Minivan Camping Ideas

8 Proven Minivan Camping Ideas: Best Tips for Camping

Have you tried minivan camping yet? Wouldn’t it be adventurous if you try it on a cross-country trip- read through this Minivan Camping Ideas article because you are going to love it with these super-easy and stunning hacks?

Minivan camping has increased in popularity lately because of its being convenient, super-easy, and cost-effective. Many people usually avoid frequent camping because they are too tired of costly hotel stays.

And some guesthouses even charge exorbitant rates for a night stay, and who wants to spend all on that? 

So here comes minivan camping in action to make your road trip unique. If you don’t own a regular RV, you can still set up the comforts of an RV in your minivan. 

Minivan camping setup doesn’t need any fancy accessories and special equipment. You can make it a perfect alternative to hotels and guesthouses with just a little transformation and a bunch of innovative ideas. 

However, it is not as easy as it sounds. It takes time and effort, of course. But It’s going to worth it because minivan camping is not only a cost-effective option but also comes with easy parking; yes, you can park it at your camping ground, at forestland, or any free spot on your camping site. 

Here you will learn all the hacks to make your minivan camping comfortable and beyond your expectations. Get to know everything about minivan camping and try to experience what suits you. You will master the tricks and ideas that would make your travel to another level in a short time. 

Let’s dig into it and see some amazing Minivan Camping Ideas that fits your needs.

Essential Items to Convert Your Minivan into a Camper

Whether you own a minivan, car, or SUV, you can convert it into a clever and organized camping vehicle. You can choose multiple options according to the camping site, duration, route, family size, and other necessities. 

Minivan Camping Ideas

In particular circumstances, your choices may vary depending upon your situation. You would be glad to have excellent options available in one place. Therefore, it is essential to gather all the supplies needed to convert your minivan into a perfect camping van before packing.

I have broadly categorized the areas into the following divisions as per the purpose they serve:

  • Minivan setup essentials for camping
  • Some cool minivan camping hacks 
  • Heating and cooling systems
  • Water storage for multi-purpose
  • Cooling appliances for ice and food
  • Kitchen gear storage
  • Food storage; both cooked and uncooked
  • Camping bathroom solution
  • Power solution in minivan camping
  • Shower and laundry 

You can make your checklist of items and categorize them according to your travel plan. This article further breaks down these categories into what is suitable for us.

Generally, you can moderate this list or re-plan it with the list of items you would use. They are discussed in detail, so keep making your checklist along.

When you uncheck all the necessary things that come under the categories above, you will take a sigh of relief because you are already halfway through the journey. When everything is ready to go to its allocated planned place, there would be less mess of the cargo heaps.

After you are done with all the essential work, you would enjoy your journey on a comfy camper.

1- Minivan Sleeping Setup for Camping: 

Minivan Camping Ideas

The primary thing you are afraid of while camping is “inadequate sleeping space.” And because a minivan has to offer a small place doesn’t mean you can’t do anything with it.

There are plenty of ideas to make your car/van into a minivan camper. Usually, minivan camping is ideal for two persons, but you can build more people by doing a little innovation.

Once you change it into a campervan, you wouldn’t want to go back to hotels. So make it your tiny home by adding the essentials to expand internal space, and of course, you can do that:

Invest In Tailgate & SUV Tents:  

Minivan Camping Ideas

Buying tailgate or explorer two tents will worth the money. You will thank yourself when you will be so addicted to these. These tents expand the internal space of your minivan and provide you protection against bugs and insects. 

Also Read about: How To Repel Mosquitoes While Camping

SUV tents will provide ample space for you to sit and have lunch, or your kids can play, or provide sleeping space for up to 6 people. The same is with the tail veil tent, but it gives you a little less space.

Set up your tent, throw the mattress on the tented floor, and happy sleeping! Another good thing about them is they don’t take space and can easily be packed in a tarp. Just slide them under your seat, and you are all set with tent packing.

They are quick to set up and hardly take more than a minute. Perfect for the time when you pass by some beautiful campgrounds or forest lands and can’t stop your desire to spend at least one night where there are no inns in the proximity.

Oh yeah! You got the solution because now you can stay in your minivan, you are carrying the comfort of a hotel room with you, neither you need to be worried about the flies and mosquitoes. 

See detailed process here

Suspend a Hammock

Minivan Camping Ideas

Installing a hammock suspended to your car’s roof is another superb option. This way, you can also increase the space inside your van so your whole family can adjust while sleeping comfortably. Many families use this trick and shift their kids to the hammock, and most of the time, kids love to sleep in the hammock. 

A hammock offers an excellent strategy to cover up the extra space of your car. When people do family camping, they try to be as bright as possible about the length of the vehicle. Because this is the whole-sole thing, they own while outside.

Plus, if the outer space is muddy or there are rain chances, this trick can serve you best.

– Metal Frame & Mattress 

Minivan Camping Ideas

If you are the kind of person who would want the comfort of home while sleeping and looking for it, you will get plenty of ideas on setting up beds in your minivan, but they would require a lot of heavy equipment.

Therefore, instead of bringing your bed to the van, try installing a metal frame as a substitute. If your minivan has stow-n-go seating and a storage system, that would be ideal.

You can stow and fold your seats to a completely flat surface and make you ample space for your mattress.

You will be amazed by the space organization you will observe after installing a metal frame in your minivan at the back.

Then place a piece of plywood of the same size to make space for a mattress. You can set up a tri-fold mattress with sheets and pillow blankets that will make a spacious sleeping room when spread out for two and will be as comfortable as your bed.

It will work as a loft, much more vital to place your mattress on it, making it a comfy bed. Under this metal frame, you can store your camping gear, bag packs, storage containers, bins, and stuff other necessary things; This will make the best option for you and your family.

2- Car Insulation: 

Minivan Camping Ideas

No doubt tents are durable and of high quality. But if the weather is unpredictable at some places and suddenly gets colder at night, you would need something extra to sleep comfortably without getting frozen.

Among other options, insulation is excellent for such stations. You can get your van insulated to be protected from extreme hot and cold weather. Insulation will save you from heat loss or cooling loss through window slits and other body rifts.

Since the car’s body is a good conductor, you can get a shade to cover it when it’s standing.

3- Build a Loft for Cargo:

Minivan Camping Ideas

When you plan a weekend camping, you do manage with little stuff, but when it’s about weeks, you need many things, and carrying it along is demanding. This is what you can’t escape, so better find ways how to deal with camping cargo. 

Building a sliding loft at the end of your minivan where you have folded your backseats could be a brilliant idea. Just raise it and put your stuff on it while arranging your bedding underneath. This will utilize the upper portion of your van that is not used while setting up your mattress for sleep. This space is not needed in itself.

This is a simple yet creative hack that you can do by using simple available things, but it will drastically change your travel experience. Because then you don’t have to load your bedding area with food baskets, gear containers, and bag packs. This loft will do all the holding for you. 

4- Heating & Cooling Systems:

Minivan Camping Ideas

Controlling the temperature through the van’s windows is the simplest thing. You can get insulated curtains from any truck shop and apply window screening to allow better ventilation. You can even use the simple nylon screening to get fresh air in and avoid suffocation.

This will work all fine during average temperature, and whole you are driving through the road on a pleasant rainy day. But when it starts getting colder at night or the scorching sun starts burning the body of your van during summers, your survival is at risk. 

Therefore, you need a solution that is useful beyond weather predictions. During summers, you can keep a USB rechargeable fan or industrial fan, which will allow you to circulate fresh air in your van and exhaust the hot air out.

But for severe hot weather, you would need a mini AC unit that will be perfect for those times when it reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Small AC units and portable fans can be fixed in the windows with proper insulation to protect against heat loss.

When it gets too cold on your camping nights, you will need a solution to keep your van warm, but this comes with challenges since you have a limited power supply with you.

The first thing that can come to your mind is mini propane heaters, but they do come with a risk of carbon monoxide exposure other than putting them up in a safer place. But you can always minimize this risk by ensuring proper ventilation that will maintain the level of oxygen in the minivan.

To have multiple resources in your van, you can purchase a hand warmer too. Just put it in the mattress or sleeping place so you can dig into a warmer bed.

If you can rent out a spot with an electric hook-up at your camping site, an electric heater would be a great option. It would keep the atmosphere warm without any gas exhaustion, as propane heaters do. 

5- Water Storage For Multi-Purpose

Minivan Camping Ideas

Since you are carrying all your resources with you in your minivan, you must ensure you have plenty of water storage. You can try different techniques to store water storage because you might get water for bathing and washing at some places, but imagine an area with no water available.

So always carry plenty with you. Carry enough water gallons with you and allocate them for bathroom use, kitchen cleaning, and dishes. It will make your process smooth, and you would be able to conserve water wherever you can. For drinking purposes, bring along with you a carton of water bottles. 

Of course, not every camping spot offers you showers and bathrooms. In such cases, you have to carry your bathroom along with you. Yes, a bathroom. You can build a shower tent next to your van and arrange a bucket and a shower bag.

A bucket will provide you the commode facility and allow easy poop disposable. Shower bags are wise to use because they come with a hose and will enable you to utilize water as per your need. And believe me, you won’t end up wasting half of your total water storage in a single shower. 

6- Cooling Appliances For Ice & Food

Minivan Camping Ideas

Food is the ultimate necessity, but you need an adequate arrangement to keep your food fresh when you are camping.

Half of your happiness returns when you eat healthy and fresh. Cooked delicious stakes, roasted chicken, or meat sandwiches at the end of your trip are a boost.

For this purpose, ice makers and more excellent can make the best option because having a good cooler will make your life easier for long camping journeys.

There would be days when you don’t want to consume canned or packet food, and that is all fine; you can take half-prepared frozen foods with you and make them on the go.

Ice makers are great for that, but they require continuous connection to function. Investing in some good coolers will worth it. The significant part about Coleman’s coolers is that they come in different sizes and models.

You can purchase what size is suitable for you for those days when you want to have your ice, drinks, and meats frozen for up to 6 days. Get one and be ready to enjoy cold coffee and chilled cocktails during the summer evenings. 

7- Kitchen Gear Storage Ideas

Minivan Camping Ideas

No doubt minivan is a great camping vehicle and can easily adjust your kitchen accessories on the loft or in your car’s trunk. But what if you want to cook in your minivan while your partner is driving? Yes, even that is possible.

It depends upon the appliances you would use. A 12-volt portable stove is one of those perfect options that will allow you to chase your cooking dreams.

It is a multi-purpose stove that will enable you to reheat the food and leftovers if your hanger calls you during odd times. 

You can also bring along a standard propane double burner stove or white gas stove if you are a big fan of freshly cooked food at the camping site. But always keep in mind where and how you will store it because you have limited space.

Therefore, get multifunctional things so you can use them for various purposes. You can refer to our article on storage ideas” to do smart storage. 

Usually, one-pot recipes are a great option to make while hiking, and people prefer them. But it’s your stove. You can cook whatever you want, from corn chicken to roasted ribs, to casseroles to boiled potatoes to hotdog buns.

More so, a mini-sized water heater is all that you need for instant tea, coffee, soup, or simply cooking vegetables for a steak platter. 

Now you are done with the meal, and there comes dishwashing. It’s good to bring disposable plates and glasses to avoid dishwashing, but this too comes with a storage and dispose-off challenge.

Therefore, building a mini dishwasher is always better than carrying paper plates. You can easily set it up by placing a gallon of water with a tap on your multi-purpose folding table.

Once you are done with dishwashing, you can take it off and use the table for another purpose. If it’s becoming cold outside in the evenings, you can use a water heater for dishwashing too.  

8- Power Station: 

Minivan Camping Ideas

The most important thing that charges the appliances to function correctly is a power station. Purchasing a portable power station might become your best investment because you can resolve almost every power-related issue with it.

What makes them terrible during the camping is their loud noise and droning. Because you have planned camping to gain peace of mind, to absorb the serenity of nature, to feel calmness and quietness, that is why you have come far away from the noise of your crowded city.

But imagine if your power system! Generator! The purpose of camping has already gone.

But worry not. You have got the solution.

In this article, you will get a detailed guide on How To Make a Generator Quiet for Camping. Even if you are not technically skilled, you can do these tricks yourself. You need to be a little creative for that, but if you are high on the budget, you can get ready-made stuff from the market to make your life easier and your generator quietest.

You can power your fridge when you are not driving the van, and its engine is off. The power source will provide you enough power for days. 

Additionally, you can connect your window AC to it for continuous cooling when the outside is burning. It’s a great source to charge cell phones and power the light sources during night times. 

With the abovementioned Minivan Camping Ideas, you can make your camping experience stand out on your first try.

Happy Camping!

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