Driving a Camper with a 2-Year-Old, Spending Half a Month Exploring the Southwest Desert

Camper travel is probably the most toddler-friendly way to travel. You can stop and go along the way, pulling over anytime to cook, rest, and let the kids take a nap. And because you bring your own accommodation, you can wake up in the most beautiful scenery, adding a lot of romance to the trip. Traveling with your house is really so convenient!

But you must be well-prepared for the trip. Stretch the time out a bit — slow, slow, slow travel is what makes it fun. Try to stay at camper campgrounds at night; it’s safe, and convenient for charging the vehicle and dumping waste water, etc. Otherwise, you definitely need to plan out your supply stops along the way. I’ve taken my child on camper trips twice — once in the Southwest desert, and once along the California coast.

Camper travel is truly unforgettable. However, camper travel is also very exhausting — the whole family squeezed together in the vehicle 24 hours a day, cooking, showering, using the toilet, tidying up, sleeping, and setting off again... The last time we went to the California coast by camper was the most relaxed, because along with the camper, we also arranged lodging at some stops. During the trip, because there’s a table, the kids actually had a lot more fun riding — they could play games while sitting. You can put a non-slip mat on the table; things don’t slide off easily that way.

But I want to remind everyone: children must sit in a safety seat in the camper! Campers actually all have safety seat anchor points, and you can rent a safety seat at the same time when you rent the camper. If you fly to another city and then rent a camper, safety seats can be checked for free. Please, please pay attention to safety when traveling!

The craziest thing I’ve done after turning 30 was taking my two-year-old child on a camper trip. Not going to a camper campground to take photos and sleep one night in a pretty camper, but truly setting out from Denver, driving all the way to the desert of Arizona, and what remained in the end were the most beautiful scenery and the most special feelings.

This is an unforgettable memory of a lifetime for me. My two-year-old daughter might forget these images, but there must be perceptions that remain. Just like how as a child I envied snails for being able to carry their home to every corner of their world, this time our family also set off with our “home on wheels” to wander around.

We set out from Denver, strolled through the old town of Santa Fe eating green chile stew and browsing indigenous art galleries, watched hot air balloons in Albuquerque while eating burritos, marveled at the red sandstone buttes in Monument Valley, went to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon to watch the sunset, passed through windy zones into Arizona and drove Highway 89, known as the “most beautiful highway,” ate all kinds of barbecue, tortillas, fresh milk, yogurt, prickly pear, and oversized Mexican flatbreads, visited Sedona’s red rocks and the Painted Desert, drove through Petrified Forest National Park, looped around the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, and experienced the Southwest desert scenery unique to this summer — magnificent and beautiful.

Before the trip, I had many concerns. My daughter Haitang was only two years old and had never attempted such a long road trip — not to mention her, even I, my husband, Grandma, and Aunty had never done it either. In the end, I found that she adapted even better than the rest of us. What was limited was not the child’s ability and courage, but our own worries.

The nervous feeling lasted right up until the moment of departure. I kept feeling like we weren’t prepared enough, and worried about all the uncertainties of the upcoming journey. It wasn’t until the whole family sat inside the camper that, surprisingly, all the anxiety disappeared, replaced by excitement and anticipation for this unrestricted journey.

After driving the camper from the rental place back to our neighborhood to load luggage, Haitang (my daughter’s nickname) and Aunty (the childcare nanny who looks after my daughter) were both very happy, introducing it to everyone they met as “our camper.” We drove all the way to a rest area in Colorado Springs before stopping to cook a meal. It felt very novel, and since we expected cooking to be a regular thing going forward, we had prepared outdoor folding tables and chairs, a portable gas stove, vegetables and meat, rice and noodles in advance. The camper had a fridge, and we also filled it with tap water. The meal was pretty good — both adults and kids found it interesting. After eating, we continued on the road.

The next day we went to Mesa Verde National Park. Outside the park there was a large parking lot and restrooms. We felt that compared to remote, poorly-equipped campsites, a large parking lot might actually be more convenient and safer. The green chile stew and grilled corn in Santa Fe’s old town were both delicious. After a brief adjustment, we continued driving to a rest area in Farmington, New Mexico. There were charging stations but they couldn’t be used. These uncertain factors are impossible to predict in advance, so you absolutely should not wait until your power and water are nearly depleted before looking for a rest area.

A quarter of the way into the journey, we finally saw the magnificent scenery of the Southwest desert: the majestic Monument Valley, the layered Painted Desert, The Wave and Antelope Canyon where sandstone formations coexist, and the ancient Native American village ruins that have stood for thousands of years...

The camper we used this time was equipped with the VanUnit modular system. Behind the cab was a complete kitchen and bathroom, and there was a small table that could be folded down for the kids to play. The rear could also be fitted with a child bunk bed — Haitang had her own little bed and slept especially peacefully. When not in use, the table folds up and the space becomes very flexible.

The Southwest desert is truly enormous. Eating and exploring often require long drives, and this is where the camper really shines — more space, convenient washing up, and the ability to eat, drink, watch TV, sing, and do other entertaining activities.

Our journey came to a close here, and we started heading back. Along the way, we saw so many beautiful sights and broadened our child’s horizons during the trip — fulfilling and wonderful.