsive when you need them.

Meet Alethea

Why did you decide to buy a van?

We owned a T4 for ten years but sold it when we had kids as we didn't use it enough, but it had always left a bit of a hole. Our friend was selling his- in fact it was being stored on our driveway, so we decided to buy it with a view to renting it out over 2021.

What happened in your life that triggered the decision to hire your van, Busy Bee, out?

I took voluntary redundancy from a long and miserable corporate career so had some money in the bank and was looking for the next opportunity. We saw Busy Bee as a business opportunity.

What's your favourite hirer story?

One of my hirers took the van down to Cornwall to scatter the ashes of both her husband and her father. Not only that, but when my other van broke down, she drove me over to pick it up. Her kindness to me when she had so much tragedy in her life brought me to tears, and I'll never forget how wonderful she was in that moment of panic.

What have you found most difficult about hiring out your van? And how have you overcome it? I suppose I hadn't foreseen that most people would want short rentals i.e. 2 nights. With two vans, it meant a lot of admin, cleaning, restocking, check in demos and check outs. So I've sold one van so I have only one remaining, and plan to use camplify's pay as you go insurance so I can rent more casually without having the huge cost of my own annual self drive insurance to cover. I will also block out large parts of the year so we can use the van ourselves, and increase the minimum rental period.

How sharing your van changed yours and your family's life?

It is my first experience of running my own business, from having worked in a huge company for my adult working life. So I'd say it has given me the confidence to be my own boss, know that I can negotiate and work with people even under difficult circumstances. It was also extremely lucrative so has given us some financial freedom going into 2022.

What's your advice to other female van owners or women thinking about becoming a van owner?

Having a camper rental business is a good option for women who tend, more often than men, to need to work their job around childcare and school holidays

Meet Kate

Why did you decide to buy a van, and why did you decide to hire it out?

We’ve always been campers, but it’s always been such a pfaff to get everything ready and I never slept well in a tent. The decision to buy our van was brought about during lockdown, we realised that we wanted to explore more and buying Phoenix meant we could do this with ease and also enjoy a bit of luxury. But VW’s aren’t cheap! Part of the consideration to buy it was to try and earn some income to help keep it running so we can enjoy it ourselves without worry.

What doubts or fears did you have about hiring it out?

Mainly how people would treat him! Phoenix is very much our family van and we were worried that people wouldn’t give him the respect we thought he deserved.

There have been a couple of times that things have been left broken and we haven’t been told about it, we don’t mind things breaking it’s just finding it out when you next use it that’s annoying. But we have found a great place to do repairs and so far that cost is more than covered by the rental income.

What's your most memorable hirer story?

A little boy and his dad hired the van to go away for a few days. I have NEVER seen anyone so excited, he couldn’t stop asking questions and was so happy to be going away in Phoenix.

When they came back he gave us a painted stone that he found on his trip with a smiley face on it and he said he wanted the stone to go on all the adventures with the van .. we still have it!

How sharing / renting out your van changed yours and your family's life?

It’s afforded us a few extras for the van (new shiny wheels) and feels good to help other people enjoy the adventure of being in a camper van.

What's your advice to other female van owners or women thinking about becoming a van owner?

It’s great!! My top tip is to be organised and try and go the extra mile to help people as then they spread the word!

Earn extra income from your van by joining the Camplify community of owners

Over the last few years, Camplify has become the largest platform for renting motorhomes, campervans and caravans in Australia, New Zealand, Spain and the United Kingdom, with more than 7,000 vans worldwide and growing.

We connect owners with local and international tourists all of whom are verified to maximize the safety when you hire out your camper van or motorhome. Find out our advantages for owners:

• It's free to list your van

• If you do not have all-risk insurance, we provide you one when you sign up, as we saw before.

• We give you a 24/7 breakdown cover .

• We offer multilingual support

• You have complete freedom to approve or reject guests interested in renting your vehicle. Your wheels, your rules.

• We provide you with tips and step-by-step guides on how to improve your service and your vehicle to get more and more rentals,

• We increase your rental possibilities along the year thanks to our continuous advertising campaigns and contents we publish.

Register your van today

The sooner you register your ad, the sooner it will start receiving visits and bookings. You can calculate how much you can earn hiring out your van with our free income calculator.

If you still have questions, want to discuss your income potential with an expert or get more information on how to list your vehicle, call us on 0330 808 1811 or visit our owner's section. We will be happy to help you with everything you need.