What is it like to pitch a roof top tent for the first time? In the coming days, you will be able to hang out with Joseph Eriksson and Emma Gullström and their daughter Billie, 2.5 years old, as they set out on their life's first rooftop tent adventure.
To follow their journey in real time - check out our Instagram account @Taktaltarna where our family will be taking over and sharing their journey, mainly through our Insta Stories. They will also document the adventure and combine their impressions and reflections into a film that will be published later this year.
Ahead of their trip, we called up to find out a little more about them and their expectations for roof camping for the first time.
• Who are you?
- We are a family that loves to get out into nature and appreciate the little things in life. We live in Stockholm and both work in creative professions, Joseph as a cinematographer and Emma as a content/branding specialist - so even on vacations we enjoy making fun productions with photos and films.
• How did you decide you wanted a roof top tent?
- I [Joseph] saw on YouTube some American photographers who pitched roof tents when they were on a photo trip through the USA and immediately became interested in roof tents and wondered what the possibility of this would look like in Sweden. When I came into contact with Roof Tents and saw that they had rentals, it felt like an obvious choice to Tent with the family as we had just acquired our own car.
Having a base with all functionality, which can easily be placed where you feel at the moment, but without having to exert too much feels optimal for us who have small children.
• What expectations/hopes do you have for your first rooftop tent?
- We don't really have direct experience of this, so are fully aware that anything can happen, which also adds to the tension and makes it expectant! Our big hope is to be able to find places to put pss that are both beautiful and functional. We've looked at Google maps to locate several potential locations and talked to friends in the areas we're going to for tips. And some nights we will also park the car on family/friends' land to be sure we have a lovely place for the night :)
We hope that Billie will be able to sleep safely by herself in the roof tent so that we can have a glass of wine and watch several sunsets during the journey.
• Have you prepared in any way?
- We have written a packing list well in advance with inspiration from the Roof Tents list and bought some accessories that we think we will need to take with us. We also have a relatively ready route so that we have a plan to start from, although it may happen that we are a little spontaneous along the way.
But with the help of the Rooftop Tents' guides, it feels like we have a clear picture of what applies when you rooftop tents and how we do it without affecting the environment or surroundings too much.
• Where do you plan to go?
- We will pick up the roof tent in Stockholm and then go straight down to Motala where my parents have a family farm. We spend the first night there to get a little warm in our clothes. After that, we will get around the area by Lake Vättern and try to find nice places to stand.