After wistfully watching other people embark and dreaming about it for years, our first Escape Campervan trip was a highlight of this spring. How did this come about? The internet, of course!
If you’ve spend any amount of time on social media sites in the past few years, you’ve probably witnessed the surge in popularity of #vanlife. Not just a simple hashtag, van life is a way of existing in which people turn into modern-day nomads and live on the road, whether in refurbished school buses, tricked out Sprinter vans that cost more than my house, Toyota class C vehicles from earlier decades, remodeled and aesthetically-pleasing Airstreams, and virtually any other vehicle-turned-home-on-wheels. Van life is “trendy” right now for a myriad of reasons: it removes the boundaries of a typical home, leaving a lot more opportunity for travel, it can be significantly cheaper than a typical mortgage and bills setup, and with so many people having the opportunity to work remotely, it made a lot of sense during the last few years as people had less constraints on their time and location.
I’ve bandied about the thought of going full-time van life for awhile, but we don’t quite have all the pieces in place to make it work (yet). With the van life option not on the table for us, I had to settle for a van life trip to satiate my wanderlust for the time being. This is how we found ourselves embarking on our first Escape Campervan trip for a weeklong journey through five states, three national parks, and more temperature changes than I had mentally prepared for. If you too are longing for long stretches of scenic highways, waking up to gorgeous vistas through your back windows, and being able to pack up your home and all your belongings in minutes, I recommend an Escape Campervan trip in the very near future.
We booked our campervan rental through Escape Campervans and they were great to work with, especially for first-timers. Escape will supply everything you need – albeit for a price – so that you don’t have to stress if you aren’t quite sure what to bring and what to skip. They have several locations in larger cities, making it relatively easy to fly-in and use said large city as a jumping off point for your road trip. We rented their Mavericks model, which is a large Ford E-150 that suited our needs perfectly. We had booked National Park campgrounds well in advance, so I knew we could get away without having a bathroom (toilet or shower) onboard. For a longer trip or more off-the-grid type trip, I can definitely see the advantages of why you would want these amenities, but we made due perfectly well without them.
Read on for the good, the bad, and what we’ll do differently on our next Campervan trip.
The Good:
- Switching from table to bed:
Although it might look tricky at the start, transitioning the Maverick from day (table and bench mode) to night (bed mode) and back again takes almost no time. Even the very first time we made the switch, I was able to do it on my own and in less than 10 minutes. After that first time, I got progressively faster and actually enjoyed both making the bed and stowing it to get ready for the day.
Bonus tip: if it’s freezing cold in the desert on your van trip and you came underprepared with warm clothes, scrambling around in the back of the van with the doors closed while you make the bed and shove heavy cushions around is a great way to warm up before tucking yourself in.
- The ability to park anywhere:
We were in National Parks for the majority of our road trip, which meant we saw every type of recreation vehicle under the sun. While longer “true” RVs had to circle and hunt for real estate to park on roads, we pulled into any available parking spot with ease. Grocery shopping, filling up with gas, backing into camping sites – every excursion was a breeze because we didn’t have to stress about making the van fit – we just pulled into a standard spot and went about our day.
- Storage and layout of the back portion:
The Maverick layout includes a pull-out camp stove, pump-water sink, a small battery-powered fridge that charges as you drive, and a variety of compartments for storing food, dry goods, cooking utensils, and anything else you desire. The amenities are fairly basic, but necessary for longer trips. We found that the fridge never got too warm (even when parked in the sun on a warm day in Joshua Tree National Park), and was big enough to hold food and post-hike beers for about 3 days. The sink was perfect for washing dishes after cooking and for brushing our teeth at night when no running water was present at campsites. There are also many useful compartments to tuck your suitcases, extra shoes, sunscreen, snacks, and just about anything else you can anticipate needing on a trip. Though small, the layout was perfect for our needs, and there are very few changes I would make.
The Bad:
- Limited cooking options:
As I mentioned, the weather ended up being much colder than we had anticipated, and this is where the downside to the Maverick layout comes in. Having to stand outside with both van doors open to cook dinner is not ideal when it’s freezing outside. Bryan got rained on while cooking our makeshift dinner at our campsite in Bryce Canyon; the lack of an awning or overhang means you are totally exposed to the elements. Not only does your home get cold as you let all the warm air out, your food gets cold even as it’s still cooking. For warmer trips this is probably a non-issue, but eating a half-warmed calzone with mittens on in your now chilly bedroom maybe isn’t everyone’s idea of fun.
- Stealth mode is impossible with an Escape Campervan:
We really liked our postal-themed van and so did a variety of people that we ran into. One guy who guided us to park outside Zion National Park was even an ex-postal worker who really loved the motif. Escape’s entire fleet of vans contains a variety of themes, but they are all rather “loud”. If you are looking for a reserved vehicle that will blend into the surrounding nature, this is perhaps not the choice for you. These campervans are recognizable from a distance – this was fun as we ran into other Escape campers and gave them the “head nod”, but if you want to fly under the radar I’d say that is next to impossible in one of these babies.
How our next Escape Campervan trip will be different:
- More blankets/cold weather preparation. While we rented a bedding kit with our van, the included duvet just wasn’t enough for the freezing low temperatures at night in the desert. I wished we had brought our backpacking sleeping bags – they are rated for much colder temperatures and store into stuff sacks about the size of a Nalgene bottle, so we definitely had room for them. I will 100% pack them or a similar stuff-sack style thick blanket for the next trip.
- Backpacks or duffels only – no zippered luggage. While there is ample storage in these vans, there isn’t a great spot to keep a piece of luggage that you need to access multiple times a day. A backpack or duffel that you can reach into and easily lean up against a sidewall is going to infinitely easier to work with than a piece of luggage that needs to be unzipped and opened every time you need something out of it.
- Furry best-friend copilot. Perhaps the best news of all when it comes to Escape? They allow dogs! Pets are allowed for a $150 pet fee during all months except for July, August, and September. While we didn’t plan this trip out well enough to bring ours, our next campervan will one thousand percent include him.
Inspired to take your own first Escape Campervan trip? Check out the available cities and models HERE.
Disclosure: if you book a trip using my link above, I may receive a gift card, but you will also receive a 10% discount on your booking. A win-win, don’t you think? 🙂
Looking for ideas for routes? Escape has a variety of road trip routes and plans on their blog, or you can check out our trip from Vegas to Joshua Tree to Zion HERE (finished post link coming soon!).
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