How a 'COVID Friendly' trip turned into a revelation in camping.
soichiro honda"Instead of being afraid of the challenge and failure, be afraid of avoiding the challenge and doing nothing"
A challenge is defined as "a task or situation that test's someones abilities" (Dictionary.com). Or, in today's world, a challenge is defined simply as the year 2020.
There is no doubt that everyone, and I mean everyone, at the beginning of the year were hopeful for a prosperous and enriching experience as we entered into a new decade. No one could have imagined as to how strange and stifling the year would become. That said, this is the reality that is today. We are all in a challenge.
Just because it is a challenge, this does not mean that it's necessarily a bad thing, or that we have to perceive it in a negative fashion. In fact, we should perceive it as the complete opposite: It's good to have a challenge. Only with a challenge can we progress and evolve as a people and as a society. "Instead of being afraid of (the) challenge and failure, (let's) be afraid of avoiding the challenge and doing nothing" (Soichiro Honda). So yes, just because it is a challenging time, does not mean that we need to sacrifice our time to relax, travel, and seek adventure. We just need to adapt in how we do it.
Due to this the challenge, with the inception of my most recent trip, the revelation of Car Camping was unveiled. Because of this challenge, I have now found a new and small joy that I can continue to rediscover as the years roll by.
If you’re like me, you love camping for it’s adventures, sight seeing, and well, lots of driving. Also like me, you hate driving an awful truck, or even worse, a Caravan! Sure, it allows you to sleep on a bed, make your own food, and maybe even shower. But it ruins your drive, especially, when you find a wonderful strip of pavement.
Countless times I found myself wishing I was in a car. Able to drop a gear, grip the steering wheel, and floor the loud pedal. Going over the crest of a hill while the engine screams, only to have the mountains reveal their secrets, is an experience that never tires. Such a sensation is stolen away when driving a Caravan. Especially when it won’t even make it up a hill.
What if there was a way to get the best of both worlds? A place where you didn’t have to tent. A place that is quiet, warm, and can house all your items and necessities. A place where you could also hurry up mountain passes just to drive into the sunset. There is such a place: A Car Camper. This was the revelation that was brought forth due to the challenge that is 2020. A revelation that you could enjoy both the drive and the location.
So what was this big adventure you may ask? Well, to keep it short and sweet, it was around a 10 day, 3000+kms, multiple campsites, road trip. So how did it unfold, and was it as simple as it sounds?
Well, not exactly. The whole trip, which included myself in a car, and a few close friends in their newly renovated RV (plus a tent), had to plan out the trip well in advance. Combating closed parks, quickly over booked campsites, last second renovation hiccups, and well the pandemic, let to a start that was less of pomp and circumstance, and more along the lines of handing in a project 5 minutes before it's due.
As the rest of the crew worked on the RV and left a couple days before myself, I had to solve a problem of my own. How do I make a small, 20+ year old Honda coupe into an RV? This is where the fun really began.
Pancake Bay Provincial Park, ON, Canada
After consulting close friends, co-workers, and even family members, they all advised me to get a tent to set up each night to sleep in. I completely ignored their advice and was determined to sleep in the car itself. A tough challenge for a small coupe. Even with the back seats folded down, my legs banging against the trunk lid, I was still too long for it. Shocking as I'm someone who's more on the shorter side of things. What's the solution to this problem?
Simple. Extend the bed. How? Well...with a thing!
In my case, that 'thing' was a cooler. I knew I needed something that could be kept cold with some ice to keep all my drinks and snacks in. As it worked, with the passenger seat pushed all the way forward, the cooler fit perfectly. Now laying down, I had plenty of space for my head, shoulders, and yes, knees and toes. The sleeping challenge was now solved. Well, almost.
2 days before heading out, an idea hit me like a brick falling off the C.N Tower. 2 things I realized that are essential to any 'room', would be privacy to change in, and enough darkness to keep the sun out in the early mornings from burning your eye sockets out and waking you up. What device would accomplish both these requirements? Easy. Curtains!
As the idea was easy, completing it was a different challenge in itself. After spending a day at Home Depot, running in and out of the store, measuring and purchasing the right parts became trickier than expected. Lots of improvisation came into play, especially when installing it. As the sun set and the mosquitoes came out to play, I was still working on installing the curtains. Finally, late into the night, I found the right balance of hooks, tape, Velcro, and rods where I could fit into the front sun visors and the rear headliner. Now the room was complete.
Speaking about mosquitoes...
Keeping bugs out was of high importance. One reason was due to me despising bugs. The other, was considering that I would need to keep some of my windows down slightly each night to keep myself cool, and to stop myself suffocating on my own carbon dioxide.
Since this was of such high importance on my to-do list, I did not want to go out and buy 'fit-any' window mosquito netting. Instead, I bought more tape, magnets, and my own netting and made custom fitting nets for both the driver and passenger windows. As my friends awaited each morning to laugh at my annoyance of new bug bites from my malfunctioning nets, they were satisfyingly silenced as it worked to perfection. As a bonus, since the tape around the sides were so thick, it even kept out rain on, well, some rainy nights.
The rest of the set up for the 2-door RV were pretty simple. Easily thought out and even easier to implement. A rubber mat was placed in front of the passenger seat for the 'mud room', where all my wet shoes and dirty chair would be placed. To access this 'mud room' with ease I needed space and a clear opening. Having a suitcase for all my clothes and toiletries on the edge of the passenger seat would make it difficult and annoying to climb over. It had to be somehow semi-mobile. A simple hook on the passenger door to place my bag of clothes was the simple solution. This also yielded another benefit on top of easy access to my 'mud room'. It helped create a stable and designated area to get at my clothes and also to keep them organized, somewhat like a closet. The 2-Door RV was pretty much complete.
Meldrum Bay Manitoulin Islands, ON, Canada.
Curtains installed, blankets fluffed, drinks in cooler, and gas in the Coupe, the Camper-Lude was ready to go. Being a few days behind, it needed to catch up, and it needed do so in a hurry. Stay tuned to found out how it fared.
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Comments (1)
I'm interested in your story! Great writing