We Swapped Hotels for Truck Camping and loved it!
- Amanda Pimentel
- Dec 31, 2023
- 5 min read
2023 was the year we adventured through 28 states with our dog in our Truck Camper. What a journey it was, we even went to Canada… twice. Throughout my journey I learned a few things and I learned some things before we even left.
In January 2023 we embarked on our long term journey in our Truck camper. We started our journey in January and made it back by early November 2023. We stayed in one cabin for one night during our journey and our camper became our home quickly. We were in the camper for about 2 months before we stayed in the cabin and after that we decided that we preferred the camper.
PJ and I had already been full time traveling since 2021 where we backpacked through Europe. At this point we had been to nearly 20 countries together and decided that we wanted to travel more within our own country, The United States of America. We wanted to see some very popular national parks / state parks, hidden gems and to see small towns across the country. Our journey included 28 states and we popped into Canada a couple times along the northern border.
Because we travel full time there are certain things that get a little mundane like going from hotel to hotel or city to city. Quickly you’ll realize that cities have a lot of similar qualities even though they are so diverse. We decided to get a truck camper and truck that would fit our lifestyle most and that would basically be one of the smallest campers we could find.
When we sold all of our belongings we knew that this would be a possibility in the future. We sold both of our vehicles when we left but neither of them were suitable for the life we wanted. Originally we were torn between a RV, van life and Truck camping. The ultimate reason we picked truck camping was because we could remove the camper and explore rougher terrain which we wouldn’t be able to do in a van or RV since 4x4 and AWD are very expensive in these vehicles.
We officially bought the camper at the end of 2022 and knew that it would be the perfect lifestyle for us if we could go between truck camping and backpacking. If you were wondering, I’m writing this from somewhere in Southeast Asia.
Some things I will cover first are:
Truck camper life / van life / rv life lifestyle
Weather
Truck Campers are small (good & bad)
1. Truck Camper Life / Van Life / Rv Life Lifestyle
Can be Any Price Range
During our trip we stayed overnight in a variety of places. We have stayed in parking lots, rest stops, boondocked, RV parks, trailer parks, in a cabin, National Park campgrounds, and State Park campgrounds.
Prices range from $0-$45 a night and $130-$330 a week. We have seen monthly prices for $300 a month plus electricity.... Not Bad! I will say there was a huge advantage of being in a truck camper because many RV spaces are much too small for large RV’s and these spots are typically open the same day or a day or two in advance.
The key to our happiness has been mixing it up. We would stay at an RV park to have more privileges and then boondocks for a few days (thanks to solar power and our awesome generator). If we are going long distance and only want to stay somewhere for a night then we typically look for a free option like a rest stop for the night or a Walmart parking lot.
When we want to see the surrounding area or going to difficult to reach areas we book an RV site and drop our camper so we can take our 4x4 out for a good adventure. In order for us to do this we have to get a place that has electricity for our electric jacks.
PRO TIP: Weekly deals are easy to find... unless you are in Arizona for the snowbird season or the northern states for the summer. When you move slower, you save more money on gas and you don't wear yourself out as fast which is honestly the key of long term travel.
2. Weather is Absolutely Unpredictable
Because our journey started in January we have been faced with some terrible weather but hey that's the name of the game. We started our journey in California and have taken the most southern route you can take across the United States.
Even though we took the most southern route we have seen days of rain, snow, and high winds. My least favorite is the wind and when you are in a flat area like the desert, there is a lot of wind. We would look at the weather ahead of time and most of the time it was incorrect. Down to the weather on the day of our trip and even “live” weather.
If you are planning on living this lifestyle get yourself a rain poncho and at least 1 outfit for every type of weather! Rain boots are great to have as well. Another tip is to always do maintenance on your RV and make sure your sealant is good, we redo ours slightly ahead of the schedule provided to use when we are actively full time in the truck camper. You can thank me later.
3. Truck Campers Are Small
We went with a small camper specifically because we wanted a Chevy Silverado 1500 extended cab. This eliminated a lot of great truck campers for us but if we didn’t go with a truck camper we would have had to tow a camper and we just didn’t want to deal with that. We are both young (early 30’s now) so it wasn’t too much trouble for us at all since we like being outside.
We decided to opt out of a bathroom, slides, and extra space because we wanted to be able to use the truck by itself without spending an arm and a leg on gas. Obviously there are trade offs but you’ll quickly realize that the United States is designed very friendly to RV’s, at least the small ones.
The combo we have has been perfect for us but because we have faced lots of bad weather causing us to spend a lot of time in the camper which would have been more enjoyable with more space of course. I don’t think this will be the case for everyone since most people chase good weather when they live in a camper full time.
Thankfully our time in Europe and our combined lifestyle have actually made us fond of minimalism and smaller living spaces... but if you're planning on going from a big space into a tiny space, you will indeed have to adjust. To warm up to the transition we went on our honeymoon in my converted SUV before we decided to sell it and hold onto the cash until we were ready to get a camper. I would highly suggest you do something like this or even go regular camping. The outdoors can be brutal or “too much” for some people to handle and it is better than you find out about that before you invest 5 figures or more into a camper.
It will take time but hey, it may be the life you always dreamed of, I know it's mine.
There are so many things to learn about this lifestyle and there are many things that you will learn about yourself along the way. Whether you are dreaming of this life or you just want to give it a try there are so many considerations.
I hope you enjoyed reading this and found it insightful! Don't forget to follow my blog and check out my YouTube Channel and subscribe if you like it!
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