October 14, 2025 • 22 mins
Pippa Hudson speaks to Grant McPherson, co-founder of TrailPod Adventures, about camping adventure holidays.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Right, it is time for us to wander the world,
and today we are taking you back to the days
when family holidays. We're all about camping, and I really
love to hear from some of our listeners who are
ardent campers about how you camp and what sort of
level of luxury or absence of luxury you demand from
the experience of camping, because for some people, camping is
(00:21):
meant to be simple, and it's meant to be nothing
more that a tent and maybe a thin rubber mattress
and a pillow and a sleeping bag and getting yourself
close to nature and as close to the experience of
sleeping literally under the stars as you can safely get.
For others, glamping is a thing, and a tend with
a bed is a good way to camp, and gadgets
and things to keep your milk cold and boil your
(00:43):
coffee and keep your clothes dry are part of the
camping experience. Different people camp in different ways. I'm aware
of that, but I'd love to hear from those of
you who are ardent campers where you love going, what
you love about the experience of camping, what you consider
essential to the camp experience. I'm thinking back to the
first time I ever pitched my tent on my own
(01:04):
at a school tent, and of course I did so
sideways on a downhill slope and it rained in the night,
and that was the muddiest camping experience of my life.
But you know what, it was by far the most
fun one I've ever had as well. Maybe for those
of you listening, some of you listening, it might be
about the memories of trying to start the fire with
dad using wet wood. Maybe you are somebody who prefers
(01:24):
a rooftop tent or a caravan or all the fittings
and gadgets you can imagine. We're quite happy to talk
to both of those kinds of camping today. But most
importantly we want to encourage people to explore the love
of camping and to talk about camping and road tripping
and how it has evolved over the years. It's a
huge pleasure to welcome to the show this afternoon Grant Macpherson,
who is the co founder of Trail Pod Adventures. Now
(01:47):
they're a local brand that started out with handcrafted teardrop
caravans and have really grown into a real community for
South Africans who do love the open road, and Grant,
it's wonderful to have you joining us on one of
the world today. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Thank you so much, perperpose, very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And I'm loving the background of your zoom your zoom
background because I can see there are Bucky and oh
a big four by four in the background with spare
wheels and truly your gadgets on top of the car.
This is clearly something you do on a grand scale. Grant,
When when was your first memory of going camping? What
was your first experience? Can you take us back?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Let's go all the way back.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
My parents took me camping, and I remember it was
very much a rustic experience back then and I always
thought this is not what I like. Growing up as
an adult, I went full glamping. So right, bey Me
is actually my Suzuki Chimney which was entered in the
Chimney Gathering pageants and it came second as the Globetrotter.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It gives you an example of what type of camping
are like.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I like adventure camping, I like crossing borders, I like
exploring the unknown.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
But I did start out with taking the entire kitchen
sink with.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Me, yeap, and have you paired that back now? I
mean that looks like a fully kitted out vehicle with
lots of things added to it. But from what you've
just said about the kitchen sink, maybe you've learned over
the years to also prune back a little bit. Tell
us what you do consider essential to take with you.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Shade number one. Shade is always important. You don't know
where you're going to be and how much sun you're
going to be impacted by. It's just so good to
keep away from the wind. I like taking a refrigerator
with me that always keeps the drinks cold on arrival.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And I love.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Which is the Oh, we seem to be struggling a
little bit with the zoom.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Lines that I would rate it an experience you can
experience on the market, and that's why I'm I didn't
design it.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I met him. I'm the correct.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We just seemed to be losing the zoom link there, afraid.
I'm sorry, Grant, we just lost you for a minute there.
You got as far as telling us shade was in important.
A fridge for cold drinks you consider essential before we
move on, tell us about that fridge. Do you use
one that plugs into the car, or how do you
keep your drinks cold? No, okay, I think we are
(04:14):
having an issue with the zoom connection here. My apologies
for that. I'm going to try and disconnect and perhaps
reconnect over Zoom or I don't know if my producer
wants us to move to a phone call instead. I
think that might be the safer option because we are
struggling a little bit with the Zoom line. There, apologies
for that. In the meantime, just reminder who you were
listening to before his voice disappeared. Grant McPherson the co
(04:38):
founder of Trail Pod Adventures, and as he was just
starting to tell us he doesn't like to do the
super super rustic variation of camping. He is somebody who
appreciates a couple of creature comforts, but at the same
time likes to go really off road and exploring into
some pretty remote and challenging spaces. So I'm hoping we
(04:59):
can get him back on a phone line to talk
a little bit more about some of the places he's
been to and some of the gadgets he considers essential there.
In the meantime, please do get your camping WhatsApps through
on seven two five six seven one five six seven.
I know some people are very protective of their favorite
camping sites. They don't want the word to get out
there in case they become too crowded. But if you
(05:20):
do want to tell us where your best or perhaps
worst camping experience has been, you're very welcome to do so.
I can tell you this. I think my most astonishing
camping experience was the night I spent in a tent
alongside Full Flay one year, where the wind blew so
much that we woke up the next morning to find
that our tent had literally moved with us inside it.
(05:40):
It had been so windy in the night, and we
own unzipped that tent flap to a different view from
the one we had seen when we got into it
the night before. Was quite extraordinary. Right, Sorry about the
breakup in the zoom there. Grant Bigferson is back with
us on a phone line, and I hope we can
pick up from their Grant apologies for the sort of
stop start nature of the conversation there talking to us
about refrigerating for cold drinks. How do you manage that challenge?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
In the beginning, I saw out of the battery back wall.
We all thought of the cooler box, to be honest. Yeah,
it goes quite well to some point, anything above two days,
maybe a run out of ice, so sort of switching
to a sort of like an eco flow or one
of the brands to run the refrigerator. But that's a
bit of a challenge moving in and out. And as
someone that's always trying to perfect the extreme human survival,
(06:28):
I went to a installed battery system in my vehicle,
in my Suzuki Chimney, and I've never looked back. It's
a journey, but again it can be interesting in terms
of the costs. I'm not going to deny that.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Okay, Grant, I mean tell us a little bit more
about this, because maybe we should should before we talk
any more about your own personal camping experiences, just talk
a little bit more about your business and the kinds
of adventures that you offer, because what you're describing and
the kinds of modifications that can be made to a
vehicle are I think quite a lot tied up into
your business trail pot adventures. Won't you tell us a
(07:02):
bit more?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah? Sure. We started out as a teardrop caravan manufacturing
business exclusively and we make a super lightweight caravan that
designed for the Jymney with the thinking that if Jimney
can throw it, anything can do it. And it's expanded
from there from weekend adventures to a little bit of
extension going to something like Africa Burn or Tanqua, trying
to experience that. And recently I crossed the border for
(07:25):
the first time. That was in July and I went
from Cape Town to Pooper Falls and back down to
Cape Town. It was a six thousand, seven hundred kilometer
journey and there was something I learnt a lot along
the way. Namibia's beautiful South Africa is astounding. There's so
many options of camping in the Western Cape alone, and
then across of it is the Northern Cape and the
(07:47):
nature the landscape changes and it's just beautiful to me
and I enjoy it quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Am I right in thinking? Pooper Falls aren't just in Namibia.
They're on the far end of Namibia, on the northern
in the northern part of the country. Am I right
in thinking that?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Correct?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
I stand on the campsite you're looking at and Gola
across the river. Okay, recommend swimming it, but.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Okay, but that's a proper journey and as you say, granted,
I mean that's going to test your your your camping
muscle in a way most journeys won't do. To an extent,
most journeys won't do. Okay, So so modifying the vehicles
and as you say, these things can come at a cost,
but then you have the pleasure of being able to
travel with all your mod CON's going with you. Grant,
(08:32):
it's a lot cheaper to book a spart at a
campsite than it is to book into a hotel because
you want a cold drink the next morning.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Not so precisely. And guess what, a lot less humans
go to that exact spot that you booked into compared
to hotels. And so I like that experience.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The ice, I mean, the isolation, the sense of being
properly out in nature and away from the rat race
is you know, I think a large part of the
reason that most people go camping in the first place.
I'll completely take your point. Right, Let's talk a little
bit about about gear and the things that can make
the biggest difference in comfort. Now, obviously refrigerations that you
can have nice cold milk, and your coffee in the
(09:09):
next morning. You can have an ice cold beer at
the end of a day's game driving, for example. That's
a big one. What else would you say are non
negotiable comfort items that you consider essential?
Speaker 4 (09:20):
For me, essential is a good, safe, quiet place to sleep.
And you spoke about rooftop tens. You spoke about ground tents.
There's a little term around this, we call the rooftop
ten people sky people. We talk about the people on
the ground as ground dwellers. And then you've got your caravaners.
And for me it's personal preference. Some people love a
rooftop tens, some people love the ground tent. But common
(09:43):
between all of those places and other people love the caravans.
Common between all of the spaces is a comfortable bed
that is easy to set up with nice betting. I
personally take my own duvet on a camp because I
don't want a piece of home to come with me,
even though I'm running away from home. Essentially, at least
I have a piece of home that comes along.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Okay, I like that, And a duvet not too heavy
and can be squished into little corners under seats, et cetera.
If you have to. I mean talking about people adjusting
as they get older as well. Here's a lovely message
in from Lynn, who says, as a kid, we did
a lot of tent camping. My dad always had a
thing about pitching the tent near a river so that
we were all kept busy in the water and literally
(10:23):
fell into our sleeping bags at night. She says her
two favorites were in boosta on a farm, and the
second in Cirrus. But she says we've upgraded now and
now we have a motor home that we like to
play in when we visit our family in Canada, and
we have had a ball visiting very different locations. It's
great having everything on hand. But maybe we're showing our age,
(10:44):
you know. So what Lynn, I mean if you want
to continue experiencing the world from a campus perspective, doesn't
mean you have to be uncomfortable all the time, Grant,
I mean you can take your duvet. I don't think
there's anything wrong with saying, you know what, when you're twenty,
it can be fun and exciting sleeping on a mat
on the floor, but maybe when you're forty or fifty
you don't want to do that anymore. You value your
(11:04):
sleep too greatly, So I don't think there's anything wrong
with that. Litt and I say go for it and
keep on enjoying the motor home. I just want to
mention in our book club slot on Friday, we're going
to be talking to Marita Vanafeffer, who has just spent
fifteen months traveling the world, including a session through the
States in a good old fashioned campervan painted with hippie
(11:25):
paintings on the side, and boy, oh boy, her descriptions
of how rudimentary some of the facilities were and just
how much they had to rough it were hysterical reading.
I mean, Grant, what's the most rustic camping experience you
think you've ever had? Describe for us how uncomfortable it
was and whether it was worth it in the end.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Wow, that's a tough question. There is this pre me
getting involved in overlanding, and there's post me getting involved overlanding.
I think that probably one of the roughest camp experiences
I've ever had is probably attending of music festival. It
is loud, it's uncomfortable, little tent and the sun slots baking,
and you're wondering why I chose to do this life
and then you grow up and you decided maybe being
(12:07):
away from these settles are interesting and in terms of
rustic I recently stayed on the West Coast. It was
two weeks ago actually, yep, an area of Lutzville, and
all that it had was a long drop on the
actual campsite, but everything else you took with you. But
it was one of the most beautiful experiences because the
ocean was right there. Oh, you pride every night, cook
(12:29):
breakfast on your cookers, and you spent it decent while
deserve family time, just connecting with one another in nature.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, there's a lot to be said for it. Absolutely,
Lindsay riding in to say, when I was twelve, I
went camping in Biro Morzambique with friends of my parents
and their children. I vowed I would never go camping again,
and I'm seventy five and have stuck to that decision.
That's also fine, Lindsay, Different strokes for different folks. But
for those of you who are keen campers, please share
with us the store worries of the most extraordinary, bizarre,
(13:02):
out there camping experiences, but also the most memorable and
beautiful spots you've been in and perhaps you want to
talk to us about what level of luxury you have
started to require, particularly as you've got a little bit
older in the camping journey. We are in conversation with
Grant McPherson, the co founder of trail Pod Adventures, somebody
who is really into the overlanding camping experience and who
(13:25):
does believe that it's absolutely fine, if not a little
bit essential, to have a few creature comforts with you
on the road. I mean for somebody who wants to
try it out for the first time. Grant, I think
there's something to be said for the slightly more lux
camping experience. If somebody is a complete newcomer, maybe ease
them in with something a little bit more comfy than
(13:46):
throwing them into the old fashioned tent and rubber matt
But the other thing is the costs involved. If somebody
doesn't know if they're going to sort of commit to
the style of traveling, obviously you're not going to rush
out and buy the vehicle and buy the rooftop tent
and buy the battery convergence systems, et cetera without trying
it out. Is it possible to rent that kind of
equipment quite easily if you just want to say, let's
(14:08):
try it for a weekend and see if we actually.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Like it, that's totally possible. There are a couple of
rental companies around us. Personally as a company, we tend
to run camps. And there's a bit of advice that
I got, but I got into the industry well, actually
just bought my first four by four. Someone said to me,
do not spend too much money on your vehicle until
you've taken it out multiple times and you try to
(14:31):
understand what's start to understand what you need. And that
individual loan me a rooftop tents. My first trip was
my first four by four with a loan rooftop tent.
I learned that I needed a little bit of this
level of that to make it more comfortable for me,
and that's the ethos that we practice. Come give us
a call, try to rooftop tents that we have. Sometimes
rooftop tents are better than tudop caravans, and sometimeso caravans
(14:54):
better than a rooftop tents. And he gets an amazing
ground tents as well, And it's just for preference and
join a camping community. There's quite a few on Facebook
there's quite a few WhatsApp groups around where you just
go out of the community. I have a couple of
people that have said to me, I don't even have
a camp chair, and I say, I have multiple campaigns.
Just borrow one of mine. Unlet's go sit next to
(15:15):
a fire and they get the experience.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
It's That's great advice is join a community where you
likely to meet people who've already got all the kit
and can give you advice and perhaps lend it to
you or hire it to you if you want to
give it a test run, grant the vehicle itself. How
important is four by four capacity? I mean, is it
possible to have a good, extensive camping explorer exploration over
(15:38):
multiple holidays without ever investing in a four x four
or is it really something you must consider?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
You could completely have a correct camp without a four
by four. There's multiple camp sites around that are hidden gems.
You just don't know about it until you start to explore.
Just talk to everyone and ask, like, I would love
to go a full weekend. What you suggest I don't
have the clearance and I don't have the capacity of
all wheel drive. Where where do you suggesting? People are
(16:06):
very open to giving advice. For me personally, it's just
I want to go to the extreme of finding a
spot that's my preference. But further, they enjoy it multiple
camp sites, and I can suggest multiple campsites along the
way in terms of ease of access.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Okay, so I'm going to ask you, just off the
top of your head, for somebody who is a complete
newbie who wants a quick weekend get away to try
it out close to Capeton, can you think of one
off the top of your head that doesn't require four
four access that you'd say, Hey, why didn't you start
with campsite X?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
So I actually have a few. We've got Groffessa near
Robertson that doesn't require four by four access. It's along
the river around along the Britder River. Then you've got
the classic beaver At. Everyone loved that if you're willing
to be a bit adventurous for your vehicle, and then
it's just want to get a bit of dirt road,
a bit of bull and away from everybody's blank Fata
(17:01):
and Citrus Doll And I'm just named all of those
as dog friendly campsite because I have dogs and I
like to take them camping as well.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I'm so glad you've mentioned that because Keith actually wrote
in saying more people like to go camping with their dogs.
But is it a struggle to find places that will
accept dogs? So those three will all gladly have you
with your dog in tow. Is that becoming more common
as an offering grant or are there's still a lot
of sites that say no animals.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Generally speaking, you can reach out to the campsite and
ask for permission and they return with her. Is it
a quiet dog? Will it be attached to you? As
I finally keeping a lease of them, They're quite open
to the idea. But it has been a growing community
in terms of camping with your fur baby as you
like to call them. Yeah, and they come along and
(17:45):
they enjoy their camps and they get to socialize along
the way and we get to spend time with the dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Sounds woo and yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yeah. Now, as I'm writing and saying, we love camping
and go more than once a year, but comfort is
so important. I'd love to know your guests view on beds.
We did the blow up. It was comfortable, but it
needs to be pumped up every night. We did have
the electric one, which made things a little bit easier.
But we've now bought a stretcher. But the mattress is
not comfortable. So you've already said you take the douvet,
(18:14):
but grant what's underneath you. Underneath you and the douvet,
do you do you go for the blow up mattress option,
or the stretcher option or something else.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
I'm going to give you a little joke here. It's
a little running internal joke. We call it an F
plus matras. It's always deflating.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
I tried that.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
It wasn't my favorite. We generally speak and use a firm,
high density, firm mattress. And for suggestion, stretches are amazing.
Try get yourself a honeycomb topper and you take that
along and put that on top of the stretcher and
you'll have a comfortable, sleek.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, honeycomb topper. And is that widely available in most
outdoor stores.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
I would more look at your where you get material
from all your fiam companies and you just go around
and give it in measurements and it cuts it up
and it rolls up quite nicely. You can put a
little rope around it. Tucket in the car and you
have a beautiful seat, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And that little bit of sponginess underneath you can make
all the difference. So that's a great suggestion. Thanks Alzan,
good luck to you and happy camping. A lovely message
in from Natasha, who says, when I was a child
we lived in the Trance Sky. It was the nineteen eighties.
Camping was still very rustic. My dad would set up
the tent on a hill at Mazeppa Bay or some
other beautiful spot along the wild coast and it was
(19:26):
just us. My dad would go fishing in the morning,
the kids would go down to the lagoon to swim,
and we would eat his catch on the fire in
the evening, adventures all day. We absolutely loved it, Natasha.
I mean that part of the country firstly, is just
so beautiful and still so remote, and that sense of being,
you know, incomplete wilderness is so so precious, and you're very,
(19:48):
very lucky to have had that experience and have those
memories to hold on to. So long may they last.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Here's a message in from Chantal saying she also loves camping,
but she finds the experience of booking is often difficult.
So she's finding online booking platforms are helpful, grant her
a lot of are a lot of camp sites getting
into that sort of that phase of catching up with
modern technology, or do you find that a number of
(20:17):
the good ones still just need a good old fashioned
phone call to say, have you got a spot on
X y Z date?
Speaker 4 (20:23):
I wish they were developing as fast as what you
just said. Unfortunately, it is very analogue my favorite camps
that I don't know if I should say this, but
i'll involves the Moon. About last year, I asked, can
you give me a schedule so I can see some
gaps that I could book? And she said, no, you
just need to WhatsApp. And I said, can you send
me an Xcel sheet? And as she said, we haven't
(20:44):
made one of those, but we will make one for you. God.
That's how she developed their booking system thanks to me
asking for an Xcel sheet.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Sure. So when you say seriously, still at a log
they you really mean it? Okay, So some degree of
patients required and some degree of being willing to sit
and make the actual phone calls. I mean it must
be terrifying for the millennials. You don't like to talk
to people on the phone. But there we go CALLI
commenting that since COVID so many people have taken to camping.
(21:11):
We prefer quiet, small spots, and I love that so
many of our farmers are setting up private camp sites.
Are you find in grants what CALLI alert ludes to
there that new spots are opening up all the time.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Completely completely, everyone's talking about the new spots. Have you
have taken a look at this money We're taken a
look at this one, the very one I just said,
moon Rover in the Cedarburg. Yeah, they opened up during
COVID and you could only contact them by WhatsApp and
that was when she was around our house and teed
Wi Fi. Yeah it is, and this multiple one is
(21:44):
opening up all the time. You get your very very
popular ones like twas the cart Hardaway. Yes, that is
a that opens up for the end of the year
for the next year, as in Ellie Jan.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, yeah, I have. I have actually camped there, and
I understand why it's in such huge demand because it
is such a beautiful spot. But there you have it
from the horse's mouth that some of these places you
really have got a book well in advance to be
able to secure your space. Grant, I mean, it's been
fascinating chatting to you. Thank you so much for all
the advice that you've shared with our listeners. If somebody
(22:18):
is listening to this as a complete novice and would
like to pick your brain for advice, maybe reach out
to trail Pod Adventures to discuss kits and vehicles and
where to go, et cetera. What's the best way to
make contact.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
With you.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
In grant our website www dot trailpod dot is a
contact at the bottom of the website, and there's a WhatsApp,
there's an email. Anyway, when a reach you, you'll reach
the team and we will respond great.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Have you with us this afternoon, Grant McPherson, Thank you
so much for your time, and happy trails and happy
camping to you and your loved ones, including the fir
children going forward. Grant McPherson the co founder of Trailpod Adventures,
Right, it is time for us to wander the world,
and today we are taking you back to the days
when family holidays. We're all about camping, and I really
love to hear from some of our listeners who are
ardent campers about how you camp and what sort of
level of luxury or absence of luxury you demand from
the experience of camping, because for some people, camping is
(00:21):
meant to be simple, and it's meant to be nothing
more that a tent and maybe a thin rubber mattress
and a pillow and a sleeping bag and getting yourself
close to nature and as close to the experience of
sleeping literally under the stars as you can safely get.
For others, glamping is a thing, and a tend with
a bed is a good way to camp, and gadgets
and things to keep your milk cold and boil your
(00:43):
coffee and keep your clothes dry are part of the
camping experience. Different people camp in different ways. I'm aware
of that, but I'd love to hear from those of
you who are ardent campers where you love going, what
you love about the experience of camping, what you consider
essential to the camp experience. I'm thinking back to the
first time I ever pitched my tent on my own
(01:04):
at a school tent, and of course I did so
sideways on a downhill slope and it rained in the night,
and that was the muddiest camping experience of my life.
But you know what, it was by far the most
fun one I've ever had as well. Maybe for those
of you listening, some of you listening, it might be
about the memories of trying to start the fire with
dad using wet wood. Maybe you are somebody who prefers
(01:24):
a rooftop tent or a caravan or all the fittings
and gadgets you can imagine. We're quite happy to talk
to both of those kinds of camping today. But most
importantly we want to encourage people to explore the love
of camping and to talk about camping and road tripping
and how it has evolved over the years. It's a
huge pleasure to welcome to the show this afternoon Grant Macpherson,
who is the co founder of Trail Pod Adventures. Now
(01:47):
they're a local brand that started out with handcrafted teardrop
caravans and have really grown into a real community for
South Africans who do love the open road, and Grant,
it's wonderful to have you joining us on one of
the world today. Welcome to the show.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Thank you so much, perperpose, very happy to be here.
Speaker 1 (02:03):
And I'm loving the background of your zoom your zoom
background because I can see there are Bucky and oh
a big four by four in the background with spare
wheels and truly your gadgets on top of the car.
This is clearly something you do on a grand scale. Grant,
When when was your first memory of going camping? What
was your first experience? Can you take us back?
Speaker 2 (02:23):
Let's go all the way back.
Speaker 3 (02:25):
My parents took me camping, and I remember it was
very much a rustic experience back then and I always
thought this is not what I like. Growing up as
an adult, I went full glamping. So right, bey Me
is actually my Suzuki Chimney which was entered in the
Chimney Gathering pageants and it came second as the Globetrotter.
Speaker 2 (02:46):
It gives you an example of what type of camping
are like.
Speaker 3 (02:48):
I like adventure camping, I like crossing borders, I like
exploring the unknown.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
But I did start out with taking the entire kitchen
sink with.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Me, yeap, and have you paired that back now? I
mean that looks like a fully kitted out vehicle with
lots of things added to it. But from what you've
just said about the kitchen sink, maybe you've learned over
the years to also prune back a little bit. Tell
us what you do consider essential to take with you.
Speaker 3 (03:15):
Shade number one. Shade is always important. You don't know
where you're going to be and how much sun you're
going to be impacted by. It's just so good to
keep away from the wind. I like taking a refrigerator
with me that always keeps the drinks cold on arrival.
Speaker 2 (03:29):
And I love.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Which is the Oh, we seem to be struggling a
little bit with the zoom.
Speaker 3 (03:38):
Lines that I would rate it an experience you can
experience on the market, and that's why I'm I didn't
design it.
Speaker 2 (03:47):
I met him. I'm the correct.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
We just seemed to be losing the zoom link there, afraid.
I'm sorry, Grant, we just lost you for a minute there.
You got as far as telling us shade was in important.
A fridge for cold drinks you consider essential before we
move on, tell us about that fridge. Do you use
one that plugs into the car, or how do you
keep your drinks cold? No, okay, I think we are
(04:14):
having an issue with the zoom connection here. My apologies
for that. I'm going to try and disconnect and perhaps
reconnect over Zoom or I don't know if my producer
wants us to move to a phone call instead. I
think that might be the safer option because we are
struggling a little bit with the Zoom line. There, apologies
for that. In the meantime, just reminder who you were
listening to before his voice disappeared. Grant McPherson the co
(04:38):
founder of Trail Pod Adventures, and as he was just
starting to tell us he doesn't like to do the
super super rustic variation of camping. He is somebody who
appreciates a couple of creature comforts, but at the same
time likes to go really off road and exploring into
some pretty remote and challenging spaces. So I'm hoping we
(04:59):
can get him back on a phone line to talk
a little bit more about some of the places he's
been to and some of the gadgets he considers essential there.
In the meantime, please do get your camping WhatsApps through
on seven two five six seven one five six seven.
I know some people are very protective of their favorite
camping sites. They don't want the word to get out
there in case they become too crowded. But if you
(05:20):
do want to tell us where your best or perhaps
worst camping experience has been, you're very welcome to do so.
I can tell you this. I think my most astonishing
camping experience was the night I spent in a tent
alongside Full Flay one year, where the wind blew so
much that we woke up the next morning to find
that our tent had literally moved with us inside it.
(05:40):
It had been so windy in the night, and we
own unzipped that tent flap to a different view from
the one we had seen when we got into it
the night before. Was quite extraordinary. Right, Sorry about the
breakup in the zoom there. Grant Bigferson is back with
us on a phone line, and I hope we can
pick up from their Grant apologies for the sort of
stop start nature of the conversation there talking to us
about refrigerating for cold drinks. How do you manage that challenge?
Speaker 4 (06:05):
In the beginning, I saw out of the battery back wall.
We all thought of the cooler box, to be honest. Yeah,
it goes quite well to some point, anything above two days,
maybe a run out of ice, so sort of switching
to a sort of like an eco flow or one
of the brands to run the refrigerator. But that's a
bit of a challenge moving in and out. And as
someone that's always trying to perfect the extreme human survival,
(06:28):
I went to a installed battery system in my vehicle,
in my Suzuki Chimney, and I've never looked back. It's
a journey, but again it can be interesting in terms
of the costs. I'm not going to deny that.
Speaker 1 (06:41):
Okay, Grant, I mean tell us a little bit more
about this, because maybe we should should before we talk
any more about your own personal camping experiences, just talk
a little bit more about your business and the kinds
of adventures that you offer, because what you're describing and
the kinds of modifications that can be made to a
vehicle are I think quite a lot tied up into
your business trail pot adventures. Won't you tell us a
(07:02):
bit more?
Speaker 4 (07:03):
Yeah? Sure. We started out as a teardrop caravan manufacturing
business exclusively and we make a super lightweight caravan that
designed for the Jymney with the thinking that if Jimney
can throw it, anything can do it. And it's expanded
from there from weekend adventures to a little bit of
extension going to something like Africa Burn or Tanqua, trying
to experience that. And recently I crossed the border for
(07:25):
the first time. That was in July and I went
from Cape Town to Pooper Falls and back down to
Cape Town. It was a six thousand, seven hundred kilometer
journey and there was something I learnt a lot along
the way. Namibia's beautiful South Africa is astounding. There's so
many options of camping in the Western Cape alone, and
then across of it is the Northern Cape and the
(07:47):
nature the landscape changes and it's just beautiful to me
and I enjoy it quite a bit.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
Am I right in thinking? Pooper Falls aren't just in Namibia.
They're on the far end of Namibia, on the northern
in the northern part of the country. Am I right
in thinking that?
Speaker 2 (08:02):
Correct?
Speaker 4 (08:03):
I stand on the campsite you're looking at and Gola
across the river. Okay, recommend swimming it, but.
Speaker 1 (08:11):
Okay, but that's a proper journey and as you say, granted,
I mean that's going to test your your your camping
muscle in a way most journeys won't do. To an extent,
most journeys won't do. Okay, So so modifying the vehicles
and as you say, these things can come at a cost,
but then you have the pleasure of being able to
travel with all your mod CON's going with you. Grant,
(08:32):
it's a lot cheaper to book a spart at a
campsite than it is to book into a hotel because
you want a cold drink the next morning.
Speaker 4 (08:38):
Not so precisely. And guess what, a lot less humans
go to that exact spot that you booked into compared
to hotels. And so I like that experience.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
The ice, I mean, the isolation, the sense of being
properly out in nature and away from the rat race
is you know, I think a large part of the
reason that most people go camping in the first place.
I'll completely take your point. Right, Let's talk a little
bit about about gear and the things that can make
the biggest difference in comfort. Now, obviously refrigerations that you
can have nice cold milk, and your coffee in the
(09:09):
next morning. You can have an ice cold beer at
the end of a day's game driving, for example. That's
a big one. What else would you say are non
negotiable comfort items that you consider essential?
Speaker 4 (09:20):
For me, essential is a good, safe, quiet place to sleep.
And you spoke about rooftop tens. You spoke about ground tents.
There's a little term around this, we call the rooftop
ten people sky people. We talk about the people on
the ground as ground dwellers. And then you've got your caravaners.
And for me it's personal preference. Some people love a
rooftop tens, some people love the ground tent. But common
(09:43):
between all of those places and other people love the caravans.
Common between all of the spaces is a comfortable bed
that is easy to set up with nice betting. I
personally take my own duvet on a camp because I
don't want a piece of home to come with me,
even though I'm running away from home. Essentially, at least
I have a piece of home that comes along.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Okay, I like that, And a duvet not too heavy
and can be squished into little corners under seats, et cetera.
If you have to. I mean talking about people adjusting
as they get older as well. Here's a lovely message
in from Lynn, who says, as a kid, we did
a lot of tent camping. My dad always had a
thing about pitching the tent near a river so that
we were all kept busy in the water and literally
(10:23):
fell into our sleeping bags at night. She says her
two favorites were in boosta on a farm, and the
second in Cirrus. But she says we've upgraded now and
now we have a motor home that we like to
play in when we visit our family in Canada, and
we have had a ball visiting very different locations. It's
great having everything on hand. But maybe we're showing our age,
(10:44):
you know. So what Lynn, I mean if you want
to continue experiencing the world from a campus perspective, doesn't
mean you have to be uncomfortable all the time, Grant,
I mean you can take your duvet. I don't think
there's anything wrong with saying, you know what, when you're twenty,
it can be fun and exciting sleeping on a mat
on the floor, but maybe when you're forty or fifty
you don't want to do that anymore. You value your
(11:04):
sleep too greatly, So I don't think there's anything wrong
with that. Litt and I say go for it and
keep on enjoying the motor home. I just want to
mention in our book club slot on Friday, we're going
to be talking to Marita Vanafeffer, who has just spent
fifteen months traveling the world, including a session through the
States in a good old fashioned campervan painted with hippie
(11:25):
paintings on the side, and boy, oh boy, her descriptions
of how rudimentary some of the facilities were and just
how much they had to rough it were hysterical reading.
I mean, Grant, what's the most rustic camping experience you
think you've ever had? Describe for us how uncomfortable it
was and whether it was worth it in the end.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
Wow, that's a tough question. There is this pre me
getting involved in overlanding, and there's post me getting involved overlanding.
I think that probably one of the roughest camp experiences
I've ever had is probably attending of music festival. It
is loud, it's uncomfortable, little tent and the sun slots baking,
and you're wondering why I chose to do this life
and then you grow up and you decided maybe being
(12:07):
away from these settles are interesting and in terms of
rustic I recently stayed on the West Coast. It was
two weeks ago actually, yep, an area of Lutzville, and
all that it had was a long drop on the
actual campsite, but everything else you took with you. But
it was one of the most beautiful experiences because the
ocean was right there. Oh, you pride every night, cook
(12:29):
breakfast on your cookers, and you spent it decent while
deserve family time, just connecting with one another in nature.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
Yeah, there's a lot to be said for it. Absolutely,
Lindsay riding in to say, when I was twelve, I
went camping in Biro Morzambique with friends of my parents
and their children. I vowed I would never go camping again,
and I'm seventy five and have stuck to that decision.
That's also fine, Lindsay, Different strokes for different folks. But
for those of you who are keen campers, please share
with us the store worries of the most extraordinary, bizarre,
(13:02):
out there camping experiences, but also the most memorable and
beautiful spots you've been in and perhaps you want to
talk to us about what level of luxury you have
started to require, particularly as you've got a little bit
older in the camping journey. We are in conversation with
Grant McPherson, the co founder of trail Pod Adventures, somebody
who is really into the overlanding camping experience and who
(13:25):
does believe that it's absolutely fine, if not a little
bit essential, to have a few creature comforts with you
on the road. I mean for somebody who wants to
try it out for the first time. Grant, I think
there's something to be said for the slightly more lux
camping experience. If somebody is a complete newcomer, maybe ease
them in with something a little bit more comfy than
(13:46):
throwing them into the old fashioned tent and rubber matt
But the other thing is the costs involved. If somebody
doesn't know if they're going to sort of commit to
the style of traveling, obviously you're not going to rush
out and buy the vehicle and buy the rooftop tent
and buy the battery convergence systems, et cetera without trying
it out. Is it possible to rent that kind of
equipment quite easily if you just want to say, let's
(14:08):
try it for a weekend and see if we actually.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Like it, that's totally possible. There are a couple of
rental companies around us. Personally as a company, we tend
to run camps. And there's a bit of advice that
I got, but I got into the industry well, actually
just bought my first four by four. Someone said to me,
do not spend too much money on your vehicle until
you've taken it out multiple times and you try to
(14:31):
understand what's start to understand what you need. And that
individual loan me a rooftop tents. My first trip was
my first four by four with a loan rooftop tent.
I learned that I needed a little bit of this
level of that to make it more comfortable for me,
and that's the ethos that we practice. Come give us
a call, try to rooftop tents that we have. Sometimes
rooftop tents are better than tudop caravans, and sometimeso caravans
(14:54):
better than a rooftop tents. And he gets an amazing
ground tents as well, And it's just for preference and
join a camping community. There's quite a few on Facebook
there's quite a few WhatsApp groups around where you just
go out of the community. I have a couple of
people that have said to me, I don't even have
a camp chair, and I say, I have multiple campaigns.
Just borrow one of mine. Unlet's go sit next to
(15:15):
a fire and they get the experience.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
It's That's great advice is join a community where you
likely to meet people who've already got all the kit
and can give you advice and perhaps lend it to
you or hire it to you if you want to
give it a test run, grant the vehicle itself. How
important is four by four capacity? I mean, is it
possible to have a good, extensive camping explorer exploration over
(15:38):
multiple holidays without ever investing in a four x four
or is it really something you must consider?
Speaker 4 (15:46):
You could completely have a correct camp without a four
by four. There's multiple camp sites around that are hidden gems.
You just don't know about it until you start to explore.
Just talk to everyone and ask, like, I would love
to go a full weekend. What you suggest I don't
have the clearance and I don't have the capacity of
all wheel drive. Where where do you suggesting? People are
(16:06):
very open to giving advice. For me personally, it's just
I want to go to the extreme of finding a
spot that's my preference. But further, they enjoy it multiple
camp sites, and I can suggest multiple campsites along the
way in terms of ease of access.
Speaker 1 (16:22):
Okay, so I'm going to ask you, just off the
top of your head, for somebody who is a complete
newbie who wants a quick weekend get away to try
it out close to Capeton, can you think of one
off the top of your head that doesn't require four
four access that you'd say, Hey, why didn't you start
with campsite X?
Speaker 4 (16:39):
So I actually have a few. We've got Groffessa near
Robertson that doesn't require four by four access. It's along
the river around along the Britder River. Then you've got
the classic beaver At. Everyone loved that if you're willing
to be a bit adventurous for your vehicle, and then
it's just want to get a bit of dirt road,
a bit of bull and away from everybody's blank Fata
(17:01):
and Citrus Doll And I'm just named all of those
as dog friendly campsite because I have dogs and I
like to take them camping as well.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
I'm so glad you've mentioned that because Keith actually wrote
in saying more people like to go camping with their dogs.
But is it a struggle to find places that will
accept dogs? So those three will all gladly have you
with your dog in tow. Is that becoming more common
as an offering grant or are there's still a lot
of sites that say no animals.
Speaker 4 (17:24):
Generally speaking, you can reach out to the campsite and
ask for permission and they return with her. Is it
a quiet dog? Will it be attached to you? As
I finally keeping a lease of them, They're quite open
to the idea. But it has been a growing community
in terms of camping with your fur baby as you
like to call them. Yeah, and they come along and
(17:45):
they enjoy their camps and they get to socialize along
the way and we get to spend time with the dogs.
Speaker 2 (17:51):
Sounds woo and yeah.
Speaker 1 (17:53):
Yeah. Now, as I'm writing and saying, we love camping
and go more than once a year, but comfort is
so important. I'd love to know your guests view on beds.
We did the blow up. It was comfortable, but it
needs to be pumped up every night. We did have
the electric one, which made things a little bit easier.
But we've now bought a stretcher. But the mattress is
not comfortable. So you've already said you take the douvet,
(18:14):
but grant what's underneath you. Underneath you and the douvet,
do you do you go for the blow up mattress option,
or the stretcher option or something else.
Speaker 4 (18:22):
I'm going to give you a little joke here. It's
a little running internal joke. We call it an F
plus matras. It's always deflating.
Speaker 2 (18:30):
I tried that.
Speaker 4 (18:31):
It wasn't my favorite. We generally speak and use a firm,
high density, firm mattress. And for suggestion, stretches are amazing.
Try get yourself a honeycomb topper and you take that
along and put that on top of the stretcher and
you'll have a comfortable, sleek.
Speaker 1 (18:45):
Okay, honeycomb topper. And is that widely available in most
outdoor stores.
Speaker 4 (18:50):
I would more look at your where you get material
from all your fiam companies and you just go around
and give it in measurements and it cuts it up
and it rolls up quite nicely. You can put a
little rope around it. Tucket in the car and you
have a beautiful seat, okay.
Speaker 1 (19:05):
And that little bit of sponginess underneath you can make
all the difference. So that's a great suggestion. Thanks Alzan,
good luck to you and happy camping. A lovely message
in from Natasha, who says, when I was a child
we lived in the Trance Sky. It was the nineteen eighties.
Camping was still very rustic. My dad would set up
the tent on a hill at Mazeppa Bay or some
other beautiful spot along the wild coast and it was
(19:26):
just us. My dad would go fishing in the morning,
the kids would go down to the lagoon to swim,
and we would eat his catch on the fire in
the evening, adventures all day. We absolutely loved it, Natasha.
I mean that part of the country firstly, is just
so beautiful and still so remote, and that sense of being,
you know, incomplete wilderness is so so precious, and you're very,
(19:48):
very lucky to have had that experience and have those
memories to hold on to. So long may they last.
Speaker 4 (19:56):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (19:56):
Here's a message in from Chantal saying she also loves camping,
but she finds the experience of booking is often difficult.
So she's finding online booking platforms are helpful, grant her
a lot of are a lot of camp sites getting
into that sort of that phase of catching up with
modern technology, or do you find that a number of
(20:17):
the good ones still just need a good old fashioned
phone call to say, have you got a spot on
X y Z date?
Speaker 4 (20:23):
I wish they were developing as fast as what you
just said. Unfortunately, it is very analogue my favorite camps
that I don't know if I should say this, but
i'll involves the Moon. About last year, I asked, can
you give me a schedule so I can see some
gaps that I could book? And she said, no, you
just need to WhatsApp. And I said, can you send
me an Xcel sheet? And as she said, we haven't
(20:44):
made one of those, but we will make one for you. God.
That's how she developed their booking system thanks to me
asking for an Xcel sheet.
Speaker 1 (20:51):
Sure. So when you say seriously, still at a log
they you really mean it? Okay, So some degree of
patients required and some degree of being willing to sit
and make the actual phone calls. I mean it must
be terrifying for the millennials. You don't like to talk
to people on the phone. But there we go CALLI
commenting that since COVID so many people have taken to camping.
(21:11):
We prefer quiet, small spots, and I love that so
many of our farmers are setting up private camp sites.
Are you find in grants what CALLI alert ludes to
there that new spots are opening up all the time.
Speaker 4 (21:24):
Completely completely, everyone's talking about the new spots. Have you
have taken a look at this money We're taken a
look at this one, the very one I just said,
moon Rover in the Cedarburg. Yeah, they opened up during
COVID and you could only contact them by WhatsApp and
that was when she was around our house and teed
Wi Fi. Yeah it is, and this multiple one is
(21:44):
opening up all the time. You get your very very
popular ones like twas the cart Hardaway. Yes, that is
a that opens up for the end of the year
for the next year, as in Ellie Jan.
Speaker 1 (21:56):
Yeah, yeah, I have. I have actually camped there, and
I understand why it's in such huge demand because it
is such a beautiful spot. But there you have it
from the horse's mouth that some of these places you
really have got a book well in advance to be
able to secure your space. Grant, I mean, it's been
fascinating chatting to you. Thank you so much for all
the advice that you've shared with our listeners. If somebody
(22:18):
is listening to this as a complete novice and would
like to pick your brain for advice, maybe reach out
to trail Pod Adventures to discuss kits and vehicles and
where to go, et cetera. What's the best way to
make contact.
Speaker 3 (22:30):
With you.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
In grant our website www dot trailpod dot is a
contact at the bottom of the website, and there's a WhatsApp,
there's an email. Anyway, when a reach you, you'll reach
the team and we will respond great.
Speaker 1 (22:45):
Have you with us this afternoon, Grant McPherson, Thank you
so much for your time, and happy trails and happy
camping to you and your loved ones, including the fir
children going forward. Grant McPherson the co founder of Trailpod Adventures,
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