First Camper Experience: Family Trip at Cabcon

Camper is the first experience in my life

From a while ago, I was thinking about what to do while thinking about the situation of this corona about the year-end and New Year schedule for 2021.

One day, you can carry your car such as Porsche on itI've written a blog about campers..

Then, I received an email saying, "When the children were still young, I was traveling with my family in Cayenne by pulling a trailer from HYMER in Germany. It is a very good memory to travel around Japan with my family." It was.

He also attached pictures of various places on the Cayenne + trailer, and no matter which picture you see, all of them are really nice family pictures, and children are very entertained. The situation was transmitted (there are three children in the family, just like at home!).

If you listen to such a story and see a nice photo, I can't help but be affected by this too simple me.

Immediately, I showed the photos to my husband and said, "It's good, it's good, it's kind of nice." Not only at my home that night, but also the topic of camper vans was exciting ^^

With a camper, you can move around instead of just staying in the house and go somewhere different, while keeping contact with other people to a minimum even in this current Corona environment. I think this is the best.

My home is the one that moves as soon as I think of it. It's already a camper from this day to the year-end and New Year holidays! I started thinking seriously.

However, it is too reckless to suddenly purchase a Cayenne and a trailer as a set, and in the first place it seems to be difficult just to secure a parking lot to park the Cayenne + trailer in Tokyo.

So, first of all, I decided to rent a type of camper called "Cabcon" which is a camper integrated with the car instead of the trailer type.

First of all, let's try the experience of "trying to move with a camper, try to stay at a camper" at a place near Tokyo with a rented camper.

Maybe my kids would say "camper, no" in the first place (laughs).

By the way, I made a reservation for a camper for the year-end and New Year holidays, but when I was thinking of renting it for only a few days, it was sweet ...

During the year-end and New Year holidays, the rental car company's stores were closed, so we could only rent a car for a week in a row.

Well, suddenly one week.

Well, it's better than not being able to borrow it, so I borrowed it for another week.

If you start thinking "I want to go", I just want to go!

I picked up my rental car on the evening of December 28th and set off on my first camper van for a family trip on December 29th.

When I went to pick up the camper, I went with Porsche 911, but when I saw my car, the car rental company's older brother said, "This car (camper) really does not speed up (laugh)?"

ha ha ha

Even when I received an explanation about how to handle a camper, I was very impressed with the fact that the contract (payment) could be made while sitting in the camper (although it looks like a front desk). I took a picture of my 911 and was smirking ~ ^^).

Toyota Cam Road-based cabcon "Watercress"

Let's start with the introduction of the camper that my family rented this time.

It is a so-called cabcon camper based on Toyota's Cam Road, which has 8 passengers and 6 sleeping places.

The width of the car is 2,100 mm, so it's pretty good (2,230 mm including the side mirrors of the Huracán EVO), but the length is 4,990 mm, and the most problematic thing is the height.

The vehicle height is 2,850 mm. In other words, you cannot go through a place where there is no indication such as "height 2.9m".

I pay attention to the place where the ceiling seems to be low, and confirm that "height limit is OK!" Because I was conscious of it, it was dangerous to go through that road. * For example, under the JR overpass in Akihabara.

When driving, 100% cannot be used to check the rear of the car with the rear-view mirror.

Instead, there is a side mirror that is fairly easy to see, and when backing up, there is an image that the back camera is moving on the monitor, so you will rely on it for backing.

In other words, it can be said that there is no problem even if a car driving in front of you does not notice it (laughs).

Oh, isn't that the case ^^

Inside the camper

Now, let's take a look inside the car.

This is the door to get in and out of the rear of the camper. In the rental car I rented this time, shoes are strictly prohibited inside the car, so take off your shoes when you enter this door.

However, even if it is not a rental car, in the case of a camper, I think that it is usually strictly prohibited to wear shoes, in Japan.

In anticipation of that, there was also a space to put shoes in properly.

This is a simple chair next to the doorway.

Next to it is the kitchen. If you put water in the tank, you cannot use it as drinking water, but you can use water for washing your hands.

This time, we decided that we wouldn't use the water so much in the car, so we decided not to use it around the water, so we didn't put it in.

A table is also prepared on the simple chair, so if you lower the table, the range that can be used as a table will expand.

Equipped with a microwave oven. Since this is a sub-battery that is different from the car battery, my family did not use this microwave oven this time.

Because I heard that it is necessary to charge the sub-battery for about a day with a household power supply, so we did not have such an environment, so we could sub-battery as much as possible. I wanted to spend time without using the battery.

For the same reason, I had a refrigerator, but I didn't use it. However, since it's winter, I didn't have to use it so much, so I'm glad.

Since it is a prerequisite for a camper to "move", all the doors always have locks, and the refrigerator is also locked properly like this.

It's a little bit, but unexpectedly, if this lock wasn't locked, the door would pop open, so I thought it was a very important function.

This is the main table part.

Even for adults, it was designed so that four people could sit comfortably.

And the chair where this table is installed, but if you remove the table and set it, it will turn into a bed!

In this way, the bed will change to a size that allows you to sleep with plenty of room.

And in the back of the car, there are two sleeping spaces like a so-called bunk bed.

Is it narrow at first? I thought, but it's more than enough space for my children, so it's like "playing in the closet is like a secret base and it's fun", so enjoy it as a secret base and relax. I was there ^^

I still have a place to sleep.

That is the space above the driver's seat here. Two adults can sleep here. It's possible to stretch your legs and sleep (in my case, 160 cm tall), but well, even if you're straight, you only have to bend your legs a little, so you can rest slowly without having to worry too much. it is complete.

* The tree in the back is lying down, which is a ladder to go up to this place to sleep. Use this ladder down when you go up.

Although it is small, it is fully equipped with a TV. It seemed that I was receiving terrestrial digital broadcasting through the car navigation system of Carrozzeria.

There was also a space in front of the kitchen where a simple toilet could be installed. Equipped with toilet paper holder.

However, we did not plan to use this as well, so we used it as a storeroom.

I didn't use it at all, but there was plenty of storage space.

I didn't have an air conditioner. What do you do when it's hot in the summer (when the engine is off)? ??

This is the driver's seat.

It was pretty normal and I didn't have any particular problems driving.

But! !! !!

Actually, there was a big difference in this driver's seat from the cars I usually drive.

that is…

Yes, this steering angle! !!

It's not vertical, it's lying down. When I'm driving this, I feel like a bus driver or a truck driver ^^

By the way, this is the steering of the Porsche 911 that I usually drive. Can you see the difference in the angles? ??

Since it is an automatic transmission, the pedals are only the accelerator and brake.

If the accelerator is uphill, even if it is fully opened, it will be about 80 km / h, and I already thought, "Well, maybe the accelerator was broken?" ^^

Regarding the brakes, considering this large car body, I kept in mind that I couldn't stop suddenly, so I made a large distance from the car in front of me and ran early.

It's a big difference from the best PCCB in the universe (laughs)!

As mentioned above, it was impossible to see right behind from inside the car except with the back camera, but with these large side mirrors, I was able to grasp a lot.

In particular, the extra round mirror on the left side (passenger side) makes the front part of the car look perfect, so you can go to the last minute when you stop by pulling it forward, or someone is on the front part of the car. I was able to confirm that something happened.

The passenger seat is not comfortable, but it is at a level that is not a problem. There were various places to put luggage, so it was very easy to do. I realized how I usually live in Porsche without a place to put my luggage ^ ^

No, but after all I like Porsche 911 overwhelmingly.

This is where the sub-battery is controlled.

When you switch it on, the sub-battery will start. If it is turned off, nothing will be used, so the charge will not decrease.

After turning on the sub-battery, you can finely control the refrigerator and interior lights depending on where you use them and where you don't. Also, by turning on the inverter, you can use a household power supply, TV, etc.

FF heater is a must-have option in winter

This time, the optional function that I thought was the most important and indispensable when renting a car is this "FF heater".

It is like a so-called oil fan heater, and even when the car engine is off, if you turn on the FF heater, it will use gasoline to warm the inside of the car.

Even if you leave it on at High all night, the gasoline will not decrease by 1 memory, but if the outside temperature is 0 degrees, it will be hot enough to stay high (sleeping bag blanket) If it is shaped like a sleeping bag).

Warm air comes out from these outlets ↓

Roughly, the inside of the car looked like this.

It's very easy to spend, and just because you can lie down and sleep in the car, how to get rid of fatigue is so different! I realized that.

And even with long travel times, the kids were always having a good time at the back of the car, spending their time leisurely, playing with them, sleeping, and chilling out. ..

I think it's a miracle that when asked "How soon will I get to the next destination?" And answered "I think it's 3-4 hours", "I did it ^^". Masu (laughs).

It seems that the time spent in the camper was so much fun for the children.

Oh yeah, one at the end of the car introduction. It's hard if you get this once. That is here ↓

understood? ?? ??

Hey, there will be! A cute face is looking at me under the wiper (laughs). When I noticed this, I was worried ^ ^

Then, I will write about our year-end and New Year camper trip separately (it will be long, so I will write it in another article ^ ^).

The good thing about campervan travel is:

• Maximum reduction of human contact in the Corona era
• Since you can move without worrying about time, you can go around in the early morning when there are no people even in sightseeing spots.
• Since you can move without worrying about the time, you can set the purpose even at strange times such as the first sunrise and midnight.
• Children only need to sleep in the car, so it doesn't matter if the destination is far away
• Children only have to sleep in the car, so it's easy to achieve even the first sunrise or strange time.
• I think "I should always take a nap with SA etc.", so I can make good use of my travel time.
• The destination can be set up in Tekito (If you think it is impossible, you can stay somewhere and return)
• If you take out even a meal, you can take it in the car during your travel time, so there is no wasted time.

And so on.

Next, I would like to write about our unplanned year-end and New Year camper experience ^^

Anyway, what I can say is "It was really fun !!" ^^

Continued:Camper experience 2: Ise Jingu, ferry, Hamamatsu

First camper experience Related article:
① First Camper Experience: Family Trip at Cabcon
② Camper experience 2: Ise Jingu, ferry, Hamamatsu
③ Camper experience 3: First sunrise at Mt. Fuji, meat bun making, Itako
④ Camper experience 4: Footbath tour at Gero Onsen, Gassho Village
⑤ (Extra edition) Let's go to the Volkswagen Group Japan Headquarters in Toyohashi (Mikawa Port)