25th March 2026
Welcome to the ScotCampers tri-weekly blog.
This period can be summarised by; Hirers and route planning, new van, environment.
Hirers. About to enter a really busy period as April is booked out for Bilbo. Have visibility of hirers into late summer too so starting to feel like a good year. Megan is hiring in July with the objective of hitting South and North Uists. She asked me for some tips so I was delighted to talk about my experiences there sailing from Oban to Castlebay and picking my way north through Harris and Lewis. Brought back some really happy memories I made there with the boys a few years back. Here was my last adventure to the Outer Hebrides:
Fiona is hiring the new van, Arwen, with her bestie Anna later in the year and also delighted to offer some advice around where to walk in North Wales (I used to climb there every week in a past life). She sounds like a bit of a hoot so hopefully some adventures ahead for them!
.New Van. As I type (the first bit of this) I’m on a train to Sheffield to pick up Arwen, my very tidy Type 6.2 VW Transporter. Built to the same spec. as Bilbo but with my choice of colour scheme, will be a really good motor for explorers. Slightly newer model so comes with Apple Play and electric power steering which makes slow speed manoeuvring a cinch. Have bought all the contents (crockery, cutlery, etc.) and now a case of loading it, gas safety sign off and advertise it. Might even manage a sneaky trip away myself! It’s a good van, drives really well and will do hirers well. Think I’ll keep it a few years. Of course, now browsing another one!
Above is the interior – sympathetic Scottish tones thanks to the advice from Hold Up Campers. Good crew. On the back of picking up the van, promotion came to mind. I have a number of events in the calendar that I’m planning to attend – here’s a few: Stone skimming championships on Easdale Island; Spirit of Speyside whisky festival; Paisley Food & Drink Festival. So, only made sense that I got a decent livery on the van. The local pub is an amazing networking opportunity……. So, my mate Jim’s son, has a mate who does vehicle liveries based out of Bridge of Allan. Couple of IPAs later and a deal is struck. Here’s the output from pub chat:
Happy enough!
Environment:
I mentioned last Blog environment. I haven’t got the best environmental credentials (am a petrolhead at heart). That having been said, I am passionate about Scotland and treading often and lightly – leaving no trace. With this in mind, just finished an email to a hirer around how to navigate Skye in the right way – use campsites, support local businesses, not park on verges/private property.
Ever conscious that I love the environment but run a business basically hiring out vehicles I thought it was time to act. So, for the last three weeks I have been attending a course aimed at business leaders and reducing their carbon footprint. Working with a peer group of hoteliers, Edinburgh tourist attractions and even Edinburgh walking tour companies (!), ScotCampers now understands its carbon footprint. It is working towards and a short, medium and 2045 plan around emissions. Has actually been fascinating.
That’s enough for this time and look forward to updating next time on more van hires, Scottish springtime themes and potentially a bit of faffing in Chamonix! Until next time, go do some wandering – you might not in fact be lost.
