Car Camping: A Different Way to Hit the Road

The urge to take a cross-country road trip and explore the unknown places you stumble across on the way hits almost all of us at some point in our lives. Itineraries are created and budgets are made, but often the biggest roadblock, especially during an open-ended trip, is finding a place to sleep each night. Motels dot highways but can quickly devour a budget, as prices go up and down depending on region, season, and local events you may know nothing about. This can eat up hundreds of dollars you didn’t budget for, just for a few hours of sleep. Even traditional camping has become costly, with some park passes costing close to what a motel would, with many larger parks requiring prior reservations due to popularity. To combat these variables, one solution people have devised is car camping.

Quite different from just pulling over and sleeping in your seat, car camping is outfitting the back of SUVs, vans and pickups with toppers with sleeping platforms covered by camping mats that give them a stable, comfortable place to rest no matter where they wind up. With a little mapping and planning, campers can spot RV and truck stops that allow overnight parking before the trip, as well as stores with parking lots that do the same, effectively eliminating the cost of sleep and shelter every night.

These custom sleep support platforms are usually outfitted with compartments and drawers to efficiently store gear beneath the bed area. Some people put down a basic camping mat or closed-cell boat pads on these platforms to their catch shut eye, while others have brought along a bunk-bed mattress or designed their own foam mattress for home-away-from-home sleep. When not in use, rolling or folding camping mats allow better storage space utilization by providing access to platform compartments. If you have the tools and ability to make one of these in-car sleeping platforms, you can use them to get the best rest you’ve ever had on a trip.