My 59 yr. old son Bryon died at the end of 2022 – after a month of mysterious symptoms. We still do not know why.

He and I shared this land for the 15 yrs. before he died. I helped run his thriving art business until it outgrew me. He built me beautiful rock walls and ponds and arbors. We both loved this place. And then he was gone.

But it seems that – even at 84 – the Universe wasn’t done with me – even though at the time I felt pretty done.

I was blessed by the presence of a kind and creative young woman, named Vanessa, who lives with her two kids in a cottage on my land. About 10 months after Bryon died she came to me with an idea…

Just before covid started Bryon and my younger son, Isa, helped me create a small RV “Park” in a peaceful pine grove on the land – far enough away from our living spaces that we didn’t intrude on each other. This fulfilled a need for extra income as well as feeding my life-long interest in creating “community”. Such a win-win idea, I had thought. Well it turned out to have a downside. The turnover (3 tenants in two years) forced me to go through the agonizing process of screening new tenant possibilities way more often than I was comfortable with. I honestly dreaded it!

The last tenant moved on to live with her boyfriend about 5 months after Bryon died. I just didn’t have the energy to go through the process again at that moment in time.

Then, Vanessa approached me with her idea. “Since we both need the extra income why don’t we join Hipcamp and rent the 3 RV sites out to campers on a nightly basis,” she suggested. “They work with landowners like you. I will interact with the guests and you supply the sites.”

That was the beginning of our grand adventure. Well – we are still pretty much at the beginning, since it’s only been a few months – but it’s been such a positive experience that I felt a desire to share it with other permaculture enthusiasts!

Property owners all over the world are doing this in such a vast variety of ways – on big properties and small – in every climate and environment – many just offering a space in a field to park a van or pitch a tent!

And there are so many people looking to experience NATURE these days – in all it’s variations – that it’s working!

And it’s such a great way to share what you are doing on your land with others! You can offer garden tours or classes or fruit from your orchard, veggies from your garden, eggs from your hens! Landowners share whatever their particular passion is and those who are attracted to that – come! I love it!

There is every variety of Host – from those who have the least possible contact with their guests (which many guests love!) – to those who welcome and treat guests like family. So you don’t have to worry about whether you are a “good fit”. Vanessa is a very warm and friendly host and has earned us “star” status on the Hipcamp site!

I know I sound like a sales pitch for Hipcamp – but if anything I’m selling the idea of offering experiences for your fellow humans – NATURE experiences! And creating community. We have already had repeat guests and many others have expressed a desire to return. We are building relationships and perhaps changing lives! Permaculture isn’t just about gardening or farming. It’s how we interact with the life around us, including our fellow humans.

I just wanted to share that with you… 🙂

PS…
Here’s a link to our space on the Hipcamp site – so you can get an idea of what we are doing. It’s called Wild Azalea Eco-camp.

Here are a few pictures of our new project.