For outdoorsy people looking to hit the road for several months, a camper van can look like the perfect vehicle. With a van, you don’t need to pitch a tent and set up camp at every new destination, and you can carry all your gear with ease. But vans are also not without their disadvantages. The biggest downside, obviously, is price. A professionally converted van can easily cost north of $60,000, and even if you go the DIY route, you are unlikely to spend less than $30,000 on a vehicle and fit out. With this high barrier to entry, many aspiring van lifers end up looking at more affordable alternatives while also wondering if it’s possible to do a six-month climbing or mountain biking trip with a smaller vehicle. Fortunately, the answer is yes – you don’t actually need a van to do van life. With a few compromises and workarounds, it’s very possible to get by with one of the other vehicles mentioned. But, first let’s look at the other reasons a van might not be the best option for you.
The downsides to a van
Besides the cost, there are at least three other disadvantages to a camper van. If you’re still trying to decide between a van and an alternative, these considerations could tip your decision one way or the other.
Running costs
There’s no surprise here. Larger vehicles use more fuel and generally cost more to repair and service. Admittedly, the difference in fuel economy is probably more significant than the difference in maintenance costs. Whereas a van like the Ford Transit will do somewhere between 13 and 16 miles per gallon, a Toyota Tacoma will do between 18 and 24 miles per gallon. Over the course of a trip lasting several months, the difference here could be thousands of dollars. On a side note, it’s worth mentioning that a smaller vehicle like a crossover is unlikely to be significantly more fuel efficient than a truck or larger SUV since a smaller engine has to work harder to push the same load (assuming that you would carry the same amount of gear).
Mobility
This is another obvious downside to a van – it’s not exactly easy to park a vehicle with a 148” wheelbase. Even a standard length Transit or Sprinter is too long for the average parking bay, which means that trips to the groceries store will often require you to hunt around for a larger parking space – possibly some distance from the shop. In addition to being more difficult to park, vans are also taller and more top heavy than most other types of vehicle. This makes them less stable when they are driven over uneven surfaces, which is why a van will never be as off-road capable as a truck or SUV if everything else is equal – that is if they have AWD/4WD and all terrain tires.
Post-adventure utility
Camper vans are good for one thing: road trips. Beyond that they are a lot less practical. Nobody is going to try to use a camper van as a daily driver when they return home. And a hightop van (the standard for camper conversions) won’t fit into a typical garage. As a result, almost all van lifers buy another vehicle when the adventure is over, and for some that means having to let go of their beloved camper. A truck or SUV, on the other hand, can still act as a daily driver even if it’s not the perfect city runaround.
What you need from a road trip vehicle
When looking at possible van alternatives, it’s useful to remind yourself what you need from a vehicle intended for life on the road. Your needs might actually vary from the next person, so these are worth giving careful consideration.
Do you actually need to be able to sleep in your vehicle?
A bed on wheels can be convenient if you are moving camp every day and you don’t want to have to pitch your tent at every new destination. But this is not what most outdoorsmen do. The norm for most people is to spend at least a few days or even weeks in every location, which makes the convenience factor a lot less significant. Some vanlifers might then say ‘but a van allows you to go stealth mode in parking lots and suburban streets’. But again, you don’t need to fly under the radar if you go straight to your destination or at least to a campsite. If, after considering the above, you still decide that you want to be able to sleep in your vehicle, it is possible to put a DIY bed-shelf in the back of a minivan, truck, or large SUV.
What about a space to work?
This is another thing you don’t really need in an adventure wagon. Sure, you could try to work from your vehicle. But should you, especially when there are better options out there? Even the table in a kitted out camper van isn’t as conducive to a productive work session as a desk in a coworking space. As for the back of a pickup or minivan – you’re probably not going to be able to work on a laptop for very long if you have to sit cross legged. Maybe you don’t want to have to pay $30 for a coworking desk, but then there’s also the option of working from a coffee shop at the price of a cup of coffee or two.
Your kitchen setup
This is one thing that you do need in an outdoor road-tipping vehicle: a decent kitchen setup. Your kitchen doesn’t actually need to be built into your vehicle (There are pros and cons to a slide-out stove and drawers), but it should be well organized and include some kind of work surface. If you can’t use your tailgate as a work surface, you will need to pack some kind of table. Beyond this, you will need some storage boxes for your dry food and kitchenware (see packing tips) and a cooler or 12V fridge. It’s hard to overstate the advantage of a fridge over a cooler. With a fridge, you don’t have your cooler every day (something you might not have to do if in a remote area) and there is no danger of you returning to camp to find your veggies swimming in ice melt.
Space for gear
How much space you need for gear will largely depend on the kinds of activities that you plan to do and whether or not you are going to travel with a friend. On solo missions that require little more than your camping gear, you can easily get by with a crossover or compact SUV, but if there are two of you, you might need a larger vehicle, especially if the plan is a multi-sport adventure. Also, don’t forget to factor in the need to carry water and essential supplies if you’re going to be using dispersed campsites, especially those in remote areas. If you need to be completely self-sufficient, just the essentials could easily fill an SUV or truck.
Security
It’s one thing being able to carry all your gear and another being able to store it safely in your vehicle. Security is especially important if you are going to leave your vehicle unattended for extended periods, as you might when heading off on a multi-day hike or bikepacking trip. This is where a truck with a solid and windowless cap comes into its own. No vehicle is completely resistant to smash-and-grabs, but one that is hard to both look into and break into is a lot less likely to be targeted – especially useful if you are carrying bikes. If that’s not an option, the next best thing you can do is tint your windows. Besides making it difficult to see into a vehicle, a tint can also make it harder to break a window and get into a vehicle. Just check what the regulations on tinting are for your state and those you are going to visit.
A way to keep devices powered up
A dual battery system is almost essential if you are going to carry a portable fridge. Without one, you will be limited to using campgrounds that have shore power (electrical hookups), which would rule out many places that you might want to visit. On top of this, a dual battery system is also useful for charging devices like cell phones, headlamps, cameras, and laptops. You could charge these devices using your main battery and an inverter that plugs into your vehicle’s cigarette lighter, but then you would risk draining your main battery. It’s far safer to power your devices from an auxiliary battery using its own inverter (A pure sine wave inverter is essential if you are going to charge a laptop).
Alternatives to a van
When looking at van alternatives, there are three broad categories, each with its own pros and cons. The best choice for you will depend on your needs and budget.
Mini van
If you want to sleep in your vehicle, a minivan is one of your better options (on par with a large SUV or a truck with a long bed). Even if you put in a camper bed platform into the back of one of these, you will still have sufficient headroom. The downside to minivans is that they aren’t as off-road capable as SUVs or trucks. There are at least two models that come with AWD, but these, like all minivans, have low clearance. And with no commercially available lift kits, solving the clearance issue isn’t easy. Also, while minivans are roomy, they also aren’t as secure as a truck with a windowless cap. If you planned to leave a packed minivan unattended for extended periods of time, it would be a good idea to at least tint the windows so that it’s harder for would-be thieves to see into the vehicle or break a window. Popular models include the Toyota Sienna, Dodge Caravan, and Honda Odyssey.
Crossover or SUV
Midsize SUVs like the Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Armada have almost as much carrying capacity as the average truck and can be quite comfortable to sleep in. But, like minivans, they can’t be made as secure as a truck. If you are going to park an SUV anywhere for an extended period, the best you can do is tint the windows and make sure that no valuables are visible when you leave it unattended. On that note, it is also not nearly as easy to store a bike in the back of an SUV as it is in the back of a truck, which can be fitted with a slide-out bike rack. The bottom line is that a truck with a 6’ bed is almost always better if you are going to be carrying a bike. If budget and fuel economy are a higher priority than carrying capacity, you could also consider a smaller SUV. AWD crossovers like the Subaru Forester have better fuel economy (when not heavily loaded) than the average truck, and have some off-road ability.
Truck
With a variety of drive train types, cab configurations, and bed lengths, there’s a lot of variety in this category, meaning that there’s likely to be a truck that suits your needs. After the 2WD versus 4WD decision, the next most important consideration will likely be bed length. If you want to sleep in the back of your truck or store a bike in it (rear wheel attached), you will need a 6’ bed, and that means an extended cab model. If these aren’t factors for you, then you might consider a double cab. Regardless of the cab type, a solid windowless cap is always better than a cap with windows when it comes to security, but you can also tint a cap’s windows. The other good option for van lifers is a pop-up camper shell. These specialized truck caps combine a rooftop tent with secure storage but without the need for a roof rack – this makes the whole setup a lot more aerodynamic than a regular cap with a roof rack and tent. Of course, such add-ons aren’t cheap – $7,000 to $20,000.
Learn more
Embarking on an extended road trip in an SUV, mini van, or truck will certainly be different to hitting the road in a kitted-out Mercedes Sprinter, but it’s very doable. You just need to be prepared to make some compromises and work with what you have. If you are a seasoned camper, you probably already have a good idea of what you can do to make living out of a vehicle more comfortable. If you aren’t, I strongly recommend reading my article on car camping. Together with my article on how to pack your vehicle for a big trip, this practical guide can help you avoid some common camping pitfalls and will explain how to develop a system that will make any trip easier and more enjoyable.
