Live an adventure camping


Conversion Van Camping Tips

Conversion van camping doesn't give you the
luxury of life in an RV, nor the discomfortThe secret to heating a conversion van when
of sleeping in a tent. It can be tough tocamping is to give up. Enjoy meal time
safely heat a van at night, but it's cheapwarm-ups, but unless you have electric power,
compared to an RV, and you can go places theyI don't know of a safe way to heat a van all
cannot. We spent more than 25 nights sleepingnight. Instead, you can heat yourselves. Wear
in  our  conversion  van  last  year.warm clothing. Bring more blankets than you
think you'll need. Prepare a thermos bottle
Life  In  A  Conversion  Vanfull of hot coffee each night, so it will be
waitng for you in the morning. You get to
Make your van into something that's useablewarm the van when you make it, and warm up
for you, especially if it's going to be youryourselves  drinking  it  for  breakfast.
residence for days or weeks at a time. For my
wife and I, this meant having space to moveAdvantages  Of  Conversion  Van  Camping
around. We took out the two middle seats
which, I convinced Ana, would be goodTraveling and camping in a conversion van
armchairs for the living room. Then we hadcosts less than in an RV. The initial cost is
enough space for dressing or cooking. Thea lot less if you buy used, as we did, and
bench-seat in back folds out into athe cost of driving it is substantialy less.
comfortable bed, so we were all set forWe averaged 18 miles per gallon on our last
camping.cross-country trip. Most recreational
vehicles are lucky to get half of that, and
When traveling, you need a system ofthey're  very  expensive  to  maintain.
organization to keep your space inside the
van livable. After our first long trip, weCompared with tent camping, a van is much
noticed the many things we never used. We gotmore comfortable. Even if you backpack, you
more efficient after that. We're also able toare probably going to drive some kind of car
keep the space open, despite carrying manyto wherever you go. With a van, you can come
things, by using plastic storage tubs you caninside if it starts to rain. If you're
buy almost anywhere. They stack well, and ifbackpacking a long way from home, you can
you need more room at night, you can put themsave on motels on the drive to and from the
on the roof. They're rainproof with the lidstrailhead.
snapped  on.
Camping can be more comfortable in an RV, but
Heating  A  Conversion  Vannot in all ways. It's nice, for example, to
park anywhere. We've taken naps in parking
Camping in a van can be cold at times, as itlots, and nobody was the wiser, thanks to
was for us in the deserts of Arizona lasttinted windows, curtains, and the
winter. We started the van and cranked up theinconspicuousness of a van. At a free
heater once in a while, but only for briefcampground in Florida we got the best spot,
periods. The danger of carbon monoxideon a bank overlooking Lake Talquin, because
poisoning is just too great to leave the carour van was small enough to fit there, unlike
running  while  you  are  sleeping.most  of  the  RVs.
We also cooked to heat up the van. OurIt's great to be able to drive anywhere. In
propane camp stove burned very clean. Anythe conversion van, camping wherever we are
time it was cold, it was time to cook dinner,when it gets dark is no problem. Finally,
breakfast, or tea. This heated up the vansome larger RVs drag a car around because the
nicely. Again, because of carbon monoxide, Ibig rig just isn't practical for daily
wouldn't recommend ever sleeping with adriving. Our coversion van is a second home
propane burner going. Still, sometimes aAND our primary vehicle for shopping or going
quick warm-up is all you need before youto work. That's flexibilty.
crawl  under  the  blankets  for  the  night.



1 A B C D 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112