The Dutch love of caravans and campers
If you’re a single expat that’s recently moved to the Netherlands, you may have been somewhat confused while swiping your way through Tinder profiles to see photos of attractive singles taken in front of their caravans or campers. The explanation for this is simple, the Dutch love caravans and campers almost as much as wearing denim and sneakers at all times. I kid you not. In fact, just recently, the number of registered caravans and campers in the Netherlands has grown to over 550,000. Which brings me to the subjects of today’s post, 5 reasons why the Dutch love caravans and campers.
The things I do for my readers!
1. You can take your own food with you
One of the reasons that the Dutch love caravans and campers so much is that they are very particular about the kind of food they eat. When for example travelling to France, who needs Coquilles Saint-Jacques or Moules Marinières? Foreign food is often not to be trusted. Who knows what you might end up eating? Being able to enjoy the culinary delights of deep freeze bitterballen, frikandel and croquettes while away from home takes away the stress of trying unknown cuisine while outside the country.
Dutch food travels well. Especially in campervans
2. Make friends with like-minded people
There are over a thousand camping sites in the Netherlands. A caravan or camper holiday is a great way to meet like-minded people. It’s so easy to make friends while hanging out leopard print tops and ripped jeans to dry only to find out that the people in the next caravan have almost identical clothes. Camping breaks down social barriers. You’ll find Amsterdammers mixing with people from Warmenhuizen. Fans of Ajax and Feyenoord football teams happily chatting over the cigarette smoke of their partners and the delicious aromas of meat sizzling away on a barbecue. Zo leuk!
“So I have to send you a what? A Tikkie for the food and drink I’ve had at the BBQ? Hahaha. You’re so funny! Oh, you’re being serious.”
3. Save Money
The Dutch are known for being shall we say somewhat price sensitive. Which is one of the reasons the Dutch love caravans and camper vans. Camping holidays are lekker goedkoop!/nice and cheap. Forget staying in an overpriced Airbnb apartment, or paying huge amounts of money to stay in a hotel or B&B. Caravans and campers provide an affordable way to have a break. Thus allowing money to be spent on things that really matter, such as hair gel and sneakers.
4. Trendy and sexy
Campers have seen a huge increase in sales in recent years. Whereas caravans in the Netherlands are mainly owned by people over the age of fifty, campers are increasingly owned and rented by young people. Campers are becoming an increasingly popular way to visit festivals and for road trips for the under thirties. They also make great (and cheap) locations for first dates. For an original experience, you can whisk your date away to the exotic wilds of Brabant or Drenthe and show off your BBQ skills at a luxury camping site. Mooi! In fact, camper vans are becoming so popular in the Netherlands that it’s even possible to hire or rent them out using a site that provides a similar service to Airbnb.
What a great campervan road trip, actual hills in Holland!
5. Taking local holidays
The ultimate reason for the Dutch love of caravans and campers is undoubtedly the bonding that results in spending lots of time crammed together in a confined space alongside the ability to take holidays in a country whose food and beer you trust and whose language you speak fluently. (Amsterdam excluded obviously due to too many English speakers). Why go to the hassle of camping in Italy, France or Belgium when you can experience the joys of Gelderland, Limburg or Groningen? If you really want to integrate properly into Dutch society do one of the following:
- Buy a caravan (if you’re over 50)
- Rent yourself a camper and go and explore this flat and tolerant land
No people over the age of 50 were hurt during the writing of this post.
It is oh so cheap! Nice to bring their tasteless bread and cheese. Happy to find a free car park for the night. Love them for their cheap tastes, you would think they would look happier though!
A Brit living in south Limburg, this made me chuckle. Read an article by a Frenchman complaining about the Dutch caravans on French roars clogging them up, as he put it ‘filled with their bland cheese and white bread and Heinekin beer’. They never buy on the local economy! Just walked past a park where motir caravans where parked. Some denim clad 60 somethings were parked up in the ‘free’ car park reading their books in their campers in they grey and drizzle. Clearly killing time until it was time to make a cheese sandwich for lunch. They looked as miserable as sin on their ‘holiday’. Boy oh boy, do they know how to live! Thank you for your observations. I enjoy reading about tue things I have observed in deepest, darkest suburbia of South Limburg for the past 3 years. Keep it coming Shallow man. I applaud you!