A Week of Vanlife in New Zealand

May 16, 2024- May 21, 2024

This last summer of 2024 I had the greatest opportunity to live out my dream of vanlife for a week in New Zealand, and after this amazing week my expectations were exceeded and my suspicions were confirmed that vanlife is 100% something that I want to do sometime in my life.

This trip was originally a solo trip I had planned to embark on after my time in Australia while I was out far east because I didn’t know when I would be back and able to do something like this in an area I’ve never been to before. I knew that I wanted the main point of the trip to experience a taste of vanlife, so I researched about the surrounding countries and offers they had for nomadic traveling and found that New Zealand seemed to be the best fit. Last minute the trip turned into a father-daughter trip because I decided about a week before that adventures like these are always more exciting and, most of all, memorable when you share them with others. This was, of course, no issue because not only was my dad one of my biggest inspirations to see the world, but he has also been my day-one travel buddy, so I knew we would live together well in close quarters for a week.

Before I get into the adventures of this trip, I’ll get into the logoistics. I rented the van through a business right near the Auckland airport called Travellers Autobarn. They had fantastic ratings and I think a great price for the van an amenities offered. I rented a Kuga Campervan that worked perfectly for the trip. It is a self-contained vehicle which allows you access to free camping grounds that are almost around very corner in New Zealand. It comes with cooking utensils, a propane powered stove, plenty of seat storage, and 2 beds (1 loft/ 1 pull out). These are the most basic amenities that come with a rental however, you can get extra add ons for a small bump in price. I would highly recommend this business, and they have many other locations around the whole world.

Now onto the experiences I had and places I went during my week of vanlife in New Zealand. Of course, since I was in a van it gave me complete freedom to go anywhere I wanted this week which I loved. I found myself sticking to the northern island where I saw some incredible wonders of the world. While doing vanlife I sat in a natural hot spring that I created at the base of a volcano on Hot Water Beach, I hiked trails through natural active geysers, and I swung through the trees of the redwoods forest in Rotorua to name a few of my favorites. Our absolute favorite was the natural hot spring on Hot Water Beach which was completely free! It is a very common misconception that traveling is expensive, but if you are looking for budget friendly activities there is plenty of relatively cheap or free activities to do anywhere you go! Of course, living out of a van helps cut your trip expenses in half because you are not paying for nightly accommodation (sometimes you aren’t even paying at all)!

Regardless of what kind of trip you are planning to New Zealand, I learned that renting any kind of personal transportation is the way to go. Since New Zealand is so heavily based on it’s natural wonders, being able to be in control of where you go and when will make for a perfect trip anytime of the year. Although New Zealand is beautiful year round, I found it particularly exceptional during May when I was there. Since their seasons are swapped, May was the very beginning of their winter which made the days a perfect temperature for hikes that don’t drain you, and cold nights you can spend around a campfire.

I had the best time doing vanlife in New Zeland this past summer, and I will say it has to go down in history as my favorite trip I have taken so far! If you are interested in finding out about the activities I would recommend to do in New Zealand you can check out my blog post about the Top 3 Activities to do in New Zealand!