A third more mobile homes have been sold this year, with people in Friesland particularly hot on the trend
Translated by Thomas Ansell
A few years ago, people might have derided you if you’d have said you wanted to live ‘in a van’. The idea of having a chemical toilet, one-ring hob, foam mattress; and (maybe) your significant other squished into 4 square metres seemed a little more like masochism than a holiday.
Now, though, with lots of us having spent a lockdown or three squished into barely-larger rooms in shared apartments or micro studio flats, having a tiny amount of holiday space- but space that can literally be moved to the beach, sounds quite a bit better.
Indeed, camper van mania seems to be sweeping the Netherlands, as more people decide that #homeiswhereyouparkit. Since the beginning of 2021, more than 6,500 new caravans and 2,400 brand new camper vans have been bought in the Netherlands. Second-hand vans are even more popular, with 23,000 caravans and 11,000 lightly-used camper vans bought this year.
The numbers are now equal to the sales figures for the whole of 2020- which was itself a record-breaking year for sales. As reported by the Omrop Fryslân.
Takema Campers in Gorredijk has seen a particular demand for second-hand vans. According to owner Jannes Taekema, the showroom averaged between 80 and 200 sales per year before the Coronavirus. This year, says Taekema, they are likely to sell over 280 vans.
Photo by Balkan Campers on Unsplash