Show what you camp in on wildlife photography safaris

The last couple of weeks I've been driving around Maine, camping and staying in hotels, on a wildlife photography adventure in my 2000 Golf turbo-diesel. Love the fuel mileage, but even with a skid plate the vehicle just isn't suitable for my needs; at least on these Maine backroads. (That was so difficult to admit.) Initially thought of just buying a truck for ground clearance, but now thinking of going beyond that and getting a trailer or small RV that one person can "boondock" in comfortably. It might cost the same to stay in hotels VS RV park, but at least I'd have something tagible if I bought a small RV or trailer. There are certain features that I'm looking for, but won't list those here.

Looking for ideas. Show me your living accomadations on multi-day wildlife photography safaris.

Well, I'm 57 years old and while exploring the Minnesota Northwoods I camp in a Eureka! 2 Timberline tent with a self inflating pad and a 0°F sleeping bag. I can easily afford the $14 / night camping fee and MREs or freeze dried meals.

Heya,

I flirt with getting an RV later on to mull around the USA in on constant holiday, photography being the 2nd part of that.

If your budget includes an RV, do it.

I've seen quite a few tents in the back of a pickup truck.

There's also the pull-along pop-up RV's too.

Depending on where you go, hotels can be booked up, or costly, on top of the vehicle cost to get there. Personally even if the cost is more, having an RV where you've got privacy and can stop pretty much anywhere is pretty awesome.

Very best,

There are good options out there for a single guy bopping around the country. A small popup camper works well, and can be towed without needing a V-8 powered truck to haul it. It can be left behind in the campsite while you and your tow vehicle go out touring the general area seeing the sights and the wildlife. They can be found used for well under $10,000 (my wife is researching them right now, thinking about getting one).

There are also those tiny retro teardrop trailers, although with them the only thing you do inside is sleep. Even the kitchen is on a shelf in the back. I've even seen one of them being towed by a motorcycle.

The downside of an all in one motor home is that you have to take everything with you all of the time, and that can mean that you lose your campsite if you plan to stay in the same place for multiple days. It's also a lot harder to drive on some the back roads you may want to explore.

I don't know the situation right now, but I know that there have been times in the past where some national parks (Yellowstone and Glacier that I know of) have had camping restricted to hard sided units - no tents or soft popups, because of bear trouble.

I've done everything from backpacking to motor home camping, and while the motor home is more "civilized", I think that overall I prefer something in the middle. A small popup camping trailer towed behind my Ford Edge SUV or my wife's Honda Ridgeline pickup. Both have a strong enough V-6 to handle that.

When I go on photo trips, I usually fly out and rent a small SUV, put the back seat down and sleep in the back of it.

I'm with RikWriter, my normal routine is;
1) Drive my Z71 4wd and bring my two man tent and camping gear. (Preferred)
2) If I fly in I rent a 4wd Tahoe or similar vehicle. Stop at the closest Walmart and buy a pad, sleeping bag, cooler and food.
Fold the seats down and welcome home!!
I do try and get a motel every couple days to shower, charge batteries, have a nice dinner, then back out.

Going to Yellowstone, Bryce, Mono Lake & Yosemite for 2 weeks in early Oct. Renting a Prevost with slideouts with a buddy and our wives.
Will trailer a small ATV.

Usually stay in my tent.

spent three nights in the Katmai National Preserve in this "compound."

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How do you electrify that wire!

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #17751635
How do you electrify that wire!

VERY LONG extension cord

Small RV'ing

1962 GM

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I have a very small travel trailer (14 footer) and tow it with a 4wd midsize truck.

Larry Johnson wrote in post #17608349
The last couple of weeks I've been driving around Maine, camping and staying in hotels, on a wildlife photography adventure in my 2000 Golf turbo-diesel. Love the fuel mileage, but even with a skid plate the vehicle just isn't suitable for my needs; at least on these Maine backroads. (That was so difficult to admit.) Initially thought of just buying a truck for ground clearance, but now thinking of going beyond that and getting a trailer or small RV that one person can "boondock" in comfortably. It might cost the same to stay in hotels VS RV park, but at least I'd have something tagible if I bought a small RV or trailer. There are certain features that I'm looking for, but won't list those here.

Looking for ideas. Show me your living accomadations on multi-day wildlife photography safaris.

If you get a decent sized RV you can tow a Jeep behind it. You can easily boondock in an RV for days if the weather is nice. We use our RV as a "base camp" when traveling (also know as "hub and spoke" touring) and tow our CX-9 behind us.

The downside of an RV is that it can't go where a truck can go. The upside is that it is very comfortable. You don't have to worry about getting bedbugs from some cheap hotel. You can pack the fridge and freezer full. You can tow a proper 4x4 for off road excursions, and if you decide to buy one, you can finance a used unit for up to 10 yrs. The payment on mine is less than the car payment it replaced.

If you stay at "campground" style parks it's a lot cheaper than the full on "RV resorts", and more likely to be in an out of the way place that a landscape or wildlife photographer would want to be anyway. On our way across the country this summer we stayed at three "RV Resorts" and the rest were "campground/Rv parks". The RV Resorts don't have places for tent campers, just full size RVs. They tend to be full paved and oriented towards RV Retirees and full timers.

If you know the area and are prepared you can boondock (camping without hookups). We recently moved out here to the Mojave Desert and I see people boondocking in the desert everywhere out here.
I've seen some very nice pick up bed campers but they tend to cost as much or more than a decent sized, used C or A class rig.

We bought our rig knowing we were moving to the SW and would want to explore the parks on the west coast.

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My Northstar Arrow Truck Camper.....Love it. It's changed my life. I can drop it in 15 minutes and be off on the back roads in the truck. It gets me where I want to go!