The smell of the forest, the sound of the crashing surf, the sight of the stars…all in your room!
If the words Pacific Northwest, road trip, and camper van make you want to pack your bags, you can understand the feelings I had when I first learned about Cabana. They’ve created their own custom-built, or should I say luxury-built, easy-to-drive camper van that was absolutely perfect for our weeklong trip around northwest Washington State.
This is a long read for those who are considering renting, but for the short version…
- this is an amazing deal with unlimited mileage
- it’s a small enough vehicle to go and park anywhere
- multiple entertainment and communication options with cellular 5-G and Wi-Fi
- enough battery power to travel off the grid
- everything you need is onboard – just bring clothes and your camera
- more than enough creature comforts for anyone who’s never camped before
- if you are out for four days or less, you won’t even need to empty the water tanks
- just refill the gas tank before returning and you’ll be all set.
If you can’t wait to make a reservation, go here to Cabana.life.
If you’ve got the time, I’d like to share some of the sights we saw and the delight we experienced doing a photo tour of northwest Washington in the Cabana RV.
Not familiar with camping options on the west coast, we availed ourselves of Cabana’s free tour planning assistance. I laid out our route based on maximum driving hours per day and places I wanted to see, but I needed help with suggestions for camping sites. After telling our planner where we wanted to go, she came back with a list of camping site suggestions. That was extremely helpful and saved me a lot of time hunting around the Internet.
I was concerned about taking everything we needed for a one-week tour as we packed to fly to Seattle. Fortunately, Cabana outfits their vans with all the essentials, so we only needed to bring our clothes and camera gear. Their rental proposition is unique in that things other RV companies charge extra for, are included in their standard rental rate.
Easy to drive
At just 20 feet long, this was the shortest Class B RV that I’ve ever driven. Built on a Ford Transit chassis, it was super simple to park, as it fits in any standard-sized parking space. No worries about the back end sticking out in diagonal parking spaces. The van is 10.5 feet tall, so you do need to watch your height clearances in some garages, drive-thrus, etc. Mileage seemed to average between 14 and 16 mpg on primarily back road routes.
The driver’s compartment boasts comfortable seats with the passenger seat capable of spinning around 180 degrees (only when parked.) There’s a really large flat-screen Android Auto-enabled radio with Bluetooth and Sirius XM. We tapped into that with our Google Pixel phones and used GPS as we drove. There’s even a convenient USB and 12V outlet right in front of the steering wheel for GPS, dashcam, phone, or whatever you need while driving. Three wide channels in the dash allow for maps, books or other things you want to keep handy, without them sliding around every time you take a turn.
The large flat screen also displays your backup camera for safety when backing up. Nice wide mirrors enable comfortable rear-side views without sticking out too far.
Behind the driver’s seat is a portable tabletop that slides out and attaches to a post behind the passenger seat for dining, writing, or in my case, downloading photos and drone footage.
First-time renters will appreciate the easy-to-understand directions on how to use all the devices that Cabana has built into an app you can load on your smartphone. Many tasks even have videos to show you what you need to do.
The living room
Moving down the driver’s side of the van, behind the driver’s seat, there is a closet with a combination safe, and above, a clothes rod with four “Huggable” hangers. Below the closet, there are two thoughtfully placed slideouts for standard rollaboard suitcases. Instead of trying to fit your clothes in drawers, and then wondering where to store your suitcases, you simply slide out your suitcase whenever you need something. Genius.
My wife and I both have expandable suitcases. She doesn’t typically use her expansion, but I always seem to. Note to self; it’s a tight fit if it’s more than approx. 10” thick. Once I removed a few bulkier items, it worked like a charm.
Next to the closet is the restroom, which, in my book, is one of the main advantages of having an RV. It’s a combined toilet and shower in one. The toilet is standard height and easy to use. The Cabana has lots of storage for water, so you can go quite a while without needing a dump station.
Our initial showers were so comfortable and warm that we used up more water than we planned the first time we showered. Lesson learned – five-minute showers are best in an RV. The shower is also equipped with lovely Beekman 1802 shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel in handy pump bottles attached to the wall. The Hilton hasn’t got a thing on this van with its amenities.
The inside of the bath door has a slender wardrobe mirror, and the ceiling has a vent fan. A full set of towels and washcloths are provided as well.
Sometimes it’s just the littlest touches that made traveling in the Cabana so enjoyable. For me, there were two sturdy but small hooks mounted on the wall, high above the toilet. It held my toiletry bag with razor, toothbrush, etc. for the entire trip, along with a towel whenever I took a shower.
Across from the bath is a sink/cabinet/pull-out seating/storage unit. That’s a mouthful, but it’s a blend of engineering genius. The sink and small countertop, work well for washing hands and making coffee without having to exit the camper. Under the sink, we found a great little electric tea kettle for heating water. Cabana sets you up with four packages of coffee and two nice Miir mugs with travel tops. We used them the whole time. Keeping all your coffee essentials directly in the sink storage area made it super convenient to find everything when I made coffee, or my wife made her tea.
Right above this sink are the electrical and mechanical monitors for plumbing and heating. The one on the left monitors battery level and water levels in your various tanks. It also serves as control for the water heater, which you need to start about 5 to 10 minutes before you want to shower. The one on the right is your thermostat. Below are a light switch to dim the ceiling lights and two switches for the bath light and power.
At the bottom of this cabinet is a pull-out seat with a flip-up padded back so you can sit at that portable table that attaches behind the passenger seat. A large drawer pulls out of this seat, so there’s more storage here as well. We found it stocked with toilet paper and chemical pods to add to the toilet.
Between this cabinet and the bath are two drawers tucked under the bed. One held all our snacks and dry foods, while the bottom one held my heavy camera gear and miscellaneous. Above those two is a drawer fridge. The refrigerated drawer was large enough for canned drinks, some fruit, and sandwich-making supplies. Again, Cabana started us off with four bottles of water, nice and chilled in the frig when I picked up the rig.
Overhead, downlights nicely illuminated the interior living space of the van. Dimmers let you set the light level for work or just relaxing.
The bedroom
Past the bath, is the bed. All the Cabana vans have Queen-sized, 8” thick, memory foam mattresses, which are every bit as comfortable as the mattress we have at home. After some long days with lots of fresh air, I rarely had time to think about sleep quality. I fell asleep immediately, but always awoke fully refreshed, so I knew my body and the bed got along just swimmingly.
My wife conversely enjoyed staying in bed, watching the 24” TV, and keeping up with some of her favorite series, while I went out scouting for photo or drone opportunities late at night or early in the morning. Two small spotlights on the back wall were great for reading if needed.
Again, the bed linens, sheets, and comforter all came installed and ready to use. Multiple pillows delighted my wife, who always wants more than one. Handy USB ports were available for my alarm clock – or, more correctly – my smartphone.
Two window shades snap over the rear two windows. One large, foldable shade covers the entire front and side windows for the driver’s and passengers doors. Another cover snaps over the wide window on the sliding side door. All the shades are generous in size, so there aren’t any chances of anyone peeking around the edges. All the shades are pleated to conveniently fold and store in a net above the driver’s compartment.
Let’s talk technology
I’ve driven many RVs before, and none of them, save one, came with their best technology ready to use. I don’t know whether some of these big RV manufacturers just didn’t feel it was worth showing off the tech to journalists or not, but none had their satellite systems or Wi-Fi hotspots in useable shape. One even told us that we could take out a subscription to DishTV if we wanted, but they weren’t paying for it. Hmmm.
Cabana, on the other hand, had everything working, and I mean everything. AND, none of it was extra cost. There was a T-Mobile cellular 5G hotspot that worked everywhere but in the most remote locations (where nobody else worked either.) That provided convenient coverage for our phones and laptops. I was even able to upload some really hi-res photos with no problem as we traveled. The TV also worked exceedingly well. In addition, the TV had the requisite HDMI inputs so someone could bring an X-Box or DVD player (does anybody use those anymore) and watch whatever they liked.
Outlets were something I worried about with all the camera, drone, and computer gear I packed. I brought extra cords and 3-way plugs so I could charge everything at the same time. Never needed them.
The electrical system is the most robust we ever used. Their battery system allows you to go off the grid and stay there with enough power to run the heater all night, without a generator. That’s accomplished by their triple charging method. On the roof are solar panels, that are recharging batteries even when you are parked. You can also recharge while driving, as well as by tapping into shore power at your campground. We camped for three nights in a row where there was no power, and we never missed a TV show or ever had to turn off our computers. We drove typically just three hours a day, and that, plus the solar panels, kept us at better than 70% charged all the time.
The only air conditioning in the Cabana is via the driver’s compartment with the dash-mounted air conditioning vents while you are driving. That’s certainly enough to keep the entire van cool in the hot weather. There isn’t any a/c to run overnight. We wondered if that would be an issue, but the only night it was warm enough to try it, turned out that the roof-mounted vent with fan worked just fine, pulling the hot air out of the camper and keeping us very comfortable.
Cooking – surely
We didn’t plan any big meals while we traveled, but if we had, there was plenty of space for an ice chest in the rear of the van, under the bed. Again, this area is a minor miracle of engineering, with so much conveniently at the ready below the queen-sized bed.
On the left is a pull-out kitchen with a two-burner propane stove. Cabana sets you up with two propane canisters to start. There’s also lots of prep area on this full-suspension slideout.
Along the left wall of the van, there are two shelves that hold all the miscellaneous things you might or might not need. Chains for snowy mountain passes, two fold-up camping chairs, an auxiliary jumper battery, a nice tool kit, and a Kobalt air inflator. All those are out of the way, but easy to get to should you need them.
The van came with a small trash bin with lid, but we never found a good location for it, so we tucked it in on these back shelves, and just hung grocery bags by the kitchen sink for trash. Not elegant, but supremely convenient.
A plastic milk crate holds all your cooking essentials in this same slide-out. Each Cabana comes ready to cook with one deep pan and one skillet, spatula and large cooking spoon, two sealable bowls with lids as plates, camping knife with serrated blade, corkscrew and bottle opener, cutting board, and two sets of silverware with silicone carrying cases (which keep them from rattling or getting lost.) Our cooking was typically reheating leftovers, but it worked exceedingly well for that. The whole kitchen could be pulled out and ready to cook in under 60 seconds.
In the center of the van are your circuit breakers, electric monitors, and a fire extinguisher. Coiled up in handy drawstring bags are your power cords and a hose to hook up at a campground.
The right side has a small sink and a coiled hose for showering outside or washing your furry friend. The water heater in the Cabana really heats up quickly, so you never need to dread those cold showers while camping. There’s also a dustpan and brush for keeping the floors tidy.
The only other creature comfort I would add if I owned one of these would be a kneeling pad for those times you need to get under the camper to access your black water hose. It’s located just far enough under the side of the van that you do need to get on your knees to reach it and pull it out. Other than that, Cabana has thought of everything to make this a no-brainer when it comes to recreational travel.
This was an amazing vehicle for the photo tour I envisioned. My wife and I couldn’t have been more comfortable, and there was still plenty of storage for all my gear. Having everything at our fingertips was handy, and the staff at Cabana were a delight to deal with. Thanks so much for a great trip.
My only regret is that they don’t have any locations in the Midwest or on the east coast. (Are you listening, Cabana? Hint, hint.) They’ve got three locations presently: Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Francisco; and they’ll be opening in Austin in 2023.
For more information…
- Website: https://www.cabana.life/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cabanavans/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/cabanavans/
Disclosure: Cabana provided us with a one-week rental so we could experience the ride and report our views to you our readers. There was no compensation paid for this review and all opinions are strictly our own.
Stay tuned for our upcoming 2022 Holiday Gift Guide due out next week – it’s FULL of cool gift ideas.