Owner Spotlight
Liv Gjestvang, Julia Applegate, Karsten and Solveig
From
Columbus, Ohio
Year and Make of your Happier Camper?
2018 HC1, #180
What’s your tow vehicle?
Honda Pilot
Why did you buy a Happier Camper?
I grew up camping in a Sprite Camper with my parents, which I loved, and it took us to from the East Coast beaches to Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, New Mexico, CA and beyond. Soon after my partner and I had kids we bought our first camper, a 1981 fiber glass Uhaul, but when I saw the HC1 online I fell in love. I was in LA at a conference, took a Lyft to the HC headquarters, and we ordered our camper soon after that!
Tell us about your camper!
We love our HC1. It’s so unique and we love the beautiful and retro-modern design. It amazes me that we can comfortably fit all four of us in this tiny 10 ft home. Living in the HC1 helps our family focus on time together, being outside, exploring, playing games and discovering new places. We’ve made a lot of wonderful memories in this tiny space! We were the first buyers in Ohio and totally splurged when we bought it. It’s definitely one of the best things we’ve invested in as a family.
What are your favorite HC features?
I love the way she looks and that everything tucks away into the storage cubes, but I am so happy sleeping and relaxing in my queen sized bed with the hatch open and my winter duvet - I never want to get out of bed!
Best camping trip you’ve taken with your Happier Camper?
Our kids, 8 and 10, have been in virtual school for nearly a year so in December, we decided it was time to unplug from our computers and hit the open road. We took a month off of school and work and left Ohio on December 30, drove 13 hours to FL, and camped our way through the state, swimming in mineral springs, biking on Hontoon Island, hiking in the Everglades, and visiting Clearwater Marine Aquarium to meet Winter, the real-live dolphin from the Dolphin Tale movies (kid favorite). This was by far the best silver lining COVID has brought our crew.
What’s your next planned camping trip?
We might just head back to FL to do a mineral springs tour over spring break – swimming in as many outdoor bodies of water as possible!
What camping destination is on your bucket list?
Canadian Rockies! This year my partner and I will celebrate our 20th anniversary and Lake George was our first camping trip, the year we met. Hoping we might make it there this summer!
Any advice for new owners?
It took a few trips to figure out what we wanted to store where. I love my open sided cubes for easy access. We use different cubes for shoes, warm clothes, pots and pans, our propane heater, etc. We also use cloth packing cubes (one per family member) for our clothes and store them on the top left overhead bin.
We made four recent discoveries:
Buy heater/AC if you want true year-round adventures. Camping in 20 and 30 degree weather without a heater is, well, it’s nippy.
Check out HipCamp for fun and reasonable camping options all over the US.
Lots of state parks allow two vehicles to park in “tent only” sites – we learned that the HC1 can count as one vehicle. These sites are often prettier, more remote, and less booked-up.
We purchased two collapsible bikes on our last trip (Terns) that we store in the camper when traveling. We love them and the extra mileage we get on the road now that we have them!
