Test Driving Van Life in Monument Valley
I’ve always felt enamored by the idea of van life. I couldn’t even tell you the number of travel vlogs I’ve binged over the years that were centered around a converted sprinter van and an open road.
I’d love to live a version of that life some day. I don’t think I’d ever want to full-time it, but I’d love to have a sprinter in the garage that I could whip out and take across the country for a spontaneous trip anytime I wanted.
That’s how I stumbled onto BOHO Vans, a converted van rental company based out of Tempe, Arizona.
It seemed like the most practical way to test drive that lifestyle.
Pun intended.
Meet Slick
“Slick” was the name of our van. Also nicknamed “the rabbit chaser”.
The van was quick to get up and nimble enough to manage some light off-roading. Even on some of the sketchier beaten paths we opted for, I never lost confidence in the van being able to handle whatever we came across.
The interior was cozy and clean, with no shortage of features:
Full kitchen with sink & mini fridge
Full size mattress (plenty of room for 2)
Sofa bed that converts into a seating area for eating/working
Off-grid AC & heating
Heated outdoor shower (easy to set up)
Plenty of outlets, lighting, etc.
We picked up the van from BOHO’s home office in Tempe around 10am. The staff gave us a quick tour and rundown of all the vans features, along with any tips on using them. Then we were on our way.
This would be our home for next 3 nights on the road.
Every good trip starts with a good itinerary
..except ours.
Our itinerary was made up on the fly. But, we atleast knew where we wanted to get to first.
Monument Valley
Day 1 - mostly driving:
The drive from Tempe to Monument Valley is roughly 5.5 hours. We added a little bit more time to it by passing through Sedona and Flagstaff on our way.
Here’s a look at our full route for the trip, along with some good photo stops highlighted:
We made sure to stock up on groceries before leaving Tempe. HIGHLY recommend doing this before hitting the open road. It will make your life a whole lot easier. Our grocery haul mostly consisted of lunch meats, fruits, and bags of chips.
Oh..and lots of Red Bull.
We were in no rush to get anywhere on our first day. We were just glad to be out exploring so we left this day loose to and stopped off anywhere and everywhere we passed that looked interesting.
The nice part about renting a Boho Van or similar converted van is being able to choose when and where you want to pull over and sleep each night. Some people opt to find free dispersed camping spots that are more remote while others opt for a traditional campground with shower amenities, electric hookup, etc.
We went with the latter.
We knew we wanted to hike Monument Valley no matter what. So we decided to spend our first night at The View Campgrounds right inside the park.
If memory serves me, we finally got into our camping spot around 10:30pm. It was practically pitch black out by this time. All the pictures we’d seen online about this place made it look like the Monuments were in clear view from the campground, but it was too dark to tell.
I distinctly remember my girlfriend and I standing outside of the van trying to point out different star constellations when we finally saw them.
The faint silhouette of 2 standalone mountains.
The Mittens.
We wouldn’t really grasp how close we were to them until the morning.
Day 2: Monument Valley & Guided Tour
Alarm time: 6 AM
Despite making it to the campsite so late, we knew we wanted to be up early enough to catch sunrise.
We wake up the next morning to the sound of that wretched iPhone alarm tone.
You know the one.
I roll over and take a quick peak out the window shade hoping it’s still dark enough to reset an alarm and get a few more minutes of sleep. It’s tail end of blue hour but the sun will be breaking soon. Slowly but surely, we get ourselves up, I get my camera gear together, and we step out of our van into the morning desert.
It’s freezing.
So there’s a packing tip for you - make sure to bring at least one warm jacket or layer just in case you go chasing sunrise. Take it from someone who did not pack a warm layer.
It gets colder than you’d think considering it is a desert, after all.
Lauren packed much smarter than I did;
but I was able to make due with some clever use of a throw blanket to shield me from the wind.
We spend some time taking in the views and Lauren makes herself some coffee while I get my camera and tripod setup.
Just in time for the sun to break over the horizon.
If I had the sun in my pocket, I couldn’t have placed it any better.
Right behind the Mittens!
Available in Print Shop
We took our pictures, ate a quick cereal breakfast back at the van, then went back to sleep for a few. The rest of our day started a little after 9am.
Itinerary:
Forrest Gump Road (A MUST stop for any Monument Valley trip.)
Hike at Mexican Hat Rock
Find a cool place to get drone shots of the van
Find a scenic spot to eat lunch
Ironically, we got a running start on our day by visiting the very road where Forrest Gump so famously ended his run after 3 years, 2 months, 14 days, and 16 hours. If there’s a more iconic scene out there, I would love to be introduced to it.
This stretch of pavement has since been dubbed
Forrest Gump Road.
After a quick photo stop there, we found an easy hike nearby called Mexican Hat Rock.
It’s a unique rock formation that bears a striking resemblance to a guitar pick, being balanced perfectly atop a narrow base. The physics of it feel rather impossible.
After hiking Mexican Hat, we drove around for a few looking for a scenic spot to eat. We actually made a bit of a “tradition” out of finding a scenic spot to set up for lunch each day.
We found a spot to pull off just outside of Monument Valley near Sleeping Bear Campground.
Lunch consisted of ham sandwiches and Chris Stapleton classics.
oh..and Red Bull.
This spot actually proved to be a pretty ideal place to throw the drone up and get some shots of the van.
2 birds, 1 stone.
2 sammies..1 drone.
Fast forward a few hours.
We wrap up this day’s itinerary with a sunset tour of Monument Valley that we booked here.
We chose the “Extended Sunset Tour”.
Cost: $80/person ($160)
Time: 3-3.5 hours
Route: 28 mile loop
This was a 3-4 hour loop through Monument Valley with several picturesque phot stops at different landmarks throughout. The guides we had were extremely knowledgeable about the history of the region and tribes that founded it.
You can drive this full loop yourself if you have a vehicle with a reasonably high clearance.
Slick definitely could have made the journey through it but without knowing what we would be getting ourselves into on this trail, we opted to do the guided tour instead. If I was to go back again, I still think I would do the guided tour over driving the loop ourselves.
The added commentary of having a native guide with you gives so much added perspective and appreciation for the land.
Our first stop along the trail was a close up vantage of the East and West Mittens.
I found myself equally fascinated by the unpredictable shapes of the grounded trees inside the park.
Our tour group of about 8 people spent 15 minutes or so here before moving on towards John Ford Point.
You may recognize this region from a little old western film called “Stagecoach” starring John Wayne. If that’s not ringing any bells, maybe one of the other 9 films that John Ford shot scenes for here will.
Hollywood loves Monument Valley if you can’t tell.
This was one of our favorite stops along the route. Pictures don’t begin to do it justice.
Available in Print Shop
These parts of the valley are incredible but definitely draw in some crowds due to how popular they are and their proximity to the entrance of the park.
However, there are so many other beautiful areas to explore the further you go into the park. Had we not done the full backcountry guided tour, and only stuck to the main tourist attractions, we would have missed out on so much!
Fair warning though to those that battle motion sickness, these trails are anything but smooth.
It also can get extremely dusty when the wind picks up.
Here’s some sites we would have missed:
A Petroglyph Site
North Window
and this fancy tree
The most memorable of all though has to be this authentic Navajo tune performed by one of our guides!
Our tour finished right around sunset and since we were really enjoying our time at The View Campgrounds, we decided to book another night here.
We wrapped up our day with a pizza dinner.
Followed by some cold shandy’s and sour patch kids.
This day would be a tough follow.
Day 3: Grand Canyon & Dinner in Sedona
We were pretty beat from the day before and knew we had a long day ahead so we slept in a little bit.
Day 3 started closer to 9:30 am.
Itinerary:
Lunch at the Grand Canyon
Dinner in Sedona
Find a place to spend the night in Tempe
We have a quick breakfast, clean up the van a little bit, then we’re ready to hit the road again.
We’re about a 3 hour drive from our next destination, the Grand Canyon. More specifically, the South Rim.
Lauren’s been before, but I haven’t. Since it wasn’t going to be too far out of the way from our route back towards Tempe, we both thought it’d be a great spot to sit down for lunch.
Plus, if we’re prioritizing lunch hour views, we’d be hard-pressed to find a better backdrop than the Grand Canyon.
On our way there we came across a pretty cool train underpass and stopped off for a few more drone shots of the van.
We made it to the South Rim of the Grand Canyon around 3 PM.
Our first stop along the rim was Desert View Watchtower.
A 7 story, stone watch tower designed in 1932. It is well-renowned as one of the most iconic structures along the South Rim.
I don’t think we need to look any further for a lunch spot. I’m pretty confident we’d found it.
We made a few stops throughout the park including Navajo Point, Lipan Point, and Grandview Point.
After spending a couple hours exploring the South Rim viewpoints, we got back on the highway headed for Sedona.
We’d both been to Sedona before and felt like it was the perfect spot to squeeze in a nice dinner to cap off our trip.
If you’ve never been to Sedona, it is a MUST.
I don’t know that I’ve come across a more naturally vibrant landscape. The red rock terrain here possesses such a uniquely deep shade of red, with traces of white sandstone.
Available in Print Shop
I recommend it even if you are just passing through on your way somewhere else.
We settled on dinner at a restaurant called The Vault Uptown. The food here was especially great, after living off lunch meat and doritos the last 2 days.
If you’re lucky enough to get a seat out on the patio balcony, the views can’t be beat. The wait list for a patio table fills up quick during the dinner rush though, so plan accordingly or try calling ahead for a reservation.
We wrap up dinner and pop into a few tourist shops along the street as the sun settles behind the mountains.
Then drove a few hours back to Tempe.
We had a very early flight home the next morning so we wanted to stay as close to the Boho return as we could to make the drop off easy. We tried finding a campsite nearby but most of them were either full, or not worth the price to only park there a couple hours before heading to the airport.
We ended up finding a scenic little overnight spot to stealth camp.
That spot you may wonder?
A Twin Peaks parking lot.
(Prints for sale….jk)
Van life isn’t always glamourous.
But I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t think about this trip all the time.
