Stand up paddleboarding is a brilliant way to chill out on the water – and it goes perfectly with the campervan lifestyle
Words & pictures ❚ Liz Morrell
I love being in or on water and I’ve messed around with a bodyboard in the sea for more years than I care to remember, dragging the kids in with me on camping trips away.
But today they are teenagers and, although my daughter did surprise me by going paddleboarding with friends last summer, they are more likely to be updating their BeReals on the beach than frolicking in the waves. Besides, I can’t always get to the coast for a dose of water therapy, so when I first tried stand up paddleboarding in 2018 I knew I’d found a hobby to fill the void. But while I was used to packing damp bodyboards into my car, in pre-campervan days, peeling out of a sand-encrusted wetsuit before driving back to the campsite was one of my pet hates. And, although many people do it, inflating and deflating a paddleboard from the back of my car didn’t appeal.
It was the summer of 2020 when I finally bought my first paddleboard. The UK was going through more pandemic restrictions and, as getting away was looking unlikely, I decided being on the water at my local canal was the next best thing. Besides, a friend had just bought a Hatha SUP which he loved and there was a floral version coming out that both his wife (one of my close friends) and I were lusting after.
It would be another six months before the idea of me getting a ’van to go with the SUP would surface and very quickly become a reality. And, as soon as it did, I realised how much easier it would make hobbies such as paddleboarding and bodyboarding – especially on solo trips. I was sold but, in case you aren’t, here are a few reasons why a campervan and watersports go so well together.
It’s a private changing room
Whether you’re on the beach or at the canal, getting changed in full view of everyone around you isn’t much fun. I’d bought the obligatory, oversized Dryrobe but still hadn’t quite mastered the skill of getting in and out of a wetsuit without flashing a little flesh.
In the campervan, I don’t have to worry about such things. Instead, I have a comfortable, warm, private changing space, complete with a loo, to get ready. I don’t have a pop-top, so I still end up toppling out of the ’van pulling up my wetsuit, but at least neighbouring eyes have been spared from the very worst.
Use it to chill out or warm up
Before a paddle or bodyboard session I’m wo
