Life on the Road

Where do we camp?!?

Anywhere and everywhere. Seriously though, the best advice is to plan your route around the things you want to see like monuments, national parks, etc. With your rough route in mind, it is easier to find your camping. If it’s your first time out in a campervan or your still a little unsure about how it’s going to go (it’s going to be great!) we suggest booking campgrounds in advance. National Parks have designated sites that can be booked in advance (and we highly suggest booking if you want to stay in the park). The parks also have a few non-reserved sites that are first-come, first-serve – though they can be somewhat hard to get if you aren’t there first thing in the morning. Facilities range from primitive to kushy, with hot showers and toilets.

State campsites are also great places to camp and are often located nearby national parks and other popular areas. Google maps is a great way to find them – just narrow in to the area you are searching and search for “campsites”.

Private RV parks are also a great way to get your feet wet with Vanlife. Often theses are the nicest options, with tons of amenities like pools, laundry, showers and occasionally even an on-site bar and grill.

For the more adventurous, we suggest boondocking in the wild. Forest service roads are great places to find pullouts, just be sure you are on National Forest land and not private lands. Same thing for BLM lands – especially in Utah. Neither require any reservations or fees and these are often the most pristine and quiet spots. Ask us about how to find these locations and for any tips –we’ve got quite a few up our sleeves

Booking campgrounds in advance:

We suggest you do so when you will be arriving somewhere late at night that is remote (and there are not a lot of campgrounds or options).  We also suggest you reserve a campground if you will be camping in a popular area (yellowstone, rocky mountain national park, moab) during high season (may-sep) on a friday and saturday night.  When that isn’t possible try to have at least two options for a campground, then if one is full you already know where a second one is!  (we provide you with a delorme atlas for finding campsites on the road).

What kind of hook ups do I need for my camper van?

You don’t need electrical or water hookup sites for any of our campers.  Everything will work just fine (even the fridge) without being plugged into shore power!  If you have a full camper you can reserve a site with electrical hookups to plug your camper in for some ease of use, but it is not necessary.  You will never need a site with water hookups.

Do car seats work in the vans?

Yes they do. Keep in mind that all of our VW vans predate the latch system for car seats that all modern cars have, so all car seats in the vans are secured using the rear seat seatbelts. For both Eurovan weekender and full camper models, the rear seatbelts are shoulder belts. Vanagon camper (weekender and full) all have lap belts, as their production predates the rear seat shoulder belt requirement. Our Promaster campers, while new, also do not have a latch system and require rear seat