Postcard from Yosemite: We Finally Tried A Campervan–Here’s How It Went by Wendy Lee of Empty Nesters Hit the Road

Remember the thrill of trying something new for the first time? Wendy Lee, travel enthusiast and half of the duo behind Empty Nesters Hit the Road, takes us on her maiden voyage into camper van life. From a rocky start to the unexpected joys of a private bathroom in the great outdoors, she treats us to a true, unfiltered account of her adventures. Her reflections on the freedom of exploring Yosemite on her terms and the comfort of creating meals on the go offer a tantalizing glimpse into the allure of van life.

During the rollercoaster ride, Wendy and her husband, Jason, share valuable insights into the challenges of steering and parking a camper van. Their humorous and candid recollections serve as real-life travel guides for fellow explorers, especially those over 50, looking to chart their course. And it's not all rosy – they also shed light on the comforts they missed and the lessons they picked up along the way. So sit back, relax, and join us for an audio expedition as we journey through the highs and lows of camper van travel. This is the road trip you don't want to miss!

Read the original article at Empty Nesters Hit the Road: We Finally Tried A Campervan--Here's How It Went (emptynestershittheroad.com)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome, fellow wanderers, to a delightful
addition to the Global Journeyswith Jill Dutton podcast
introducing Postcards yourpassport to bite-sized travel
tales.
I'm Jill Dutton, your guide inthis audio expedition, and I'm
thrilled to embark on thesejourneys with you.
In this new segment, postcards,we're flipping through the
vibrant pages of travel,offering you quick glimpses into

(00:26):
the captivating world thatawaits beyond our doorsteps.
These audio snapshots aredesigned to be your pocket-sized
companions, perfect for thosemoments when you yearn for a
touch of wanderlust but areshort on time.
While our traditionalfull-length episodes will
continue to immerse you in therich narratives of the
individuals I've encounteredduring my travels, postcards
steps into the spotlight as afrequent rendezvous with travel

(00:48):
essentials brief, insightful andready to transport you to
far-flung corners of the globe.
But further ado, welcome tothis installment of Postcards.
Postcard, we finally tried acamper van.
Here's how it went by.
Wendy Lee of Empty Nesters Hitthe Road.

(01:10):
I have proudly avoided campingfor my entire adult life.
I have fond memories of campingas a kid, both with my family
and the Girl Scouts.
But when I was the one doingthe vacation planning, tents
were out and hotels were in.
My husband, Jason, has longknown of my aversion to camping,
so he suggested renting an RVinstead.
My response was always hell, no.

(01:31):
Then 2020 came along and itseemed like everyone and their
brother was turning to van life.
Social media was flooded withhashtag Van Life.
Jason started to sing thepraises of van life to me,
pointing to all the idyllicscenes on YouTube.
I still wasn't convinced.
Then I got a call from acompany called Road Surfer, a

(01:52):
camper van rental companystarted in Germany that recently
expanded to the US.
They offered me five days useof a camper van for no charge.
I was officially out of excuses, so we reserved our campground,
packed up the Volvo and headedto LA to pick up the van.
A disappointing day one.
Our first day did not go well.
After receiving a 30 minutebriefing on the van, we loaded

(02:15):
all of our food, clothing andgear inside and then hit the
road and for the next sevenhours we moved from traffic jam
to traffic jam.
The estimated time of fivehours to Bass Lake took
significantly longer.
Our plan to arrive before darkand enjoy happy hour watching
the sunset over the trees wasdashed.
We arrived at our campgroundoutdoorsy around 7pm and

(02:38):
discovered the campground officewas closed.
Fortunately, we found ourparking pass and a map pinned to
a board.
Fortunately, we wound our waythrough the campground in the
dark looking for our space, andfinally found it.
Jason skillfully backed the vaninto our space and we began the
process of setting up for thenight.
I still had hopes of enjoyingdinner outside until a neighbor

(02:59):
popped her head out of her RVand said please be careful,
there's a bear in the campground.
We quickly hopped in the vanand slammed the door shut.
At this point I was both hungryand cranky and wondering why on
earth I had agreed to this trip.
Where was the lobby bar orhotel restaurant?
Where was my hotel bed coveredin crisp white sheets?

(03:20):
Oh, that's right, we still hadto make up our bed, and if we
wanted dinner we would have tomake it ourselves.
So I poured myself a largeglass of wine I had brought
plenty while Jason made ussandwiches.
And we called it a night.
Maybe tomorrow would be better.
Day two is looking up.
The bed in the van wasreasonably comfortable and while
I didn't get to enjoy a sunsetthe previous night, I was able

(03:43):
to watch the sunrise over thetrees.
As we woke, there was a glimmerof hope.
I got up and made us coffee.
In the French press we rarelyuse at home, which was a nice
start to the day.
I should mention that the vancomes with a full set of dishes,
along with pots and pans andserving utensils.
It also came with a Frenchpress, so I didn't actually need
to bring one.

(04:03):
After making breakfast andgetting dressed, we decided it
was time for a hike.
We drove the van to thetrailhead for Lewis Creek
National Recreation Trail andspent the next few hours hiking.
This was a gorgeous trail,winding its way alongside Lewis
Creek and passing both Corlewand Red Rock Falls.
It's a popular trail so wedidn't have it to ourselves, but

(04:24):
I'd still recommend it.
So here's where the benefits ofa camper van begin.
It was so nice to return to thevan and have a clean private
bathroom not an outhouse alongwith a sink to wash our hands
and freshen up.
We were both hot and sweatyafter the hike, so we
immediately turned on the airconditioning and cooled down
quickly.
After some discussion, wedecided to drive back to Bass

(04:45):
Lake and look for a scenic spotnear the water to make lunch.
After lunch we took a nap.
At this point both Jason and Iwere singing the praises of van
life.
This day continued with alovely kayaking experience on
the lake, happy hour at the dockand a delicious dinner made by
my husband.
The bear in our campground hadmoved on, or at least I assumed

(05:06):
it had, and we were settlinginto van life.
Maybe I was wrong.
Maybe hotels were overrated.
Day 3, exploring Yosemite in acamper van.
After a successful day 2, werose early on the third day to
head to Yosemite, hoping to getahead of the crowds.
It had been almost 30 yearssince I'd been in the park and I
was really excited.

(05:27):
We entered at the southentrance and parked in the
Mariposa Grove lot.
Thankfully there's an RVparking section here.
If you've never been toMariposa Grove, there is a lower
parking lot and a free shuttlebus that transports visitors up
to the actual Grove of GiantSequoias.
This is a gorgeous spot inYosemite that I highly recommend

(05:47):
.
We hiked to the grizzly giantloop, took the shuttle bus back
down and returned to our van.
Once again, we enjoyed theprivate bathroom and the
opportunity to make ourselveslunch.
We opened the large slidingdoor of the van and enjoyed a
spectacular view.
It was still early in the day,so we opted to drive into
Yosemite Valley.
This is where our day wentdownhill.

(06:08):
Jason was such a trooperdriving the van the entire trip,
but he found it exhausting todo along the narrow and windy
roads of Yosemite as a slowermoving vehicle.
We constantly had to pull overto allow others to pass, and
when we arrived in the valleythe parking lots were quite full
and challenging.
With a van we spent about twohours exploring the valley in

(06:28):
Yosemite Village and thenreturned to Bass Lake.
Jason was tired and cranky.
We were no longer singing thepraises of a camper van.
Our final day at Bass Lake.
Our original itinerary includedtwo days in Yosemite, but we
changed our plans and exploredmore of Bass Lake instead.
The roads in this area aregenerally wider and easier to
navigate in an oversized vehicle.

(06:50):
So on our fourth day we relaxedin the campground in the
morning and then drove toMiller's Landing.
I'll admit that we were gettingtired of making all of our own
meals, so lunch was burgers andfries at the restaurant.
Then we rented a small powerboat to see more of the lake.
Jason generously did all of theshopping for this trip and most
of the cooking.
However, by the final night hewas over it.

(07:11):
Dining out was certainly anoption, but we didn't want to
waste the food we had broughtOur fourth night dining in felt,
cramped and dull or, as Jasoncalled it, groundhog Day Our
favorite parts of a camper vantrip.
Our final day was spent drivingback to LA.
We were both delighted to handthe keys back to the road
surfers staff and reclaim ourVolvo On our drive home.

(07:32):
Jason and I listed the pros andcons of a camper van trip, so
let me start with the positives.
Leisurely lunches in the vanwhile enjoying views of Yosemite
or Bass Lake were delightful.
Our meals for all five dayswere quite healthy, especially
in comparison to what wenormally eat while traveling.
There can be significant costsavings by traveling in a camper

(07:53):
van.
While the daily rental feeisn't cheap ranging from $99 to
$250, it's comparable to thecost of hotels or Airbnb.
The real savings is the food weate out just twice in and out
on our drive to Bass Lake andlunch at Miller's Landing.
And we did not skimp on food.
We had three full meals a dayand wine or beer with dinner.

(08:16):
And traveling with youraccommodations can be a benefit.
If we needed a bathroom, wealways had one.
If one of us felt a nap comingon, we just parked and slept.
Anything we needed, from anitem of clothing to a bandaid,
was within arm's reach thedownsides of a camper van trip.
But alas, the downsides of thisexperience were numerous.
Getting ready for this trip wasfar more work than our average

(08:38):
trip.
There was meal planning,shopping and packing.
Then there was the dailycooking and cleaning.
At the end of the trip, boththe black and gray water had to
be dumped.
This process was easier thanexpected, but quite frankly, I'd
rather not do it again.
While the bed in the camper vanwas reasonably comfortable, it
did not measure up to thecomfort of most hotels.
Getting up in the middle of thenight to adjust the temperature

(09:01):
or use the bathroom was a majorhassle due to the height of the
bed and cramped spaces.
And if you want to sightseeduring the day, as we did,
maneuvering much less parking acamper van is a chore.
We were really missing ourVolvo during the day as we drove
around.
What we learned for our campervan trip?
I have no regrets.
Life should be about trying newthings and getting outside of

(09:22):
our comfort zone, and wecertainly did that.
Together, we mastered all thesystems of the camper van and
even though we don't plan torent a van again we know we
could, but our biggest takeawayfrom this trip was the beauty
and serenity of Bass Lake,especially off season.
We will definitely be back tothis lovely part of California.
Only next time we'll rent acabin.

(09:45):
Wendy Lee and her husband, jason, are empty nesters who love to
travel.
To date, they've visited 30countries.
Their goal was to encouragecouples 50 plus to travel more
and provide advice for how to dothat.
Most of the time, wendy andJason travel as a couple, but
when schedules permit they alsoenjoy traveling as a family with
their two grown children,jessica and Ryan, and their

(10:06):
son-in-law Jake.
Wendy is the chief storytellerfor empty nesters hit the road.
After a long career as anonprofit executive, she pursued
her dream of travel writing.
Today she writes for thiswebsite, local tourism bureaus
and other travel outlets.
Check the show notes for thelink to the original article.