9 minute read
From Coal to Comfort: Interview with Camp Out West
Emilie and Jon James have captured the attention of over 500,000 followers by documenting their transformation of an old coal miners’ caravan site in West Wales. International Glamping Business’ Editor, Annie, met the dynamic duo behind Camp Out West at The Glamping Show last September and recently caught up with them to discuss the progress of their inspiring rebuild.
Can you share the origin story of Camp Out West? What inspired the idea and what is your ultimate goal?
Our land is a former coal miners’ caravan site in west Wales, which used to be home to the miners who worked in the colliery across the road – one of which was my grandfather. The mine closed in the late 80s and the caravan site was left to become overgrown and forgotten. We had been looking for somewhere to build our own campsite/guest accommodation for years; when we came to view this, we just saw so much potential and fell in love with its history, as well as my family ties to the site and the area.
We knew we could bring this old caravan site back to life, so we sold our home and all our belongings to buy the land outright. We were left with £500 in the bank and have been working hard over the past two years to make Camp Out West a unique glamping experience and to put this forgotten corner of Wales back on the map.
How did you choose the land and what initially drew you to the location?
We spent 2 years looking for land to buy. We drove around endlessly, found landowner details on the land registry websites and wrote letters and emails to see if they would sell. We searched everywhere online: estate agents, auctions, Gumtree, eBay, and even asked weekly in our local Facebook groups if anyone was selling land.
Our site was mentioned to us in a local Facebook group and initially we said no to even going to view it. Jon knew the area as it was near where his grandad lived and knew of what a mess the property was after years and years of being left unloved. After another year of searching, the same person mentioned the old caravan site was still for sale and we just thought, why not have a look, we’ve got nothing to lose.
Once we walked around the land, we could start to see the potential in the site (if you looked past all the rubbish and old caravans). We also found out during our visit that the land actually had planning permission in place for three units as well as a fresh water supply and its own sewer system, which was such a bonus. It really felt like it was too good to be true.
This caravan site was only 15 minutes from our old house, so we knew how great the location was… it’s why we moved here in the first place! It’s within 20 minutes of two large towns and 15 minutes from the motorway, so it has great access for guests travelling to us, as well as access to a large variety of shops and food options whilst still being out in the countryside. We are also close to the coast and the longest beach in Wales, which we thought would be a great attraction for our guests. We really couldn’t think of a more perfect place for our project.
What will set Camp Out West apart from other experiences?
Our story is what sets us apart. By filming our project, we’ve been able to take our community on a journey with us as we bring Camp Out West to life. Our viewers have been there from when it was just an idea to now becoming a reality. They’ve got to see the whole process from start to finish, as well as having an input on ideas for the site and how we do things going forward.
Our community is growing everyday, now with over 500,000 followers. Being able to communicate with them, get their feedback and have them involved in every step is really unique as we are able to tailor our site to our future customers’ preferences before even opening.
The branding and styling we have planned for our site will be really unique to us – as our site is rich in coal mining history, this will be woven into our identity for the site.
What is the biggest difference or development between where you are now in January 2025, compared to last year?
As our land had been left abandoned and overgrown for the last 12 years, our first year on the land was spent clearing the decades of rubbish that had been left behind. Working around our fulltime jobs, we managed to remove and recycle over 26 tons of rubbish by hand. Transforming our 3-acre plot and giving us a blank canvas to start work on our campsite build.
We know 2025 is going to be the biggest transformation yet. With our first guest cabin nearly complete, the land is going to be habitable for the first time in over 15 years, which is such an incredible feeling.
How has Camp Out West changed your personal lives and relationship? What have you learned about yourselves through this entrepreneurial journey?
It’s made us realise we don’t need much to be happy. We have been living in a 25 year old tiny touring caravan with our dog for the last 2 years on the land while we have been renovating the site. We are now experts at camping in a field in all weathers and making do with a camping toilet and outdoor shower. This is a world away from the luxury cabins and glamping tents we will have on the site in the future so we can’t wait to be first in line for that!
We met at The Glamping Show last September – how did you find your first visit and were there any companies that caught your eye?
We really enjoyed looking around at what The Glamping Show had to offer. As we are new in the industry, it’s hard to know where to go first, so this was the perfect opportunity for us to see all the best in the industry in one place, speak to suppliers and see the quality of their products firsthand. We really loved seeing TruDomes & our friends at The Coal Bunker.
Are there any new trends in glamping or outdoor hospitality are you excited about – how do you plan to integrate these into Camp Out West?
We really love the current trend to more slow and unplugged stays, with a focus on wellness. We really hope to create this atmosphere with our site, where people can come to disconnect and recharge. We will be creating an outdoor wilderness spa area on our land too, which we are really excited about, allowing people to relax under the stars, to the sound of our resident owls and other wildlife.
How has leveraging social media platforms like YouTube and Instagram contributed to your growth? Can you share any strategies or content that works particularly well?
We thought documenting our journey online would be the best way to advertise ourselves to potential guests, even before we opened. Our goal was to build a customer base first, even before launching anything to sell. We thought that was the best way to build excitement and allow our audience to follow the build every step of the way.
By documenting our project, it also created the added bonus of making us an additional revenue stream before we had even opened, which has really helped us fund and speed up the project.
What have been some of the most significant milestones or achievements for Camp Out West?
For us, a big achievement was launching our pre-booking stays on Kickstarter and selling out all our spots even before we’d opened. It was amazing that people loved our idea enough to pre-book their stay two years in advance before even seeing it finished.
We also love that we have been able to do this project completely debt-free with the money we make from our full-time jobs, as well as saving ourselves money by having the courage to take on a lot of the work ourselves.
Have there been any big challenges you have faced, and how did you overcome them?
Building the site around our full-time jobs and around the Welsh weather has been tough. With all the work being outside in the elements, we haven’t had the luxury of waiting for the rain to stop to keep working – we’ve just had to crack on, rain or shine. Purchasing some commercial fishing waterproofs was a game changer for making us last longer outside.
What plans do you have to expand or evolve in the future?
We are currently finishing our first cabin build and have planning permission for 2 more, as well as permission for 2 glamping tents, so lots of projects for the future to evolve the site and what we can offer. We would also love to create an area on site to do workshops, retreats and food events.
What is the most surprising thing you’ve learned along your journey?
As we have done most of the work ourselves, we were really surprised just how long each element of the project takes, especially doing the build alongside our full-time jobs. We aren’t builders, so we have been working things out and learning as we go. We definitely didn’t think we would still be living in our touring caravan 2 years in.
And finally, do you have any advice for aspiring glamping entrepreneurs?
Don’t wait until you open to launch your social media. Share it all, from the highs to the lows, as you never know who’s watching. Not only will you love looking back at it all, so will your future customers.
