This was our first experience ever in a Van Camper. The planned highlight was:
- Move during the weekend
- Find a place that we can stay that is free or super cheap
- Internet is available so we can work remotely
- Have sun or electricity available.
First Trip — Riva del Garda
This is a place that we love to spend time in. It is a beautiful place in which you can find many options for outdoor activity: Water sports, Trekking, Mountain Bike, Paragliding, Climbing, etc.
The route
This was a short trip in which we went to :
- Riva del garda: 2 days
- Sarche: 2 Days
- Riva del garda: 2 days
Lessons learned:
- How the camper works — There are basically 2 modes. “road” where everything is closed (gas, top windows) and “house” where gas is on, the camper is connected to electricity (if available).
- Using and cleaning the WC. I had in my mind that this would be a pain, but in the end, it is pretty easy and straightforward. If you have the right place to throw things away, then it won’t take more than 10 minutes to unload and load the camper.
- Parking sport for camper has different rules. There are some with a limited time that you can stay.
- Driving in that small roads following the river is not trivial (at least in the first experience ever with a camper)
Second Trip— Liguria
We wanted to see the sea, so we choose this beautiful area that is quite close to Milan, expecting already some hard time in the tiny roads. We got an issue but everything when super smoothly in the end.
The route
This was a short trip in which we went to :
- Sestri Levante: 3 days
- Santa Margherita: 2 Days
- San Rocco: 1day
⚠️ On the way to San Rocco google maps put us in a street that was super narrow. At a certain point, a guy stopped warning us that it would impossible to reach with a camper, that the street would become narrower.
Lessons learned:
- Do not trust Google. Check the street view for the places you are not sure that is easy to reach.
Third Trip — Aosta
This trip didn’t go as expected. The plans were the same, arrive on weekend and stay for the week. When we arrived the weather was not beautiful but ok. On Monday it rained all they long and we didn’t manage to charge the batteries. On Tuesday we went back home.
The route
- Aosta: 2 days
Lessons learned:
- We need the sun to charge the batteries 🙈
- As we used one of the batteries till the last bit of energy, the battery now is damaged, most probably we will throw it away.
After this last experience in Aosta now we are implementing a new set of power supplies. We have 2 isolated systems.
- Camper Services — 1 battery for the motor (120Ah) / 1 battery for service (120Ah) changed by a 120w solar panel
- Office — 2 Batteries (40Ah + 80Ah) charged by a 120w portable solar panel
