Considering she’s a wildlife biologist, it comes as no surprise that Maria Zondervan is an outdoor enthusiast — and that her family loves camping.
That said, they had some issues with camping in the heat of their home state of Florida. “We use to tent camp a lot, but we live in Florida and the summers are too hot for tents,” Maria says.
Once they purchased their first RV — a travel trailer — the Zondervan family was free to see Florida at their own pace, and they’ve made some amazing memories so far.
“By having an RV with air conditioning, we can camp all year long.”
“I had a great camping trip down in the Florida Keys with the family,” Maria says. “The RV was parked right on the beach, so the sunrise was amazing right from bed. The wonderful thing about the Keys is that you can also see sunsets from the same spot! We did some scuba diving, watched iguanas playing in the sand, and caught some lobsters.”
After owning her travel trailer for some time, Maria decided to take up renting.
“I saw an ad for Outdoorsy on Facebook and thought we’d give it a try with our travel trailer. It did very well,” Maria tells us. “When we were upgrading to a Class C RV, we decided to keep the travel trailer as well, since it was doing well in rentals. This allowed us to offer the choice of RVs when taking trips.”
“When we purchased the Class C, we had renting in mind. Outdoorsy was very helpful in providing information about what rented well in our area. We found that the Redhawk fit the bill for rentals and met all our personal needs, so it was perfect!”
Maria has made a nice chunk of change while sharing what she loves with others.
“I’ve rented the travel trailer for about $8,000 so far, in a year and a half. It was already paid off, so that is almost all profit, minus some repairs and maintenance,” she says. “The Class C has only been renting since November and has rented for about $5,000 so far. We are just now breaking even on that, counting our monthly payments, maintenance, repairs, and all the initial setup costs.”
Maria says she hopes her RVs help others create great memories, and she does everything she can to help make that happen.
“I provide everything a renter could use and charge nothing extra for it,” she says. “Everything is included. I’ve had special requests for things like crock pots, extra camping chairs, and marshmallow roasting sticks — and provide it all with a smile and no additional fees.”
What does Maria get out of the deal? Some awesome new friends, of course!
“I have enjoyed meeting all the renters and have learned of some great new camping areas from them,” Maria says. “I get a lot of renters for the Daytona Speedway Races—like the Daytona 500 and the Rolex 500. I’ve seen my motorhome on TV parked in the infield of the speedway and it has also housed some of the firefighters that work the races.”
All about Maria Zondervan
Favorite morning beverage:
“Hot earl grey tea”
Favorite campsite meal:
“Anything BBQ”
Music you like to play on the radio:
“’80s Rock”
Best game to play on the road or at your campsite:
“Cards”
Favorite season:
“Winter. This is Florida after all, and the other 9 months are crazy hot!”
Last photo you took:
“This past weekend while camping at my son’s rowing competition in Sarasota, Florida.”
What’s your Outdoorsy spirit animal?
“Not sure what that is, but I’m a fan of Florida manatees.”
If you could travel anywhere in an RV, where would you go?
“Alaska”
