From Tent Camping to Minivan Camping: Our First Simple Transformation
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Last weekend was our first experience from tent camping to minivan camping. It was hot, cold, and a bit complicated, but we learned our lessons for the next trips from this simple transformation. We also think it will be easier once the weather is cooling down in the fall or springtime. Find out why by keep reading this article.
From Tent Camping to Minivan Camping
Of all the websites we searched about transforming your minivan to camper van, they’re all for couple travelers. None of them for family of 3 and a dog like us. It means, we can’t transform our Toyota Sienna minivan to camper van before we leave for the trip, since our son and dog will still need a place to sit safely at the back.
So, what did we do?
From hours of brainstorming, we decided to take the middle seats off and leave the back one on because we can fold it down whenever we arrive at the destination. Then we would lay a full-size air mattress on the floor of our minivan for our bed, and would use 2 footlockers and a piece of plywood on top of it for our son to sleep. This sleeping platform will be put behind the front seats. For the dog, another piece of plywood to put on a passenger seat at the front.
After we put the air mattress in the back of the van and tried to lie on it, we decided it’s not the right choice for us. When we turned around, the sound from the air mattress was really disturbing. Nobody would be able to sleep. We decided to use sleeping pads like when we did tent camping.
A trip to home improvement store made us change the sleeping arrangement for our son. Two footlockers were too wide for the minivan. We found plastic containers that were sturdy enough for him to sleep on, where we could store our sleeping gears and food during the drive. As for the plywood, we wanted to use a 1-inch thick one for our son sleeping pad but it was too heavy. So, we used the ½-inch one instead.
When my husband done cutting the plywood and our son tried laying on it and said it’s good (with a sleeping pad on top of the wood), we thought we’re good to go until…
A week before we left for the camping, I checked the weather forecast and it said the temperature would be in the upper 90s! Oh, no!! After all the preparation? My husband said he has a small AC window unit that was perfect for the minivan. So, he worked on it during weekend and after worked. And I tell you what. It’s not easy, my friends!!
My husband had to build a platform for the AC so it wouldn’t move when it runs. He used a plywood that was slightly bigger than the AC and drilled holes at both of the corners. Then he tied ropes from both corners to the van to hold the unit, and put two pieces PVC from inside to keep it sturdy. He also cut a piece of rubber block and put it between the plywood and the window. After that he built a wooden frame to cover the rest of the van’s window. Phew! A lot of work. I know.
Minivan Camping: Our First Simple Transformation
As predicted, the temperature on the day we went camping was in the upper 90s. We weren’t in a hurry, so we drove around the park first since we couldn’t go anywhere once we transformed our minivan to camping van.
We went to Meridian State Park where Texas Prairie and Hill Country meet. It’s about 1,5 hours drive from Ft. Worth, and an hour drive from where we live. A small park with only around 5 miles total of hiking trails. We rented a site with an electric hookup because we had the AC unit with us.
First thing we did was to take everything out of the car and folded the back seats. Then we put foam mats on the floor of the van, pumped the sleeping pads, set it above the foam mats, and covered them with bed sheet. Next, the bed for our son. We just put the plywood on top of the containers and covered it with a bed sheet. After that came the hardest part, setting the AC on the window. We set it up just like when we tried it at home. Last thing we did inside the minivan was preparing a sleeping platform for our dog at the front seat.
Remember! We did it all when the temperature was still in the 90s and humidity was high! We were hot and sweat! Once the AC set and ran, our son when inside to cooling down and reading his book.
Then we set an awning along one side of the car for the dog’s crate. Yes, we brought it along in case he didn’t want to sleep in the car. Also, if it’s raining, we could put the chuck box, lawn chairs, and containers underneath it.
From Tent Camping to Minivan Camping: Sleeping Through the Night?
As always, we went to bed early during camping. One of the things I like about camping.
By the time I got back from the restroom, the dog was already in the car. He didn’t mind, it’s just they had to carry him inside. I didn’t call his name when I got into the car because I didn’t want to make him thinking about moving to the back with us. He sleeps alone at home, so he has to sleep on his own bed, too while we’re camping.
The AC wasn’t cold when we went to bed. Oh, no! “Is something wrong with it? Will it be like this all night long?” questions played in my mind until I fell asleep.
Not sure how long after we fell asleep, our son turned around on his bed and caused the plywood fell to our legs. Ouch!
Hours later I woke up again from my sleep. This time because the cold started to kick in. I grabbed an extra bed sheet from under my feet and wrapped it all over my body but it didn’t work well. I woke up probably after every 15 minutes because it was really cold. At one point our son woke me up, looking for a blanket that we didn’t bring along with us. (We didn’t bring blankets because we thought it’s on upper 90s and it wouldn’t be that cold in the car.) I gave him another extra bed sheet. Then I heard my husband woke up and opened the pillow-blanket that I didn’t know was in the van. Not long after that I could hear their heavy breathing while I still struggled with the cold. Not fair at all.
I looked outside through the window. A lot of stars playing up there, but no Milky Way. Then I fell asleep again. When I woke up and sat again, I peered to the front seat and looked like our dog was frozen. He was sleeping right in front of the AC. Poor puppy. Finally, I decided to go outside and waited until everyone else awake. I grabbed my cell phone and thought I could text my sister on the other side of the world so I wouldn’t get bored. When I checked the clock in my cell, it’s only 5! Ugh… It’s an hour early from my normal wake up time.
Before long, my husband woke up and followed me outside. He asked what happened and I said it’s too cold inside. He said I could turn down the temperature, but I didn’t know where the knob is and I didn’t want to use the flashlight in the car. I didn’t want to disturb our son and the dog.
After my husband turned down the temperature, we walked to the restroom. The stars were no longer up above the sky. Morning was about to come.
Back to the car, I decided to go back to sleep. One hour or even half-hour extra would be good. Our son moved from his bed and curled up toward me. He was cold, too. The dog was already woke up because of all the commotions, so my husband took him out and they walked to the lake.
What We Learned from Tent Camping to Minivan Camping
From this first experience that far from perfect, here are things we learned that we will improve for the next trips:
- We will carve the plywood that our son used for sleeping to fit the top of the containers. That way it will stay sturdy even though he turns around.
- We will leave the chuck box at home. It’s too heavy. We will use plastic containers instead and a small aluminum table for the camping stove in case there’s no picnic table at the park.
- Bring blankets even though it’s upper 90s during the day. (Blanket for the dog, too.)
- Use the back door to get in and out of the van.
- Work for better insulation around the AC.
All in all, we think our first experience from tent camping to minivan camping went well. Coming fall or spring it will be better since we can leave the AC at home. The sleeping setting will be easy and fast, and won’t be a hurdle to take down the sleeping arrangement when we have to drive the next day.
Have you ever done minivan camping before? Any ideas for us? Just leave your comment below and I would be happy to read them. Thank you!
Oh, don’t forget to pin the image below for your future reference and help me spread this experience. Thank you again!
I appreciate your article. Most minivan camping posts I find, like you said, are for two people. I have a sienna and will need to use the back seats for the drive, so our ‘camper’ has to be set up at the site. Thanks for the ideas!
You are welcome!
Wow! You’re really brave to do minivan camping and for transforming your van in a mini camping car! I would need to sleep in a real bed in a hotel, where I can shower etc. Haha… I think we slept in our car only once when I was 19 while moving our stuff to university.
Haha… I like camping, so it doesn’t matter to me. As for shower, if more than one day, I prefer to find a campground with a hot shower.
It was really interesting readinng about youur transition from tent to minivan camping. I must say you guys have been really resourceful and thought of some really brilliant and innovative ideas. Of course it is always a learning experience and one learns from trial and error, and that is where the fun is.
Interesting approach. We lived in a small van during the summer in Australia (40’c+) and found an industrial fan worked well – we used the Ryobi One+ 18v rechargeable. The AC unit seems like a lot of hassle and weight for one night. Welcome to van camping though! It’s highly addictive!
It was a try out and it worked well. We plan a road trip in July but we will still bring the AC unit even though the temperature will be in the 50sF/60sF over night. Just in case. I will check that industrial fan though. Thanks for the input.
This transformation is very crafty. However I think I will opt for an already equipped minivan for my trip. It’s tricky because I want comfort and a small vehicle at the same time!
A mini camper van is our goal in a few years. 🙂
A home AC unit in a mini van? I have seen a lot of innovative ideas with people’s set ups and that is one of the most unusual…practical but nothing I have seen before. Sounds like some extra bedding and you will be very happy campers.
Yes! It will keep us cool in the summertime. And we need to think of a more comfortable bedding set up.
Thanks for sharing! There is much for me to learn from your experience. The A/C is a cool (cold) idea! I’ll be researching that one. Happy minivan camping!
Thank you! We’re going to minivan camping again, this time farther, to New Mexico and Colorado after the 4th.
Thank you for this post. I have been looking for a very basic, inexpensive example of minivan camping, for a first attempt. I want it to be easy to go between everyday vehicle use and camping. This is perfect!
You are welcome. I’m glad you found it useful.
Whoa! Minivan or RV is pretty uncommon in our country. So I hardly have any idea on how it works apart from the blogs I’ve read. This is interesting esp in the point of view of a family with kid.
Good that you checked the weather forecast at least a week before. To bad that you didn’t get to sleep properly. But then you got to understand what to do for the next trip so is still ok.
Thank you, Bhusha! I came from a country where camping in a minivan or RV is not a common thing. I’m glad now I can do it. Hopefully one day you will get a chance.
We love camping in our 1991 VW Westfalia. So many happy family travel memories.
Cool! My husband used to have a VW bus and we camped several times in it.
Wow camping in a van looks such a cool idea. Your post made me think about doing this for our next trip . Thanks a lot for inspiring
You are welcome! Tag me when you finally make it!
It’s my dream to have a camper van – although I’ve never tried it! It seems much more comfortable than a tent to me – no chance of leaks. I hope you sleep better next time!
Thank you, Emily!
How awesome! I’ve never really been big on camping (except glamping) but would totally be down for minivan camping! It’s so convenient too and you could really save big bucks on hotels. Bummer you couldn’t see the Milky Way though :/
pretty incredible, esp how you put the AC in the driver side window. Im not a camper so I dont understand why sleep in the van vs pitching a tent. is it that much more work?
We like camping, but if we have a choice of pitching a tent in the dark or just lay your sleeping mat and sleeping bag in the back of your van, we choose the later. Now we have the flexibility of arriving late in the evening. With AC, it’s a bit much work than tent, but without the AC, it’s so easy.
Wow, reading your post makes me jealous as I wanted to do this kind of tour since very long. I always love to make our mini van into a tent as it is a movable tent. As this is your first experience and you shared some of the misses and hits which is very great. A great tip on carrying blankets always and getting into the van from behind and not from sides.
Thank you, Yukti! It was a great experience on our first try. We will work more and learning from others who started this way before us. I hope one day you will make it happen.
I’m not sure I would have been able to sleep either! It looks like fun, though. Do you think you bring more equipment to make it work with the minivan or when you bring a tent? I’m asking as a camping newbie.
For sure, we don’t have to bring a tent. Just the sleeping pad and the sleeping bag. Once it’s cool outside, we don’t have to bring the AC. So, it’s less equipment.
It sounds like a decent first experience. I never could make the transition from tent to car. Plus the hot Texas temperatures didn’t help! It’ll be better next time!
Yes, we hope it will be better next time. Thank you.
I like the innovative ways you transformed your minivan to camper van, especially the beds and the AC. Your husband put in a lot of efforts to install that AC in the van. Although there were some struggles, the first experience with the camper van was good. You’ve motivated me to go for a camping trip.
Thank you, Shaily! I’m glad my husband understands me really well.
Your post made me feel like I want to go on a camping trip too. Perhaps going to have to talk to my friend with a van 🙂
Do it! 🙂
Never been car camping, and it seems like you prepared enough… but there is always something to learn from every experience.
I think you should try it one day. You will enjoy it. 😉
ive never tried camping in a mini van.. judging from your experience it’s indeed worth trying! super fun!!! i’d love to experience it too!
Go for it, girl! Maybe you will like it. At least for an experience! 😉
I have never experienced van camping yet but I think it would be fun to try it. This post made me realize how much effort and thought one must make to make van camping work. Congrats on your first try. I’m sure you will have more lessons to learn along the way and more experiences to share.
Thank you! Yes, we’re looking forward for more inputs and ideas we will find along the way.
I am not really a fan of mini van camping. We tried it before and was not really able to sleep well. I still prefer the tent or usual camping style.
Was it because you’re too tall for the van? I don’t know how long our son can do it because he will get bigger and taller soon. But he can always stay in the tent. lol.
I have never done minivan camping. It’s my dream. Your transformation seems like so much fun.. Hehe
Thank you! I hope one day you will get a chance.
Nice read that brought back memories! We used to camp a lot in tents when I was little and eventually we got a VW camping van. We could extend the roof and convert the back into sleeping space and we even had a little fridge 😉 I’m sure you’ll make it work as it’s an amazing experience I’ll still remember happily.
My husband used to have VW camping van, too. We camped in it a couple of times but he had to sell it because of his hip problem that made it hard for him to drive it (manual). Now that he’s hip back to normal, sometimes he wished he didn’t sell the VW. Haha..
It indeed is a commendable effort, Umiko.I doubt if we will ever have the patience to pull this off.Kudos to you and your family. I am sure this is an interesting way to travel and camp 🙂
Thank you, Meenakshi! We are looking forward for our next adventures in it.
This sounds so much fun!
Thanks!
I’ve been wanting to do this with my partner and our son here in the Philippines! 🙂 You shared such good ideas and I’ll see how i’ll transform our Toyota Fortuner into one in of of our upcoming roadtrips!
Let me know when you do it!
Sounds like an interesting first effort. Who would think that you would be so cold! Good luck to your future camping endeavors.
Yeap! We were wrong with the temperature inside the van. Haha… Next time will be better.
Wow! Looks like it was quite an experience! I think you guys are really adventurous to try transforming your minivan to camper van! Hopefully you guys have a better experience the next time u try it again!
We really hope for the better one next time we camp. Thanks!
It was so cool to read about your experience. I camped in a tent many times but never went for minivan camping and I learned a few useful things from your article. Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome! I’m still searching for information and I got new one for next trips.