Welcome to the channel! We are Mason and Kelly, a young married couple with a love for the outdoors. We enjoy hiking, with the ultimate goal of visiting every US National Park. We also enjoy rail travel and scenic railroads, and try to ride them whenever possible. We hope you enjoy coming along on our adventures!
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nice build!
Hello my friend, you are my guy. I need a cheep AWD for my family (wife and a baby) to go camping. Is the trunk space enough for the camping staff? Thanks bro
It depends on how long you’re going camping for. The trunk is pretty spacious on the 2012 RAV4’s, but I wouldn’t think you’d want to do more than a couple days with that as your only storage. That’s why we got a rooftop luggage carrier for extra space. If you just have one child, though, the spare back seat could also provide some storage room.
Amazing guys! I have teh same Rav4 model here in Brazil and Im doing the same thing. Many thanks!!
Thank you! Good luck with your build!
Nice couple. Try to stop reading off cell phone. It's a tad annoying. Put up big cards behind camera if needed. Bottom line- just go to STJ- been many times. It's awesome. Far better than St. Thomas.
Really glad I found this. Just got an ‘07 Rav and am looking to do something similar. Would love to see more behind the scenes videos of the car camping! Cheers from Texas.
We’ll try to focus more on the camping aspect in the future! We try to highlight the parks we visit more so than ourselves personally, but we’re small and still learning. Glad you liked the video, and hope you’re able to do something similar in your RAV!
Hello, thanks for the video. Where did you stay or book in St. John ?? Also if we don’t want to rent a car, is taxi expensive there??
We stayed at The Inn at Tamarind Court which was within walking distance of most areas in Cruz Bay. There were also several resorts and AirBnB’s available, but I recommend booking well in advance. We never used the taxi so I can’t speak for how much it was. I would guess it’s a little pricey but still cheaper than renting a car, but I can’t give a price with confidence.
Are you planning to visit? The Inn is fine but very noisy from all the resident rooster birds- even they will tell you the same. There are better options nearby.
Here in Australia, (it gets hot too), I asked a good friend who camps often with his family of 4 adults. I asked what type of fridge I should get for our RAV4 2013 (with space saver tyre by the way) so it has a flat floor. He said he has never used one. He has a really good quality ‘Orange’ esky/ cooler box or what ever you call it. Unsure of the brand though.
For airflow, I have seen a narrow strip grille on top of the rear door windows with a built in fan. May be worth looking into.
Finally !!! Someone relatable ! I have a 2001 Toyota rav 4, and do not work remotely. I just wanted something to sleep in on my weekend adventures, that wasn’t going to put me in a debt 🤷🏻♀️
I love your build! I recently bought a 2007 Rav4 and am looking to do some car camping in it. Would you be willing to share your drawings/dimensions of your wooden platform?
To be honest, we didn’t sketch it out much, and just made measurements/cuts as we went along. We’re planning to do an upgrades/updates video though, so we can re-measure everything and include some more angles of the platform in that!
@@railsandtrails181 Sounds good, thanks!
2010 Rav V6 limited here !!! No platform build!! Walmart exercise mat $30 , Amazon 4" memory mattress on top of mat $80 , few of those FunWatt Battery units $150 each , Alpicool fridge $120 Operates by car then by a FunWatt over night , various Amazon fans , all clothes and cookware in two Swiss computer back packs.. I chose the Swiss packs , for the many various storage compartments .. Roof rack for folding chairs, stoves, tent, awning, blah blah blah .. Oh, full stereo with a 12" Sub Box !! Rear right Passenger seat may be used when bed is packed away .. Front passenger seat free with bed set up .. 2 small Home Depot Rigid cases for can goods , spices , coffee , blah blah blah .. Ex military with excellent organization skills .. However, there was alot of fun with what works and what doesn't work ... 😅 You KIDS keep at it , for we are on this planet to live and not just to exist !!! Cheers😊
That sounds like a great build! A bit jealous that you managed to fit a sub box in yours 😅 Thanks!
@@railsandtrails181 Welcome.. The single 12 box sits on the folded down rear driver side passenger seat that also serves as a multipurpose table... Stay Positive and Safe in the life's journey!!!
Get something like a Jackery to run you fridge. I use a 1000 watt with my fridge.
That’s a great idea, thank you!
Thanks for sharing the up close tour. We've been there but the ranger tours were sold out for the day. We didn't get to see the dwellings upon close like you did.
Sorry to hear that! We tried to get tickets online the minute they went live (I think it was like 2-3 months in advance?), and didn’t even get the first couple we tried to. They go super fast for sure.
Yes. The scenery is spectacular ❤. Since you like train rides, you should go to Chama, New Mexico and take that train. It's 6 hours and crosses the border 11 times. You get a 1 hour bus ride back to Chama when you reach the end of the ride. We took it in the fall and the yellow you seen is AWESOME 👌.
The Chama train is on our bucket list, so glad to hear you enjoyed it!!
We have been there. Everything you shared we did not see. Thanks. We went to the visitor center by the bridge and got a good close up view of the bridge, and we went south to where all the waterfalls are. Thanks for sharing things we did not see 😊.
Thank you! We didn’t see any of the waterfalls or Grandview, but that leaves something else to look forward to next time!
Thanks for taking the day hike on Root. I saw some of the glacier I didn't see. We stayed at the Kennicot Lodge. That dirt road to the bridge was an unforgettable drive! We have been to the same 4 National Parks in Alaska. We didn't get to see the northern lights 😢. Thanks for sharing. Oh the memories ❤.
Even just visiting Kennicott is amazing. Between the drive out, the remoteness of it, and the mill itself, it’s a truly unforgettable place!
We went Goldstar all the way. Anchorage to Seward, Seward back to Anchorage, Anchorage all the way to Fairbanks. We stopped at both stops and spent 1 night at Talkeetna and 2 nights at Denali. I felt Anchorage to Seward was GORGEOUS ❤. Nice seeing everything again. I have a beautiful picture of Denali. Had a clear view at Talkeetna. Thanks for sharing. Brings back wonderful memories 💖.
So glad you were able to see Denali during your visit! Gold Star is absolutely the way to go. We wanted to save money and try both classes of service, but after riding both, Gold Star is 100% worth it. You’re right though, Anchorage to Seward has stunning scenery!
a zero breeze can cool you off at night so you can sleep good.
Time to visit Europe. Thanks for your video en sharing the information about de parcs.
Thanks for watching! Sorry for any confusion, but this is Channel Islands off the coast of California, USA.
Best way to stay warm or cool camping is travel North in summer and South in winter.
Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing. 👍7
Thank you!
Hi. I am so glad to watch your video regarding 2012 RAV4 as same as mine. I would like to know how installing the rotors mount on roof rack. Thanks.
Hi Maryann! For the RoroPax mounts, we got a 1/8 thick piece of steel that was about the right size and got a special drill bit to put holes in it. We spray painted it black, then ordered roof rack mounts on Amazon that were shaped like the letter “P.” They were designed for circular roof rack bars, but they still fit and grilled around the RAV’s roof rack with rubber inserts to fill the gaps. We just picked up some long bolts and nuts at Home Depot to attach the two, and used a large suction cup for where it rests on the window. We drilled more holes for where the RotoPax mount itself attached to the plate, and that’s about it!
I love it when she goes'Mmmhmm".....😂
I'm 5'10".... would I have room to sleep in the back of a RAV4??
If the seats are leaned forward, for sure! I’m right around that height and if you were closer to 6’ it would be tight, but at ~5’10” I didn’t have any issues. -M
You guys are killin it
She has a nice butt.❤
Traveled in my 2012 for years before buying a sprinter. We are now back to traveling in the rav4. Absolutely love it.
Why did you go back to the RAV4?
@@Community-Action One of the things probably has to do with gas mileage. The bigger the rig, and the heavier the van is loaded, the more gas is used to pull the rig.
How cold was the water for narrows? I’m going to be going in a couple weeks and the current plan is to rent waders because we were told it’s freezing. But from the looks of it you guys did fine with just the backpack! Thanks for the video 😊
It was definitely chilly, but it only gets deep in a couple spots. Most of the trail is along the shore or ankle-deep. We did make it work with just the backpack, but you’ll want to make sure you have a change of shoes if you don’t end up getting waders. Have a great time!
Zion is simply unmatched, outstanding shots my friend!
It is truly beautiful. Thank you!
Great build & lots of good ideas! Now, if you could just get rid of the annoying background music, your video would be <chefs kiss>. Most viewers don't like background music because it takes away from the main content, which are the creators speaking and providing information. Cheers!
Thank you, and sorry about that! This is slightly different content than we normally produce, and we have lots of shots where we’re not talking, and use background music to fill the silence. We’ll keep this in mind when we’re doing similar videos!
Wow. Fantastic place. Great video. Thank you.
Thank you!
I'm curious whether you had considered buying a Honda Element. I've seen a lot of videos on YT with people who use them as car campers (especially on the "Ready Set Element" channel) and they seem like they are better suited for that than the RAV4. The Element has rear seats that can either be flipped up to the sides or easily removed, leaving you with a large space behind the front seats to fit many things. Plus, some of the Elements have AWD and a sunroof in the back. I've also seen rear camping tents and roof-top tents for the Element. The roofs on this gen RAV4 are known to be a weak spot.
The sunroof would have been awesome, but to be honest, we didn’t prefer the look of the Element overall. We considered a Honda CRV heavier than the Element, but ultimately went with the RAV due to familiarity with Toyota.
Beautiful build and video! How many miles is on your vehicle?
Thank you! It was around 140,000 when we purchased it.
Wow!! Beautiful video. Thank you for sharing.
Great build thanks for sharing, I just to mention you guys rain guther to have some air flow👍👍👏❤
Thank you!
Toyota makes a vehicle geared towards camping/ off-roading. It's called the "FJ cruiser"
gorgeous park, thank you guys for sharing, good luck for visiting them all!
Thank you!!
Hi , thanks for sharing, great video. What were the mpg with the vehicle setup for camping?
Good question. We didn’t notice much of a change between with/without the rooftop carrier and RotoPax. It’s right around 22mpg
When I travel solo I sleep in my Golf. I travel with a 12v fridge and power it with a ECOFLOW Delta 2 power unit. It works well. It charges up while driving. There is a 12v micro ac unit that would provide adequate cooling while you are sleeping. You would power it with the Delta 2. It only needs about 100 watts of power. Enjoy your travels.
Well absolutely look into that, thank you!
Very nice and helpful video! 👍🏻 planning to visit this year if I can 🤞😊
Thank you! Have a great time!!
You caught a nice view of the F45 (Blue and white train engine that has been converted into a B&B like hotel) at 5:53. That is on my todo list for trips. Go to Glacier and stay in the train engine each night.
We would love to stay both in the locomotive and one of the cabooses on site at some point!
I'm Definitely following and would like a complete build list! I want to convert mine as well. Can you give measurements to all partntgat you used and links to what is suggested?
All of the wooden framework was just lumber from Home Depot. We didn’t record the measurements, but I could re-measure in a couple days here. Outside of that, we got the Yakima rooftop luggage carrier at Scheels, but they could also be ordered online. The RotoPax were ordered directly from the RotoPax website. The electric cooler is the brand AstroAi, and was ordered from Amazon I don’t remember the brand for the bull bar, but it was also from Amazon. We input our vehicle to make sure it ahead of time. That should be the bulk of it, but if you need anything else, feel free to ask. Thanks for watching!
I think the big thing that I need is the measurement for the Roto pax custom mount and hardware used. I can get the items, but where you specifically drilled, mounted, and what specific plunger and mount bolts you used to include clamps are very important. In addition to that the frame dimensions for the wood would be also very helpful. Please and thank you ahead of time!
When we lived in SLC in Utah, Capital Reef was our favorite park to go camping in. We just barely scratched the surface in all our trips their. The park changes with the season so you have to come multiple times to really know the same spot.
It’s one we’ve already discussed revisiting at some point! All the parks in Utah have provided us a great reason to return.
When you were on the engine did they let you do anything and was there special PPE required? I did the Durango Silverton cab ride on a steam engine and they give me as part of the fee, overalls to keep the dirt down, an engineers hat, and I just had to have steel toed boots. Highly recommend you do that trip if you get a chance. You will find it very different from the diesel and yes they do let you run the whistle, and shovel the coal etc. Nice video by the way. My Rav4 is envious as it stays on the road all the time.
If I remember correctly, the only requirements were close-toed shoes, and a chaperone if under 18. We asked permission to record and they said absolutely. The engineer was very conversational and knowledgeable of the gorge. Durango and Silverton sounds like an AMAZING cab ride though, and a truly unique experience. We did not run the whistle, but we also didn’t ask haha
Thanks for the video. It brings back some fun memories from November 2022.
For good ventilation while camping in my 4Runner, which might also work in your RAV4, I installed 12V computer cooling fans that pull fresh air in through the glove compartment, and exhaust stale air through the rear hatch and rear bumper. Fresh air normally comes into the vehicle through a grill just under the windshield wipers at the base of the windshield. It goes through the OEM cabin air filter which can be accessed through a couple small removable plastic doors behind the glove compartment. At night, I open the glove compartment door, empty the glove compartment, remove those access doors and the air filter, place a piece of sheet metal in the bottom of that space to divert the fresh air into the glove compartment, and place a piece of 1/4" plywood fitted with two 120mm Noctua fans over the front of the glove compartment. These fans bring fresh air into the vehicle all night. At the rear of the vehicle, I removed the two OEM speakers in the interior plastic panel of the rear hatch, and replaced them with two more Noctua fans inside the rear hatch. There is a short, direct pathway through the inside of the rear hatch to two large OEM holes in the bottom of the rear hatch, where it meets the rear bumper. I cut matching holes in the hard plastic rear bumper, directly under these holes. This way, the Noctua fans inside the rear hatch suck stale air out of the living space of the vehicle, and blow it through the rear hatch and down into the interior of the rear bumper, where it dissipates outside. In daytime, I cover the holes that I cut in the rear bumper with simple pieces of sheet metal; they are hidden from view when the rear hatch is closed. For power, I installed an Add-a-Fuse in an always-on socket in the OEM 12V fuse block under the steering wheel (the location in the RAV4 might be different). I wired this to a Deutsch DT connector installed into the wall of the glove compartment, with the connector facing into the interior of the glove compartment. So just before pushing the plywood tight against the front of the glove compartment, I plug the wiring from the two front fans into the Deutsch connector, and the fans start. For the rear fans, I wired them into my 12V auxiliary battery system with another Deutsch DT connector and a fuse. The system could be improved by wiring switches into both the front and the rear fan circuits, instead of having to connect and disconnect the Deustch connectors every night. The Noctua fans are ultra-low in electricity consumption. They are also ultra-quiet. With four of them running at night, I can barely hear the combined noise from the fans. This is partly because we sleep with our heads just behind the front row seats, some distance away from both sets of fans. We found that on hot nights (mid-80s F) and on cold nights (mid 20's F), with this ventilation system, it does not feel stuffy at all, even with all the windows of the vehicle completely closed. On cold days, very little to no condensation builds up on the insides of the windows, even with two people sleeping inside the vehicle.
Wow, that is incredibly through, and sounds very effective. We may have to give this a try. Thank you so much!!
@@railsandtrails181I should add that while sleeping inside the vehicle, there is no perceptible breeze from these fans, as they are very gentle. If you do try it, I hope it works well for you!
could you send a picture of how the fan setup looks like?
@@rumbleman97 I'm not sure how to send a photo, but basically when the front fans are deployed, the hinged door of the glove compartment is in its open (down) position, and the 1/4" plywood blocks the opening of the glove compartment. Two little hardwood sticks prop the plywood up tight against the glove compartment opening; the other end of each stick is wedged against the open door of the glove compartment. There is enough area within that piece of plywood for two circular cutouts where the Noctua fans are attached. In the rear hatch, there's not much to see - just the wiring coming out of a small hole I drilled in the corner of the big plastic panel that covers the interior of the rear hatch. That wiring goes to my auxiliary 12V battery bank. The two fans attached to the inside of the rear hatch are hidden from view when you are inside the vehicle. It's only when you remove that big plastic panel that you can see the fans. And each of the two holes cut in the rear bumper is roughly 2" x 3". I hope this helps.
Thank you, excellent idea
Can't wait for your next video 😀👍🏻👍🏻
What a great build! You definitely maximized the space you had! Stoked to follow your future travels with it.
Thank you!!
Love your build. So many are for single people. We are always looking for builds meant for two people.
Thank you! We were also surprised how many were only built for one person.
I havent tried this but i have seen a video where a guy cut a hole near the rear wheel well and place a small tubular reverse fan to pull warm air out and create air flow when combined with the main fan being used in the car (near the ceiling).
I’m sure that would work well, but we were hesitant to cut into the vehicle at all. If we continue to have issues with airflow though, it may end up coming that.