So we are getting scarily nearer the departure date for our little road trip in France/Northern Spain. We plan to sleep in the car for at least some of the four weeks, camping in municipal sites the rest.
After a test run with the 11 year old and the dog in the car last night, I am revisiting the thoughts around storage and packing everything we need in the car when it's set up for sleeping. We have a big car, so transporting it is not a problem when we're not sleeping in the car, but two beds in the back, and a dog and tent in the front don't leave a huge amount of stash space for essentials!
There is a bank of cubby holes in the roof, flanked by glass - so no roof box wanted to keep our night sky view clear ;-)
My mind has wandered onto a Bak-Rak or similar towbar mounted carrier - I don't want a trailer. But, having had a quickish look, there are so many options and so many price brackets.
Has anyone any experience or thoughts on them?
I *think* I would prefer something eay to mount and dismount, as I *think* I will only want it on there when we're sleeping in the car, loading it all into the boot at other times...
But I really don't know... Feeling very much the stereotypical mum!
Back in 2009 we set of to the Southern Ardeche, with a Thule Back Up Box, mounted onto our Thule EuroClassic Pro 902 towbar mounted bike carrier.
We bought the 902 bike carrier back in 2004, so it seemed a good idea to get the Back Up Box.
Big mistake, the weight on the rear of the VW Golf was to much, even though I made sure we were not over the 75kg limit, the result was vague steering and the rear wheels of the car, disappeared into the wheel arches.
We sold the Back Up Box to someone on here with a more suitable vehicle, we then bought a Trailer, and the rest as they say is history.
Sorry I misunderstood about you not using the back-rack whilst on the move, maybe in that case why not just pitch a utility tent, and lob everything in there for the night, whilst you sleep in the car.
Funny thing is, we use to do a similiar thing back in the late 1970's, we had a Ford Granada, huge boot, all the camping gear went into the boot.
Our overnight stops on the way to the Cote d Azur, would be a municipal campsite, and on one occasion was just a field with a campsite sign nailed onto a gate!
We would sleep in the car, only the two of us back then, and teenagers the both of us, what an adventure it was.
I know you said no trailer, but how much easiar would it be with one, I can't help thinking.
I still think your plans to sleep in a car on an aire is impractical. We struggled in out VW T4 campervan on some as technically everything has to be inside your vehicle and we would not have wanted or been able to leave anything outside on some, especially at busy periods.
Having said that we have a BaK-Rak on the back of our current van tat we use for transporting my tricycle. It's relatively easy to get on and off but it needs a spanner. It's also quite heavy and bulky when off the van though it can be left on the tow bar and folded up when not in use (though check to see if it obscures your number plate - if so you'll need an illuminated number plate board as well). Whatever you put on it will need to be waterproof and well secured, even if only using it when stationary, unless you are not worried about losing them so you'll need to think about how you will do this as well.
To be honest I think what you are suggesting would be impractical and expensive. For what you will save by buying a rack and using Aires you would probably be better off spending the money on buying a cheap tent to store your things and to use campsites throughout your trip. This would most probably be as cheap and give you the choice of sleeping in the tent if it got too hot to sleep in the confines of the car, which it may well do.
Thanks. We have a tent for sleeping in on municipals when we choose to. And some of the Bak-Rak options are less than £150, not sure how £150 would expand to 4 weeks paying for campsites...
I have received advice already that everything at Aires needs to be within the car (hence considering a tow bar mounted carrier).
A big part of the adventure is doing it 'wild' at least to some degree. The Aires are for sleeping, not for living, one night in each location. Therefore there is no major issue not being able to put stuff out of the vehicle.
I was working on the fact that you have previously said that you will stay on a mixture Aires and Municipals so was assuming that you weren't planning on staying on Aires every night. Some Aires cost as much as much as a cheap Municipal which are as little as 10 euros a night for a small tent away from the coast. This would give you 19 nights in a cheap municipal at 10 euro for the cost of a Bak-Rac even if all the Aires you used were free.
I truly appreciate your adventure and what you are trying to do. We have done similar road trips all over Europe as far as Greece. I was only trying to give you advice from our experience. We have tried it in both a Landrover and VW camper van. We found it almost impossible in the Landrover, due to space for our stuff and just basic cooking and washing plus secure ventilation at night, plus we were moved on from some Aires as we were not 'self contained' in the eyes of the local police/officials. Even in VW it was nothing like as easy as we thought it would be using Aires with everything we needed for a longish trip (nothing OTT, just camping chairs, small table, minimum cooking equipment to avoid having to eat out every night and as few clothes as we could get away with) and sleeping stuff and that was with the cooker and fridge built in, not to mention the issues of loos and hygiene, so I was just trying to point out the practicalities of what you intend doing.
However, to answer your question I don't think a Bak Rak is the answer unless you have some way of really securing your belongings to it. We don't leave anything on ours unless it is secures with a high security bike lock or similar, which cost about £40.
Anyway all I can say is good luck (and I mean that, not being sarcastic) for your trip. I really hope it works out.
I am thinking a Bak-Box might be best, with a padlock on it. Perhaps sticking the dog food etc inside it, with a bag of clothes etc.
I think we can manage to cook elsewhere at just roll up to the Aires simply for overnight, or eat sandwiches those evenings.
Planning to use Aires with toilets as much as possible, and many of the Aires are free too - not looking at motorway service ones, more the tucked away ones.
It is very useful to hear the pitfalls from someone who has done it before though. And I have printed out some details for municipals along our vague route, so if we struggle we will just check into a campsite for slightly longer periods instead - we're flexible ;-)
Hi..
Although we've no first hand experience of "aires", I'd agree with what chrisandsandra said.
Don't underestimate how much room all of your "stuff" will take up...
We've a Hiace van(T4 sized)and when that's loaded for just a long weekend away, the "load area" can be pretty much rammed, 'til such time as we set up camp the other end.(and there's just two of us).
The few times that we have "overnighted" in the van on-route have been a real b*ll ache of job, what with rearranging and shuffling our "stuff" about etc..and we've got the benefit of a pull-out bed with plenty of storage underneath!
(..and a full width rear box AND a roof box!).
Kippin' in the car may be fine for a night, if it's empty, bar the sleeping bag(s)..but sorry, I just don't see it as feasible once loaded with full-on holiday clobber..let alone when also accommodating a young child and a dog.
Even if you did intend to off load into a rear box/rack, I doubt that would have the capacity to take all the stuff you'd need to move out of the way, anyway.
You certainly don't want it to be a chore (..and you could find yourself setting it all up in the dark..or rain?)
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Topic: Anyone used a Bak-Rak or similar?
