12 articles
Camper vans, RVs and road trips: building out, traveling, overnighting and keeping the power on.
On paper, a camper van promises total freedom, the kind where you stop wherever you want and roll out whenever you like. In reality, that freedom takes some planning, and this section covers everything that makes it work. Choosing between a converted van, a camper van and a full-size RV, renting before you buy, designing a build-out that holds up, understanding what titling, weight ratings, licensing and insurance involve: we tackle the questions in the order they usually come up.
Power gets special attention. House batteries, solar panels and inverters are sold on numbers, and those numbers deserve a second look. Let’s run the math on what a fridge, a heater or a laptop actually draws, and on what your system can really deliver. We help you size your setup, with the calculations laid out step by step and every assumption on the table, and we tell you which questions to ask the pro who wires it.
Then there’s the question of where to spend the night. Sleeping in a parked vehicle and camping are often treated differently, and the rules change from one state, city, park or national forest to the next, from boondocking on public lands to booking an RV park. We take them from official sources and date them, and when something’s unclear, we tell you which agency to ask. You’ll also find the everyday routines of life on board: fresh, gray and black water, dump stations, propane and its precautions, shore power, and driving something heavier and taller than a car.
These pages are written for a first trip in a rental as much as for owners who’ve been fine-tuning their build for years. Numbers always come with their units and their starting assumptions, because a runtime claim with no test conditions doesn’t tell you much. Our comparisons are built on published data and industry standards, and a first-hand account, when there is one, is signed by the team member who lived it. And since builds rarely go exactly to plan, we also cover the classic mistakes, from running out of payload to a house battery that’s dead by the second night.
Van lifeHow-to guide
A French RV aire can be free or cost €30 for 24 hours, cap your stay at 48 hours or not cap it at all. What counts is written on its sign, not in a national law. Nine aires we recorded on November 8, 2026, show what you’ll find there, what they cost, how long you can stay, and what the apps that list them are worth.
Julien de Jurquet··15 min
Diesel, propane, or electric: fuel per night, house battery draw, noise, prices, certification, and carbon monoxide, to pick the right camper van heater.
Julien de Jurquet··14 min
How much water to carry, how to keep the fresh tank clean, where to dump gray and black water, which products to use, and what federal rules say.
Nolwenn Bastide··15 min
Lambda, R-value, thermal bridges, vapor barriers, condensation on bare steel: the numbers for choosing camper van insulation and keeping moisture out.
Julien de Jurquet··15 min
Advertised rates and the fees on top, deductibles from $750 to $3,000, deposits, credit card coverage, cancellation, the walk-around: what rental terms say.
Julien de Jurquet··17 min
Payload is the GVWR minus what the van weighs as delivered. What the yellow label counts, a worked example in pounds, how to weigh at a CAT Scale, axle limits.
Julien de Jurquet··13 min
Germany, Italy, Spain, and Portugal: when a parked camper van is still just parked, and when a city, a coast, or a protected area changes that.
Joséphine Garand··11 min
On the road, an RV parks like a car: a €35 fine, 7 days at most in one spot. Off the road, it counts as camping. The French rules, one by one.
Arnaud Couderc··11 min
A camper van costs about $13,100 to $15,200 a year to own and run, before finance, on AAA, EIA and listing data. Every line priced, with its source.
Julien de Jurquet··13 min
What a solar panel lying flat on a van really produces, month by month from Phoenix to Seattle, according to PVWatts: 200, 300, or 400 W, and the battery.
Julien de Jurquet··12 min
Diesel or propane heat, carbon monoxide, condensation, frozen water lines, batteries in the cold: the numbers and the rules for winter in a camper van.
Julien de Jurquet··10 min
How many amp-hours does a camper van house battery need? An appliance-by-appliance budget, usable capacity for lead and lithium, and a worked example.
Julien de Jurquet··9 min
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