Saving on Hotel-sleep in the Vibe

[E.M. For G.M.]

I officially camped in the Vibe this week. I had two speaking engagements this week, left one town at 9 P.M. and had to speak at an Author's Breakfast the next morning at 7:30. We decided to just park at a campground and sleep for the five short hours I had to get some shut eye. We're thinking that when the next book comes out we'll just take a two week tour of the country, camping along the way. It was 24 degrees outside but we had the 20 degree bags. We fit fine head to toe, but we need to come up with a better air mattress. Also wish we'd used our cartop carrier for our stuff since we had to move it all around in the middle of the night when we pulled into the campground. Anybody have Vibe camping advice to offer?

[DHelm72]

Pretty cool. As far as camping advice, I would get a small pup tent that sets up in less than 5 minutes when you go on tour. That way you could leave all the junk in the trunk and spread out in the tent. It is no warmer in the car than the tent. All you have to do is find a tent that is small and sets up in 5 minutes. All you have to do for a quick overnight is grab your sleeping bags and pillow. The ground is just as hard as the plastic floor of the trunk. I would only sleep in the car in a hard rain storm. A tent also allows more ventillation in the warmer months if it has windows/vents below the rain fly.I still think it is pretty cool that you camped in your car.

[keithvibe]

y, yes I doSell your house, car and buy one of these

[TraySeeLea]

I camped out in mine....just in the summer though...you def need some sort of mats to put down if you are sleeping though, cause it kills your back

[vibe-04]

Back when I crossed Canada I would park in church parking lots. It was safer than an industial park or a shopping mall. Cops would always check you out but never in a church parking lot. And somtimes the pastor/priest/church caretaker would bring me coffee. Good times..have a safe tripAndrew

[AKLGT]

i cannot see how that would be even remotely comfortable. that back is sooooo hard! besides, even with an air mattress, all seats folded flat, no way it'd accommodate Phil's 6'3" frame unless he slept at a diagonal.

[TraySeeLea]

yeah I am 5'11.....so you have to lay diagonal..not the best sort of sleep i'd imagine but if you're lookin for a cheap way out it is the way to go

[joholste]

one time when i was driving to texas from North Carolina I curled up in the backseat of my vibe for like 3 hours and got some decent sleep. but I haven't ever slept in the back the the seats laid down. I would definitely have to have some sort of air mattress...I would think actually a car would be a little warmer than a tent because it's a little thicker than a tent so the heat wouldn't transfer as much and probably a little less interior space to heat with body temp. but my wife and i are planning on taking our honeymoon next summer in the smokey mountains and doing some camping. so we'll see maybe i'll just try it one night to see.

[chevelle_lover]

I had see one similar to this on the highway being towed behind a Matrixhttp://www.tomswenson.com/teardrop/index.shtml

[zionzr2]

So i take it the verdict is the back of the vibe is no 5 Star luxury hotel room bed. Nor is it a cement overpass.

[VforVIBE]

I take naps in the Vibe... often, it works out nicely... seeing as how I'm 5'1"

[prathman]

Haven't had occasion to in the Vibe, but we did camp back in '75 in our VW Rabbit. It was quite a bit smaller than the Vibe, so to have enough space we removed the back seat entirely before a trip. We also had a nice light canvas car cover for privacy. Opening the windows with the car cover on still provided a reasonable amount of ventilation through and around the fabric.In addition to being quick to setup, this style of 'camping' lets you stay in lots of places where setting up a tent would cause problems.

[Sublimewind]

Quote, originally posted by AKLGT »i cannot see how that would be even remotely comfortable. that back is sooooo hard! besides, even with an air mattress, all seats folded flat, no way it'd accommodate Phil's 6'3" frame unless he slept at a diagonal. Doesn't the front passenger seat fold flat with the rest of the seats... that will accommodate 8' 2x4s... If anyone has ever used "packing mats" they can be folded in half and makes the hard plastic much softer... there are also plenty of camping mats out there that are made for this sort of things.. I would much rather camp in the Vibe than in a tent, honestly..

[Baltovibe]

You could try this: http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=15310

[jake75]

Quote, originally posted by TraySeeLea »yeah I am 5'11.....so you have to lay diagonal..not the best sort of sleep i'd imagine but if you're lookin for a cheap way out it is the way to goI'll stick with priceline.com

[TraySeeLea]

Quote, originally posted by jake75 »I'll stick with priceline.comyeah I hear ya.

[E.M. For G.M.]

We had the front seats folded down and forward and packaging under the gap between the front and back seats so that the air mattress extended farther. Boyd's 6 foot. The air mattress was high quality -- my parents bought it for their stays at our house--and we used several sleeping bags to even things out and make it comfortable. We also went to sleep with the car nice and toasty. Then when the alarm went off, we turned on the car to get the air warmed up before we had to get out of the bags. Then we drove to the bath house.Of course in the summer, we'll have to take a tent, but then we'll probably also take the kiddos.Authors just starting out make about as much as a garage band and most of the money coming from my sales and the conferences I speak at is all going back into promotions. I had one weekend in Kentucky where I completely sold out of the books at a book festival and yet still didn't clear a profit because of the hotel stay. I thought this was pretty much because I'm a brand new author, but I met a Newberry Award Winner this weekend whose third book has this pretigious award and she said she still has to be careful or she won't clear a profit on an event away from home. Other authors have said sometimes it takes 4-5 books. I'll be sleeping in the Vibe for awhile.

[E.M. For G.M.]

Keith! So funny you should pick this pic --- My in-laws have this one. They won't let us drive it. Imagine that!

[Moon_wagon]

In bear country, you need your sleep area and food storage area separated... ; )A regular tent would be a lot better. Plus that tent doesnt look like it would hold in the rain.But I'd have to try abd sleep in the Vibe at least once. I like the idea of my fellow Canadian who slept in Church parking lots across the country. Smart move.

[sdmorast]

I have camped in my 2005 Vibe. I fold down the rear seats and fold the passenger seat forward. I have a low single cot that I put across this. The passenger seat is higher than the rest so I have my head up there. Helps with acid re-flux. I bought some nylon screen material and some magnets to put over the windows and the sun roof. It worked well. I'm thinking of building a screened insert for the sun roof that will keep rain out.

[blp]

Magnets....what a good idea. I slept in my Buick Rendezvous, and taped screen to the windows. It didn't work well.

[455SD]

The wife and I have slept in ours with an air mattress as well. REI, twin size. Fits perfectly with the seats all the way forward. Left & right side zip sleeping bags that allow you to make one large two person bag. With the RH front seat folded down, I can completely stretch out. We had good weather, so slept with the sunroof in vent position for air. It works in a pinch when the campgrounds are full, or when you want a quick departure, and don't want to worry about breaking camp. All other gear kept in Thule cargo box that mounts directly to the factory rack. No extra rail system needed.