Finding a balance between camping and driving.

[California Overland]

Curious if y'all follow a plan when doing a longer route like a BDR or similar multi day/week route that has a set start and end point or do you just wing it and travel and camp when the moment strikes?

Of course, the amount of free time will affect the amount of time spent traveling, so do you push everyday to finish an entire route in your allotted time or do you enjoy the sights, maybe not finishing the route in one go, and take successive trips to complete the route?

The desire to explore new road everyday is strong, but the unpacking and packing up of everything on the daily gets old fairly quick.

Last summer we did a 6 day base camp trip where we stayed in one place and just did day trips, and a 9 day trip where we moved everyday. By the end of the 9 day trip we were burnt (we traveled through 3 states in 9 days) . This summer, 'rona willing, we'll have three weeks of consecutive travel. I'm toying with the idea of limiting travel to no more than two days in a row, followed by a complete rest day in one spot. Or, traveling everyday but limiting the drive time to no more than a few hours, maybe 2 hours max depending on terrain.

Anyways, wondering what everyone else does in this situation?

 

[southerntaco]

Hi there, I’m no expert and I can’t say it’s easy unpacking and packing everyday but we had a 20 day trip last year with unpacking and packing almost everyday and I think we did ok. We have a rooftop tent so unpacking was a 5 minute setup. While I’d set the tent my wife would prep the kitchen out the bed of the truck. As long as we had everything clean and organized before sleep time the next morning was a breeze. Now about planning your day, we planned around 2-3 extra hours per day to explore in case we found something cool we wanted to see. Sometimes it was enough, sometimes we got to setup camp at 9pm lol. Make your plans so you have an idea of where you will spend the nights, fill up, but don’t be so strict with it to the point you will miss an amazing sunset over getting early to a camping spot. Have fun and make memories even if it costs you a night in the gas station from place to place lol ✌

 

[Narwhal]

Curious if y'all follow a plan when doing a longer route like a BDR or similar multi day/week route that has a set start and end point or do you just wing it and travel and camp when the moment strikes?

Of course, the amount of free time will affect the amount of time spent traveling, so do you push everyday to finish an entire route in your allotted time or do you enjoy the sights, maybe not finishing the route in one go, and take successive trips to complete the route?

The desire to explore new road everyday is strong, but the unpacking and packing up of everything on the daily gets old fairly quick.

Last summer we did a 6 day base camp trip where we stayed in one place and just did day trips, and a 9 day trip where we moved everyday. By the end of the 9 day trip we were burnt (we traveled through 3 states in 9 days) . This summer, 'rona willing, we'll have three weeks of consecutive travel. I'm toying with the idea of limiting travel to no more than two days in a row, followed by a complete rest day in one spot. Or, traveling everyday but limiting the drive time to no more than a few hours, maybe 2 hours max depending on terrain.

Anyways, wondering what everyone else does in this situation?

I haven’t gotten the opportunity to spend a long duration of time on the road, but I have spent over 2 weeks in the same location before and took day trips every couple of days. Unless you are on a timeline to get to a certain destination, I would say if you can spend at least a day at a predetermined site the trip dynamics might be better than winging it every night. I personally rather crush road miles in big chunks so I can enjoy the sites that I want to.

 

[Narwhal]

Hi there, I’m no expert and I can’t say it’s easy unpacking and packing everyday but we had a 20 day trip last year with unpacking and packing almost everyday and I think we did ok. We have a rooftop tent so unpacking was a 5 minute setup. While I’d set the tent my wife would prep the kitchen out the bed of the truck. As long as we had everything clean and organized before sleep time the next morning was a breeze. Now about planning your day, we planned around 2-3 extra hours per day to explore in case we found something cool we wanted to see. Sometimes it was enough, sometimes we got to setup camp at 9pm lol. Make your plans so you have an idea of where you will spend the nights, fill up, but don’t be so strict with it to the point you will miss an amazing sunset over getting early to a camping spot. Have fun and make memories even if it costs you a night in the gas station from place to place lol ✌

I love this! I have definitely spent a couple of hours at a gas station just to get a couple of hours of sleep to get back on the road to our next destination. Adventures can come in all different shapes and forms.

 

[Dave K]

I prefer the travel side more then the campsite side of things preferring to keep moving, pushing and exploring. This has pushed me to replace my current rtt with a new one that sets up and tears down easier and faster. It also dictates all of the other gear I typically use. I am trying to get better about having a defined route and goals for the day but I side track on almost anything that looks interesting. A sign promising the worlds largest catfish, a tattoo museum or the worlds only redwood tree gas station can lead me off on a 100 mile detour very easily. This can lead to some late night camp setups as well as camping in completely unplanned locations. This type of travel also leads to me traveling solo more than with groups as well. Not everyone likes a wild goose chase.

 

[jonald]

I like both, the basecamp and the caravan, but I prefer to keep moving. I enjoy the journey. I like to plan the route ahead, estimating an average of 50 mph for pavement and 10-15 mph for off pavement. That said, once I'm on the journey, it's more important to me to have fun and enjoy than to stay on schedule. Sometimes I don't make it to the end of the planned route, but it doesn't matter to me because I enjoyed the time that I had allotted.

 

[MMc]

Great question! I mostly travel to recreate, the drive was something It did to get there. Driving to remote place to play was part of the trip. If I am surfing and there is a swell, I am on the gas... Fishing not so much.

I do driving trips also. I no longer have a hard planed trip most of the time. I have a list of stuff that looks fun wile on the trip. I make a list before I go and and figure out what to do. The goal is to see stuff and have a good time. I look at the list as I go and figure out what to do next. These trips the packed lighter and less comfortable.
Think about less creature comforts on driving trips.

 

[Billiebob]

The desire to explore new road everyday is strong, but the unpacking and packing up of everything on the daily gets old fairly quick.

Agreed, which is why I tow a Square Drop. Zero set up, tear down. Park roll into bed, roll out of bed drive away. Lift the rear kitchen door, open the fridge, light the stove, wash the dishes, close the door, go. Get home uncouple go to work. Friday, hook up, stop for groceries, go.

Zero packing, the trailer is always packed. I've even started doing laundry on the road cuz you meet some cool people in the laundra mat.

I tend to do lots of driving too. Seldom in the same spot 2 nights, even attending Overland Rallies, I'm never there more than 2 nights. But I try to travel slow, never over 55, often stopping for breakfast, lunch, beer at restaurants. I eat out more camping than any other time. Another way to meet cool people. I aim for secondary highways thru small towns, never interstates. My main goal, finding ways to get to a beach or cliff to camp overnite.

Being semi retired time is never an issue. I kinda plan a route, guess how long it might take and just do it. An extra day or two is not critical. Enjoy the journey. Add side trips as I find them. Visit RV stores, Chambers on Commerce, Tourist Visitors Centers, Marinas, Museums, I like being the inquisitive tourist. People make the trip.

 

[Things]

My personal rule of thumb is I stay a day for every hour I drive from home. Not necessarily in the same area though. When I head out It takes more time to warm up my engine (diesel) than to load and make coffee and walk the dog.

As soon as I get back I reload and tank is filled and I am ready to head out again. Nothing really to unload. Unless I take my M/C

As stated above Its nice when you have a trailer or your rig is not your primary vehicle.

Any outing is a great outing!

 

[Billiebob]

A favourite reason to love a zero setup teardrop is the ability to sleep anywhere. During tourist season I'll often drive into an ocean front town that'll be so packed with tourists parking even a Wrangler with a 10' trailer is impossible. I'll leave town, find a secluded spot to camp, eat dinner, have a beer, go to bed. I always wake at 3am, so roll out of bed and drive back to that waterfront resort. Find a place to park and by 4am, be sound asleep in the trailer..... no one the wiser. I'm also an early riser so by 6am I'll be walking the beach, exploring the Marina, looking for the perfect restaurant for coffee, a muffin watching the city come to life.

In India that watching the city come to life is incredible. The poorest people sweeping up the street, shops opening, the amazing variety of vehicles making deliveries. Every morning thousands of 20# tanks of propane get delivered to the hundreds of street vendors cooking meals. And an equal number of milk cans on the next batch of trucks. In third world countries things we take for granted, gas pipe lines and refrigeration are often non existent.

But even at home, watching life return to the streets is fascinating. The cats, dogs, deer making their rounds before the crush of people arrive. The workers arriving for the morning shift. The peacefulness of reading the paper with a coffee and a muffin and knowing I'll be long gone before the craziness returns.

 

[California Overland]

I appreciate the responses from everyone. So, we do have a trailer as well.
At some point in the future I would like to get a hardtop RTT like a Baroud or Maggiolina, but for now it's the Smitty. The biggest problem with the Smitty, which causes the greatest amount of time suck, is its lack of room to allow pillows and sleeping bags to stay inside when folded up. The stock mattress in the Smitty is cuh-rap! So we have to use an inflatable, like the REI Dreamliner, which takes time to blow up and deflate, and we have to take sleeping bags and pillows in and out, which requires stuffing and un-stuffing and storing everything in bins. As you know, all of this takes a lot of time to do everyday.

I would take the stock mattress out but it serves as a vapor barrier and insulator. Does anyone have recommendations on a thinner material that could be used as a vapor barrier, but doesn't cost a lot like a CVT vapor barrier? If I could remove that stock mattress it would free up enough room to at least leave sleeping bags/ blankets in there, and maybe even pillows, when folded up. This would speed up the set up and take down of camp exponentially.

 

[billum v2.0]

Have a trailer as well. Being in the Midwest, we're 16-20 hours from where we like to go (most of the usual suspects in the western/southwestern US).

Setting up the base camp and exploring from there works well for us. Usually stay put for 3 days to a week before moving on, so limit time spent setting up/breaking down (usually a couple hours to set up/hour to break down). Jeep is free to explore/run errands/grab food/gas without having to pack up.

Most folks describe their RTT OEM mattress same as you. After experimenting with foam toppers/replacement mattresses/inflatables/etc., we stumbled into a good solution of an Exped Mat on top of our factory mattress. The factory mattress acts as insulation. Two different widths fill the entire width of the tent and allow wife and I to inflate independently, so each is happy with firmness. They deflate completely so they stay in the tent when traveling. Fill with a weird bag system, but both can be fully inflated/deflated in less than a minute.

Just experiment with different solutions. While memory foam worked, it just wasn't our solution. Replacement mattresses from various vendors were spendy, and not a big improvement over OEM. We probably spent north of $1k in our search, recouping about half of that selling the losers. But it was worth it in the end.

 

[California Overland]

Have a trailer as well. Being in the Midwest, we're 16-20 hours from where we like to go (most of the usual suspects in the western/southwestern US).

Setting up the base camp and exploring from there works well for us. Usually stay put for 3 days to a week before moving on, so limit time spent setting up/breaking down (usually a couple hours to set up/hour to break down). Jeep is free to explore/run errands/grab food/gas without having to pack up.

Most folks describe their RTT OEM mattress same as you. After experimenting with foam toppers/replacement mattresses/inflatables/etc., we stumbled into a good solution of an Exped Mat on top of our factory mattress. The factory mattress acts as insulation. Two different widths fill the entire width of the tent and allow wife and I to inflate independently, so each is happy with firmness. They deflate completely so they stay in the tent when traveling. Fill with a weird bag system, but both can be fully inflated/deflated in less than a minute.

Just experiment with different solutions. While memory foam worked, it just wasn't our solution. Replacement mattresses from various vendors were spendy, and not a big improvement over OEM. We probably spent north of $1k in our search, recouping about half of that selling the losers. But it was worth it in the end.

I have an Exped as well, they're great. But it's a single pad so we use the queen sized Dreamliner in the RTT. Even when fully deflated there's really not enough room for anything more than the stock Mattress, deflated Dreamliner, and fitted sheet. It would be great to be able to leave sleeping bags and pillows in there when it's folded but it's not possible with that stock mattress.

 

[Road]

Curious if y'all follow a plan when doing a longer route like a BDR or similar multi day/week route that has a set start and end point or do you just wing it and travel and camp when the moment strikes?

Of course, the amount of free time will affect the amount of time spent traveling, so do you push everyday to finish an entire route in your allotted time or do you enjoy the sights, maybe not finishing the route in one go, and take successive trips to complete the route?

The desire to explore new road everyday is strong, but the unpacking and packing up of everything on the daily gets old fairly quick.

Last summer we did a 6 day base camp trip where we stayed in one place and just did day trips, and a 9 day trip where we moved everyday. By the end of the 9 day trip we were burnt (we traveled through 3 states in 9 days) . This summer, 'rona willing, we'll have three weeks of consecutive travel. I'm toying with the idea of limiting travel to no more than two days in a row, followed by a complete rest day in one spot. Or, traveling everyday but limiting the drive time to no more than a few hours, maybe 2 hours max depending on terrain.

Anyways, wondering what everyone else does in this situation?

.

Well, the whole idea of "overlanding" and having a rig capable of long distance travel and multiple stops is to make it easy and efficient to travel long distances AND do multiple stops, no matter how much of either or both each day. So you don't get burned out or have to plan around not getting burned out, and so you don't have to plan around a certain time frame. Right?

If I had to subject myself to any of those constrictions I would not enjoy myself anywhere near as much as I do. When I head out it is most always for more than a month; usually 4, 6, or 8 months. I researched and designed my set up (below) so I could drive all day and have only half an hour before sleeping to setup and eat and be in bed, OR drive an hour and set up basecamp for multiple nights, and not feel like I was taking too long to do it either way.

If you're spending so much time packing and unpacking at each stop that you have to worry about how much time it's taking and if you should be driving more or less, than I have to say you're doing it wrong. It will get better, though.

Letting the process of packing for an adventure evolve naturally and become more efficient takes time, and takes doing it over and over. Your gear will tell you where it wants to live, so you don't have to waste time digging to unpack it. Your gear will tell you, too, if it's better off being left at home.

If I feel like I have to push myself in any regard and it is depriving me of enjoying some other part of the adventure, whether driving or exploring, then I'm doing it wrong and I figure out where I need to change my setup.

I love how my setup has evolved over the years; how flexible it is, and how easily I can use all or part and not feel like I'm digging or taking an undue amount of time to set up, or tear down, or get ready to move, or set up to stay longer.



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Stay safe, stay clean, stay healthy!


.

Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

roaddude.com

 

[California Overland]

.

Well, the whole idea of "overlanding" and having a rig capable of long distance travel and multiple stops is to make it easy and efficient to travel long distances AND do multiple stops, no matter how much of either or both each day. So you don't get burned out or have to plan around not getting burned out, and so you don't have to plan around a certain time frame. Right?

If I had to subject myself to any of those constrictions I would not enjoy myself anywhere near as much as I do. When I head out it is most always for more than a month; usually 4, 6, or 8 months. I researched and designed my set up (below) so I could drive all day and have only half an hour before sleeping to setup and eat and be in bed, OR drive an hour and set up basecamp for multiple nights, and not feel like I was taking too long to do it either way.

If you're spending so much time packing and unpacking at each stop that you have to worry about how much time it's taking and if you should be driving more or less, than I have to say you're doing it wrong. It will get better, though.

Letting the process of packing for an adventure evolve naturally and become more efficient takes time, and takes doing it over and over. Your gear will tell you where it wants to live, so you don't have to waste time digging to unpack it. Your gear will tell you, too, if it's better off being left at home.

If I feel like I have to push myself in any regard and it is depriving me of enjoying some other part of the adventure, whether driving or exploring, then I'm doing it wrong and I figure out where I need to change my setup.

I love how my setup has evolved over the years; how flexible it is, and how easily I can use all or part and not feel like I'm digging or taking an undue amount of time to set up, or tear down, or get ready to move, or set up to stay longer.


View attachment 151276
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View attachment 151278


Stay safe, stay clean, stay healthy!


.

Roaddude - On the Road In North America - ROADDUDE

Roaddude - Traveling Photographer/Writer/Artist On the Road In North America. Gear, reviews, people, places, and culture.

roaddude.com

Good perspective. Very true. We're evolving as time goes on, taking out stuff we don't need, adding things that improve our enjoyment. If we could set up and tear down camp in 20 minutes it would make moving on a daily basis far less arduous.

 

[Billiebob]

I think a goal of mine is to be invisible. To park without attracting attention. To go anywhere, everywhere with independence. Not there yet since my Square Drop and Wrangler are not quite urban camo...... Maybe this is a new goal. Might need to reevaluate how I do it, but I do want to travel incognito.

Years ago I managed taverns and booked bands. They arrived in all kinds of contraptions but the one I most remember was a band who had an old Mr Christies "you make great cookies" 5 ton truck..... with the labels still on it. While other bands vans, busses, trucks got stolen these guys laughed and said no one even thinks a "Mr Christies" cookie van has $500K of audio and lighting equipment in it. That was 40 years ago. I've thought about that every time I buy something since.

Like I said, I might have to reevaluate what I drive.... become invisible. But this does it for me for convenience, ability to travel without any packing or setup. Not sure how much attention it grabs. Probably less if I just painted it all black.

Ramblings of a senior, sorry.



I do like the peacefulness of camping, sleeping free in the wilderness, exploring the vastness of North America but that isolation is just the economic way to explore the culture and humanity of our society. It is the people, the diversity I overland for.

I love my rig for the ability to set up or go in less than a minute.

 

[Billiebob]

If you're spending so much time packing and unpacking at each stop that you have to worry about how much time it's taking and if you should be driving more or less, than I have to say you're doing it wrong.

Best Well Said Overlanding statement ever !!!!

 

[Dave K]

Grey Man Overland?

 

[MMc]

I think a goal of mine is to be invisible. To park without attracting attention. To go anywhere, everywhere with independence. Not there yet since my Square Drop and Wrangler are not quite urban camo...... Maybe this is a new goal. Might need to reevaluate how I do it, but I do want to travel incognito.

Years ago I managed taverns and booked bands. They arrived in all kinds of contraptions but the one I most remember was a band who had an old Mr Christies "you make great cookies" 5 ton truck..... with the labels still on it. While other bands vans, busses, trucks got stolen these guys laughed and said no one even thinks a "Mr Christies" cookie van has $500K of audio and lighting equipment in it. That was 40 years ago. I've thought about that every time I buy something since.

Like I said, I might have to reevaluate what I drive.... become invisible.

View attachment 151282

I know a couple that have company logos on the van and trailer. How about a seed company for your rig?

 

[Prstone50]

The older I get the slower I go. I love the driving, the miles and exploring. I don’t want any deadlines anymore, the only plan I want is to not set up camp in the dark anymore. Nope, I’m going to set up with 2 or more hours of daylight left to eat without a flashlight lol. 30 years ago I would run and run and sleep in the car and run some more... now I like to chill and enjoy life a different way. To each his own and our choices change and our lives change.