Are vans even close to being a viable option at campgrounds / RV parks? (esp. on the east coast)

[tx2sturgis]

If you were planning on Hipcamp, but now find that you will be buying a 'self-contained' travel trailer of some sort, then you might want to look into boondockerswelcome.com

Same basic idea: Hosts are usually individual property owners with enough room to accommodate RVs, but unlike Hipcamp, hosts do not normally provide facilities, other than maybe electric and sometimes water hookups.

Most of the BW hosts do not offer restrooms or showers, although there are exceptions.

Boondockers Welcome and Harvest Hosts are now combined, so you can get a membership that provides access to both types of locations.


https://www.boondockerswelcome.com/become-a-guest/

 

[tamino]

I was looking at Boondockers Welcome earlier today actually.

I think maybe there's some strategy here like: Identify a cheap campground in an inconvenient location, that's always gonna have space and that I can always use as a fallback. Then try to opportunistically spend as much of the time as possible in places that are more conveniently located, but always have the fallback available if the more convenient ones are full.

Or something. And, I mean, Boondockers Welcome also works as that kind of fallback too. Like "oh heck, it's a holiday weekend and there's no spaces anywhere" kind of thing.

I dunno. Something is gonna work out. I know I can figure out something, I'm just going to sleep on it for a few days and let things settle.

Thanks.

 

[bullfrog]

There are still places for trailers most places you would park a van, like truck stops, motel truck parking areas, maybe Cracker Barrel, Cabelas, boat ramps, take up fishing! You just have to limit your stays and move often just like in a van. We got a place to stay doing night security for a school bus garage just by asking. Maybe put an add in a local bulletin board or Facebook asking for a rental spot.

 

[eDJ_]

Since you are new, still working where you are required to be in the office 3 days a week while considering Van Life as an alternative to the sticks & bricks. there are numerous things you need to consider. 1) Where you are in terms of weather & temperature. 2) Will you be using the same vehicle to commute back and forth to your parking place from work. 3) How minimalist of a life are you prepared to live and how much comfort can you sacrifice.

Your first need when living outside of the sticks & bricks will be safety. Speaking of safety from the elements. Even in a factory built RV that is insulated with heating/ac, if it has to run full time to keep you comfortable will it be any less expensive than an apartment. You will often hear of RV's, Vans, etc referred to as steel tents. A trailer park, State or National Park, etc not much more than an improved camp ground. You may have to check into a Motel during very bad weather.

If you are in an RV such as a Class-C and you have to drive it back and forth to work, the fuel cost may be more than rent. (12 to 14 mpg times the distance back and forth to where you park/live. A small econo-box car may be necessary. Insurance on both. Maintenance & upkeep on both. Parking place rent/utilities/hookup fees. Also Nomads who live this lifestyle often buy a membership to a syndicated Gym (use Planet Fitness as an example). Thus you clean up & change into fresh clothing there. (this can take the requirements of shower & toilet out of the picture). If your parking place/camping site has toilets you would use them. Basically your rig would be a sleeping room and possibly a place to cook.

You will often hear the Nomad "types" speak of living a minimalist lifestye. Not always so painful but it may be a new way of thinking that isn't always so comfortable. Imagine not having anything in your rig that can't deliver a couple or more uses. Shunning single use or purpose items will become more important than before. (granted some things may be bulky and only offer one function. Example: a single serve electric coffee maker that uses single serve brew cups...but even it could heat water for tea, hot chocolate, ramen noodles, boullion, or other cooking needs. Yet a small tea kettle may be just as useful if you have a heating source which could also heat other kitchen utensils and you learn to drink instant. It's a matter of thinking and choices that will serve you best.) A good bed will be most important for your comfort and a good seat so you could work from your rig. I've had both a regular Van and now a High Top. (after a high top there would be no going back for me). Having both dimensions of being able to lay down or stand up becomes a comfort priority expecially with older Nomads. Ultimately you do most of your living outside of your rig. If you are working in it, then it may double as a work space unless you could WIFI somewhere perhaps using a "Magic Jack" (or some other form of VOIP with phone handset) for phone service. You may carry a laptop, small printer, scanner, copy, FAX. (you may be able to Zoom, or SKYPE...but you will always have those you need to reach by phone) Thus if it's too cold or hot to work from your rig, you could a more suitable place using your Cell as a hot spot or WIFI if available.

Perhaps some of this will help you to figure it out.

Below are a couple of links in the signature line that may also be helpful to you.

 

[thebarefootbadger]

I wanted to throw one thing out there. For a while I had a converted Dodge van - kitchenette, jackknife sofa, toilet. It had been professionally converted by some long-defunct company, but it had a "medallion". Geico was happy to insure it as an RV. Then I got stuck in sand and used my roadside assistance to get it pulled out. They took pix. Within days my insurance was cancelled because "that isn't an RV", and even with pix of the medallion and living setup they weren't satisfied and would no longer insure it. It took me weeks to find another insurer - everyone said no to RV, no to passenger vehicle, and no to commercial van, it just fell in the cracks. I finally did find an insurer but it was about 3X more expensive than it was before.

I don't know if things have gotten better, but outfitting a van yourself apparently adds a whole 'nother dimension to "stealth".

 

[tamino]

So, ok, I'm being careful about what I post on this thread because I know the mods want things to stay strictly on topic. Anything relating to actually what I'm doing with the van I bought, I might post about in a different thread. This one, I will keep for stuff related to "van vs travel trailer, in Maryland / east coast".

I want to document the decisions I make and the reasons I make them, in case it helps others in a similar spot.

I didn't buy the travel trailer. There are just no campgrounds in Maryland with vacancies for long term stays. None at all. It's beyond packed. You just can't do it.

That means two things:
1. Van is the only viable option, at least in Maryland
2. It's not worthwhile to outfit a van with any plumbing. Those spots with the water/sewer hookups? They don't exist. So the workable option in Maryland seems to be, get a van, pretend it's a tent, and count on staying only at places without hookups.

Couple of implications of #2:
* Solar is very important. Without hookups, solar is going to be the main way I get my electricity.
* I'd better get very comfortable with showering at a gym.

And a couple of implications of #1:
* I'd better get comfortable with staying at places with a "limit X nights in Y days" rule. The long-term places I was hoping for, don't exist. But, on the plus side, without hookups, changing campgrounds becomes pretty easy. Nothing to unhook, clean, or rehook.
* Having a "toad" is probably not practical. A toad might be practical if I could plonk myself down somewhere long-term. But not if I'm changing campsites that often.
* With a travel trailer, you can commute to work using the truck you haul the trailer with. But with a van, and without a toad, you're going to be commuting to work in... the van. So I decided I couldn't do one of the extra-length vans, because that means it's not going to fit in a parking spot at work or at the grocery store. So regular-size van is what I ended up with.
* With a van, there's an easy fallback option if you can't find a campground for the night: Just check into a motel. The van will fit in the parking lot. Tougher to do that with a trailer. But I'm not so worried about the "holiday weekend, no spots anywhere" problem, with a van (and no toad).

Hoping it helps at least one person to kind of get a sense of the reasoning I went with. I traded in the truck for the van, and today I started gluing insulation in. But I might post separately about that.

 

[user 423]

You may have a time keeping batteries charged in MD over the winter.

Way less sun available than in the Southwest.

 

[WanderingRose]

Campgrounds in Maryland may well also close down in winter months, which is very common in northern states.

I would do some checking around.

Good luck,

 

[tamino]

From the research I've done so far: yes, some of them do close down, and there are certainly fewer amenities available like showers. And some of the ones that are year-round, are also the more expensive ones per-night.

I'm counting on the fact that there are also fewer people who want to camp, in the winter. So I guess I'm hoping it all evens itself out. Less supply in winter, but also less demand. I hope I hope I hope. And if I'm wrong, well, there's hipcamp, and public land, and motels.

I mean, heck, I'm not even on my first-choice or my second-choice or my fifth-choice options anymore, I'm way down around the seventeenth-choice. At this point I would even be willing to consider campgrounds with draconian "no in/out privileges" policies. My thought process there is: let's say it's 10 PM and I find that I unavoidably have to do some sort of errand and it really can't wait. I can just leave, do the errand, and then find a motel for the night.

So I think I can make this work. It's just maybe going to be a little less comfortable and I'm going to have to get used to changing plans on the fly. I can do this. It wasn't what I had in mind when I started. I had in mind, oh, sure, long-term site somewhere, in/out, errands, home base, electrical and plumbing hookups. Turns out: nope. Not in this state at least. So that's okay. That just means I can adapt.

(About solar in winter: I had a bigger alternator installed in the van, so I have enough amps available to do a pretty good job charging batteries from the engine. With limited space I wanted to do it that way rather than have a separate gas or diesel generator that I then have to find a place to store. And in a regular-size, non-extra-length van, space is very limited!)

 

[WanderingRose]

You have a very positive attitude, also seem to have adequate financial resources at your disposal.

Both of which are going to make winging it much easier.

 

[bullfrog]

In an urban setting with a gym membership and food stores nearby your biggest problem this winter will be cold temperatures and condensation. Unless you can find access to a plug in for an electric heater I would recommend you seriously look at some form of a quality vented heater and a really good sleeping bag system.

 

[Gofar]

In a van or traditional vehicle, you should not have any trouble with public campgrounds, tho their stays are generally limited to two weeks.

Private campgrounds are more restrictive, and the only way to find out what they accept is to call them.

Or, drive there in your vehicle and ask.

I like the AllStays app.

Regarding Allstays, I've used that app. for several years now and find it highly useful. Highly recommend!

 

[RvNaut]

Is it a completely dumb idea to go with a van, rather than an RV?

If your aim is to primarily be in campgrounds, you would be better off in an RV.

My experience, so far, is that vandweller nomads tend to not even consider campgrouds as anything other than a random occurrence based on need or convenience.

 

[afblangley]

1. Van is the only viable option, at least in Maryland
2. It's not worthwhile to outfit a van with any plumbing. Those spots with the water/sewer hookups? They don't exist. So the workable option in Maryland seems to be, get a van, pretend it's a tent, and count on staying only at places without hookups.

Um, that’s fine if it works for you. But there are other approaches. When I’m citydocking, whether hanging out during the day or stealth parking at night, I don’t want to feel like I’m in a tent (I am not the camping type). I want plenty of water, power and everything needed to be as comfortable as possible. A traditional RV requires bringing the vehicle to the utilities. My approach is to bring the utilities to the vehicle.

Plumbing- I need running water for washing of food, hands and dishes. Instead of a permanently mounted tank that would require driving the vehicle to a water source, I bring water to the vehicle by using 7 gal Aqua-Tainer jugs that I can carry into readily available establishments (eg. grocery store, laundromat, restaurant) to fill. Ditto with the gray water tank, which I typically dump in toilets.

Couple of implications of #2:
* Solar is very important. Without hookups, solar is going to be the main way I get my electricity.
* I'd better get very comfortable with showering at a gym.

I have a Planet Fitness membership, but I can also shower inside my van. While a dedicated Aqua-Tainer is being heated using an immersion heater, I set up my shower system (curtain, shower pan, battery powered shower head). I jump in and ten minutes plus 5 gal of water later, I’m clean and refreshed.

Rather than a permanently mounted battery bank that requires driving the vehicle to an electrical source, I used a portable power station that I could pull out and recharge anywhere. It was never difficult to find a place, I frequently did it while at the gym. My pattern has evolved a bit as my power needs increased. Now I typically recharge using the van’s alternator (manufacturer’s specs allow drawing up to 80A) at 800W per hour. When convenient, I plug in to shore power and charge at 1800W. Its capable of pulling out 3400W from an EV charging station, though I've yet to try it. I keep it continuously charging at a trickle (100W) via the cigarette lighter. These methods are reliable and work efficiently 100% of the time. Depending on solar energy production is risky especially in the suboptimal conditions that exist in the northeast and midwest. My power station is large enough to meet my 24/7 needs for 3-4 days without starting the engine. Depending on use case, the money spent on solar panels may be better spent on batteries.

 

[user 423]

I bring water to the vehicle by using 7 gal Aqua-Tainer jugs that I can carry into readily available establishments (eg. grocery store, laundromat, restaurant) to fill.

Carry a 7-gall. Aqua-Tainer into a restaurant? OK. I leave mine in the van and refill at gas stations or C-stores that have an external tap or hose. Sometimes you have to ask for the key thingy.

 

[RearViewMirror]

Hi! I'm very new at this. I'm still in an apartment right now, but trying to figure out how I can make this work.

I don't have the ideal lifestyle for being able to go out to someplace remote for 3-4 weeks at a time. I'm not retired, and my employer wants people in the office physically 3 days a week. So I think I'm going to be more aiming towards places where you can go and plonk yourself down and they have long-term rates and in/out privileges and you can basically make it your home base. I like the idea of predictability, like, if you're getting back on a Sunday evening you'll always know where you're going back to and you know you can get a good night's sleep and get up and go to work Monday morning.

Is it a completely dumb idea to go with a van, rather than an RV? Is there some trick to finding RV parks that are ok with vans? I don't know a good web site that lists "all RV parks in an area". I've found a patchwork of different web sites and they seem to list some of the same campgrounds/parks but not always the same ones.

What about the more tent-focused kind of campgrounds? I would assume the tent-focused kind of campground doesn't care what kind of vehicle you have. (Is that true?) But I also looked at the policies of some of them near me in Maryland and they seemed to be restrictive about in/out privileges. They basically expect you to be, well, "camping", not commuting or doing errands.

Basically my heart says "van" but my practical side is saying "RV" and I don't know which side I should listen to, especially given there isn't a lot of the BLM/LTVA stuff on the east coast. I would appreciate anyone's thoughts. Thank you!

This is my take on what would be available to you. I'm not on the East coast but this should apply to everywhere. "Most" RV campsites are paid for by the night, week, or month. Once you reserve a site, that site is yours whether you are occupying it or not. You can tell whatever campsite that you choose what your plans are. If they are okay with it then you are set. If not, find a different one that will. Trust me, all they care about is your money and if you are courteous to the other campers that are staying at the park. I see no reason why they would give you any trouble with the route you want to go.

We will be doing something similar (though not for work). We have a converted 2022 Mercedes Benz 4WD Sprinter and we do plan on staying in campsites from time to time. But we will not be towing a vehicle so we will be taking the van out during the day and exploring and then we will come back to the site at night. Depending on how long we reserve that site, it will be ours for that period of time.

As far as if you want a van or RV it really depends on the amount of space "you" can make work for you. The Mercedes is perfect for my wife and I. And everything is self contained as opposed to an RV where you "have" to have hookups. The van works for us because it will take us places that a normal RV could not since it is 4WD. But... you give up space going this route. Plus we can boondock at different places since we have a large lithium battery that powers the van. Then comes the cost of the van as opposed to the price of an RV. Depending on the RV you choose, that cost could be much less than the $170,000 we paid for our conversion van. You also have to factor how much the campsite you will be staying at. Is that going to be less than where you are staying at right now? There are a lot of considerations that you have to take into account and only you can answer that question as what works best for you.

 

[RearViewMirror]

I was looking at Boondockers Welcome earlier today actually.

I think maybe there's some strategy here like: Identify a cheap campground in an inconvenient location, that's always gonna have space and that I can always use as a fallback. Then try to opportunistically spend as much of the time as possible in places that are more conveniently located, but always have the fallback available if the more convenient ones are full.

Or something. And, I mean, Boondockers Welcome also works as that kind of fallback too. Like "oh heck, it's a holiday weekend and there's no spaces anywhere" kind of thing.

I dunno. Something is gonna work out. I know I can figure out something, I'm just going to sleep on it for a few days and let things settle.

Thanks.

Something else to consider is Boondockers Welcome or Harvest Host "generally" only allow you to stay on their property for 1 (maybe 2) days. Then you have to move. We will also be using both of those options but more for traveling through to our next destination.

 

[bigskybob]

I live in south Ga. ln my camper on 19 acres of land.I am building a house for my winter home base.My property has an extra full hook up for a camper.At various times I have thought about letting folks camp here for a few nights for no charge.If I could be sure l would get quality people I would like to help someone out.Unfortunately,I have to consider that I might be setting myself up to be taken advantage of.What if I get someone who leaves in the middle of the night with some of my expensive tools?Someone who breaks into my camper while I am gone and steals my valuables?Someone who trips and falls and sues me?Someone whose rig breaks down here and they don't have money for repairs?Someone who gets mad at me and attacks me or my wife.There are just too many risks involved.I think I'll just keep giving money to charity to help.

 

[RearViewMirror]

I live in south Ga. ln my camper on 19 acres of land.I am building a house for my winter home base.My property has an extra full hook up for a camper.At various times I have thought about letting folks camp here for a few nights for no charge.If I could be sure l would get quality people I would like to help someone out.Unfortunately,I have to consider that I might be setting myself up to be taken advantage of.What if I get someone who leaves in the middle of the night with some of my expensive tools?Someone who breaks into my camper while I am gone and steals my valuables?Someone who trips and falls and sues me?Someone whose rig breaks down here and they don't have money for repairs?Someone who gets mad at me and attacks me or my wife.There are just too many risks involved.I think I'll just keep giving money to charity to help.

I think if I was in your position I would feel the exact same way. I would love to help people out. And the vast majority of people that live on the road full time are genuinely good people. But for all the reasons you mentioned... I would feel just like you. I think you're smart for playing it safe.

 

[CarmeCoolidge]

I've been rocking a van in campgrounds for a while and never had an issue with them accepting me, but they are short-term mostly 14 day maximums. Van builds are super flexible so consider your situation carefully. The upside to staying in one small region for the most part is that you can specialize the van build for that area. Since you will be leaving frequently, you may want minimal outdoor setup which would require a larger vehicle. The climate is a big factor to consider as well. This all makes me think of a stealth camper setup. Since everything is selfcontained (besides solar panels on the roof) you can make it look like a regular van and park in town. This heavily depends on your area as well and I'm not personally too experienced with it, though the best advice I've seen is to park late and leave early. Campground is also a great option depending on your area. If you have multiple campgrounds within acceptable distance to your place of work, you can just bounce between the two, spending two weeks at each.

Campgrounds are probably the closest thing to predictable and home basey setups that I know of. Private campgrounds could be much better, but i don't have much experience with those, would just depend what is near you. You could also possibly volunteer for the campground as a host and get a free spot with hookups. Responsibilities differ depending on the campground but it would be something like cleaning the restrooms, answering questions, and helping with general stuff for campers (not usually that much camper issues even with a lot of people but luck varies).
Biggest downsides to campground living tend to be location, a lot of campgrounds are in out of the way places, and the other people I guess. I haven't really had much issue with anyone but some people don't like neighbors or the sound of kids playing lol.