Could You Travel More If Your Car Was Your Bed?
By: Ric Burnett
Tags: Adventure, Travel Tips, Lifehacks, DIY, Travel

Could You Travel More If Your Car Was Your Bed?

Buying, Build Out, And Everything In Between

If you were to ask us a year ago where we would be right now, we couldn’t have told you we’d be traveling the US. But life doesn’t always work out the way you plan. Sometimes you’ve got to get creative. After we realized traveling the world wasn’t an option, we changed gears. Looking into the cost and ways to limit stress, we decided building a car bed would allow us to travel farther and longer.

We Bought A Car

First and foremost, we didn’t buy a new car. One of the major priorities for us was to make sure we remained within our budget we’d set out. But how do you find a car fit to travel the US without buying new? You’ve got to research.

Our first steps took us to Craigslist. We started looking with the understanding we had to be careful. Not buying from a dealer runs all kinds of risks, but that doesn’t mean you won’t find some gems. Here are some tips to help:

Set your max and minimum price, then add 5% to your top price : If you’re like us, you probably could spend a little more than you would like and be fine. That extra money could make the difference between a clunker and your new travel buddy.

: If you’re like us, you probably could spend a little more than you would like and be fine. That extra money could make the difference between a clunker and your new travel buddy. Buy directly from the seller: Over the years, scammers and businesses have latched onto Craigslist as a place to sell. You can filter your search to only include private sellers, putting you in touch with real people in the community. Not all private sellers are trustworthy, but you can at least get in touch and feel them out via email or phone.

Over the years, scammers and businesses have latched onto Craigslist as a place to sell. You can filter your search to only include private sellers, putting you in touch with real people in the community. Not all private sellers are trustworthy, but you can at least get in touch and feel them out via email or phone. Trust your gut: If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be. Do your due diligence, run the vehicle through Carfax, and trust that little voice in the back of your mind. If you have a friend in the car business, they can run these Carfax reports for you (thanks Lee). If that’s not an option, you can usually get them cheaply or free by doing a little digging.

If it sounds too good to be true, it just might be. Do your due diligence, run the vehicle through Carfax, and trust that little voice in the back of your mind. If you have a friend in the car business, they can run these Carfax reports for you (thanks Lee). If that’s not an option, you can usually get them cheaply or free by doing a little digging. Ask the right questions: I’ve had the “good fortune” to have had garbage cars most of my life. The good thing is it taught me all the bad things to look for. If you’re looking at a car and they don’t have any vehicle history, it’s probable they didn’t keep up with the vehicle. If you don’t know which questions to ask, take a friend with you who does.

I’ve had the “good fortune” to have had garbage cars most of my life. The good thing is it taught me all the bad things to look for. If you’re looking at a car and they don’t have any vehicle history, it’s probable they didn’t keep up with the vehicle. If you don’t know which questions to ask, take a friend with you who does. Drive it: If the seller won’t let you drive the car, get out of there. Drive it around the neighborhood, run the AC, drive for a least 15 minutes to let the car warm up, and take it on the highway if possible to see how it runs at high speeds. There are ways to conceal car issues, but driving the car through these different scenarios should be enough to drag out any of these possible problems.

When you know, you know

We lucked out when we found Jodie. The day we checked her out, we only planned to bike out to say that we did our due diligence. That ride turned into an entire afternoon spent with the seller and his wife. Once we got to know them, we knew this was the car for us. Not only was he more than willing to walk through any issues the car had, but he also bent over backward to make sure the car was in perfect condition. We even ended up at their house for dinner a couple of times in the following weeks. It doesn’t always work out this way, but we actually made a lasting relationship with the couple who sold us Jodie.

Let’s make a bed

We learned from our first trip across the US that building a car bed changes the game. We also learned what not to do. Using past headaches as our guide, we got to work building a car bed in Jodie. The biggest lesson we learned from the last time was not to prioritize storage space. Using a car topper and getting rid of the vast majority of our belongings let us focus on a more comfortable bed.

Take out the back seats: Go ahead and settle for the fact you won’t be lugging friends around in your new ride. We took out the back seats and attached thick plywood directly to the existing hardware. This allowed us to create a hinged storage area underneath while achieving a flat surface for the bed.

Get good padding: This can’t be stated enough. Alyssa has the body of a 60-year-old and has trouble sleeping anywhere we go. We knew we had to make sure the bed was as comfortable as possible, but it’s difficult to find the right dimensions for a suitable mattress. So, we improvised. We started with three 1.5-inch insulated sleeping pads on the base and added 6 inches of memory foam from there.

Use lots of pillows and blankets: On top of the memory foam, we added some soft blankets to serve as “sheets” and added our large, two-person sleeping bag on top of that (Thanks Mom and Dad!). We used body pillows and our comfortable memory foam bed pillows to plump up the headspace and added extra blankets for padding on the side.

Made some adjustments

Initially, the car bed was comfortable enough, but without proper support, you eventually sink into the memory foam and hit the bottom (At least, that was Alyssa’s problem). She kept waking up with sore shoulders and a sore back and we knew we couldn’t travel much longer if we didn’t find a solution. In Montana, she told me we absolutely needed to go into a town and see what we could find. After going through Bed Bath and Beyond, Target, and Walmart with no real luck, we decided to check Tj Maxx — just in case.

What we found was an absolute game-changer —dog beds are the perfect size for the back of a car and nice ones can be just as high quality as a futon mattress. We found two large, solid dog beds and put them between the sleeping pads and the memory foam. Now, the bed is a bit taller, but the dog beds provide the support and Alyssa has stopped waking up with a sore back. Win Win.

Space and organization

Other than comfort, space is another big issue. If you’re traveling in a hatchback sedan like we are, you don’t have the most space. Here’s how we’ve made it work:

A roof rack car topper: When we first bought the car, we also found somebody selling a 7-foot storage topper on craigslist and decided it was a must. With some plastic storage containers, our car topper became our “kitchen and pantry”. The boxes separate our utensils, food, fire starter, camping gear, and other miscellaneous items. Organizing helped us to keep the inside of the car clean and organized.

When we first bought the car, we also found somebody selling a 7-foot storage topper on craigslist and decided it was a must. With some plastic storage containers, our car topper became our “kitchen and pantry”. The boxes separate our utensils, food, fire starter, camping gear, and other miscellaneous items. Organizing helped us to keep the inside of the car clean and organized. Brodie: We’ve hinted at this little guy a couple of times in our updates. As we progressed in our travels, the need for more spaces grew, especially when we had The Boys. So, we headed to Craigslist again to look for something to pull behind. Bear in mind, Ford Focuses are not known for their towing capacity. With some research and ingenuity, we found the right fit.

Brodie is essentially a trailer we tow behind us, but its weight is where we really win. In total, it weighs less than 500 lbs, allowing us to tow it easily with our car. Also, it doesn’t cut into our gas mileage much. We’re still getting around 20mpg whenever we’re towing, which is insane. Without this little guy, I can only imagine our stress level. Every night, we were spending way too much time organizing everything so we could sleep. Now, all the extra lives on the storage shelves we built in the trailer.

With the extra space of the trailer, we’ve created a little “living room” area, which expands are space and comfort astronomically. By tacking on a retractable canopy, we also now have a comfortable area to hang out after settling into a campsite. The versatility from this little addition was well worth the miles we traveled to get it. And the headache of figuring out how to tow it now feels like a distant memory.

Home Sweet Home

Every traveler is different

Building a car bed is what worked for us, but we know every traveler is different. If you’re planning on traveling for long periods of time, you should consider it. Separating our sleeping area from where we hangout also helped lessen our stress. For every traveler, knowing you’ve got a comfy bed waiting for you at the end of a long day feels good. Knowing you don’t have a reorganize on a daily basis allows you time to relax. Use your resources, adjust if you need to, and make traveling comfortable when you can. You may find yourself traveling longer and further than you imagined. Happy Travels.

Help a deserving organization

Each month, we choose a new charity or organization to support. This month, we’ve chosen The Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon. Not only have we found one of the best additions to our family we can imagine, but they also are doing great things for the local Oregon area. We’ve made it easier than ever to support by adding our catalog to our site. Also, we’d love to support a local wildfire organization for next month. Please send us any nonprofits or charities dedicating themselves to helping others affecting by wildfires.

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