Best Camping Vehicle of 2021: The Answer Might Surprise You
Shortly after moving to Idaho I got a sneaking suspicion that my lack of a four wheel drive vehicle was the thing holding me back from adventures. It wasn’t, but I didn’t realize that until later. My buddy Chase seems to pack more adventure into each summer (and winter) traveling and sleeping in a Subaru Outback than some people do in their whole lives (if you want more info on Subarus, check out his video on why he chose that vehicle here), but I was stuck on a truck. Since I already had a Ford Ranger that was a great commuter pickup, I looked for a project that I could work on gradually. I found a 1987 Toyota pickup for $1000 and started replacing neglected parts while searching for a topper on Craigslist. I quickly found one for $50 bucks that looked perfect. After negotiating a price that reflected the bullet holes in the top, and talking the seller into sealing them up with bathroom caulk, I drove away with a roof on wheels.
That truck has been my daily driver for the last 4 years after the reliable commuter blew a head gasket, and has taken me on a lot of adventures. Sure, it doesn’t have air conditioning, airbags, or cup holders, but it gets 20 mpg and has never let me down. I’ve slept in the back many times using my backpacking pad and sleeping bag after eating a freeze-dried meal or a gas station burrito. I may have been comfier on an air mattress that I blew up with an onboard air compressor after eating a dinner I cooked in my built-in kitchen, but I also would have been at home researching those things and trying to figure out how to afford them instead of parked in the mountains looking at the stars.
Search “overland rig,” “best budget camping vehicle,” or anything similar and you’re probably going to find a lot of trucks just like mine: a 1987 Toyota Pickup with a camper shell. They will be outfitted with aftermarket bumpers, a winch, a rooftop tent, and have been driven from Argentina to Alaska by a couple named Sage and Arrow that quit their day jobs to travel and have a passion for locally sourced coffee. Their truck has a name, and a solar panel, and maybe a built-in shower. My name isn’t Arrow, my wife’s isn’t Sage, and a casual comment from me that “I’d really like to drive across South America in the truck one day” gets me the “We are very different people” look.
I’m as prone to Instagram Envy as anybody, and sometimes I really get the itch to have a cool, Cover-of-Outside-Magazine truck in the driveway. Do you think that itch strikes when I’m unloading a kayak by a river, or setting up camp near a backcountry hot spring? No! That itch only wants scratchin’ when I’m scrolling on my phone as I put off of mowing the yard or organizing my gear pile. I’m not the guy that has a dual-battery setup for their espresso maker, a solar shower, or a girlfriend that seems to never wear pants or own a bra and spends a lot of time in golden-hour lighting. But I am the guy that sleeps in my truck next to hot springs, alpine lakes, and meandering rivers. You go, Sage and Arrow. I get inspired by you the same way I do when I read about just-discovered tribes in the Amazon. I’m not going to start wearing a loincloth and hunting with poison frog arrows, but it makes me feel good that someone does. It’s okay to have a normal life, not hate it, and just want more adventures on the side.
It’s not about the fancy truck, or the trendy gear. It’s about tossing a sleeping bag in a car and heading out of town. Odds are your current vehicle will do just fine. The Ranger I was driving before I decided I had to have four wheel drive would have worked great. A truck with a topper or a van may seem ideal -- unless you don’t own one. If you clicked on a link for “Best Camping Vehicle of 2020, the Answer Might Surprise You” it should take you to a picture of the car in your driveway. Room to stretch out in the back is a plus, but if you’ve slept in a recliner you can sleep in a front seat. Go ahead and dream about that Jeep, or that 4Runner, or that sweet Sprinter van. If you start liking the freedom of sleeping in your car so much that the vehicle starts holding you back, you’ll find your way to the one you’re lusting after. For now, if you’ve got a car and a sleeping bag, and there’s a river, some hills, a patch of woods, or a waterfall nearby, don’t let Sage and Arrow have all the fun.
