Wild Drives

14/02/2024

Last year, I made the decision to put Wild Drives into hibernation.

I started Wild Drives motivated by my love of campervan travel, my passion for the environment, and my curiosity of new technology to make the world a better place.

Some of my fondest memories in life have been exploring and lazing around in my 2001 VW Transporter (aka "Arnie"). I wanted to share that experience with others, and I wanted to push the industry towards greener adventures, slower travel, and supporting local economies.

Reading this back I'm inspired all over again! Wild Drives did and still does have huge potential to achieve these goals. But the cost to me, and every aspect of my life, was too great.

I was never not working. And when I wasn't doing any of this, I was thinking about the long list that was only getting longer.

I was taking on additional contract work when I had time, to ensure I didn't fall behind on the monthly finance payments, which were significant (more details will follow in my year 2 financial breakdown). I've never been hugely motivated by money beyond what I need to live a low-stress existence and support my impulsive adventures. Taking on so much debt suddenly made money very very important and a source of looming stress.

I've never run my own business before. I'm not embarrassed to say I didn't envisage how difficult it would be. Sure, everyone knows it's hard, but this hard? You don't know until you know. I expected it would be a challenge but one I could manage. I know a lot more than I did before, especially about myself.

There are aspects to running a business that I am not naturally good at and I don't enjoy. Any of these activities would be fine in isolation, but throwing them all together in a big heap is not a good way to learn and focus. Founding a business on my own made it difficult to find perspective, focus, and motivation on a daily basis.

So when I saw a window to sell both campervans before the end of the summer of 2023, I instantly knew it was the right decision, painful though it felt at the time.

I'm extremely grateful for everyone who's supported me on this journey. Every customer who trusted me with their money and time, every friend, colleague, or family member who supported me and motivated me through some really low points.

I'm proud of what Wild Drives achieved in just one and a half years. Not only did it raise the profile of electric campervans, it gave people some beautiful memories they'll treasure for years. That gives me much more joy than a balance sheet or KPI report ever will.

I'm also proud of my decision to stop. I easily could have decided to throw more money, time, and energy into the company out of pride and fear of being judged a failure. The advice I'd tell anyone else in this situation is to prioritise their mental health, and their relationships.

I'm taking time out to recover from burn out and decide how I want my life to feel.

I'm certain Wild Drives will continue in another form. If you want to be part of that conversation, go to our website to sign up! https://www.wilddrives.co.uk/join-wild-drives-tribe/

Safe travels! ⚡🚐

Lewis
Wild Drives CEO & Founder

18/08/2023

🗣 Quirky Campers co-founder and CEO, David Ffrench, caught up with Lewis Nyman of Wild Drives Electric Campervan Hire at Camp Quirky 2023 to discuss the lat...

03/08/2023

We've been featured in CNN Travel! One of six places in the world you can rent an electric campervan. We're proud to be part of a group of eco-pioneers pushing the industry in the right direction.

13/07/2023

Our Buzz took part in the London to Paris EV Rally, and managed to do the entire trip on a single charge!

We won "Best van" with a fuel economy of 3.7-3.9 miles per kWh, which is brilliant for a campervan!

Buzz also won, "most sustainable" in the entire show! It's great to be recognised for doing the right thing. Even if our impact is still small, we're still proud to be showing the big companies how it's done!

💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍💛🤍

30/06/2023

We're taking part in the this weekend!

Our electric campervan Buzz is travelling from Westminster to Brighton seafront to Paris over Saturday and Sunday and we've set her the challenge of doing it with no charging enroute! 😬

We're hoping for some scenic driving and even some swimming if we get the chance.

See Buzz for yourself on Madeira drive Saturday afternoon.

13/06/2023

🎫 FREE TICKETS!

We're offering one group of lucky festival-goers a chance to take our electric campervan Eve to Love Supreme Festival at the end of this month!

If you book Eve from 29th June-4th July, we'll throw in one campervan entry ticket and one campervan pitch worth over £250.

Eve sleeps four and has five belted seats, and also features:
🌄 A scenic pop top to keep you cool on warm summer evenings
🫖 An induction hob for green gas-free cooking
🧊 A fridge for ice cold bubbly drinks

With a range of 150 miles, you won't have an issue charging this camper.

To find out more and book Eve, follow the link in our bio to www.wilddrives.co.uk

05/06/2023

We have some last minute availability for Buzz this weekend, so we're temporarily removing our price increase for bookings under 7 days.

What does that mean for your wallet? Well it means you can be one of the first to take Buzz out for a weekend adventure for only £540 ⚡

Buckle up and book quickly because it's first come first serve!

Book through the link in our bio.

Our brand new groundbreaking VW ID Buzz conversion is the first available for hire in the UK

11/05/2023

Wild Drives ( ) have created this lovely simple ID Buzz Van Conversion all focused on giving people a great experience and a fully sustainable...

05/05/2023

The king's coronation is this weekend, which is a tradition that goes back over a thousand years and will likely be the first in many of our lifetimes.

We respect that the British monarchy has played an important and stable part of many people's lives.

However, we believe that nature should be open to everyone and enjoyed by everyone. The world is the one thing we all share, and we should be working together to protect it.

So it will never feel right to us that one family owns a portfolio of £15.6bn, which includes 241 central London properties, and the actual sea bed around the UK, some of which has been leased out for wind farms (that's good) for the profit of the crown (that's bad).

It makes you wonder if they really need the £86.3m in tax payers money annual to make ends meet, especially as they have the ability to avoid paying inheritance tax unlike the rest of us.

This is why, to commemorate this historic event, we're going to be giving away 10% of the income of every booking during May to The Woodland Trust.

They are the UK's largest woodland conservation charity. They maintain and protect thousands of woodland sites for everyone to enjoy 24 hours a day for no profit.

Take advantage of this amazing deal this weekend and help protect nature with us by taking Eve out for adventure this May!

Message us or book through our website.

05/05/2023

If you want to see Buzz face-to-face this weekend then you're in luck! She's on display at Campervan camp in Ardingly, West Sussex.

You can book you visitor tickets up until 9am each morning, so you've still got time to swing by!

The genius converters will be there all weekend to talk you through the conversion.

Wild Drives founder will be attending on Sunday.

Hire Buzz from June by following the link in our bio!