What Type of Vehicle Is Best for Traveling and Camping?
What type of vehicle for traveling and camping in, is the focus of this article. Below you will find practical guidance, builder insights, and community tips to help you decide which is best for you.
Van-based campers (Class B motorhomes), Skoolies (school bus conversions), and tour buses, also called Entertainer Coaches (often converted into Class A motorhomes), are three of the most popular conversion platforms. For this discussion, we will narrow our selection to these three vehicle types.
Each has its strengths, but choosing the right one begins with understanding your lifestyle, your budget, your comfort level, and the realities of the road. That’s the question, and it’s not as simple as it sounds.
Where and How You Camp Matters
Even before choosing a platform, you need to ask: Where do you intend to camp?
Having emigrated to the US from the UK nearly two decades ago, I was struck early on by the vast variation in terrain and space. The East Coast has tighter, narrower roads, denser cities, stricter regulations, and far less public land. Maneuvering a 40-foot bus through streets in New Jersey, New York, or Connecticut is not for the faint of heart.
Head toward the Midwest, and things open up a bit, though public land remains limited. Out West, however, it’s a different world entirely, with vast open spaces and endless opportunities for off-grid camping for any size rig. The population density is much less.
That leads naturally to the next question: How do you intend to camp?
Boondocking, i.e., camping without hookups, is a popular option for many Nomads, who enjoy pure freedom. It means relying on your own water, power supply (generator or solar), and holding tanks for fresh, grey, and black water (for those who have flush toilets).
The alternative is campground living, where you’ll have an endless supply of water, 30 or 50-amp electrical hookups, and waste connections. Many also come with amenities like showers, gyms, and a sense of community if you are a social person. Some people need that. Others are content with no one else around, with the exception of maybe a pet to discuss world politics with.
Campground Reality (and Misconceptions)
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Rupal Paul, who often goes by Marcus online, was born and raised in London, United Kingdom. A qualified Mechanical Engineer involved in many engine and vehicle designs, including Jaguars, Aston Martin, Acura, Honda, and heavy-duty truck engines. He currently works designing and developing racing engines. Marcus also writes Sci-fi Novels in his free time.
He emigrated to the USA about fifteen years ago. He’s always been strongly drawn to the nomadic lifestyle in the States. He travels alone across the USA in his 1964 MCI MC-5 tour bus, “The Dreadnought.” Marcus owns several vehicles, some of which he was involved in designing, and several projects, from Jaguars to old classic Mopar muscle cars.
His current nomad lifestyle involves many stationary periods. He will transition to a more mobile lifestyle in the bus in the future. It’s been said that a nomad doesn’t feel stable when stationary but feels stable when experiencing velocity. This quote encapsulates Marcus to a Tee.
Marcus acquired Dreadnought, a 1964 MCI MC-5, in 2012 when it was already converted. He finished tailoring it to his specifications and style in 2022 using a combination of his own design work and work from various suppliers. It hasn’t been easy, but it’s mostly done now.
You can follow Marcus and his Dreadnought MC-5 on YouTube.
You can also email Marcus at DreadnoughtMC5@gmail.com
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