The Verdict on our Atlantic Canada roadtrip camping in our minivan

Camping in our minivan worked out great

Cathy and I just completed an Atlantic Canada roadtrip camping in our minivan.   We camp 8 nights in our minivan and stay in small local hotels for 5 nights. Our DIY, Ikea hack camping conversion of our Pacifica minivan turns out to be very workable and at a  cost under $500.  It takes me about 1 hour to return the minivan for every day use.  More about the minivan conversion at  $500 Camping Conversion and the Build.  And thanks to the many folks who have presented design ideas for their diy pacifica minivan camper  on YouTube.   We will definitely do this type of camping roadtrip again.  Most likely our next trip will be a loop through Southwest Ontario.

Atlantic Canada is a premier destination for a roadtrip.

Our Atlantic Canada roadtrip camping in our minivan is 2 weeks and 4000 kilometres (2500 miles). The trip includes two ferries.  One is from Baie Comeau across the Gulf of St Lawrence to Matane on the south shore, and the second to the Magdalen Islands from Prince Edward Island. We published some blogs along the way talking about the  Quebec North Shore ,  the Beaches of PEI , the remote Magdalen Islands , and the enormous tides  of the  Bay of Fundy .  Unfortunately we do not get to Bar Harbor Maine as originally planned.  We see this as a good  excuse to get to the East Coast again.

Some wrap up notes

1. Our DIY ‘Ikea hack’ camping conversion of our minivan worked to plan.
2. We reserved campsites with electricity, and plugged in our minivan (Pacifica PHEV) into the 110 volt system without issue.
3. I am going to do a minor modification for our next trip.  I am going to raise our bed platform from 7.5 to 9 inches to allow our under the bed bins to slide more easily.
4. Our 4 inch foam mattress is going to be replaced with a 2 inch one, so we will retain the headroom needed to sit up in bed.
5. We had a hard time finding fish stands to cook our own seafood dinners.  So we  started having a hearty seafood restaurant lunch meal, and simple sandwiches for dinner.  This was the opposite to what we expected however easy to get used to.
6. The Magdalen Islands are remote and beautiful, however not nearly as deserted as advertised.  We find lots of hotels, camping sites, restaurants, gas stations and services for the traveler.