I took a 900-mile road trip from San Diego, CA to San Jose, CA to visit my nephew for his birthday. I used this occasion to see what renting a campervan was all about.
In this article, I share my experience traveling and living in a camper van for 5 days and 4 nights for the first time and why camper vans are hands down the most liberating mobile porta potty you will ever sleep in.
The Cost To Rent The Camper Van For 4 Nights
Let’s cover the cost of renting a camper van since that is what most of us want to know first and foremost.
I rented a 2021 Winnebago Solis camper van from Outdoorsy for $175 a night for 4 nights plus insurance and roadside assistance for $1,218.
This vehicle was professionally built to include:
- 2 queen-size beds (sleeps up to 4)
- Sink
- Stove (and everything you need to cook)
- Ventilation
- Heater
- Shower (w/ hot water!)
- Toilet
- Blankets
- Linens
- Pillows
- First aid-kit
- Towels
I took the trip in late March of 2022, when gas was at $6.00 a gallon, so that hurt a bit. I also saved money by cooking in the van on a few occasions.
I could have driven my car and stayed in Motel 6. It would have been cheaper, but that wasn’t the goal of the trip. I wanted to live in the van for a few days to experience it.
Safety & Traveling In A Camper Van
I felt safe and comfortable driving and sleeping in the camper van and didn’t experience any issues.
Here are a few tips to help you stay safe when traveling in a camper van:
- Don’t sleep in sketchy neighborhoods.
- Have a plan in the event you need to move the van in the middle of the night. Keep your shoes, glasses, keys and whatever else you need nearby in case you need to drive off in a hurry.
- Make wide turns. Give yourself plenty of room to make turns when you drive. I drove a 19’ van which is about 5 feet longer than our daily driver. I cornered too close a few times, making a right-hand turn, and bumped the curb with our rear right tire.
- Stay on grid the first time you rent a camper van.
- Get to your destination early. I avoided traffic and were able to get to our destinations quickly and find parking without a problem.
- Avoid steep roads and sharp turns. If you can go around a mountain or tricky road to get to your destination, you should consider it.
Can You Poop In A Camper Van?
You sure can and I sure did. I wanted a toilet in the van. It was one of the perks for me, especially given that my biology runs like a clock first thing in the morning.
There are a few things to keep in mind if you are going to poop in your camper van.
- It’s small. The toilet, the room, all of it. It’s tiny. You will be cramped. The bigger your body is, the more you will be cramped in that little bathroom.
- Ask your traveling partner(s) to go outside or go for a walk when you use the toilet. It’s a thin door, and there isn’t much ventilation.
- To use toilet paper or not to use toilet paper, that is the question. I did, and I dropped it in the toilet, which is reportedly a big no-no. But here’s the thing, I made sure there was a lot of water in the toilet bowl cassette (what houses your poop) so that there wouldn’t be any clogging when I went to empty the cassette. I also emptied the cassette twice in 4 days to try to stay ahead of any poop-related problems.
You are going to need to empty the cassette before returning the camper van. Note how to do this and wear rubber gloves when working with the cassette.
You will also need to identify a dump station to dispose of your poop. FreeRoam is a great app to help you find such a place. This guy will tell you how to empty your camper van toilet cassette.
Showered In The Camper Van
The camper van I rented had two shower options: one shower was inside the van and the other was out the back of van on the outside. I opted to use the shower out the back of the van after I surfed at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, CA.
I turned the hot water on, waited 15 minutes and had a decently warm shower. I’m a surfer and showering outside in wetsuits and boardshorts is normal for me.
The van included a shower curtain which provides some privacy when you shower out the back of the van. I forgot about it and just showered in my boardshorts, shampooing and washing my body as best I could.
I hiked twice on my trip but didn’t shower each time. Instead, I used the shower in the van to clean off our feet before going to bed. If I felt dirtier than I did, I would have opted to use the inside shower.
Sleeping In The Camper Van
I slept on a busy street outside of a hotel the first night. I figured that would be safe enough. The next couple of nights I slept on residential streets of San Jose.
It worked out fine for me, but really, you should find a safer place to sleep at night. Sleeping in a van on a busy city street is generally a bad idea.
My camper van had a bed in the back and a pop-up bed on the roof. I opted for the bed in the back of the van and slept like a baby.
You can use FreeRoam to find the best places to sleep in a camper van.
Eating In The Camper Van
The van included a fridge and some cooking equipment, so I brought a bunch of stuff from Costco which included:
- Eggs
- Protein shakes
- An assortment of fruit, including berries, apples, and bananas
- Avocados
- Cheese
- Quick rice/quinoa
- A bunch of dry goods
- Drinking water
I only cooked once in the van, but I could have done so more than once. Cooking and cleaning dishes in the van was pretty easy. Just be sure you don’t keep your bedding too close to the sink or you may end up with water all over your sheets like I did.
Other Items I Brought On The Trip
Other than the above food, I also brought:
- Paper towels for, well, everything
- Toilet paper which I kept in a Ziplock bag just in case it rolled around on the van floor
- Soap for dishes and for our hands
- A chef’s knife for cooking
- Garbage bags to keep our garbage and recycle in check
- Rubber gloves for doing dishes and another pair for cleaning the toilet cassette
- Pillows and sheets. The van had some, but I wanted my own
- Surfboard and wetsuit
- Hiking shoes
The One Helpful App I Used
I checked out a few apps but only used FreeRoam. I used it to identify places I could sleep and where I could dump our toilet cassette.
Helpful Hints For First-Timer Camper Van Renters
- Bring your own sheets. It’s a nice comfort to have.
- Pick up the van as early as you can and return it as late as you can to maximize your fun.
- Bake in time to clean out the van including the toilet cassette, the toilet and the shower.
- Know where you are sleeping each night.
- Know where you are going to empty the toilet cassette.
- Take your time and enjoy the sites.
Is Traveling In A Camper Van Worth It?
Traveling in a camper van was liberating and quiet. I didn’t need to check in or out of a hotel room, and I got to poop in a very tiny bathroom that also had a shower which happened to be right next to the kitchen. How often do you do that?
All in all, it was pretty great.
