Thoughts on Camper Life this Summer

Hi! I hope you are having a good week so far. As you may know from my last post, we are officially moved back into the cottage so I thought I would share all my thoughts about living in a camper this summer.

First, a quick backstory if you are unaware why we decided to even live in a camper this summer. We rent the cottage out each summer to help offset costs for the numerous upgrades and renovations it needs. This was our first summer actually living in it so that obviously makes things tricky with renting it out.

We spent all last year looking at houses. It did not work out for us, so we decided to go the camper route during rental season this year. Thankfully we found a campground that could accommodate us the seven weeks we needed and purchased a camper from a private seller on Facebook.

Here’s a few pictures from the day we went to look at it. Drew was obviously comfortable in it right away and the fireplace sold me!

I will be completely honest and say that living in a camper this summer did not sound very appealing. I was hoping to find a house and avoid it all costs. However, it completely worked out and I truly think it was the best decision we could have made.

Camper Pros

1. Buying a camper gives us more time to find the perfect house. The last thing we wanted to do was settle on a house we didn’t love with a huge amount of debt. Now that we have the option to camp each summer, we can continue to look without pressure and really decide where we even want to be up this way. We have also discussed the option of building so we shall see what happens!

2. While a camper is obviously small, that means there is much less to maintain and keep clean versus an actual house. Chores are quick and simple. I had more time to be present with the boys. This was a huge plus that I didn’t really think about until we started living in it. We didn’t have house projects, a yard to maintain, etc.

3. The perks of being at a campground! The boys had friends to play with all summer. We could walk to a lovely beach on a lake each day. There was a jumping pillow, playground, dock for fishing, basketball court…lots of fun things for them to do!

4. The location of our campground. We camped in Benzie County which was new to us since we live in Leelanau. It was great to have a new area to explore and find fun things to do. Some highlights included downtown Beulah, Crystal Lake Beach (so beautiful!), St. Ambrose Cellars, Oaky’s Tavern, Platte River, Cognition, and Frankfort. Next year, we want to tube or kayak the Platte River and go on the Crystal Coaster Alpine Slide!

5. Visitors! On my last Friday Favorites post, I mentioned both friends and grandparents coming to visit at the campground. These are all memorable experiences we would have never had if we hadn’t decided to camp this summer.

6. The boys are at the perfect ages for camping. I am not chasing toddlers around anymore, but they are still young enough to find the joy and excitement of living in a camper and experiencing life at a campground. They actually didn’t want to move out!!

Camper Cons

Of course, living in a camper had its struggles.

1. Laundry. This was tricky. I couldn’t just throw a load in as needed. I needed lots of quarters and would have to drive down to the building where the laundry is done. There were a few times where all the machines were being used and I couldn’t even start a load. That stunk.

2. Our actual campsite. Campgrounds up this way book a year out. We didn’t book ours until late March of this year. While we were thankful to secure a site, it was pretty much the last pick. We were in the equestrian section, farther away from the lake and other amenities. Horses are fun to look at but also mean A LOT of flies. The boys have gotten very good at using a fly swatter ha-ha. Our site also got pure afternoon sun so little to pretty much no shade.

3. The process of moving in and out…it was quite a bit of work to pack up our things and move out of the cottage and then do it again to move back in. The one good thing about it, however, is it forces us to organize and purge. We are trying to minimize “stuff”, and this allows us to do so. Always a silver lining:)

Overall, the pros outweigh the cons, and we will more than likely continue this plan for the next few years. We’ll still keep an eye on the housing market because you never know, but for now this will do!

We made many special memories at the campground this summer and look forward to many more next summer! Keep scrolling for some more pictures, and as always, thank you for stopping by the blog today.

Pictures from our first day at the campground…

The boys LOVED their bunkhouse! I eventually added string lights and a rug to make it cozier.

Swimming in Turtle Lake was a big highlight!

Along with the beach!

Lucas and Owen loved catching fish, toads, and frogs.

Ryan even caught a snapping turtle with his hands! Owen named him “Clawer”.

Eating meals outside

Campfires!

And a few more randoms!

I have many more photos I could share but I think it’s pretty clear we had an awesome summer at the campground! The hardest part was losing our Nala girl, and we’ll hold on tight to those last memories we have of her at the campground.