Camp enthusiasts Mark and Debs from Leicestershire intended to tour Europe for five years in a motorhome they had refurbished for the trip. Their initial goal was to spend the summer months in northern Europe and winters in the south. The Facebook ad directory of a campsite for sale in a remote component of the Hungarian countryside caught Debs’ attention, and his interest was piqued. A week later, Debs and Mark arrived in Budapest.
“We saw some other Chinese people dressed in masks at the airport,” Debs says, “but we didn’t think about it; you see it also in England, sometimes, so its meaning was not recorded with us. “by car, they made their way to the camp, passed through Lake Balaton on the way, and delved into the nonviolent rural landscape on the borders of Fejér and Tolna counties.
Surprisingly, the owners of the camp at the time were also British but, due to fitness issues, they found that the paintings were unmanageable. “It was February 1st and it was 20 degrees,” Mark says, “the only thing we can hear is the wind. in the trees and buzzing insects. There was no traffic noise, and we thought: we can do anything with this.
A value was agreed, with the understanding that homeowners would stay to facilitate Debs and Mark in the first season, as well as transfer to their online page and social media accounts. page; It also turned out later that they had fallen in love with expats and local communities, whatever Debs and Mark had to figure out if they were looking to succeed in their business.
In addition, they had to deal with the adjustments brought about by Brexit and the scourge of Covid, meaning mark and Debs might not return to Hungary until July 2020. “It’s our bathroom, our project,” Debs says, “we had come back. “But there were no paying customers, just the colossal task of turning the company around: fixing the massive land, sorting the sheds full of garbage, looking for the compulsory licenses, and dealing with the endless bureaucracy in a foreign language.
“I translate everything that’s happening through Google Translate or DeepL,” Debs says casually, waiting for the query. “Yes, there’s no challenge too big for Debbie,” Mark says. After a summer of intense activity, they returned to England for the winter to get vaccinated and plan a strategy. “Until Covid is gone, we may not do it,” Debs says. “But buying this position wasn’t about making cash, it was a way of life. “
Parallel to the paintings of the camp, it is a matter of building intelligent relationships with the villagers. “It’s a matter of mutual respect at the end of the day,” Debs continues, “like the other people in the local store – we checked to use a few words in Hungarian, but now they also speak a little English. The last time we left, they said: thank you very much!
“I wouldn’t say we’ve moved away from expats,” he explains, “but it was vital for us to care in our village. Surprisingly, perhaps, the local pub is run by a Man from Nottingham, while a growing number of Dutch and Germans are buying assets in the area.
Their good luck was that they were visited through the local owner of a nearby personal lake who expressed the villagers’ wish that Mark and Debs would succeed in their business; he also proposed that they and their visitors could use their lake for free. they.
They are the town’s mayor in their organization when playing locally, thus cementing a budding friendship; are invited to birthdays and network events. “We love the country,” says Mark, “the people, the sense of the network here – it’s nothing you’d have in England – well, maybe fifty-six years ago. People say ‘hello’- in the UK you don’t even know your neighbours. You live and die through your relationships here. The campsite has about fifteen pitches, a small guest house, a “glampavan”, campfires, a swimming pool and glamping tents (glamorous camping) with their four-canopy beds.
“We were amazed through the stars here because there’s no gentle pollution,” Mark says. “The stars just seem to come out of the sky, and we thought we needed a telescope. “It has a favorite activity of those that remain.
Koppány Pines Tea House is the existing project, where they prepare dandelion herbal teas and the bark of their mulberry tree, as well as cakes and a variety of infusions, adding plum gin; they are busy looking to get a license to be able to share the Hungarian traditions they are informed with their visitors and to be able to offer afternoon tea to hikers and cyclists who ride the Koppány Valley trails that pass right outside their door. Most of the vegetables they use in their “grass to plate” dishes come from their land or from local manufacturers for sustainability.
The days are long and busy: from a morning foray into local bakers to making breakfasts, cleaning, baking bread, gardening, maintenance and renovations, and endless bureaucracy. “Sometimes I wake up at 4 o’clock,” Mark says. he says, “and there’s a glow coming from the look of Debbie’s bed, and it’s just her on her phone, researching. . . “But as she says, “I’m a real challenge solver; it makes me vibrate.
Perhaps the most productive depiction of Debs’ indomitable spirit was when they met in Austria in the spring, near the Hungarian border but unable to cross due to incomplete Covid-related documents. data I needed: the email of the head of the Border Police of Sopron. Without hesitation, and Google Translate, she wrote to him about her fate, and was surprised that she not only answered, but contacted the border guards to inform her of her impending arrival!
Brexit regulations further complicate the scenario as to how much time they can spend in the country, but they are optimistic. “Our plans keep changing,” Says Debs, “Covid threw everything overboard, so now he learned to live just two months in advance. “
I ask them if they had any consideration when the camp was neglected while they were in England last winter and spring, and who had taken care of their property. Mark does not hesitate before answering me in a very simple way: the people.
See: https://www. hungariancountrycamping. com/?fbclid=IwAR2rd0Typg7FrUZzCqAzVPmJq7HWXZjzHT3GY4IjwfjA3raWdDipGrxfIuM
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