California Adventures: Livin’ in a Van

As you probably well know by now, Rachel and I love epic adventures.  And we’ve done our fair share of traveling to continue the chase: we got engaged in Rome, we’ve celebrated birthdays in wine country, backpacked across Europe for weeks on end, and gone road tripping to leaf peep in New England.

We recently read a phenomenal book called Vagabonding, an inspirational and realistic look at long-term travel that forced us to reexamine our lives and our priorities.  Since we love adventure, we have been reconsidering the best way to actually do what we’ve always talked about: See the World.

So this year, we challenged ourselves with yet another epic adventure.  We decided to fly to California, rent a campervan, and in the spirit of vagabonding, go where the wind took us.  With little more than a basic route, we’d meet new people, hike in some of the most beautiful National Parks in the country, and at the end of the day, come back to our little home on wheels.

As the great philosopher, Bill Engvall, notes so eloquently and emphatically, RV stands for, “RUINS VACATION!”  Thus, our main parameters for the campervan were that it be the size of a regular vehicle (to be inconspicuous, better navigate small park roads, and avoid huge gas bills), and that we could rent the vehicle in LA and drop it in San Francisco.  We also wanted the van itself to be inconspicuous enough that it wouldn’t shout, “Yes, we’re living in here, come steal all our stuff!”

I cracked my fingers and saddled up to my computer to scour the internet for potential candidates.  Practically every company I came across had large artwork on their vans or had painted them unorthodox colors; both signified that we were in a non-traditional vehicle.  One company, which exclusively rented vintage VW buses, looked great, but they didn’t have a lot of amenities and the rental company recommended going easy on them in the Sierras because the old engines may not be able to handle the uphills at altitude.

Fortunately, one of the earliest companies I came across was Lost Campers.  Run by an adventurous Australian couple, their customized vehicles were regular sized minivans with fold down beds, built in hand wash sinks, and an inconspicuous exterior.

And, they came with names!  Ours was called, “Davey Boy.”  We got to know him pretty well over the two weeks we spent together.

Our learning curve with Davey Boy was rather small.  On our first night we spent in the van, in Joshua Tree, we slept with the mattress at a slight incline.  Thus, we learned that it was indeed necessary to scoot the front seats all the way forward…

Otherwise, we figured out our routines rather quickly.  We tended to keep the bed unfolded in the cargo area in order to minimize nighttime setup, and storage for our packs was ample enough for us.  Lost also supplied a Coleman camp stove and a fold out table and chairs, all of which we used extensively since we weren’t in range of restaurants for most of the trip.

Between transitioning from traipsing around LA to constant driving and hiking and being out all day every day in the unseasonable heat wave, it felt amazing to be able to come back from the trail to an actual bed.  This was hands down the most comfortable Rachel and I had ever been camping!

We were able to camp in locations where tent camping would have been FAR more difficult.  Reservations booked months in advance are practically required in order to have any real shot at a campsite inside of a National Park in California.  And in Yosemite in particular, reservations during the summertime are gone within about 30 seconds of being posted online.  But with the campervan, we were able to use turnouts in the roads near Yosemite and weren’t bothered by the bugs or traffic noise or headlights.  A quiet, private, free campsite?  Yes please!

Our setup really allowed us the freedom to focus on what we wanted to focus on during the trip, and we could set up and break down our “camp” extremely quickly.  Many a morning while we were driving, we pulled off the side of the road and made pourover coffee with a gorgeous view.  When we were done hiking for the day and starving but still miles from our campsite, we made dinner right in the trail parking lot.  When we got to the eastern side of Yosemite, we found a turnout near Mono Lake and were able to set up camp lickety split with more than enough time to enjoy dinner and a glass of wine with the sunset.

Davey Boy was really the crux of our trip, and we couldn’t have been happier.California_National_Park_Documentary_Travel_Photography_Rachel_and_Greg_Adventure_Paleo_Hiking_Photographers_Vanlife_Van_Camping_Lost_Campers (1)California_National_Park_Documentary_Travel_Photography_Rachel_and_Greg_Adventure_Paleo_Hiking_Photographers_Vanlife_Van_Camping_Lost_Campers (16)

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Looking back on one of the crazy wildfires that popped up as we were leaving LA.

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Why yes, this is the mall parking lot from Back to the Future!

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One of our epic, free, off-road camping spots.

One of our epic, free, off-road camping spots.

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Our gourmet breakfast on the road! Eggs, avocado, & salsa.

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And pourover coffee anywhere!

 

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Viewing a huge thunderstorm on our way out of Yosemite!

 

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Our favorite camping spot, hands down!

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Making new friends at our Mono Lake camping spot.

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Coffee & sunrise at Mono Lake.

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  1. […] states (almost) barefoot – Done three epic road trips totaling over 3000 miles – Slept in a campervan for 8 nights in some of the most beautiful locations in the world – Photographed weddings in […]

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