Pop up camper , are there wise and safe ?

[Karlamaria]

I really want the van life, but I just don’t know how to go about converting a van into a home, and there for, I got some good advice... got to RTR and try it to see if the van life is for me. I was thinking of pulling a pop up tent camper. Any thoughts on using these ? Will I be safe and can I run a generator for fan, or something to keep cool ? I’m from Montana, we are used to the cool, not so much the hot lol

 

[highdesertranger]

what do you need to feel safe from? I am asking because a tent won't stop a bear. but there are no bears at RTR. well not any actual bears. I also don't know what you consider hot but 99% of people will say it's not hot in Quartzsite in January. but if you need to run a generator there will be an area for that. highdesertranger

 

[Rabbit]

You might also consider a hard-side popup; A-Liner is one well-respected brand among several. I was looking at these very hard myself before deciding to convert a cargo trailer.

 

[VanForNow]

The type of towed rig you are describing is a popup tent trailer. A slide-in camper mounted on a pickup, whether hard or soft sided, is a popup truck camper.

 

[ckelly78z]

From what I gather about RTR, the winds can become intense (in tents) at times, and will make life miserable for those without solid walls. There is no good way of securing a canvas tent trailer from cold/hot weather, or someone who wants to steal your stuff. I camped for 30 years in "popup" campers, and was never so glad to finally get a hard top trailer. We never had any problem with security, or staying warm/cool, but we were generally on a site with electric.

Generators are generally frowned upon when they run constantly.

 

[kygreg]

A pop-up camper for the long term may not be the best option, but for a 2 week period, no problem, certainly better than a tent. I'm going for the same reason you are, to look at as many different set-ups as I can to shorten the learning curve of the travel life. I'll be in a tent because that's what I have. I also know I might have to sleep in the car if the wind gets very bad, I'll live.

 

[sephson]

I just camp in my car. It took a bit of work to get it to the point where I could live out of it for a few weeks at a time, but it's actually quite comfortable.

At last year's RTR, one of my RTR neighbors flew down then rented a Budget cargo van and bought some camping gear when he got to Arizona just to test the waters and see if the van life was actually what he wanted. When he left to go back home, he put most of that camping gear in the free pile near the main campfire. He had a blast and is currently in the process of converting a van to live in full time.

So if you're wanting to test the water and maybe just learn a bit at the RTR, but aren't quite prepared to go all in, you can do it with out too much of a financial investment.