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As a long time full timer in the RV…you are right. A 5ver is really the closest thing to a sticks and bricks house for long term living or travel. Class As are too much like living in a tube and while a travel trailer, class C, or van are fine for a weekend or even a couple of weeks…they’re just inadequate for lifestyle as opposed to vacation.
Graham,
That’s not accurate, here’s a link to BLM policies regarding human waste for dispersed camping:
I did exactly that a couple of times this spring. Once while shooting a roadside sage grouse lek and another time with burrowing owls. I just hang some camo cut out cloth over the open sliding door, sit in a low camp chair with my 600mm f/4. It can work great for wildlife off the side of backroads that doesn’t move around too much.
1968 called. They want their van back! ;-)The last van I owned was a 1957 VW bus, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it for photography. Great for parties though.
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Lewis does a lot of photography on the American River from his kayak.
Yes, I was thinking about doing that, too, as needed. I'm looking at getting one walk-on solar panel to be able to sit on the roof, they cost more than the non-walk on type. Still under consideration with the builder.
Sprinter vans, particularly the four-wheel-drive ones can make very good camping vehicles particularly Boondocking if outfitted properly. However, I sold my sprinter camper van in favor of a travel trailer, for me setting up a base camp and working out of that is easier. However, that’s just me. I would suggest that you be mindful of the cost of a sprinter van, particularly the cost of service. Be prepared, depending on where you go for $1000 oil changes. Another factor in getting rid of the sprinter was having a wheel sensor go out in Scotts Bluff Nebraska while on our way to YNP and having to drive 400 miles out of our way to get it repaired. Even in that situation, I had to work some magic with a Mercedes rep that I happen to know to be able to get them to do the work quickly. If I hadn’t done that, it was a 4-6 week wait. Mercedes is also very picky about their warranty if they don’t do the work. You have to be careful because non-Mercedes service can often times avoid a warranty. You can get Ford or Chevy worked on anywhere.
I have a 16 foot Jay Micro camper. It's a 3 season camper. I can back it or turn around anywhere. I like that I can drop it for the day, take my vehicle out for photos. Fresh water is 45 gallons. Solar panels. It came with a TV, which I removed and replaced with lockable shelving for my photo gear. Small generator and/or portable battery units that hook up to solar to charge all my gear. I take this everywhere.
My wife and I have a 2021 Leisure Travel Van Unity Murphy Bed that we use exclusively for birding/photography trips. We've been to the UP in Michigan, out to the Outer Banks, Virginia, North and South Carolina and Florida(so far) and find it works perfectly for use. Plenty of storage, lots of storage space, solar, generator, etc. and your own bathroom. at 25' long is still fits into many places comfortably. Wildlife drives are mostly doable also. This is a sprinter based RV, 2 wheel drive with a turbo diesel engine. It has been nearly perfect for our birding adventures! We frequent NE Ohio most of the time and hit the Lake Erie birding trail spots, such as Maumee Bay, Magee Marsh, etc.
If we were interested in some sort of RV for short trips…photography or otherwise…a small travel trailer would be our choice over a van conversion or class B/C. We fulltimed in a 40 foot 5ver for 8 years and for us leaving the rig at the RV park and taking the truck or whatever for outings would be the preferred solution by far. Nothing wrong with the van types…but they’re generally more expensive and while they do have tanks…if you’re in an RV campground you’re going to want utilities unless it’s a single night stay…and unhooking and rebooking all that up twice a day would get old quickly. When we had multi day travel periods…we always got a pull through and put the landing gear down but did not unhitch and generally made sure we had water and empty tanks and hooked up only power. Our style means that we would not even really consider a van conversion…but a lot of people like them.
Please note that the OP in Post #1 indicated she had already bought a Sprinter van..........and is seeking ideas about customizing IT.
True…but I figured we had digressed into a general pros and cons discussion for other people and/or the archives
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