In November 2019, Ro ( @doggirl09 ) and I ( @DavidsTravelTales ) took a bucket list trip to New Zealand. Ro did a lot of research before we left. One of things she figured out was that traveling through New Zealand in a campervan was not only more affordable than staying in hotels and Airbnb’s, but it was probably also going to be more fun. I had my reservations. It was still expensive, in my mind, to live out of a van for 2 weeks. How was it going to work with the bathroom, showers, and meals? Would we be cold on the South Island of New Zealand? Would it even be comfortable? Would the price of the van and the tab for the total miles driven be worth it?
We picked our campervan up in Christchurch, NZ. Since we’d been in a rental car for the preceding week or so, we were already accustomed to driving on the left side of the road. The campervan drove easily and wasn’t much different that driving a car if you could remember that you ARE bigger than a car, which figures in to passing, parking, and navigating gas pumps. We made our way down the coast to Moeraki where we were booked at The Moeraki Village Holiday Park. https://www.moerakivillageholidaypark.co.nz/
This Park, as well as most Holiday Parks, had clean restrooms with hot showers, power hookups, and other amenities such as WIFI, a laundry Room, and a kitchen for use. Most holiday parks have these things and often other perks such as picnic tables at your site, a pool, or sometimes even a social room that includes TV, comfy couches, and food and beverage for purchase. Probably the most appealing thing about this park was the location. We overlooked the ocean and harbor and were a short walking distance to one of the best restaurants I’ve ever eaten at. Moeraki is a small town. There isn’t a Hilton there. I would imagine there might be a few places you could stay, but our views and comfort in the van were incredible. We might not have even been able to stay here if we didn’t have the campervan.
The van life dream was born. It was still in its infancy and mainly we were wondering if we could do this in other countries. We also wondered why we’d never heard much about campervans in the US. Maybe it is naivety, but I really only knew about tent camping, fifth wheels pulled beyond a pickup, and monster RVs that the United States Forest Service was constantly being challenged to accommodate in campgrounds and on their roads.
The pandemic arrived in early 2020 and changed more things than you could list in a lifetime. For many, they were stuck at home for the better part of the year and had to figure out life again. We mostly stayed at home, except for grocery runs, and certainly didn’t travel much. On the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we picked up our Covid puppy. ( @sanni_the_rottie ).
With a focus on staying close and raising a new puppy and family member, we still stayed home in 2021, but we were starting to think ahead. We wanted to travel but how could we do that with a new dog? It is getting easier to put your pooch on your flight, but it can be stressful for the dog and expensive. Not all hotels are pet friendly, either. We knew we wanted to take our dog with us most of the time. We remembered the campervan experience in New Zealand and that we’d proven out that it was more affordable and quainter than staying in hotels. You could get off grid in a campervan. You could sleep under the stars and be comfortable. You could drive to dinner without a hitch-up/pull out, back in/un-hitch/level logistical exercise. Our dog would also be comfortable in our home-away-from-home and not be locked in the room in a strange hotel with strange sounds and smells. We wouldn’t need to take an Uber or Lyft from the hotel to dinner. We could even find great places to legally and safely park and spend the night for free. We could travel as much or as little as we wanted and not be beholden to an airline schedule or check-out/check-in times
In February 2022 we decided to make the van life happen and we purchased a 2022 Thor Sequence 20A Motorcoach. It has its own 4G satellite, which almost insures cell phone reception across the Lower 48 states. It uses this 4G service to create a rolling WIFI hotspot as well. We now had the ability to stay connected and take our dog on our trips. We could now go see our family and friends without imposing on them. We could see people and places that are difficult or impossible to fly to.
Ro and I both work from home. At some point we can explain what we do but it is complicated enough that when our parents are asked, “What do Dave and Ro do for a living?”, they just say, “Oh, they work from home.” If we have WIFI connectivity and cell phone service, we can perform our jobs. We have the flexibility to work from home and that means we can work from anywhere. On our first trip together in March 2022 we went to the Pacific Northwest. It was our “trial” run. We wanted to see how our dog did in the campervan and how was the ability to work impacted. I lost connectivity for a grand total of 8 minutes on the trip. It was in area where it didn’t surprise me, we lost our signal. My manager commented to me that my WebEx picture and voice were exceptional and that he wouldn’t have known I was gone if I hadn’t have told him. At one point he said he saw shadows going across my face and he knew that the campervan was moving while I was on the meeting WebEx.
Oh, and much, much more on New Zealand later. We will be putting together a series of blog posts that cover our New Zealand trip, complete with recommendations and photos. Stay tuned for that. Ultimately our goal with this blog is to share experiences and hear about yours. We want to share tips and tricks. We’d also love to share our challenges and ask for help. We want to be able to call out those people and places that make a difference. We travel to learn, explore, be empathetic, and become better ourselves.