With all that is going on with Covid–19 this year I knew I wasn’t going to be able to travel in my usual way. That led to outfitting my Toyota RAV 4 for boon docking, AKA car camping. My photographer friend Jose Robertson who came through in his vehicle when traveling 2 years ago inspired me.

The start

About a month ago Jose came through on another trip I had the opportunity to test my set up under his watchful eye. During his travels we camped at Lake Powell, Arizona for a couple nights. He taught me a lot and showed me I needed a few more modifications.

I’ll be doing a more in-depth article for the online magazine Photofocus.com. For now you can get an idea of how I fitted out the car.

A peek into the build

A look in the back. Cot with sleeping pad. Removable shelf. Bins for organization.

Not wanting to add a lot of weight or to remove seats I added a five-inch cot to sleep flat.

A shelf that is installed with no attachments to the car is a huge help. This went through a few design iterations. Especially since the cot was billed as being three inches tall. The shelf was redesigned with the five-inch actual cot height! The bins help organize. Bottom bin is the kitchen with stove, gas, cooking tools and utensils. Top bin holds my personal such as clothes and toiletries.

Assembled

Testing the setup. I assembled the ‘camp set up’ in my driveway before hitting the road. testing is good… Trust me on that!

Here’s an image from Watson Lake in Prescott, AZ with the vehicle in use. I’ll share more soon I’m heading out on a new lone adventure on Monday!

Yours in Creative Photography,      Bob

PS – my photographer friends will recognize that part of the support for the shade are two background stands I repurposed.