Car Camping

Twitching often involves long trips and having the option of stopping on location overnight is definitely worth considering. Over the years my experiences have progressed from sleeping rough in the car, pitching a tent, car camping and eventually using a campervan. If you are interested in these experiences and what my car camping set ups have been like, please read on:

Sleeping rough in the car

In the early days I would usually head off home after a twitch, but would occasionally decide to stay in the area I was visiting. If I couldn't find anywhere to stay I would find somewhere quiet to park up, push the passenger seat back for leg room, drop the back of the seat, grab the blanket and hope for a decent nights sleep. Needless to say, this was never going to be a long term solution and began to look at options

Using a tent

After visiting Mull in 2012 I decided to purchase a tent, a decent self inflating mattress and a cooking stove, etc. This proved to be a good solution when going on birding breaks as I could plan ahead and book places stay. However, it was a struggle to find somewhere to pitch up when going on overnight twitches and travelling between sites for birds of interest which would result in me sleeping rough in the car.

Car Camping

Car Camping in Audi A4 Avant

I next moved on to creating a decent set up for sleeping in the car. Combining this with having the tent proved to be the best all round option and it worked very well.

In the 5-door Vectra I had, I would just drop the rear seats, push the passenger seat forward, roll the inflatable mattress out and I was set for the night. By no means perfect, but at least I was lying down and was getting a better sleep than sitting back in the passenger seat.

The first car I worked on with what I would call a proper car camping set up was an Audi A4 Avant, which is a medium sized hatch back that I purchased from Southlands Motor Company.  A very nice compact car, which was quick and nice to drive. I created a base for the boot that would house my scope, tripod & cooking utensils. The base had a board that I would simply slide forward after dropping down the double rear passenger seat. The self inflating mattress was then rolled out and the job was done (most comfortable sleep to date). In addition to this I used two old storage type boxes from Ikea to create a storage area for food, drink & cooking.

This set up was reworked 2-3 years later when I purchased a VW Tiguan 4-motion.  This Tiguan offered a bit more space to move around in and was also higher off the ground. I purchased a memory foam type of mattress, which provided me with a good sleep on something that didn't deflate in the middle of the night.

By now, looking for somewhere to pitch the tent had become less important and I was happy to just look for somewhere to park up for the night. Worked very well, especially when I island hopped the outer hebrides in 2019 when I car camped 1-2 nights and then pitched the tent in a campsite to freshen up. Would definitely recommend this approach.

Campervan

I always dreamed of owning a campervan so I could extend opportunities for not only birding, but also spending time away with the family and in August 2025 I took the plunge and purchased a VW Transporter T6.1 campervan from Southland Motor Company in Whitley Bay. Unfortunately, this first van turned out to be a very poor experience. From the day after getting it home to eventually selling it back to them in March 2027.  Faults with the van included a broken grill, faulty coolant valve, failed LED lights, rear seat belts too short, no heated passenger seat (despite it being advertised), but the most important reason for the return was not feeling comfortable speaking to Lee at Southland (defensive/offensive throughout). Read my full review here.

We now have a new 'VW 2025 Transporter T7' that we purchased from 'All Seasons' in Birtley, which is proving to be so much better than the one from Southlands. More storage space, more comfortable seats/bed, induction hob, fully off-grid, runs smoother, etc., but more importantly, I have the confidence of being able to contact them if the need arises.

Conclusion

No harm in having a night sleeping rough in the car, but if I was to start again I would skip this part of the experience and instead aim to create the perfect set up for camping in the car.  This includes:

  • Putting together a base for the boot that has storage for easily accessible birding equipment and an extendable board to extend over the rear seats
  • Purchase a memory foam type folding mattress that can be opened out when needed (not one of the self-inflating types)
  • Have a travel box to the side of the base for a gas stove, cooking gear, basic food & a few bottles of water.

Of course, the campervan would be the perfect solution but very expensive.

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