Our Story

family camping with kids

Have you ever had a life-changing moment?

Well, without warning in September 2009 I had mine.

At the age of 38 years, when my oldest daughter was 2 years old and my youngest only 2 weeks old, I suffered a stroke that left me and my family broken for a long time. I had to deal with symptoms of sickness, disorientation, being unable to walk or talk and forgetting how to do simple daily tasks, like reading, writing and remembering people’s names.

The worst thing, and the thing that haunts me every day is I couldn’t even remember the name of my 2-week-old baby.

I’ve always loved to take part in and write about camping and glamping, and fortune shone on me when it also became key to my recovery.

Driven by this I decided to write about things that made me feel inspired, happy and positive… like family adventures, childhood innocence, outdoor life, foraging, surfing, cool camping and glamping. This is the key reason behind Inspired Camping and the later developed, Inspired Courses.

I wanted to pull all of this together and share what keeps the sun shining in my life, in the hope of inspiring others to explore their own lifestyle shifts.

Before my illness, I was planning major changes in my own life by setting up a unique holiday rental… a dynamic glamping business. I had already jointly run a boutique hospitality business for a decade so I planned to use my holiday rental management skills to start something really exciting.

*The idea was unique.

*It was exciting and fun for everyone… including me.

*It was something I had never seen before and I knew it would work.

*This was my chance to set up something I knew would get the media talking and customers booking.

The whole thing gave me butterflies, enormous a-ha moments and spurred me onto starting a journey that I am still on today.

I believe that if something inspires you enough to make your head fizz and your heart pound then you should definitely share it and spread the love.

It’s good for you and it’s good for those around you. Howard Thurman put it so perfectly when he said…

Sarah Riley

Don’t ask yourself what the world needs; ask yourself what makes you come alive. And then go and do that. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. Howard Thurman

If you want to find out more of the business side of what we do, please visit Inspired Courses or listen to the Podcast Show.

Launching Inspired Camping and Inspired Courses has been a huge personal journey for me and I have met amazing people in the process, and I would like to thank all who have helped me along the way.

You know who you are and I am endlessly grateful.

Sunny smiles…

Sarah Riley

Founder of Inspired Camping