I let campers rent part of my backyard from $70 a night. It helps pay our high home maintenance costs.

My husband and I worked to get it ready. I planted some wildflowers to make the area pretty and laid down playground wood chips to help with the dust. We bought picnic tables, lawn furniture, and a port-a-potty.

Renting out the spaces has given us an extra little chunk of money that we put toward fertilizer and lawn care for our property. It goes back into the upkeep of the spots, too, but with a two-acre property, there’s always going to be high maintenance costs.

We were getting such good feedback on the first RV spot that we decided to make a second. We debated leaving that area just for dry camping, but my husband decided he could hook up power and water.

Summer is our busiest season

Our house is about 100 feet from the site. We keep the door open during the summer and we’ve never been bothered by noise.

The only time we really heard someone was a group from Santa Rosa, California. They were all in their 50s and just had the most amazing time. They rented both spots, set up lights, played guitar, danced, and sang. We loved it.

We get a lot of returners — people who will book a year in advance and come back for their summer trip. There’s a retired couple who comes every year for the Fourth of July because they love our local parades so much.

Last summer, I was diagnosed with breast cancer and we had to block off some time on the calendar because I just couldn’t keep up with guests. When we reopened the listing, my husband mentioned we might be slow communicating because I was recovering from surgery. The guests brought me a card and some flowers. It was so nice of them.

You have to be OK with strangers on your property

I love how much fun Hipcamp can be, but it does take a lot of work.

I’m a little bit of a perfectionist. I like the yard to look nice, to be mowed, and the flowers to be planted, so springtime gets a little bit busy. But once it’s all dialed in, it really is a lot of fun.

Between each guest, I spend about 45 minutes cleaning up the site. I try not to go up there when the campers are up there — I just don’t want to bother them. I do a deep water on the flowers. I take out the trash, pull some weeds, and do a quick mow of the lawn if need be.

I also only do two-night minimums. Most people want to come for the whole weekend. If someone is just here one day, it seems to really mess things up.

Talking to people when they arrive always puts my mind at ease. I’ll do a short meet-and-greet, though if we really hit it off I’ll chat with them for an hour. I prefer to meet people — I find it so much better than just somebody you don’t see setting up on your property.

If you’re not ready to share your space — if you’re a really private person and it bothers you to see people on your land — then you’re probably not going to be a good fit for this.

We happen to love it.