Reflections on our Campervan Vacations
I have been following traveling families on Instagram for years, and most of my favorites are the adventurous but low-maintenance people living full-time in a van. Despite my doubts that I could down-size enough and my persistent desire to make a permanent home near my family, I think about living in a van every single day. I look at pictures, watch videos, and read blogs about people who have done their own van conversions. I follow a Facebook page that posts vans for sale around the country. Last Christmas, Evan gave me a table saw and we built a bed for our Honda Pilot… the closest we will get to #vanlife (for now). The appeal for me is twofold.
- Currently, we feel the weight of our possessions. Every time we make a relatively big purchase – a kitchen table, a dresser, a bed – it feels like an anchor. Even though these purchases are rare, and often quite essential, I very much wish we could shed most of our belongings. Van life would make that a necessity.
- I crave the ability to move about the world without needing to make elaborate plans ahead of time. The greatest benefit of living in your vehicle is that everything you need is within reach, and you can choose to take those things anywhere you want. We could wake up on a beach one day, drive to the mountains the next, and visit friends for extended periods of time without being an annoying house guest. Perfection.
Over the past few years, thanks to Escape Campervans, we have done temporary van life on two vacations: driving the Pacific Coast Highway from San Francisco to Los Angeles and exploring southern Utah by way of Las Vegas. Both trips were absolutely wonderful, and also educational. We learned a bit about our travel styles, our must-haves when living small, and the things we may be higher-maintenance about. These trips also confirmed some things about us that we already knew to be true. Here are a few reflections.
- Evan and I have a slightly different approach to certain aspects of travel. I was aware of some of these, but discovered a new one when planning our first campervan vacation. I would love to keep our options open, have the freedom to drive as short or as long as we desire, and then just pick a place on a map to stay for the night. After all, our bed is in our car and there is ample BLM land where camping is free. Evan, however, finds this approach to be unnecessarily stressful. He wanted to book all of our campsites ahead of time so he didn’t have to spend all day worrying about whether or not we would find an adequate and legal place to sleep. On both trips, we compromised. We booked a few nights ahead of time and left a few others open for spontaneous decisions. For what it’s worth, my favorite campsite in California was the one we booked the day of (though Evan reminded me that it did require substantial research and a few phone calls first).
- We are happiest when we spend the majority of our time outside. Unfortunately, this seems to only ever happen when we’re in other countries. When living Uganda at the Malayaka House, where I tend to sleep 10 hours per night (link to my superpowers), I’d say I spend 12 of my waking hours outside. When the inside of your house only has your bedroom and a kitchen, and your primary modes of transportation are walking or riding motorcycle taxis, you are outside nearly all the time. The same was true of our trips to Puerto Rico, Costa Rica, Botswana, and Mozambique. The only time we have felt this way in the United States was on our two campervan trips. The lack of space and technology leads you to be outside as much as possible, and that is one of the greatest benefits of this type of travel.
- If we ever choose to live tiny, whether in a van or a tiny house, I do not want to have to convert my bed into another seating arrangement each day. The Maverick campervan that we rented had a comfortable bed, with the option of folding it up to make room for two benches and a dining table. We did this the first couple nights, then resorted to just keeping it as a bed all day. If the weather had been bad though, we likely would have needed to convert it back to a table for dining purposes. One of my main motivators to “go tiny” is to simplify our life, so this process of having to reconfigure a bed everyday would be in direct conflict with my desire for simplicity.
- I could definitely live with just a few plates, bowls, pots, and utensils. We use our water bottles for pretty much everything, so cups aren’t even essential. It was a nice feeling to have everything our mini-kitchen needed in one shallow container. What I would not be able to deal with in a tiny kitchen, however, is a pump sink. The Maverick has a very basic pump sink, which means that washing dishes is difficult and the water pressure often makes you question how clean your items are getting. An added struggle for me was my height. I could reach the sink, but not well enough to get a strong pump going. For a week, we made it work with no problem, but it’s something we would do differently if we ever designed our own van.
If you’re interested in van life, here are some suggestions of who to follow on Instagram, how you can do a simple van conversion yourself, what companies rent solid campervans, and where to consider planning a road trip to try it out.
Instagram Inspiration
- @malimish: This family of 5 has been inspiring me for several years now. They spent 10 years driving and living in Canada, the United States, and Mexico in a few different rigs. In 2018, they bought a Mercedes Sprinter and did their own van conversion, then shipped their van to Europe for a new adventure. They also have a youtube account and their own podcast.
- @briannamadia: Brianna, her husband Keith, and their beautiful pups Bucket and Dagwood live in a stunning van in Utah. They don’t live small so they can travel the country, but rather to spend as much time as possible out in the Utah desert. Brianna’s currently working on a book and I can’t wait to read it. She is constantly giving her followers glimpses into vanlife and she is always honest about the ups and downs.
- @alisontravels: Alison and her two dogs, Max and Cooper, are nomads who use California as a home base. Alison takes incredible pictures, and her account is especially perfect for anyone who loves cute pictures of dogs.
- @wandrly: Nathan and Renee (@wandrlyrenee) and their kids have been on the road in a variety of vehicles for years. Recently they haven’t been posting as much while they’ve been renovating their old Airstream on land they bought in Colorado, but it’s worth going through their old posts to see their what their van life was like as they traveled throughout North America.
Temporary DIY Van Conversions
We knew we couldn’t convert our Honda Pilot into a campervan permanently, nor did we even want to remove the seats temporarily because of how frequently we need them all. These are some videos I watched to get a sense of what a temporary/reversible campervan set up could look like.
Campervan Companies
- Escape Campervans: 4 different sized vans (we’ve rented the Maverick twice) and 12 locations across the United States and Canada. The picture above is a view of the back of the Maverick van, and below are pictures of the inside.
- Jucy: only North American locations are Oakland, Vegas, LA, and Vancouver, but they have many depots across Australia and New Zealand. We haven’t used either of their 2 vehicles, but saw many of their vans while traveling through southern Utah.
- Outdoorsy: I recently discovered this company that allows you to rent tons of different styles, both from them and directly from RV owners who list their vehicles for rent. I’m interested in their Vancraft fleet, as it is truly a big enough space to be livable for us. It would be a great vehicle to take on the road as a test run for potential down-sizing.
My Favorite Road Trip Ideas
- California Coast: We’ve done this one before and we will surely do it again. Next time, I would love to start or end further north so we can do the Oregon coast as well.
- National Parks of Utah: We visited two parks (Zion and Bryce) and plan to return. Our suggestion would be to pick just one or two parks and move slowly, rather than trying to hit all 5 on one vacation (unless you have several weeks on the road).
- Washington state & Western Canada: Banff is high on my list of places to visit, so the new Escape Campervan depot in Calgary could not be more perfectly placed.