These girls Van 2023 meet
January 2023
We had our first meet up in January 2023 at Bargoed Farm, West Wales. 26 women joined me and we had such a blast! We enjoyed eating meals together in the bitterly cold evenings (some would say we were crazy, I would say the weather adds to the adventure!) We loved having hot tubs to warm up, especially after an 11 mile 'quick' hike that I suggested...! I was absolutely blown away by the incredible response that this meet up had and the messages I received after the weekend had me in tears for days.
Many of the ladies that came to this meet up had never driven their vans on their own before, let alone stayed in them overnight alone! Some women travelled up to 7 hours to West Wales, so to say that this was a huge success is an understatement. I was so proud of each and every lady that joined me and I know that I have made friends for life.
Camping caravan & motorhome show
24th-26th February 2023
I was invited by the NCC to join an incredible panel of Solo Female Travellers for three Q&A sessions over the weekend of the Camping Caravan and Motorhome Show. We discussed all manner of travel-from campervanning to towing caravans. The panel received a warm welcome from lots of ladies and it was a pleasure to share our experiences.
It was a great honour to represent our 'These Girls VAN' community, proudly wearing our girl gang logo and sharing the joy it gives me to encourage and support other women on their solo travel journeys.
I stood on the panel amongst some incredibly knowledgable and powerful women, including the magnificent Siobhan Daniels, author of 'Retirement Rebel'. Siobhan has been living and travelling in her motorhome since selling her home and possessions four years ago, her wonderful story explains how her life led her into the world of solo female travelling, and how she lives with only joy- no regrets.
These Girls van 2023 meet
March 2023
In March, we got together with a lovely, large group of ladies at Love2Stay in Shropshire. I was BEYOND proud of all of the ladies for making the journey to the site, as it had snowed in the days running up to the meet and the temperature had really dropped! The ladies were not put off by the weather and the campsite assured us that access was fine, so we came together and what a wonderful meet up it was! There were lots of new faces amongst the familiar ones and I love this about our meet ups- new women joining our community each time and all of us raising each other up, empowering one another and sharing a collective zest for life. We chatted in the hot tub, went for two lovely walks together and enjoyed a group 'bring and share' style tea.
Love2Stay has lots to offer a group like ours, with exceptionally wonderful facilities, spaces for us to congregate without disturbing other site users, and plenty of daytime activities (which, I must admit were not suited to the freezing March temperatures that we endured!)
I have built a great working relationship with Love2Stay and hope that we may visit this site again for another meet up next year.
campervan campout festival
may 2023
Campervan Campout invited me to join their panel of solo female travellers, to discuss our experiences on stage in a live Q&A session. I also held my own solo panel, which was both nerve wracking and exciting!
As time progressed, this festival also became an opportunity for some of the These Girls Van community to camp with us, which was a wonderful addition to the meets that were already organised for the year. We teamed up with the VanFam Tribe, which is a likeminded community for families.
We all had an absolute blast at Campervan Campout- we cannot wait to do it all again next year!
These Girls van 2023 meet
June 2023
In June, These Girls Van came together for our third meet of the year, and we quickly realised that extreme weather conditions were becoming a common theme- this time we were faced with a heat wave! It didn't put us off, we hiked (some of us further than others) through Bakewell and up to Winnats Pass. Some ladies stopped mid-hike for a bite to eat and a stroll back, another group took a detour on an open top bus, and the hardcore remaining group found themselves hopping over barbed wire!
I love that our group has a strong 'no pressure' vibe- take the route that best suits you (or don't!)- there is never any pressure to join in if you would rather stay back at the van and chill.
We enjoyed two wonderful campfires together and a group bring and share meal.
This was our biggest meet of the year so far, we loved getting together in Derbyshire and it was wonderful to have more new faces among us.
We now look forward to our fourth, and final meet of the year in October in Uckfield, Sussex.
Looking ahead to TGV meets for 2024...
Available for booking now, we have the incredibly exciting SHE WEEKENDER in Mersea, Essex. Join us for a full on weekend of water activities, craft activities, bingo, a disco, live entertainment and the company of amazing women from our community. Tickets are still available, so get yours today!