| Why van camping? It certainly doesn't give you | | | | enjoy meal time warm-ups, but unless you have |
| the luxury of life in an RV, but then you don't | | | | electric power, I don't know of a safe way to |
| have the discomfort of sleeping in a tent, either. | | | | heat a van all night. Heat yourselves instead. Use |
| It's cheap compared to an RV, and you can go | | | | warm clothing, and bring more blankets than you |
| places they cannot. That's why we spent more | | | | think you'll need. Fill a thermos bottle full of hot |
| than 25 nights sleeping in our conversion van last | | | | coffee each night, so it will be waiting in the |
| year. | | | | morning. You warm the van making it, and warm |
| Van Camping 101 | | | | up yourselves drinking it for breakfast. |
| You need a system of organization to keep your | | | | Van Camping Advantages |
| space inside the van livable. We noticed after our | | | | Van camping obviously is cheaper than RV |
| first long trip that we had brought many things | | | | camping. Initial cost is a lot less if you buy used, |
| we never used. We learned to be more efficient | | | | as we did. The cost of driving a van is |
| after that. We also learned how to keep the | | | | substantialy less - we averaged 18 miles per gallon |
| space open, by using plastic storage tubs. Not only | | | | on our last cross-country trip. An average |
| do they stack well, but if you need more room at | | | | recreational vehicle is lucky to get half of that, |
| night, you can put them on the roof, because | | | | and will be very expensive to maintain. |
| they're rainproof with the lids snapped on. | | | | A van is much more comfortable than tent |
| You have to make your van into something that's | | | | camping. Also, if you do backpack, you'll likely |
| useable for you, especially if it's going to be your | | | | drive some kind of car to wherever you go. Use |
| residence for days or weeks at a time. This | | | | a van, and you can come inside if it starts to rain. |
| meant, for my wife and I, having space to move | | | | When backpacking a long way from home, you |
| around. Removing the two middle seats gave us | | | | can save on motels on the drive to and from the |
| enough space for dressing or cooking. A | | | | trailhead. |
| bench-seat in back folds out into a comfortable | | | | One great thing about vans is that you can park |
| bed, so we were all set for van camping. | | | | anywhere. We've napped in parking lots, and |
| Van camping can be cold, as it was for us in the | | | | nobody was the wiser, thanks to the |
| deserts of Arizona last winter. We ran the van | | | | inconspicuousness of a van. We got the best spot |
| and cranked up the heater once in a while, but | | | | at a free campground in Florida, on a bank |
| only for brief periods. Carbon monoxide poisoning | | | | overlooking Lake Talquin, because our van was |
| is just too possible, so don't leave the car running | | | | small enough to fit there, unlike the RVs. |
| while you are sleeping. | | | | You can drive anywhere. With our conversion |
| Cooking a meal heats up the van, and our | | | | van, camping wherever we were when it got |
| propane camp stove burned very clean. When it | | | | dark was no problem. We also went down desert |
| was cold, it was time to cook dinner, breakfast, | | | | trails that no RV could handle. That flexibility and |
| or coffee. Cooking inside heats up a van, but | | | | freedom is what we liked most about van |
| again, because of carbon monoxide, don't sleep | | | | camping. |
| with a burner going. Sometimes, though, a quick | | | | Steve Gillman hit the road at sixteen, and traveled |
| warm-up is all you need before you crawl under | | | | the U.S. and Mexico alone at 17. Now 40, he |
| the blankets for the night. | | | | travels with his wife Ana, whom he met in |
| What's the secret to heating a conversion van | | | | Ecuador. |
| when camping? Giving up was our solution. Just | | | | |