Spirit of Adventure

Thiem Family camping
When I tell people about the Inn Town Campground, I often get asked, “What inspired you to build this place?”
Marlborough Sounds, New Zealand 
In response, I tell them about how my husband Dan and I spent over five years living in New Zealand— our two sons were born there — and we spent months-on-end traveling around with our small children in a Toyota Hiace van. Our favorite nights were those spent at classic Kiwi holiday parks, which offered close access to town, family-friendly amenities like playgrounds and family bathrooms, and a mix of different camping accommodations. We made friends in those places and experienced the local culture. That is where the seed for the Inn Town Campground was first planted.
honeymooncamping 
But the truth is, our love of travel and adventure runs much deeper than that. My parents spent over two years on their honeymoon starting in 1971 traveling the world with backpacks on their backs, riding bikes across Europe, working on a farm in Israel, catching freight ships through the Pacific and exploring much of central Asia.  Before Dan and I got married, we drove our VW van to Alaska—some 11,000 miles on the road—and separately, we’ve spent time exploring in countries from Chile to Spain to Bostwana.
a005_5 2
 
I remember one moment at the end of the day while living in our van in New Zealand and I turned to Dan and asked him if our children, aged 2 and 5 at the time, would really remember the trip. “No,” Dan said. “But they will have a spirit of adventure and the ability to adapt to new places and the curiosity to explore.”
Dominican Republic, photo by Erica Rewey
  
Building this campground has felt like the culmination of many adventures—it has certainly been our greatest challenge, and hopefully will be among our greatest achievements. It is a reflection of our past and a window into our future. Last week, I stood in the warm Caribbean Sea on yet another wild trip.  At that moment, I realized that our job is to not just experience the world’s most beautiful places, it’s also our job—and one of the goals of the campground—to inspire others to do just that in our own beautiful part of the world.  We want to help the next generation of adventurers get out and see what this big, diverse world has to offer.  
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