Items of Interest

Camping On The FARM

Camping on the Farm.  A way for a farm or ranch to earn some extra income.  Interesting.  I have wondered about this before on our place. Actually, my mother-in-law told me years ago that she thought it would be fun to develop a campground on a place we call the “80” here on the farm.  I love to go and sit out in a pasture, where I can’t see any other houses or roads, and feel like I have run away.  I have often wondered if others would pay to come to the farm and experience this.  I could charge them to come sit in the middle of the cow pasture (I am smiling here), or under the trees by the creek, where you feel like you are away from the rest of the world, yet you are literally less than 1 mile from other houses but you can’t see or hear the outside world. (Except the airplanes that fly over).  So would you?  Pay for this experience of camping on the farm?

The reason I ask this question is that I just found out that this is becoming a thing.  Kind of like the people that rent out their houses via Airbnb, people are renting spaces on their farms and ranches.  I received an email asking if I would be interested in writing about this, so I looked into it.  Their website is Pitchup.com and I highly suggest checking it out.  It’s pretty neat.

Pitchup.com is the largest booking website for campgrounds around the world.  It has seen an increase in farm owners listing their land on the website. It now boasts over 600 farms around the world available for overnight booking.   Farming can be a tough way to make a living and I know some farm owners are looking at unconventional ways to gain revenue off their land beyond farming.  Doubling as campgrounds looks like an upcoming way to do just that. Cost-effective and relatively simple to set up, this seems like a great opportunity for farmers to supplement their revenue by allowing campers to stay the night.  It looks like a great thing for the travelers too.  The overnight pricing is very reasonable.  And it’s not all just for RV and tent camping.  Some places have cabins, lodges, yurts, and other types of units to rent. Check out the pictures from this one in England, outside of Cambridge.

This is the Gayton Farm which is a real working farm.  I love the gypsy wagon!  How fun would that be! I now have a whole new avenue to look at when I do take that vacation trip to another country……camping on farms. My Farmer will totally go for that!! (I know, first I have to get him to take longer then a 48 hour vacation!)

At this point, I know my Farmer is not ready to consider this on our farm.  Yet, if things got tough, and we had to look at another way to bring in some extra money, this is something that seems like it could work, and would be a good fit since we are located in a touristy area.   With Pitchup.com already established and doing all the connection work, that makes it all the more doable.

So again my question is….would you pay to camp out/pitch a tent on a farm? Or stay on a farm in a cool Gypsy Wagon or a hut? On our farm?  I promise I would let you pitch your tent away from the cow pies. (yes, I am smiling again. hehe)  It may be a way to get a real glimpse into why I say I’m Livin’ the Life, the Farm Life that is. 

Even if you are not interested in staying at a farm or ranch, you still need to check out Pitchup.com. They have a lot of other nice facilities worldwide available on their site.  I even found one in my state of Idaho. Check out Pitchup’s website here!  I was very impressed.  And happy trails traveling!!!

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