My last BTC post referenced my minivan several times. Though I truly did the Boise Trails Challenge supported, my van setup contributed greatly to the hours I spent on my own out there on the trail.
First, let’s just put out there that this is not a lifestyle that I’ve ever embraced before. Plenty of outdoors enthusiasts and adventurers have lived for days or months (or years!) out of their vans—usually after spending hours and hours making them over for this purpose. And of course there is no shortage of ready-made, gorgeously equipped conversion vans for purchase too.
Though it would have been awesome to own something like this for my week in the Boise foothills, I worked with the resources already at my disposal. Our Honda Odyssey, for the record, is NOT 4WD, or even all wheel drive, and is not on lifts of any kind. It is not ideal for questionable service roads, but was certainly a better option than our other vehicle, a small, low-riding Madza sedan. Prior to embarking on my Boise Trails Challenge week, I had already test driven my minivan to some of the more remote trail access points. Not ideal, but doable as long as I was careful.
The inside of the van, though, I ten out of ten recommend for a short van life stint!
The back bench seats stow away completely flat, and the middle seats are removable. Patrick helped me stow them in our garage for the week. With all of the seats out, our Odyssey had plenty of room for all of my gear, clothing, a couple of coolers, and a sleeping mat!
During the Boise Trails Challenge, the purpose of my van was to:
Get me from trailhead to trailhead.
Provide a place for me to sleep, whether a daytime refresh, or a night-time reset.
Store food and gear, acting as an aid station between runs.
I really didn’t have any leisure time at my van, unless you counted the planned rests between runs. Sometimes I used that time to post to Instagram, check messages, or review routes, but honestly I didn’t use a minute for traditional recreation or relaxation. I did take my journal with me, and I referenced notes in it from time to time, but I didn’t write but one sentence the whole week. If I wasn’t on a trail, I was refueling or resting up for the next one.
This experience validated my decision not to pack my zero gravity chair, or any camp chair, actually. When changing shoes, or sitting down for a pot of ramen, I either perched on the edge of the van with the sliding door open, or sat in the passenger side chair. The rest of the time I was laying down!
In addition to Patrick’s massage gun, here are some other “van-life-essentials” that contributed to my Boise Trails Challenge success:
A portable charging station. As well as all of the cords needed for my various devices. This was key. Between every run, I plugged in my phone and my Garmin watch to top them off.
This specific battery pack was amazing. I don’t think it dipped below 70% the whole week!
Collapsable water jugs. I have two, and pre-filled both of these at home. It was legitimately more water than I needed, but it meant that I could feel free to use that water for rinsing things, washing my ramen pot, or whatever else came up. At the beginning of the week I used it often. Toward the end of the week, once the back of my van was nasty dusty, I found it harder to use well without things getting pretty muddy. I always had plenty of drinking water. I’d just say that as the system was less streamlined, I was less likely to thoroughly clean things between restocks at home.
The box. I didn’t take a picture of the jugs before emptying, drying, and collapsing them. :)
Mess kit & Yeti thermos. I filled up this massive insulated water bottle with boiling water from the kettle any time I was home. It worked great for Ramen, instant potatoes, instant oatmeal, and tea. Many gas stations have an option for hot water when this needs a re-fresh. I refilled mine about every 48 hours. And to be honest, all of the above worked with lukewarm water too—it just needs a longer steeping/soaking time.
My mess kit contains two small bowls, and two lidded cups within this small pot. Also, don’t forget your spork! A cooler for all of my non-perishable fuel. No ice, just everything packed neatly away to keep it contained, and protected from the sun.
A smaller cooler with ice. Here I stowed drinks I wanted to keep cold, and the few perishable food items I kept on board. At the end of each day I treated myself to a sparkling LMNT, which was fabulous cold. And between almost every run, I snacked on Baby Bells, and hard boiled eggs, which my family pre-peeled for me at home. Oh, by the end of the week, I also kept my cooling towels in here.
My cold drink of choice, both coolers post BTC, and my Babybels. A sleeping pad. My setup included a comfortable inflatable mat, sheets I purchased at GoodWill for the occasion, a mini down blanket, my pillow, a sleeping bag, and an eye mask. The eye mask was essential for daylight naps in the van, as well as for good sleep at night when the moon was out in full!
An important note about my sleeping setup: The Honda has a lot of hardware on the floor where the chairs attach. To smooth this surface out before tossing my sleeping mat in there, I layered cardboard, an old comforter, and a large drop-cloth. Some hangers. The Odyssey had plenty of places to utilize my hangers, which I loved. This system was awesome for drying and airing out my sweaty clothes between runs. They also accommodated my three hydration vests, whether clean or dirty which was convenient for filling them while they were hanging over the coolers. The only thing I’d change is my hanger selection. When my hydration vest was full, the less sturdy of the hangers couldn’t quite handle the water weight. Oops.
Hangers & the clean vests, post BTC laundering. Sun visor for the windshield. So incredibly effective and essential. I was tempted in a few very weak moments to see if it was possible to drive with this feature still installed.
I spent a lot of time in my van. However, I did also go home.
On the first night, after I completed many of the trails on the northwest section of the map, I had an early session planned on the farthest east side of the map for day two. On this night, it made more sense to drive home, sleep there, and then start from home in the morning. On every other night of the challenge, my ending spot was often closer to my next starting spot than home was. Depending on the location, some nights I camped at my ending place, and some nights I drove to the next day’s starting place to sleep.
Also, on day four, I scheduled a “half rest day” at home on Sunday afternoon. That was day four of the challenge, about half way through my week if all went according to plan. My schedule called for an early morning of trails, and a 10:00 am meet up with my family at church. Not only did the building have running water, and flushing toilets for freshening up before the service, but Patrick brought me a buttered bagel from home too. It was also just really nice to spend about an hour worshiping with community in the air conditioned sanctuary—truly amazed and grateful for the epic journey I was in the midst of that very week. After church, I went home, took a bath, had lunch, and settled in for a long nap in my bed. My family helped reset the van (including my laundry) before I went back out that evening for a long night hike.
They didn’t plan to see me at home again until I was done.
However, the temperatures in Boise didn’t cooperate with my plan, and although my afternoon van naps were lovely on the first few days—provided I found a shady parking spot and left my windows open for a breeze—by late afternoon on day five, that strategy wasn’t working anymore. So although driving back and forth to home wasn’t the most efficient thing I could do, it was the most prudent.
In the second half of my BTC week, I didn’t spend any nights at home, but I did drive home every afternoon to do my reset in the air conditioning, and then I spent more time on trail in the late evenings and into the night when it was cooler. I still spent the night in my van, but sometimes, that “night” was defined as an hour or two of sleep before I started my morning run the next day.
Either way, my van set-up really was integral to how the Boise Trail Challenge worked for me. It kept me out in the foothills for longer, close-by the trails, and kept the resets between trails very streamlined and focused. On a milder temperature year, I can imagine almost no need to go home. If I’d not adapted my sleep schedule to afternoons at my house, I would have resupplied ice and other perishables at grocery and convenience stores that were en-route to trailheads.
Although I’m feeling super grateful for my minivan and the amazing week that I got to spend in the foothills of Boise with her, I won’t lie: I’m looking forward to one day purchasing an 4x4 vehicle.
And I’ve done a double take or two toward the now-very-attractive-to-me conversion van setups I see cruising around town too . . .
Van life is definitely growing on me!