This way of traveling is becoming really trendy. You can see the social media such as Instagram that more and more people are trying. Some of them are working hard to make a house of a simple van/car while some others are only renting them.
This is my experience Traveling Tasmania in a Van!
Guest Blogger: Léa Madoni, Travel Tips by Lea
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Our Van!
A few years ago, a friend of mine and myself have been lucky enough to travel around Tasmania, Australia in a campervan. We called it Jack. During 10 days, Jack became our car but also our house. It gave both of us this amazing feeling of freedom.
We planned an itinerary beforehand to be sure to drive into the right places and not miss anything. Tasmania offers a lot of free camping spots which allowed us to stay in amazing places (our first night close to a beach). As we didn’t have to book any accommodation or camping spaces, we could manage the time we wanted to spend in each location.
One of the free camping spots was close to this lake
For us, the hardest part was the showers, especially after a day at the beach or hiking. Living in a van means freedom but also no shower. We tried to stay clean and showered in a few ways :
Using the melted ice of the cool box: the one was really cold but allowed us to wash it with fresh water,
Using the showers on the road when possible: some camping spots were equipped with a hot or cold shower (most of the time you had to pay to get hot water),
When we didn’t have any of these above, we were trying to find a spot with running water. Usually, when a camping spot has a toilet it has water to wash your hand. This was good to help us wash,
We also used some baby wipes but we felt like we were even dirtier than before using them.
The other problem we had was “safety”. Sometimes we were sleeping in the middle of a forest and we were the only ones there. As the only thing you can do to feel safe is to lock the car, it is better to be sure to be in a safe place first. Especially, when you are traveling solo or between women. NB: Nothing happened to us, we didn’t feel safe only once but because of the wildlife around (in Australia, you learn quickly that everything can kill you..).
Where's the Van?
If you’ve never tried this way of traveling but would love to try it. Here are my tips:
No need to buy a special car/van and work on it if you aren’t sure that’s something you are going to like or do more than once. You can rent one with everything you might need during your trip (boxes, bed, kitchen, clod box…). We rent our one with Tassie Motor Shacks.
Try to plan a trip with someone you can travel with that might like this way of traveling. If not you could have a really bad time… :/
Make sure you have a map of the area you will be driving into. It could be really helpful if you get lost and there isn’t any service. Just saying. ;)
Plan your itinerary beforehand. You don’t have to follow it to the letter. But, it’s always nice to know where you are heading especially if it is your first trip. Or on the contrary, if you are really adventurous, you could follow your instinct and see where it leads you.
Bay of Fires, Tasmania
Anyway, whatever the way you travel: backpacking, in a car, in a bus, in a luxury hotel, solo, in a group… follow your heart and travel in the way that fits you the most. I think that is the best tip I could ever give you.
We do not need the same thing so if you want to enjoy your trip in a campervan (or any other kind of travel) you should do it in the way you think is the best for you and ENJOY !!
Guest Blogger Léa Madoni from France's blog is called Travel Tips by Lea. With a lot of European Destinations and other great countries visited, her website is an open book of the different experiences shared around the globe. Visit Travel Tips by Lea and follow her on Instagram.
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