• What's included in the van?

The campervan included a lot! (But did NOT include a bathroom). This may be a total deal breaker for some, but honestly it wasn't bad at all. We were in a van so were constantly on the road and always managed to find public bathrooms, or of course every now and then became one with nature.

 

During the day time we had the "dining" table and couches set up, which then converted into a queen size bed at night. This involved some manual labor but only took about 5 minutes to transform. 

The van had a few storage areas, and although it's not tons of storage, it was definitely do-able and seemed to work pretty well for the amount of time we went.

 

* Be sure to pack in duffel bags, because a hard suitcase with wheels most likely won't fit in the storage/space provided. I purchased a backpack duffel to make it easier to carry and although mine is beige, the exact style I ordered and link to it is: The North Face Base Camp Duffel Large

Do your research though if you choose this one, they offer it on a ton of different sites and I was able to find mine for $90.​

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Things included in the campervan:

- Pillows, sheets, comforter

- Plates, cups, bowls, utensils

- Pots/pans

- Propane tanks for the stove top

- A certain amount of water for the sink

- Wine cork screw

- Picnic chairs

- Sink

- Dish sponge

- Fridge, in a drawer form

- An atlas (came in handy a few times when we got lost and had no service)

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• What is NOT included that you should consider bringing

We packed some things with us to bring for the van/camping experience before leaving for our trip. However, we also chose to go to a local Target once we landed to pick up anything else that we may need and couldn't fit in our bags.

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Things we packed before leaving:

- Portable solar powered shower (necessary!) (picture at the end of page)

We bought one that held 5 liters of water and that was enough for 2 showers, and sometimes allowed 1 more shower before we had to refill. We left ours on top of our van during the day while we were out hiking and the sun warmed up the water :) We bought ours off of Amazon for a reasonable price of $45, and it can be found here: Summer Shower - (Note that this can be an "added item" that comes with your van as well). We chose to purchase beforehand because we figured we would get use out of it in the future too!

- Hiking gear, hiking sneakers

- Camelbak backpacks

- Flashlights / Headlamps

- AUX cable for the van to play music

- Portable speaker to also play music while camping

- Tumblers to fill with water

- Cooling towel (small, for our hikes)

- First aid kit

- Battery operated string lights (we hung these throughout the van, and it became super beneficial during the dark hours, while giving the van and atmosphere an awesome vibe!)

- Extra batteries

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Things bought at Target upon arriving:

(NOTE: We left most of this behind at the end of our trip)

- Dish soap

- Toothpaste/Mouth wash

- Shampoo/Conditioner/Soap

- Shower towel

- Sunscreen

- Snacks/Drinks

- Meat, veggies, & meals to cook (we made stops for this throughout our trip)

- Clorox wipes

- Toilet paper and paper towels

- Baby wipes

- Gallons of water

- Zip lock bags (for leftovers and to use for our hikes)

- Anti bacterial

- Bug spray

- Detergent to hand wash our clothes (when we didn't have the luxury of finding a laundry room on site at a campground)

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* Keep any shopping bags to use as trash bags, they are a perfect size *

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• Where to camp your van for the night

Having a campervan has its perks in that you have the option to do dispersed camping, which is camping anywhere in the National Forest outside of a designated campground and it's FREE​. This is what they call "roughing" it. No bathrooms, no trash removal, no facilities, etc. This is actually what we wanted to do our entire trip, but sometimes was easier said then done.

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Honestly, each day we just had to wing it and go with it. Luckily the van has a bed and everything you need, you just need to know where to pull over. One night we actually slept on the side of a road, but it overlooked a pretty river (with fresh water that we used) so we ended up being fine with that.

Places like Washington and Oregon had a lot more dispersed camping options then when we got to California. Look for areas in the National Forests, these are in most cases legal to pull over. Be sure to do your research though. Although we were able to do this in Oregon, once we got to California we were not allowed to camp in Redwoods National Forest so had to find a campground. Other options (we found in Oregon) were Sno-Parks, which were also free. We stayed here one night and there were actually other trailers here as well.

We didn't really have a camping plan. Although our road trip journey had somewhat of an itinerary and a step by step route, our plans changed frequently. Some places we stayed at longer, and some we skipped over entirely. Be flexible. These last minute changes can happen depending on what you like or don't like as you visit places, or can also result in the weather, etc.

Luckily, there are campgrounds everywhere when on the open road, and in most cases for us they were all right in a row on the same road. We managed to find one each time. Some days we drove around for quite some time before finding one that had available space (not going to lie, it can get stressful), but try and stay positive and embrace the journey. No matter how stressful it was in the moment, once we settled into our campsite, had a bonfire & cooked a nice meal, all seemed okay again. The campsites we stayed at ranged from $14 per night to as expensive as $75 per night. This all depends on your location. The most common was about $20-$40 per night though.

Some campsites are reservations only, some are strictly first come first serve, and some offer both. We didn't make any reservations beforehand because we truly didn't know where we would end up on our travels. But as we were on the road in between locations, I was on the phone with some campgrounds prior to arriving to the area to get an idea of what's available. 

We had hoped to mainly do dispersed camping but realized that was much harder then it seemed. I did some research prior to our trip on nearby campgrounds, so definitely print some info out as well (but you'll probably still be researching while on your travels like we did). Camping is a blast, but there's only so much planning you can do on a trip like this.

All I can say is enjoy every minute, because no matter what, you are in the middle of beautiful nature and at the end of the day surrounded by such amazing traveling experiences!

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PS - Be on the look out for FRESH WATER! Although we bought a couple gallons of water, we were always taking advantage of any fresh water we found and filling up all of our containers, camelbaks, shower, etc! We had luck at welcome centers, and nearby rivers. We even got lucky on one of our hikes and came across a few river stops with fresh cold water!

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