If you love to travel, chances are you love the idea you have of vanlife: adventure in nature, with complete freedom, no time constraints and no stress. But loving vanlife for a two- or three-day getaway or a three- or four-week road trip is not the same thing.
As you can imagine, we love and practice both whenever possible. But these two ways of experiencing vanlife don’t require the same preparation, and if you ever buy a Roadloft kit, we want your experience to be unforgettable. So let us explain the difference between the two.
Going away for a weekend should be something you can decide on a whim. The good thing about turning your everyday vehicle into a camper is that there’s a lot less preparation involved. From April to November, we always leave a list of equipment on board (to be discovered in this article), so the van is quickly ready to go!
In fact, all that’s left to do is fill the drawer with clothes and the fridge with food. So you can simply leave after a week’s work, even if you’re tired. Once you’re there, there’s no set-up, everything’s ready. And even if you leave unexpectedly, you’re sure to find a grocery store along the way. After all, vanlife is all about making your car your home. Even for a weekend.
You can go on a getaway in either a van or an SUV. To see the difference between a minivan camper kit and an SUV camping kit, read this article. We’ve been selling an SUV kit since 2022. Of course, space in an SUV is more limited and the SUV kit doesn’t offer the same advantages as the minivan kit, but for a few days on the road, it has all the qualities of its big brother: solid, light, water-resistant, practical with its storage spaces, etc. And you can equip it with all the accessories you need. And you can equip it with the same high-density mattress for a great night’s sleep.
If you like to go camping for a few days, the vanlife offers the undeniable advantage of comfort and simplicity. If it’s raining, you can sleep in a car and avoid the hassle of setting up and dismantling a tent soaked to the skin. If it’s too cold or too hot, we have Heatshield curtains that make a big difference in temperature between the outside and inside of the vehicle. The kitchen, utensils or clothes are accessible in an instant. And no camping bed offers the comfort of our mattress.
Marc, our first customer, leaves his kit in his van all year round. When he’s invited to dinner at a friend’s house, if he feels too tired to hit the road, he sleeps in his van. For him, every opportunity to sleep in his van is an opportunity to be seized. Even if it’s for a tiny, tiny getaway.
Here, we’re talking about a long trip that can cover several thousand kilometers and sometimes last up to several months for enthusiasts like us. But if you’re not retired yet, because of your available days off, your road trip will probably last between two and four weeks, sometimes a little longer. Still, that’s quite a long time. In any case, a road trip is a more intense adventure than a getaway. Before creating Roadloft, we spent eight months out of twelve on the road for three years in a row. This taught us a lot, both about the importance of planning long road trips, and about taking advantage of impromptu getaways.
You have to plan a road trip. Who are you going with? Where, when and for how long? By which route?
We often think of vanlife as traveling alone or in pairs, but if you add a tent to the roof of your van, you can enjoy vanlife as a couple with two children. Assuming that the majority of Roadlofters still travel in pairs, as we did for seven years, we really advise you to leave during the shoulder season (between high and low season). You’ll be less crowded than in high season. And we also advise you to plan your itinerary carefully.
Next, you need to think about your autonomy (read the article on this subject here). Power station, solar panel, fridge/freezer, water tanks, stove, pots and pans, etc. If you don’t mind living, sleeping and eating in your van and cooking under the tailgate, that’s a good start.
Last but not least, you need to take care of your hygiene: do the laundry, find a shower or toilet. You may be surprised, but it couldn’t be easier on the road. For laundry, just search on Google Maps for “Laundromat” or “Buanderie”. For showers, “Recreation center”, “Community center”, “Travel center”, “Public pool”, “Campground” or “Gym” (we explain it all in detail here). They’re everywhere. Alternatively, the iOverlander app has a shower section in searches. And finally, in National Parks, you can always ask the ranger. And the same goes for toilets: restaurants, service stations, information centers, rest areas, National Parks.
If you love life in the great outdoors, don’t want to set up and take down a tent, and like the comforts of home, it looks like the vanlife is just waiting for you.
Do you have an SUV, or are you tempted by the idea of camping for a few nights and getting away from it all? Then the SUV kit is perfect for you. You’ll feel much better than in a tent. Drier in the rain. Safer and warmer in your vehicle.
Do you like or are you tempted by vanlife? Once you’ve got a van, all you have to do is plan your road trip carefully, and you’ll probably spend the best weeks of your life in the great outdoors.
If you decide to embark on vanlife, Laurence has a tip for you: before setting off on a long road trip, take a few weekends away to sort out the essentials from the superfluous. Between what you need and what you can do without. Between what you like to do and what you like less. It’ll be a way of discovering the vanlifer in you and becoming, without forcing it, a seasoned Roadlofter.
Have a good trip!
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