Twillingate tourism: Vacation off the grid with a 1979 camper van

Thinking about tourism in Twillingate might evoke images of heritage homes or cabins on a wharf.

Or maybe a camper van from 1979.

Joelle Blandford is renting her Chevrolet camper van — affectionately called Lady Blue Star — on Airbnb, an online marketplace that allows people to list and rent vacation homes.

Central Morning6:33The Rise of Airbnb in Twillingate

We hear about the rise of Airbnb in Twillingate - including an old 1979 camper van with ocean front views you can rent for twenty five dollars a night.

And she's getting quite the response. 

"So I put my Lady Blue Star listing up," Blandford told CBC Radio.

"It was the first listing I put up, and it was kind of like a joke maybe. Because I was like, 'No one's ever going to rent this.' Like, I could stay down there no problem, I lived down there most of last summer, but it's a different kind of living."

"It's off the grid, you don't have Wi-Fi, you don't have electricity. There's no running water, there's no bathroom, but I kind of like living in the woods so it was very inspirational for me. So I find a lot of people are going there for inspiration. Just to connect with nature. Get an experience they probably wouldn't get anywhere else." 

Blandford is an artist whose mother ran a bed and breakfast when she was a child. Originally from Twillingate, Blandford left in 2011 to attend the textile studies program at the College of the North Atlantic in St. John's.

A few years later, she felt the pull to go home.

"I just found myself drawn to this place again," she said.

"And when it came to setting up an art gallery and pursuing a career in tourism and art and hospitality out here, it just made sense to come home because there's a real market for it here." 

In addition to her van, Blandford also rents her home and a hostel on Airbnb. The hostel, which overlooks the ocean, has only been listed for a month and has already seen dozens of people come through.

Some of Blandford's neighbours have called the town and provincial government to make sure what she's doing is legitimate.

And while there aren't any bylaws regarding Airbnb, according to Blandford, she is in the process of getting a tourism license and being given Canada Select status, a national rating system. 

Blandford has big dreams for her rental properties, including appealing to tourists year round, as well as incorporating different types of tents for elevated camping.

"I'm thinking of the yurt concept for down here, bringing in some nice high-quality tenting," she said.

"It's just a dream right now. It'll turn into a reality once we get the business plan in place and just crunch some numbers and see if it's feasible."