Stay At Your Own Glamping Site!

We all know by now that starting a glamping business isn’t for the faint of heart.

You’ll need to work until your eyes bleed, and deal with all the shit that gets thrown your way.

You can’t just vibe your way to a resort.

The best operators are fuelled by ambition, fear of failure, or a bloody-minded determination to prove something.

These are the major sources of motivation. But there are smaller ones too.

One small thought to keep you going? Picture yourself staying at the site once it’s built. 

It might feel distant when you’re knee-deep in planning or stuck in permitting hell. But as you get close, which is when the challenges really ramp up, that vision becomes a reason to keep pushing.

Which brings me to how I spent last Thursday.

Staying At Skyridge Glamping

We’ve hit a ton of milestones at Posh Outdoors in recent months, but there wasn’t a single moment where I felt like I’d “made it”.

A year ago, if you asked me what I’d feel after raising $748k, I’d have said sheer jubilation.

Instead, I felt exhausted.

If you told me we’d do $295k of bookings within our first 24 hours, I’d have thought I’d be out celebrating for days.

The reality was, I went straight to bed.

Only after staying in one of our cabins did I finally relax and take in everything the team had achieved.

At 5am last Thursday, I packed the car and made the long drive to Posh Outdoors’ first location, Skyridge Glamping.

The property is located in Kananaskis, a beautifully quiet region in the Canadian Rockies, about an hour from Banff National Park.

I’d booked one of our SkyGlass mirror cabins for opening night, primarily so someone from Team Posh could test them out and find things to improve.

But I’d be lying if I didn’t see it as a chance to enjoy the upside of all those years of hard work.

I arrived on site at around 1pm, met one of the Skyridge investors and did a quick photoshoot for the website. I then hit one of the nearby trails for a fun little hike (the best thing about the Canadian Rockies is the number of jaw-dropping hiking routes to explore).

The hike was great, but I couldn’t wait to get back to Skyridge and enjoy an evening of mountain serenity, in a cabin that my work had helped fund.

It was everything I’d dreamt of. Every moment felt like pure bliss. 

The first sip of ice-cold beer on the deck, overlooking the sun-drenched mountains. 

The quiet contentment of cooking dinner for a beautiful woman, to the sound of slow country music.

The quiet joy of waking up to the sound of rain pattering against the window, as the sun rose on a misty mountain morning.

People love to tell you to “Stop and smell the roses” in business. Truth is, when you’re working 24/7 to get a business off the ground, you rarely have the time to stop. And when you do, you’re not in the right headspace to appreciate the roses.

So take it from me: hitting milestones won’t feel as good as you’d expect. But spending that first night at your glamping site? That’s the best possible way to stop and smell the roses.

Remember that when you’re thinking of quitting.

I came back from the trip with a feeling I’d spent months chasing.

And now, I want it again.

That means working hard to grow Posh’s portfolio. More units, more cool locations, and more opportunities to test these things out.

I can think of worse businesses to be in.

📘Insider Story

I’m testing out a new segment, where you can submit your glamping story to share with the Insider community. If you’d like your story featured, please email all the info (and pics) to [email protected].

The first Insider Story comes from Kevin Wilson, founder of the soon-to-be-launched Camp Yellow Cardinal.

My wife Laura and I are currently in the pre-construction phase of opening Camp Yellow Cardinal on 25 wooded acres in Central Virginia. We aim to be up and running by October this year. 

About Us

I come from a background in hospitality, entrepreneurship, and community development. Early in my career I went from sushi chef to Sous Chef, before opening two restaurants of my own.

After 11 years of working nights and weekends, I left the restaurant industry and helped lead a regional payroll and HR firm, growing their corporate philanthropy, volunteerism, and marketing reach around the southeast. 

Laura started her career as a microbiologist before becoming a nonprofit program director and finally a public school teacher teaching 7th grade math and science.

During that time we've managed to renovate our house - taking each room down to the studs before rebuilding it better and more beautiful than before. We also tackled a 100 year old house in Petersburg, VA without yelling at each other once! 

Why We’re Doing This

Like so many others, the pandemic gave us a chance to re-evaluate the pace of our lives. We wanted to build something more meaningful and lasting, something that combined my lifelong love of the outdoors with Laura's love of great design and a little luxury.

We both have pretty strong "hospitality instincts" and slowly, over the course of many dog walks, developed the initial idea for Camp Yellow Cardinal.

We wanted to create a place where people could slow down, reconnect with themselves and each other, and enjoy a little luxury in the woods. 

The Dream

Camp Yellow Cardinal will open in 2025 with six geodesic domes, each with its own private hot tub, fire pit, deck, and view of the forest canopy. Guests will stay in style - king-size beds, kitchenettes, curated interiors - without giving up the magic of sleeping in the woods.

We’re building in Prince Edward County, not far from the High Bridge Trail and the college town of Farmville. We love the area’s charm, pace, and proximity to bigger metros like Richmond, DC, and Raleigh.

We plan to expand in a second phase of construction that will include 6 more domes, a barrel sauna, sunset observation deck, expanded hiking trails, outdoor shower facility, and camp store. 

Ultimately, we’d love to expand to a second location in the Blue Ridge Mountains and a third near the Chesapeake Bay. But first things first.

Where We’re At Now

We’ve purchased our land, secured our zoning Special Use Permit, finalized our branding, completed architectural plans, and are working with a civil engineer and general contractor to finalize all the building requirements.

We’ve also built a small but mighty online following where we’re using Instagram to tell the story as it unfolds.

Biggest Wins

We’ve stayed focused, adaptable, and debt-light so far. We’ve also been overwhelmed (in a good way) by the excitement and encouragement from our followers - even though we haven’t yet broken ground. That has helped us keep our heads up during the long zoning and permitting process.

Receiving a unanimous vote of approval from the county's board of supervisors was a pretty spectacular feeling.

Biggest Challenges

The biggest challenge we've overcome so far has to be learning that the initial piece of land that we bought was governed by a very old land use covenant that wouldn't allow for us to operate a business there.

The "angry villagers" who came out to that public planning commission meeting were hellbent on stopping us and ultimately they won. (We were able to sell that land and ended up in a much better location, but at the time it felt like it was game over.)

Something Fun

The name Camp Yellow Cardinal was inspired by a birdwatching book and a rare South American bird that’s only occasionally spotted in the American South. We loved the idea of a rare encounter, an unexpected surprise, and a sign for good luck.

The Ask

We’d love people to follow along with our journey, so follow @campyellowcardinal on Instagram.

I love talking with other folks in the industry and sharing ideas, so feel free to connect on LinkedIn too.