As the satisfied owner of a 1983 full-package
Westfalia, I guess you could call me a happy camper.
Like the original owner, we use ours strictly for
travelling and camping, and cook perhaps 2/3 of our
meals in it (the rest being in local diners and
restaurants). Pancakes or omelets with Spam (mmm-m) in
the morning, soup and sandwiches for lunch, and stew
or rice/pasta dishes in the evening, often accompanied
by a small chilled bottle of pinot noir or a fine
malted beverage.

Unless it's buggy or rainy, we usually adjourn to the
picnic table for dining alfresco, then do all our
post-meal cleanup at the Westy sink. Once all the
dishes are washed and neatly stowed away, the interior
quickly becomes our living room, with some music and
ample reading lights. Ahh, life is good ...

Analyse your own camping needs/desires, and choose
accordingly. Without the stove, sink, and fridge, how
will you achieve the same level of comfort? Some
prefer to cook on a campfire or Coleman 2-burner
stove, wash their dishes at the squeaky hand-pump, and
keep their food in cardboard boxes and stadium
coolers. But by the time you pack all this cargo into
the spacious Weekender, it soon becomes more cluttered
and less spacious. Not to mention the perpetual
packing and unpacking, fiddling with the stove and
fuel, fetching more water for cooking and cleaning,
and heroically rescuing your block of cheese from the
deadly tropical waters of your cooler.

By comparison, the full-Westy offers a well-designed
interior much like that of a good sailboat, with snug
latched cabinets, stove and fresh water each available
at the turn of a knob, and a fridge that will
perpetually STAY cold for weeks at a time. Then it all
stows tidily away to hit the road. After a couple
nights backpacking or paddle-camping, I find returning
to the Westy is positively luxurious.

Personally, without the camper package, I see little
purpose for a Vanagon.

"Mr. Sulu, set flame-deflector shields to maximum
power!"

Jeffrey Earl
1983 diesel Westfalia "Vanasazi"

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