The Pros & Cons of Traveling by Campervan With Kids!
Are you considering traveling in a campervan with kids, but nervous about if you’ll have fun? We absolutely LOVED our campervan trip with our baby and toddler! But we’ll give you the inside scoop on the pros and cons so you can decide if the campervan life is for you on your next family vacation.
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The Pros of Campervan Travel with a Baby & Toddler
As I said above, in general we LOVED traveling like this with our kids. There are so many things about this form of travel that made it easier than tent camping and better than a hotel. Here are our biggest reasons for traveling in a campervan with kids.
We can’t speak for all campervan companies, but both Native Campervans and Roadsurfer have been AMAZING for our family. If you want to book a campervan for your next vacation, check out Native Campervans here or Roadsurfer! They have locations in Salt Lake City, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and Denver so there are so many incredible places you can visit.
I think you’ll love traveling in a campervan with kids! And check out our Full Review of Native Campervans and Review of Roadsurfer for Families!
1. You Have all of Your Gear with You at All Times
Packing and unpacking the car every time you go in and out of your campsite or hotel can be really tough with kids. And if you’re like us, you’ve probably forgotten something you need a time or two. We’ve left binkies, milk bottles, phone chargers, and more when we really wanted them with us!
One of the BEST things about traveling by campervan with kids is that all of your stuff is with you ALL the time! So you don’t have to worry about forgetting something in your hotel room when you head out on an adventure. It also makes packing the car really easy because everything is already in there.
2. Experience Nature Without Being Stuck in the Elements
If you’re nervous to tent camp with a baby or toddler, but really like the idea of getting out to camp and enjoy nature with really roughing it – a campervan is the perfect solution for you! You can experience a campfire and then sleep in the comfort of a van at night, without the worry of being cold or getting rained on.
3. There is a Ton of Storage Space
We chose to travel with Native Campervans and since we have two kids, we rented the Squad! There is a ton of storage space in the back for food, under the bed for your luggage and extra stuff, and even under the seats for whatever else you need to store.
On our trip to Death Valley, we brought hiking backpacks, carry on luggage, all the baby supplies, and more and we had extra room to store even more stuff if we wanted. These vans are really optimized to make van life so easy!
4. Campervans Allow you to Explore Remote Places
Having the flexibility to camp anywhere, really allows you to explore wherever you want with your campervan. We love visiting National Parks, but sometimes it can be a challenge to find hotels that are close enough to the park so we don’t spend hours in the car.
Native Campervans (our favorite campervan company!) has rental locations in Los Angeles, Phoenix, Denver, Salt Lake City, and Las Vegas. There are so many incredible National Parks and outdoor places you can explore from there! Plus, those cities are usually have affordable flights from most airports.
Whether you choose to find free camping on BLM land or reserve a spot inside a National Park, the campervan allows you more flexibility to stay overnight wherever suits you and your family.
If you’re looking to visit one of the COOLEST National Parks in the USA, check out our guide to 26 Things to do in Death Valley with Kids!
5. It’s a Fun New Experience
Our kids LOVED the campervan, and so did we! It was a totally new way of traveling, and sleeping in the rooftop tent was the highlight of our toddler’s vacation. As a family, having new and different experiences is something we prioritize! Have you or your kids ever slept in a rooftop tent?? We hadn’t until we experienced this campervan trip and it was SO FUN.
Click here to find a campervan with a rooftop tent!!
6. Cooking Meals is Easy
Eating at restaurants with toddlers can be STRESSFUL. When we stay in a hotel, we usually try to get takeout or get quick meals on the go so we don’t have to try and keep our squirrely kids in their seats for an hour while we eat.
The campervan setup makes it so easy to cook meals during your vacation. The campervan we rented had a huge Yeti cooler, a hot plate for cooking, all the utensils you could need, and even a dishwashing station. We stopped by the grocery store and found meals that we knew our kids would enjoy. No more having to worry about finding a restaurant with a kids menu or cooking meals over a fire (although you can do that too!)
7. You Can Explore During Naptime
One of the tough parts about traveling with kids is having to prioritize naptime. We all know we’ll regret it if our kids miss a nap. But it’s also a bummer to have to sit in a hotel and wait it out while your kid gets some rest.
With the campervan, you can park at a trailhead during naptime and take turns with your partner hiking while the kids rest. Or you can enjoy a nice book at the campground and sit outside while your kids sleep nearby. You can even put the kids to bed and then go outside to look at the stars if you’re in a dark sky park like Death Valley.
During one of our naptimes in Death Valley, we parked at Artist’s Palette and took turns hiking and taking pictures while the kids napped.
For other short hikes you could do during naptime, here are the 10 Best Easy Hikes in Death Valley National Park!
8. Campervans are Easy to Drive and Park
Renting a huge motorhome or RV can be intimidating if you don’t have experience with driving big vehicles like that. Luckily, the campervans are SUPER easy to drive and if you can drive a car, you can drive a campervan. You won’t have to worry about learning how to backup or tow a trailer to be able to experience van life.
Campervans are also easy to park. They can fit in any spot that a normal car can fit!
9. They have a Great Battery
If you’re traveling with Native Campervans, you don’t have to worry about running out of battery. You can charge your phones or use the heater even while the campervan is off. These extra little comforts make camping that much easier with little kids.
The Cons of Traveling With a Campervan With Kids
Let me just say here that the pros 100% outweigh the cons in our opinion. However, here are some of the things you might want to be aware of before traveling in a campervan with little kids!
1. You Don’t have a Shower
The caveat here is that you can rent an outdoor shower with your campervan rental. However, we usually choose to stay inside the National Parks, so showering outdoors with our little kids would probably be tough. On our last campervan trip we stayed for four nights and found a local resort that allowed day passes for us to shower.
It was totally fine, but if you’re someone who needs to shower every day, you might need to adjust your expectations.
2. Bathrooms aren’t in the room
This is somewhat obvious, but the campervans don’t have bathrooms – most of them anyways! However, if you stay at a campground, there is usually a pit toilet (at minimum) available.
3. A Campervan with a Tiny Baby Would be Hard
Safe sleep is important! And I think it would be harder to make sleeping arrangements safe with a really small baby. It may be possible if you set up a bassinet on the floor of the campervan, or if you have a safe bassinet that will fit on the bed. Just make sure to plan ahead if you’re planning to travel with a tiny baby.
4. The Van Only Fits 2 Carseats
There may be other types of campervans out there, but if you have more than two kids, the Squad campervan won’t work for you. The Squad is the biggest campervan offered by Native Campervans and the one we were lucky enough to stay in. It fits two car seats and has enough room for four people to sleep. It was perfect for us since we only have two kids!
5. The Front Seats are Far Away From the Back
This is a small consideration, but you won’t be able to reach the car seat from the front seat like you can in a normal car. Because the van is so spacious (which is really a PRO), you may need to stop a few more times to get the kiddos what they need.
6. Not Much Space if You Encounter Bad Weather
If you were to encounter really bad weather and had to hunker in the van, there isn’t as much room as you would have in a full size camper or hotel room. It’s still set up well to be able to set up a table, but there isn’t quite as much room to roam around as other accommodations. Still beats a tent though!
Overall Thoughts on a Campervan With Kids?
We LOVED our trip and are super excited for our next trip. It’s an amazing way to travel with little kids, and allows you to camp and explore the outdoors without being in a tent or having to drive a huge RV. The biggest struggle for us was not having access to a shower, but we found a paid shower pretty dang easy (and got to use the pool!) Our kids had so much fun and keep asking when we are going to go in the van again.
Ready to book your campervan?? Check out Native Campervans to book with our favorite van company. And happy travels!
The pictures from this post are all from our campervan trip to Death Valley National Park – we had an EPIC time! If you’re interested in planning a trip to Death Valley, check out some of our trip planning resources below.
