Turning a Small SUV into a Mini Camper (Without Building Anything!) – Jeep Compass Tour

hi everyone tristan here with suv rving we have another great adventure mobile tour for you today i'm here with courtney she has a 2017 jeep compass she's also a youtuber she has a couple of channels that i think you guys would be interested in we'll go into that a little bit more later all the things that we talk about in this video all the gear and the links everything will be included in the video description including links to her channels so let's turn it over to courtney and have her show us her vehicle i'm courtney i am a weekend car camper so i made my suv into something i could sleep in but i also use it for just regular driving so it's very basic it's very easy for me to pull things out it's usually just me and my dog she's sitting over there um because she's got some shade and she's a little high energy so we thought she'd be better over there um but this is a very basic setup i have my bed there's three main things i spent money on one was the mattress which is a tri-fold mattress and that i got because i wanted to easily be able to store it in my storage shed at home and there's kind of this convenient bag that comes with it i believe this is a three or four inch it cost about 90 i believe when i bought it so it was a little bit of an investment but i think it was just really perfect for me i also have a sleeping bag we're in the desert right now in a heat wave so this is actually not really needed this is i believe a 20 degree when it's winter camping for me i use i bring some layers so it's not just this when it's summer i usually just use my blanket to cover up and that's about it this actually sheets is pretty perfect i can't remember what brand it is but i'll try and find the link and these ties make it really great because it keeps the sheet in place and sometimes when you're car camping you're moving things around so um that is a great option this little area right back here i've got two of these one that i'll have at campsite one that i'll kind of keep in the car i've got some bear locks down here and i've got a little bottle opener that i got as a gift so there is i think a plug right here this is how you close the back end but nothing is underneath this except a spare tire which for me is important because i do go out alone i would eventually maybe like to put the tire on the back of the car and use that space to have more more storage space but for now this really works these three bins are pretty much where i keep the majority of my stuff so i it's they get a little dirty and this is not a permanent option this is kind of something that was just temporary my mom had a few of these bins and they fit so why not use something free um but because they are white and because i kind of use this as you know end all be all table no matter how many times i clean it it just kind of looks a little a little dirty but this top one is the one i use the most this is where i keep most most of my kitchen stuff so um usually i don't have too much food in here this trip because it's desert it's not bear country i didn't mind but we've got some dishes back here we've got i used some mason jars earlier on the trip um some cutting board this is a great thing you see my plates um i bought this on i think amazon and it's just a full set of all the appliances you could need um i do a lot of cooking when i camp i have a coleman stove i didn't bring it this trip because it's hot and i don't want to cook the strip but this has pretty much everything i could need i purchased these little kit these little sets of silverware so i have kind of two of everything in case a friend is with me or if i make a friend on the road so i kind of have everything that i need a couple pans some a couple bowls a couple plates and um obviously my propane for the stove so we'll just kind of move this this is kind of a little nook that i keep my bag my day pack in i go on a lot of hikes with the dog i don't have a lot of other equipment because i do have a dog and so i need to be able to do stuff with her but this bin is just a hodgepodge of stuff some lysol wipes these are those little shades that when you're in it's kind of the netting so you wrap it around the car window and you close the door and then it lets you keep the the windows down but keeps the bugs out so there's two of those this is my toilet which is pretty small it's a shovel nothing too exciting and some kleenex wipes um i mostly try to find um you know trail heads have toilets uh porter potties that kind of stuff this is a great option if you can't find you know a gas station or something i don't mind i've done some backpacking and this is just easy and uh so definitely doesn't faze me i know you can build out some toilets and stuff it's just not something i need so map some mods and bear spray all that kind of stuff and then this last one is more um i've got a little dishwashing setup just some wipes for me if i get a little too dirty on the hike another light some filtration system i think underneath there is some safety stuff back here so just a little hodgepodge i have more than i need but one of the main things for me as a weekend camper i don't want to think about what i'm doing i just want to be able to throw stuff in a car and go and so some of this stuff is more it's a little too much for just weekends but i feel like i have everything everything that i need so if you want to come around here my setup is a little funky in that um i have this tri-fold mattress and it doesn't fit it's too long so just to show you the side angle i kept my seat in with the headrest and it's a little angled but it doesn't phase me it just kind of puts me in a slant up my head goes that direction and the mattress just kind of folds over like that which actually provides a little lift i typically put the pillow back here that also kind of props spills in that area and you know i usually am on flat ground being a little angled doesn't faze me i know some people really need flat but it just kind of works for me if i did want to utilize this entire mattress i could move the seat forward all the way and build something to kind of create a flat surface but for me i'm five five this is the perfect length for me so that's about it down here is a little two part holder it's just um i don't i bought that before i started cart camping just a little storage container this is my main water jug i think it's a five gallon and usually what i'll do is i will lean it like this and i'll fill up my my bottles right here i keep it this way so it doesn't leak everywhere this was pretty cheap so nothing to write home about back here if i can grab it these are some window coverings i have window coverings for every single window including these little baby windows there's two main companies that make them one is heat shield one is weathertech weathertech didn't make them for my vehicle heat shield did there was a little bit of a mix up i guess they changed body styles of my car the same year and so when i got my um covers they didn't fit perfectly they tried to remedy the situation so i mean it works for me this was an investment so this cost i believe about 200 for all of the windows but they're convenient so those are most of them on the other side of the water bottle or the water container is some more water when you're in the desert it's hot and if you're out doing dispersed camping which is the kind of camping i typically do free public land it's really important to have more than you need of food and water so usually i have an extra day or two of food and water just to be just to be safe so i've got some extra water back there some of the things like these areas right here i don't use i know if you are a full-time living in your vehicle you're probably going to want to use every nook and cranny i go out for three to four days at a time two times a month for me it's it's a it's a regular vehicle too and that's really important that i kind of keep it somewhat easy so that's this side and i do bring a pillow if i forget a pillow i'll usually use a jacket or something it's no big deal but no complaints everything seems to work really well and let's go on to i guess the front seat there's really not much to show right here when i drive everything is empty in the front um we're in kind of sleep mode right now but i in case i'm at a trail head or in case i'm parked somewhere i just don't want to bring attention to the fact that i have too much in the car these windows are tinted back here so i'm not too worried about the back but you know a lot of people just kind of want to snoop in and so everything in the front goes back here i also didn't show you back tucked back this way if you can kind of see back there i keep my camp chair it's just a walmart brand it's a great little chair i don't think it was very expensive maybe 15 and but it's very compact i also keep a couple books down there i also have luna's hiking pack and when i go for longer hikes with her she takes her own water and her own snacks because she needs to do a little work too so that in an ideal world i would have something built for this space and it would fit perfectly and that i think will happen it's just not needed and until these are kind of run down and i'm exploring options but when i'm going to drive mode all i do is i flip this up i want to keep it low enough to where i have some visibility to be able to drive and see out the back but this is where i put my yeti cooler and i usually put my stove behind it i'll put a blanket or something to go in between so it doesn't make any rattling noises and this just kind of fits great if it's winter if i've got snow chains if i have some logs um or wood to burn anything like that i'll kind of arrange it here but this is kind of the only difference with drive mode is i take everything from the front and i put it back here all right let's go to the other side so i travel with my dog all the time she's an important part of my trips we're limited on where we go national parks are very restricting for dogs and they're just certain locations big sur is hard to take dogs but we do the best that we can we try to respect the rules this is where she sleeps and where she drives um so there's a little seatbelt that i have for her so she stays in one place and the spot down here is actually where i keep i usually keep a longer leash when we're at campsites so she can run a little more free she's not a well-trained dog so she can't be off leash also down there is where her food is i keep this is just a i reused a this is a nut thing from kirkland it's a great sealed thing if i'm in bear country i put things like this and toothpaste and stuff in my cooler when i move that away from my campsite but this just kind of stays down here probably one of the best things that i purchase that's also not very expensive is what i consider my closet when i'm traveling when i travel even though i'm out for short time you know three to four days i do bring a lot of stuff as far as am i going on hikes am i gonna go to eat at a restaurant you know whatever it is so when you lift this up this is actually what's called a seat extender when you lift this up this is actually my closet so it's got these little dividers and so i can it's pretty deep i can fit quite a bit of clothing and shoes and hats and all that kind of stuff and what it ultimately was designed for was to extend the seat for the dog so she can lay down that's for any that's not a car camping thing that's just a car thing um it wasn't very expensive and it's probably become the most handy thing just because i can stay organized besides the fact that i always have dirty shoes and dirty clothes that are thrown in there it works it's not a perfect fit i don't think it's a perfect fit for every vehicle i think it's a little bit um it's not all the way to the ground i usually don't zip it i'll just kind of keep it like that and it's secure for her so she can lay freely she also has her water bowl that i tuck down here that's her also her backpacking bowl and that's luna's face she feels comfortable and safe and there's always a lot of dog hair and then up here again this is drive mode or this is sleep mode this is not drive mode but i have my yeti and this is the 35 this is a perfect size for me for about three to four days sometimes i only do frozen water bottles sometimes i do ice it's really hot i don't mind it's just weekends so it's not a problem to have some ice if i were a going out for a longer period of time i might do something like a refrigerator i got the color it was a limited edition color because it's fun i'm very black and white and a lot of my color choices i thought it would just be fun brighten my day and it's cooler you know um i got the yeti that was my recent i got that about four months ago uh it's expensive i can't remember how much this one was i want to say a few hundred dollars it's it's an investment the reason i got it was i do go to bear country i live at the southern part of the sierra nevada range and so i go up in the sierra nevadas a lot and i want to be able to keep my stuff safe and keep the bears safe because that's critical if they get too comfortable with human food and unfortunately that creates problems for them so it was well worth it i had a yard sale i made some money i bought it and i'm really happy that i did also up front is i keep my camping table and i also keep my longer window covering now when i go into drive mode those actually just lay on the bed area that's still folded down i also have a little toiletry bag down here i just kind of keep that tucked down here not that exciting um my glove compartment you know i keep the basic car stuff i have my america the beautiful pass and then in my little compartment in between the seats i'll usually keep power source i've got a anchor i don't have a power station i would like to get one someday but for me the power the little you know tiny ones really work well just to charge my cell phone and that's all i need the last thing that is uh really i didn't know when i bought this vehicle that it would be so handy and i've never had a sunroof before this vehicle is um there's this really huge sunroof and this does two things for me this gives me great natural lighting so it does have a screen that i can close if i need to but oftentimes i keep it open and it just it kind of naturally wakes me up it also has the ability to have this little area to open so even when i'm winter camping the coldest i've done is i think i've gone down to 12 degrees um which is which is chilly it leaves me it lets me have some airflow and between me and the dog if i don't have a little airflow it can it can cause problems so just having that little bit cracked every single trip is really quite convenient being able to look at the stars at night is probably the best thing nothing beats it i mean unless you're actually sleeping outside the other thing i know a lot of people have asked me is how do i feel safe or am i scared or oh man the questions are endless around that um i i started this when i bought a home um and i couldn't really afford to do what i used to do which is a lot of solo international traveling i did that one big trip each year for most of my adult life i love traveling i love meeting new people and exploring and trying new food you buy a house and then all of a sudden your money just goes right into that house and so i think that this was finding suv camping was two things i didn't have to go out and buy a van i could adapt my my regular driving vehicle make it into this mini micro suv rv whatever you want to call it and i could use it as my daily driver i also love having the off-roading capability this is a trailhawk which is kind of jeep's more off-road line it's not a major off-roading vehicle but it does have a little decent lift it's got all-terrain tires i feel safe in it and when you go to a lot of free campsites like this one coming in here it would be tough in some two-wheel vehicles without that clearance so for me it's really important to be prepared plan in advance if i feel uncomfortable i'll leave and if i really was desperate i haven't but if i was really desperate i could go and get a hotel or something like that or just drive i usually have about three camping locations planned out i'll try the first one and then if that one doesn't work if i don't feel safe there if i don't like it i can you know have i have i have gone to the third one before so i do think having three has helped me you know you can use safety measures that you feel comfortable with i've said this to people don't go out and get something just for suv car camping because you think it's going to make you feel safe if you aren't comfortable using something you're not going to be good at using it and when you actually need to so use what you feel safe with and you know be prepared using use common sense it's hard to travel with the dog it's also it is expensive to board her so this has been such a blessing i pay for my gas i allow myself to eat out one time per trip because i like food and i like to go and try some new places so if i'm out for three to four days i will go to one restaurant that usually has a patio where i can sit there with a dog and other than that i bring all my food it keeps the cost really low so on average my trips range from about 100 to 150 and you can't beat it the only time i ever pay for camping is if i'm at the coast the california coast which i'm about two hours from is really hard to find free camping there's some really good spots in big sur but there's been some mudslides that have made those not available so you just do what you can do you do some research and if you have to pay you have to pay it's usually not too bad but i try to i try to camp for free because i'm pretty cheap highly recommend this vehicle if you're looking for a small suv i'm not plugging jeep in any way um it's just it's perfect for me and and what i have to use it for it's got some decent gas mileage and um we're really comfortable i have a youtube channel that is kind of just sharing my adventures out with my dog luna and that one is called city girl unplugged i used to live in san francisco and then i moved to the middle of nowhere i bought a house in a rural part at the southern base of the sierra nevadas and we have a couple acres and it's a little a-frame cabin and we absolutely love it i also have a second channel which is my first channel that's around my small business i'm a reseller i sell used items mostly on ebay and poshmark and uh so that is my main channel that provides a little bit of income it also helps with some of my sales and i share things so that people can learn how to resell and brands to look for and stuff like that if you want to follow us and see our adventures mostly in california um it's a rare time when i get out of the state because we are weekend only we're kind of limited in that six hour up to six hour range um just so that we don't spend too much time driving and uh so mostly california we do the beach we do the mountains we occasionally do the desert which is a lot of great free camping and um that's it my second channel is common tags my car camping channel is city girl unplugged and uh you can come hang out with us there thanks again courtney for sharing your rig with us and again i'll put links to all of her stuff to her two channels in the video description and if you guys have any questions be sure to leave them in the comments below and we'll both be patrolling those and making sure we try to answer your questions as best we can uh thanks again for watching and if you are somewhere in the western us and you have a an suv that you'd like to share with the world go to suvrving.com shoot me an email and maybe we'll cross paths on the road and share your rig with the world and thanks again for watching i'll see you in the next one be sure to check out adventure know-how my new site where you can gain access to a map of all of my free campsites plus monthly bonus videos that you won't find anywhere else learn more at adventureknowhow.com and for links to everything else suv rving related visit suvrving.com links to these sites and more will be in the video description

Channel: SUV RVing

Views: 59,125

Rating: 4.9320192 out of 5

Keywords: suv rving, car camping, suv camping, road trip, camping, camper, rv, vanlife, vandwelling, adventure, travel, suv dwelling, rav4, toyota, sleeping, jeep compass, jeep, compass, trailhawk

Id: rT9LdQ1K-4s

Length: 21min 17sec (1277 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 27 2021