Over the last 11 years, South West Camper Hire has attracted folk from near and far, whom love the freedom a week or weekend in a campervan offers. Annual adventurer, Devon based Ashley Petrons, writes about her breaks away in three of our vans and why for her it's an unbeatable break.

“The first time we ventured out was summer 2014 – my first proper break away since starting my first business. We hired the VW T5.5 GP for a whole week and headed down the A30 to Cornwall. Having only ever camped once in my life at Glastonbury, and certainly not in a luxurious campervan, I did not know what to expect. Being peak season, we of course pre-booked all campsites, and I am happy to report I had one of the most relaxing weeks of my life. Some of the campsites even had decent wifi so I was able to dip in and out work when required. But for the most part, I just enjoyed waking up every morning and pulling down the blinds to the most breath-taking views, and spending the days pottering around doing as we pleased, on our own schedule (no ‘you must be out of bed by 9 for breakfast' unpleasantries!)

Noting the comfort and convenience of this lifestyle, it was not long until we booked our next campervan. This time, we chose the newest member of the fleet, the VW T5.5 GP white edition. Although we were only able to camp for a weekend, as it was October time, we thought we'd take our chances and just go where the mood took us. Ahh. Total freedom. Playing tourist in your own county forces you to explore places you would normally pass by, and thus we ended up at the most stunning Canonteign Falls and enjoyed a day at Escot Park too. We made our decision on where we wanted to stay based on wanting to spend the evening at a food festival in Budleigh. This led us to the most charming Pooh Cottage Holiday Park, which had ample space to accommodate us just rolling up in off peak season. Complete with an evening at the Budleigh Food & Drink Lite Festival, we were happy with another successful camping trip.

When I spotted the immense Roller Team T-Line 785 join the fleet, I knew our next trip had to be with ‘him'. We booked almost instantly when ‘he' joined the fleet in March 2016, giving us something to look forward to in September 2016. Having enjoyed our off-peak adventure so much, we decided to plan to not have a plan again. In three days, we dotted from Padstow (staying at the quaint Music Water Touring Park) to Nomansland, Tiverton (staying in the rural West Middlewick Farm) to Tedburn St Mary – a final completely unplanned stop at Springfield Holiday Park, just around the corner from where we needed to drop the van off on Monday morning. Over three days, we crossed the border of three counties. In Cornwall, we got to enjoy the beautiful Bude. In Devon, the delightful Knightshayes National Trust property. In Dorset, a most delicious meal overlooking the sea at Hix Oyster & Fish House in Lyme Regis. OK, so we were massively lucky with the weather, but that is the beauty of travelling in a campervan is that you can completely make the most of travelling around, whatever the weather. We will undoubtedly be back, just waiting to see what's new on the fleet for next year :) “