It’s summertime folks. And in the age of Coronavirus, one of the best ways to spend your summer is to go get away from it all and go car camping in your Kia Soul! Wait – you thought the Kia Soul was too small for car camping? Hah. How wrong you are. Click here to see how I converted my 2011 Kia Soul into a camper van, then keep scrolling to see all the newest upgrades I’ve added to the rig.
I’m about to head off for a cross-country road trip from Arlington, VA to Montana. Make sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to keep tabs on the adventure and see how the Adventuremobile performs!
5 UPGRADES To Make Car Camping in Your Kia Soul even better:
1) Jackery Explorer 160W Portable Power Station
Y’all, the Jackery Explorer 160W Portable Power Station is the holy grail of car camping. How many things do you need to charge? Cell phones, lighting solutions for the interior of your camper, lanterns, camera batteries, laptops, etc. The list is endless. Until now, I was relying on little power banks, and couldn’t charge anything that required AC or DC power unless my car was actually ON, which would drain the battery and/or gas. Now I just keep this thing plugged in to the cigarette lighter while I’m driving, and it gives me TONS of charging power. 2 full laptop recharges, 16 recharges of a cell phone, and 29 charges for a GoPro camera. And you can even grab a solar panel and recharge the Power Station that way.
Y’all, this thing is absolutely indispensable. And it’s hundreds cheaper than its closest competitors. Jackery is the real deal, and they’re my go-to for charging needs. This is a must-have for a Kia Soul car camping trip. Oh, and it’s tiny. Win, win, win.
2) Roadie Overnighter SUV Window Tent
The game has been officially changed. The trickiest part of car camping in the Summer is the heat. If you open the windows, you get ventilation but all the bugs that come with it. If you keep the windows up… you’ll be swimmin’ in a sauna by sunrise. No bueno. The solution is the Roadie Overnighter!
It’s literally a little tent window for your car door, and it is MORE than worth the price. Elastic allows it to conform to your door, and you can even operate the window while it’s attached, so you can control how much ventilation you receive. I have rarely been so excited about a piece of camping gear.
The packaging and Amazon page say it’s only for large and mid-size SUVs, but it fits my Kia Soul just fine. So if you’re rockin’ a small SUV or a Subaru Outback or something, this’ll fit great for you, too.
3) OPOLAR Fan & Power Bank
Sometimes a window just isn’t enough when it’s really warm outside. So grab one of these OPOLAR three-setting fans and get that air circulating! On top of that, the handles are power banks, so it operates without a battery or needing to be plugged in! Yeah. Utility. That’s what I’m talking about.
4) Roof Crossbars
Thule Squarebar Crossbars – Compatible with ’10-’13 Kia Soul
I got upgraded to the Aero crossbars because there was a mistake on Thule’s end with my shipping, but you don’t need all that fanciness. The square bars work great, and they’re way cheaper. You’re gonna want the 53″ bars to fit your Kia Soul. Below are the other pieces of equipment you need to complete the entire kit. If you’ve got a ’10-’13 Soul like me, these links go to the proper size and kit numbers. If you have a different year Soul or other SUV, you’re gonna want to resize.
Thule Fit Kit 1524 – Compatible with ’10-’13 Kia Soul
Thule Rapid Traverse Foot Kit 480 – Compatible with ’10-’13 Kia Soul
5) Weather Resistant Steel Roof Rack
Big fan of this roof rack. It’s weather resistant, has no rust issues so far despite a number of torrential downpours, ships as one piece so installation is a breeze, OH and it’s cheap! Win win win. I highly recommend it. For installation, I recommend sliding it as far back as it’ll go to optimize airflow and keep your MPG decent. Full disclosure, all this kit on top will drop the fuel efficiency, but I haven’t found it to be too bad. Around 26 on the highway even when it’s fully loaded.
SHOW US YOUR TRICKED OUT CAMPER CAR, SUV OR VAN!
Head on over to The Adventure Dudes on Facebook and join our #ShareYourAdventure group! Share your pics and ask any questions about how to trick out your very own Adventuremobile!
Now get out and have an adventure!
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