Caveat: I have always loathed camping. The idea that a ‘holiday’ consists of setting up your tent right beside many others & sharing bathroom & cooking facilities etc is more like hell to me. Add a bit of bad weather, an uncomfortable bed & bad sleeps, insects, heat etc and to me, there is no way camping is “FUN”.

The very occasional time I’ve stayed in a cabin at a campground has not convinced me that’s even worth doing. The last time was near Kaikoura and at night I went for a walk to the beach to shoot some photos and to get there I walked past maybe 50 or more campervans, all parked up, right beside each other.

I like/love the idea of getting away from city/home for a few nights and living out in the environment. But if doing that means you have to be crammed into some hideous campground full of normies & their kids, then its hardly achieving any of those goals and is more like staying in a temporary form of suburbia.

So I decided to try & find a better solution. I’d love to be able to camp out anywhere off grid, while still being comfortable in any weather and having access to all of my necessary tech. And being set up to function offgrid frees me from the need to stay in a ‘campground’ with a powered campsite six feet away from normies.

I’ve had a hankering to pursue this approach for a while, but my motivation was peaked by a few recent events. First was that adorable Japanese mini-camper video:

Apart from all the planning & incredible woodwork & building that has gone into that truck, I also love how he cooks up a variety of delicious looking meals and every implement he uses has assigned storage. Their youtube channel is fascinating as they have built a number of scale model Japanese houses.

But another aspect motivates me too. Every time I go on a road trip, I plan my route and timing so as to be able to explore an area of Aotearoa. If time allows, I usually aim for a couple of nights in a particular location so as to allow for weather and the timing of the tides. I often make use of AirBnB and older sites like BookaBach and HolidayHouses but in recent years it feels like ‘renting out your bach to help pay the rates’ has evolved into an extractive business. I’ve done my research on building a tiny home and I know for $100k you can build a great little tiny house… But now I see these same small scale homes listed for rent for $250/night!? So the accomodation for a week long road trip can suddenly cost a significant amount of $$$.

A third motive is the fact that despite many years of previous efforts, it is very difficult to find a bach or AirBnB that is actually in a good position for astrophotography. Often a rural bach is right next door to the owners main property or neighbours…

Now I’m not about to build a campervan, as almsot all camper vans have a fundamental flaw: lack of 4WD, lack of comfort on long road trips (they drive more like a truck) & lack of manoeuvrability – driving one into a busy city is a mild nightmare. They also lack speed, turning an easy 4 hour drive into 6 hours of tedium. Every campervan should have an AI rear view mirror which starts flashing as soon 3 cars are following them: PULL THE FCK OVER & LET THE CARS PASS!!

So here is my aim: equip my little Suzuki 4WD for easy setup camping!
I’ve made a start, here’s the steps so far:

1. Protection from the sun
Side awning ex AdventureKings 2x3m cost NZ$250

Before I could do this I also needed to have a roofrack installed. But it has a lot of potential uses for storage (eg I plan to get a dinghy at some point) so I went to the RoofRack Centre and got a Yakima roof rack installed, which also fits around the sunroof my car has. Cost NZ$590

The beauty of this system is that it is quick to use as it is stored in its own bag, securely attached to the roof rack. Unzip the bag, unroll the awning, fold down the legs. Sit in the shade & admire the view!

2. Sleeping
An AdventureKing awning tent, which attaches to the side awning. cost NZ$275

I haven’t tested this out yet, but will be soon. The only criticism I have read of the setup is that it doesn’t hold up too well in very strong winds. So that means having extra tie-downs IF I am ever out in bad weather… I have a sprung fold out stretcher & thin mattress which are ok but I am going to find a better solution and it may well be a small futon mattress as I always sleep comfortably on those when in Japan.

3. Kitchen
The next part I decided to focus on was cooking. I own some basic camping gear eg a small butane gas BBQ and a bag with kitchen utencils etc but that all feels inefficient to use as it requires unpacking & setup, and then repacking after use. I want a setup that I can pull over & make lunch easily, then later park up & cook dinner.

After watching lots of youtube videos of 4WD trips I soon became aware of the great drawer systems that are available to fit into the back of a 4WD. So after taking measurements I decided to remove the two rear seats in my Suzuki to make more room. Thankfully it only takes undoing six bolts and what was a four seater car with a small boot has suddenly become a two seater car with LOTs of space!

So last weekend I installed a sliding drawer, which also has a built-in slide out work space:

This is the Ridge Ryder 4WD Drawer With Stainless Steel Slide by SuperCheapAuto – cost $399

4. Power
When I got rid of my old SUV I deliberately kept the 12V car battery which was still in good condition.
After doing some research I got a relatively cheap Battery Box $99 which houses a car battery & provides outputs:
Powertech Battery Box Power Hub NZ$99

Why do I need this? Well imagine I park up deep in a forest somewhere, for a couple of days of field recording.
I will need to charge my phone, laptop, camera batteries etc but I do not want to flatten my car battery…

Also re part 3, I wanted a fridge for the kitchen. I found this small, cheap 12V fridge:

Brass Monkey Fridge/Freezer 15L NZ$179

While 15 litres is not huge, all I need to keep cold are essentials: butter, cheese, beers & any meat etc for BBQ.
This little fridge will run off the cigarette lighter output when driving, which is what I will do.
But I also have a cable for when I am parked up, so I can run the fridge off the Battery Box
The fridge can sit on top of the pull out drawer.

So now I am slowly organising storage in the back of my Suzuki, with all food related stuff in the rear, along with a fold out table and two water tanks.

The drivers rear door provides access to my camera gear: XPAN, Canon 5D, Drone etc
The passengers rear door provides access to my sound gear: MixPre10 + mics + stands.

So thats where I am up to now.
I am heading off on a road trip soon so that will be my first test of the current setup, and no doubt I will arrive home with a list of improvements. But thats par for the course, and it will likely involve a slow set up upgrades eg it would be great to do some electrical routing so that power is available where its needed, along with lighting. And it would make sense to have solar charging too.

Once I am packed, I will go through the car with bungy cords so that everything is secure & isn’t going to fall over if I/when I do go offroad… On this next trip I have a few field recording missions planned, plus a couple of nights in Awhitu, aiming to shoot the comet! As it will be hot & humid up North I also got a 12V fan which I can plug into my battery box. I’ll share some photos once I am set up somewhere scenic!

If anyone reading this has suggestions or good Youtube channels to follow, feel free to comment.