First impressions of traveling with a roof tent.

First impressions of traveling with a roof tent.

I have always enjoyed exploring new places and being in the bosom of nature. Walking in the forests, running in the mountains or listening to crickets on warm summer evenings recharged my batteries. However, I have never been a fan of classic tents. Although I have gone camping once in my life, it was not my best holiday. Putting it up, mosquitoes and bugs, humidity, extremely fast heating, cold coming from the ground and standing water during a downpour – this is how I remember my student camping trip. I have to admit that I did not fall in love with camping, and over the years I have become even more of a comfort-seeker when it comes to trips.

Then Dutch Mountains rooftop tents came my way (the brand has been rebranded and is now OFFLANDER). I won’t deny that working at OFFLANDER gives me direct access to tents, samples and the entire design process. Building a brand from scratch with a mission to infect others with the love of traveling hit the nail on the head for me.

O Watching our ambassadors’ expeditions, preparing photos and materials built in me a growing desire to try this form of recreation. When we organized our first OFFLANDER Camp in April, I had the opportunity to spend a night in a roof tent for the first time. At that time, I was already sure that this way of traveling was something for me.

I chose the OFFLANDER FOLD 2 model and, thanks to Bartek’s kindness, I put it on the roof of my Kona.

For my first trip with a roof tent, I chose the Bieszczady Mountains because I was running in the Rzeźnik race there. The campsite was a dozen or so meters from the finish line, which was a great place to pitch a tent.

After finishing the run, all I wanted to do was get into my tent and go to sleep. So my first night in FOLD 2 went by in a flash. Despite a little leg pain, getting in and out was no problem, and the campsite met all our needs as amateur travelers.

Since my hiking team includes 2 dogs, I never complain about boredom on trips. Another night spent in the Bieszczady Mountains went half-wild, on the Solina River surrounded by mountains, meadows and forests. The owner of the land allowed us to spend the night on his meadow, so we took advantage of his hospitality. There was a roofed bench by the river, which we gladly used, after having previously cleared it of rubbish left by previous, irresponsible tourists.

Unfortunately, the weather turned rainy, so we spent the next day on short walks with the dogs (as much as my tired legs would allow after running) and playing board games in the tent. We heated food on a small gas stove, and coffee from the Aeropress in such natural surroundings tasted like the best Italian. It rained all night, but the tent performed perfectly in such conditions.

The Bieszczady Mountains are beautiful and magical, and every return there is like getting to know them anew, which is why we will certainly return to them more than once.

We took another trip with a tent to the Jesionka reservoir. When I plan a camping trip, I always try to find a place near a pond or lake. I love croaking frogs and crickets.

There we were also accompanied by dogs, which thrive in camping conditions.

We also managed to have a typical weekend trip with friends to the OLZA holiday resort. We made the most of the beautiful weather. We were accompanied by friends with iKamper and Escape roof tents. Thanks to this, we could exchange experiences and look at our rooftop apartments. Many people asked about our tents, looked at them and were simply delighted with this idea of ​​traveling.

It is clear that there are many people in Poland for whom this way of travelling is an ideal solution. The sight of a roof tent on a passenger car is still exotic. Most of the buyers of such equipment are expedition veterans with powerful off-road machines. I am all the more glad that I can share my passion, which grows with each subsequent trip.

In the near future I will be testing a canopy for the FOLD 2 and an awning.

What I like most about traveling with a tent is the independence. Sure, campsites are crowded during the season and you have to book a spot in advance, but there are so many of them that you can always find something right away. In the worst case, you can sleep half-wild.

The speed of the set-up is a hit that additionally attracts people to buy a rooftop tent. Setting up the tent itself, e.g. during a downpour, takes seconds, and once you get inside, you can easily open the windows and the flysheet by placing the included metal rods in the appropriate places.

Another advantage is the windows, or rather the number of ways they can be closed. In Fold we have a mosquito net and transparent foils that we can use to cover the window when, for example, it is raining.

The tent also has LED lighting – I plug in a power bank and it’s ready. 3 levels of lighting make it really bright inside. You can read a book or play games freely.

The tent’s unique advantage is its appearance itself – beautiful colors and aesthetic finishes really do the job!

What I don’t like? The ladder. I always have trouble locking it. My husband, on the other hand, locks it in a second, so maybe it’s also a matter of practice.

Closing the tent is also problematic for me. It’s probably because of my small size, because I haven’t seen men have any problems with it 😉 

In summary, for me, a roof tent is a real game changer. For someone like me, with average memories of classic tents, or for people who simply have concerns about whether they can handle it, it is worth breaking through and trying something new. The tent can be thrown onto almost any passenger car equipped with a roof rack, and collecting memories related to travel is priceless.