Back to Tent Camping

The ambulance/camper van is no longer in service. That doesn't mean we don't still enjoy camping. So what vehicle do we have left? It' a Nissan Versa Note, a small economy hatchback.

Before putting the van up for sale, I stripped out all the camping gear. Some of that has been repurposed for car camping. We set up the car for camping and tested it on the coast of Maine.

The Nissan has some really nice Thule racks. I built a wooden rack that sits on top of the load bars. The 105 watt solar panel is screwed to that wood rack. It's quick and easy to mount on and take off the car. It charges a type 27 Interstate deep discharge battery that's kept on the floor in the backseat. From that I have DC power to run my small compressor fridge, phones, fan, and C-pap. There's also a 400 watt inverter to power normal electrical devices like my laptop. This set up can stay right on the car, or easily moved to a sunnier spot if needed.

We also have a large tent, sleeping bags, self-inflating sleep pad, air mattress, folding chairs and all our cooking and cleaning gear. The dog came along with us, with all her stuff. We brought a 3.5 gallon water jug, swim toys, binoculars, books, clothes, and other odds and ends. Believe it or not, the car didn't even look overloaded. We were quite comfortable with that set up, even successfully weathered thunderstorms.

While our set up is pretty minimalistic, it provides plenty of comfort. I am amused by the fact that our car is smaller than most vehicles towed behind motorhomes. So what do we do if there is a long stretch of bad weather? We could always check into a nice hotel with the money we've saved by not having a huge motorhome.

-Sixbears