We just returned from an epic Zion->Bryce->Vegas Campervan adventure in a Campervan we rented from Escape Campervans. We drove our car to Las Vegas for pickup and headed to the national parks from there. They have locations all over the US and the overall the experience was great!
This is the second Campervan adventure for us, our first was in New Zeland back in 2011 when there were just two of us, so this trip with three kids along required a slightly bigger vehicle.
We rented the Del Mar model from Escape Campervans and it met all our needs. Mainly, 5 true seats with buckles for safe riding in boosters/carseats and internally connected sleeping areas with enough space.
I can boil my main concerns about this sort of travel into 4 main areas, however, all of which turned out to be unnecessary worry. Hopefully if you are reading this before taking your family on a Campervan adventure in a Del Mar Escape Campervan I can save you some grey hairs. Let me explain!
- Safety
- Sleeping arrangements
- Darkness for sleeping
- Refrigeration and keeping food like meat and dairy fresh
- Is there enough space for our gear, and what gear do I need for this adventure!
Safety
Its not common knowledge, but scary truth is that traditional RVs are NOT SAFE for kids to travel in. The front driver cabin seats are totally find and crash tested, but none of the seats in the main area of an RV are tested for crash safety. The “Seatbelts” are not secured with the same rigor as in a standard motor vehicle and don’t even get me started on projectiles… If you want to read further on this, here is a great article that goes into far more detail than I could here. And Escape has a great side-by-side detailing the perks of Van vs RV travel.
Sleeping arrangements
Back to our Escape Campervan setup and experience! The original Ford Transit van is customized from the back doors through to the back of the first row of seats, with the original roof removed and replaced with a powered contraption that raises the roof to create as second sleeping space accessed by a ladder that extends down onto the row of back seats.
I wasn’t sure how five of us would sleep inside the van, but honestly, it worked great and beat all my expectations. We set the three girls up downstairs on the queen bed, but instead of facing them the normal way in the bed, we lined them up across the bed instead of up and down. Does that make sense? So their head was not at the head of the bed, but along the side. This was more than enough space, and there was not a single complaint about enough room. Shocking to me, you should hear them bicker about space when they have to share a queen bed in a hotel room! I think separate sleeping bags vs. shared bedding likely helped. Dennis and I were above in the loft and again, shocked that I didn’t feel crowded because I too like space when I sleep!
Darkness for sleeping
I also worried about the van being too bright to sleep, both at night and when the sun came up early! Thus, I was very pleased to discover the main area of the van had blackout curtains you can pull all the way around that were quite effective and the loft’s material was completely light proof, that is until you choose to let in light by opening the zipper windows which I did each morning as I slowly woke up to the views of orange peaks surrounding us. (I am a very slow riser…mornings are not my favorite.)
Refrigeration and keeping food like meat and and dairy fresh
The back of the van tailgate “kitchen” was similar our New Zealand campervan’s setup, with the improvement of solar powered fridge (and kitchen area light) so we didn’t have to worry about draining the battery. I had been concerned that our fridge would only run when we were plugged in or running the engine, however, it kept things delightfully cold all the time thanks to the solar battery in the back, I had nothing to worry about! It was also plenty big for a weeks worth of sandwich fillings, condiments, a carton of eggs, and meat for 3 full dinners.
Is there enough space for our gear, and what gear do I need for this adventure!
Short answer yes! And there were a few key items that really helped out on this trip, but more on that soon. For now…I need to go join a Zoom for work!
The Traveling Mahoneys 