You’ve heard of the young family spending their parental leave camping across Australia in a retro camper. You know about the freelancers who drive from job to job in a motorhome or trailer, living and working wherever assignments take them. Most importantly, you’ve seen the Instagram posts, showing shiny, happy people living life on the road, 365 days a year.
With digital nomads and influencers increasingly embracing #vanlife, camping is rapidly getting a 21st-century upgrade. Living in an RV (Recreational Vehicle) or trailer is an aspirational lifestyle for anyone who enjoys slow travel, wants to go off the beaten path and can work from anywhere. As the traditional image of camping receives a revamp, so do the modular homes on four wheels that enable a modern, smart and connected life on the go.
Take a look at the high-tech camping gear and smart technology behind the sliding doors of today’s mobile homes.
Today’s office workers call any place they can set up their laptop an office. These digital nomads have fueled the popularity of 21st century mobile home ownership – and the #vanlife hashtag. To work from anywhere in the world, their only must-have is a reliable data connection.
Whether through a portable hotspot or an external router with its own SIM, a mobile home’s internet connection is the lifeline connecting it to the rest of the world. For trips to areas with poor reception, a signal booster or even a satellite communicator is worth investing in.
However, a networked camper with high-tech gear provides so much more than just a Wi-Fi hotspot. A modern RV is like a smart home on wheels, with everything from the temperature and lights to battery, water and gas levels controlled through an app. The most advanced systems even allow hands-free, voice-controlled optimization of the interior gadgets. Even the security gadgets in today’s mobile homes are connected, setting up a geofence around the vehicle and sending an alert to the owner’s phone in case of a break-in.
It takes a lot of gadgets to stay connected while going off-grid. Campers who truly want to unplug need to provide all their own utilities before setting off on a camping trip away from mobile home parks or campsites. Self-sufficiency is the key that unlocks the road less traveled, so solar panels, a water tank and heat are must-haves. Obviously, mobile nomads need power to charge all their gadgets and keep the camping office running – and solar-powered supply, combined with energy-saving appliances, is the eco-friendliest way to keep the power on, even in the great outdoors.
Tires are one of the most important parts of any car, and that is especially true for RV wheels and tires. Not only do mobile homes travel longer distances than the average car, they often encounter more varying road (and off-road) conditions or extreme weather. To minimize the need for repairs and risk of breakdowns in remote locations, they should be extremely reliable.
Of course, modern campers don’t want to put any old tires on their smart, high-tech mobile homes. Thankfully, Continental offers high-end connected tires in keeping with the gadgets on board. The following innovative technologies were designed to provide an even smoother ride for those who live and work on the road:
That’s not all the high-tech gear Continental has in store for campers. Some even more advanced designs are currently being developed to make future camping trips more comfortable:
