My Summer In A Rooftop Tent
As an avid follower of travel photographers, I’ve become captivated with the nomadic lifestyle. Part of that comes with constantly trying to learn how they do it. Whether it be what gear they use to live out of their cars for extended periods of time, what kind of jobs they have to create an income on the road, how they meet each other, etc. Photographers like Alex Strohl, Forrest Mankins, Andrea Dabene, Karl Shakur, and Chris Burkard have become a massive inspiration for the way we personally travel and learning more about their lives on the road has given us both the realization that there isn’t one way to live your life. As you can imagine, looking at the drop-dead-gorgeous photos they post while I’m at work all day just makes the wanderlust bubble up a bit (okay a LOT).
Two years ago I started noticing some photographers using rooftop car tents on their excursions. This immediately peaked my interest as a lifelong camper and recent nomad wannabe. While the concept is not new to Europe, from my understanding it’s pretty new to America. Then I started seeing Alex Strohl post his dreamy, white Land Rover Defender with a soft top tent attached and my need-to-have senses started tingling. I starting following the brand, James Baroud USA and began my semi extreme-research (stalking). With every new picture I saw, I became more and more determined to own one.
One of the ways to make it as a photographer, or a creative in general, is to make a profit from promoting companies or in more recent terminology- become an “influencer” for companies. Instagram and blogging platforms have become a huge part of being able to monetize yourself as a “brand”. There has definitely been some controversy over this type of marketing, especially in the art world but I personally don’t have a negative opinion on it. I try to be conscious of who I follow so I tend to trust their suggestions and most of the time I don’t invest in products I see being super hyped up on my timelines. I look for quality and uniqueness.
Around the same time James Baroud came to my attention, Elaina and I began planning our great American road trip (GART for short). One of the ways we cut costs on our trip was camping as much as possible. 24 nights of camping gave me even more of a reason to get my hands on one of these bad boys. Sure, popping a tent isn’t thaaaat difficult. But putting it up and down repeatedly for a week because we would be moving around? Okay… still not thaaat bad but totally a pain in the butt! The rooftop tent’s 60 second open/close feature sounded better and better with every campsite we booked.
I took the plunge shortly after I bought my Subaru Forester in February. I learned that there was a James Baroud dealer not too far from my house called OK 4WD so I went with my brother and father to go check it out. I ended up buying a Discovery Space EVO three weeks later because really? Who could pass this thing up? Not a day goes buy where I regret buying it, even with the hefty price tag.
Truthfully, one of the coolest things about having the tent is seeing the stares at gas stations or campgrounds and getting the question “what is that thing?” I can’t act like that attention isn’t the best. It’s funny to be wrapped up in adventure photography and seeing these things everywhere, then realizing they’re still so unique. Having random people walk up to us while camping led to some of the coolest conversations we had the entire summer. We met a couple at Glacier National Park and talked for some 40 odd minutes about everywhere they had traveled, where we had traveled, about their kids, etc, etc. I love how much of a conversation starter it is.
I’ve always enjoyed camping. Some of my favorite childhood memories are going to campgrounds in Maryland near the Chesapeake Bay. I remember jumping off our family friend’s old boat into the warm, fresh water and pulling up little clams with my toes. We would ride bikes around the tiny roads throughout the campground, stopping at the camp snack store or the swing sets. I’ve yet to get into backwoods camping, and now with this cool tent attached to my car, I’m not sure if I really will but I like the socialization of campgrounds. I think most serious campers hate that because they want to be closer to nature and the quiet darkness of the woods but the community feel of an organized campground has always made me feel at home.
We went through all the elements in this thing- the heat, the cold, rain, wind – and it kept us warm and dry. On some nights, we even had three people sleeping head to toe and there was plenty of space. Up higher in the mountains when it got chilly, more people meant warmth!
Something else that makes the tent so much fun to camp in is the killer 270-degree view. I know some ground tents offer panoramic views but it’s just so much better high up in the air with nothing to distract you. There aren’t many things better than a warm breeze coming through the mesh windows while you’re reading a book and staring at the mountains. After stuffing it with soft pillows and blankets, it really is just like sleeping at home and I’ve never had a bad night sleep in it.
Our perfect camp night: Popping the tent at a quiet campground near Niagara Falls. Making salsa verde chicken & rice on my two burner Coleman grill, with cheese and grapes as an appetizer. Cracking open some Angry Orchards and listening to 2000s pop punk music. Pure bliss.
Photo Locations:
cover – Sequoia National Park
1 – Glacier National Park
2 – Joshua National Park
3 –Glacier National Park
4 – Estes Park, Colorado
5 – outside Niagara Falls
Note: This is a republishing from my original travel blog. Back date June 2018.