How to Book a 'Cabin-On-Wheels' Campervan In Jersey City for Spring

A camping trip can be difficult to organize when you're traveling out of the city. My friend Anna and I learned this last year after we tried to organize a tent-camping trip to the Pine Barrens with a few other acquaintances. We ultimately opted to rent a campervan from Vanish, a small business based right out of Jersey City on 10th and Brunswick, and we fell in love with the company's attention to detail and how easy they made it to just pick up and go.

Vanish recently opened up their booking calendar for spring and summer travelers, and while reserving a whole "cabin-on-wheels" can be a little overwhelming, I've outlined a few tips I learned from my own trip — from booking and picking up the van, to traveling, and making everything comfortable on vacation.

Booking a Campervan from Vanish

Making sure to book your road trip far enough in advance is essential to having a good time and not having to worry about a cluttered booking calendar or more expensive rates. We planned ours for June, and booked in April — it left enough time for us to also book the campsite we wanted (we used Hipcamp) and make an itinerary, although Vanish offered quite a few ready-made field guides on their site. Back in May 2022, we asked the owner of Vanish, Kevin Jornlin, for some camping tips, and he was also happy to help out.

Picking Up the Van

We picked up our van on a Friday, and it was pretty easy. You can park your car at the company's lot, and the pick-up is contactless. When we entered, it had everything — a bathroom, queen bed. The real kicker was the attention to detail — from cookware to a filled water tank, as well as various utensils and fresh linens, it was impressive. We had honestly packed too much. For something like a campervan trip, I'd recommend packing light so you can have enough room in the van, but even so, there's a lot of storage and the van was open and spacious. You should be picking up in the morning, so that you can have the rest of the day to travel and enjoy yourself. Vanish charges by the day, so it's nice having an early pick-up time and getting to explore til the evening. Hotel check ins are notoriously iffy on time, but the van was spotless and ready at 9AM sharp.

Traveling to the Campsite

The Pine Barrens was an awesome option for our trip, as it's in Jersey and a fairly short drive, but after just twenty minutes on the road, it became apparent that a longer road trip would be even more fun. Stops along the way wouldn't necessitate a hotel, because of the queen bed and shower, and the journey could be the vacation in and of itself. The van comes with a full tank, so gas isn't needed until later in the trip. Driving on a Friday morning made it super easy to leave the city, and even summer traffic was fairly light.

Making Your Space Comfortable

The Vanish campervan was already super comfortable, and we even ate our meals in the back cab at the slide-out table. There were a few things you can do, though, to make the space fit your needs. First, be sure to clean and put away any cookware after its used so that it doesn't clutter the sink. You should set up the provided camping chairs outside the van under a small tent (we bought ours from Target) so more friends can come visit your site or you can enjoy sitting and talking while someone cooks or makes some drinks. Another thing travelers can do to make the space more comfortable is bring a Bluetooth speaker (ours was JBL) — music makes every space feel more "yours."