Let’s face it, there are many things worth writing home about when working at Tentsile. For one thing, the team, although small, packs a punch - we work hard, we play hard and we pull together when times get hard. And then there’s the company vision - saving trees and supporting communities around the world; who wouldn’t want to be part of that? And let’s not forget the wonderful fact of meeting interesting and like-minded people, setting up collaborations and planning exciting projects across continents and across the world. It’s fun. No two ways about it! There’s always something do, there are always people to meet.
But there is something else that is starting to grow. And it is causing a tingle of excitement, certainly for me as I work out of our London office. And that’s our growing European Tentsile network.
As my wife and I begin thinking ahead towards our summer holiday with the children (we usually drive across Europe from London to Romania on account of it being cheap and we have family there!), I see Europe budding in the late spring, sprouting a Tentsile playground across the continent, ready for exploring. From studying the map, I can see that pretty much on any route I choose to get to Romania, there is a Tentsile friend ready to shake my hand. It might be a campsite beside a lake in Absberg, Germany, or it might be a mountain retreat in the Swiss Alps; or it might be an adventure week in Sardinia or a kayaking trip in the Finnish fjords; perhaps a tour around Milan or a Mediterranean relax in Mallorca. It might be a project saving a forest in Hambach, or it might be the setting up of a little Tentsile camp in Lithuania or a honey farm in Portugal; it might be a retailer in the Czech Republic or Bavaria or France, or to see our tent repair centre near Hamburg; or to party with a Fast Rabbit in Estonia. The possibilities seem endless; whichever route I choose to get to Romania, Europe is opening up for a Tentsile experience. And we can’t get more collaborative than that.
And that is exactly what Tentsile has been trying to create. A community of like-minded people who want to work together, who want to bring the Tentsile way of camping to those around them. A network of collaborations, affiliations and associations, all interacting with Tentsile, all interacting with one another, spreading the good name of tree camping and learning from each other how best to play, camp and explore.
But it is not just Europe that feels like a playground in the sun. The Tentsile community is growing across the world, from Australia to Argentina, from Cambodia to Canada, from the largest countries to the smallest villages; our Tentsile community is growing, bringing all of our experiences together.
And of course, we can not forget about the USA, who has embraced Tentsile with its heart, and leads the Tentsile Community from the front. With its larger-than-life landscape offering four seasons in one day, from sea to sun, from mountains to desserts, from the tallest trees to the widest canyons, it too is building a Tentsile network that offers coast to coast playing and exploring. But that’s another story. My hopes for an East-West USA road trip with my family will have to wait for another day. But when that day comes, I’m sure there’ll be a friendly Tentsile Someone to shake my hand. And I can’t wait.
