By Robin Robin's idea of a great trip usually involves big skies, wild landscapes, open roads and a gourmet burger. When he's not guiding operations at JFC, you can find him salivating over the perfect sandwich, obsessing about spreadsheets or geeking about sci-fi.

Back in 2011, I hatched a scheme to road trip around the spectacular bits of the USA to scratch an itch for open roads, big skies and Americana.

I’d already resolved to dodge the tyranny of checked baggage and see if I could pull off the trip with only a cabin bag, but a combination of logistics, laziness and mischief set me off down another path. Could I minimise my expenses even further by not booking any accommodation either?

60 days and 8,000 miles later, I was a convert to car camping—the practice of sleeping in the car you’re travelling in.

But wait, why not just hire an RV or camper van? Why not just take a tent?

Well, if you really want to enjoy the open road, your ride needs to be vaguely suitable for, shall we say, ‘spirited’ driving. Big old rattly wheezy Winnebagos don’t cut it. All that extra weight and stuff to cart around. They need hookups and maintenance and the facilities emptying. Channel your inner Reacher and reject the unnecessary!

Tents are just more bulk to transport. They don’t have radios or air-con, take work to erect and strike, and when they get wet from rain—or more often covered in dew and condensation—they’re a massive pain to keep dry. You also need to book ahead to lay claim to a pitch, which locks you down even more. You’ve already got a perfectly functioning roof on your car, so why carry a second one around?

OK, but motels aren’t that expensive, are they? Sure, you can find a bed for the night for well under $100. But the luxury of 4 walls and dubious decor often comes hand in hand with the less picturesque side of town and needing to wedge a chair under the door. They’re rarely out in the wilds or off the beaten track, so you have to waste time away from the good bits just to pay for the privilege of a place to sleep.

Driving your own luxury motel around is starting to sound pretty good, right?

You get to choose where to watch the sun go down, you get to choose where to wake and greet the sunrise. You get to wake up where no-one else is snoring, breaking camp, or banging doors, and check-in/check-out is whenever the heck you feel like it.

So how does it work in practice? Here’s what I learned.

Choose your vehicle wisely

You need a vehicle with one of two things; a passenger seat that reclines alllll the way back, or something with a load space where you can fold the rear seats down and get a nice flat zone to lay out. If you can, get something with decent ground clearance, as some of the best spots for parking up might need you to navigate gravel or tracks.

But the passenger seat is the one that really matters, because you don’t want to be bashing your knees on the steering wheel all night!

Choose your kit

You’re going to need some basics to make bedding-down comfy. Chances are you’ll be picking up your vehicle from a car hire near the airport, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find a superstore nearby. I wouldn’t go all in on hi-spec specialist technical outdoor gear—it can get expensive really quickly, and you’re really only looking for comfort, not performance. Your vehicle will do a lot of the heavy lifting when it comes to insulation.

Top of the list is a good-quality inflatable mattress and a sleeping mat. Depending on your preference, either a set of blankets or a sleeping bag comes next. Blankets can be a good bet for layering options. Grab a pillow, too, if you’re feeling luxurious. I left all my stuff laid out in the car during the day to get plenty of air.

Other things I found useful were a quick dry towel (Ford Prefect was right), eye mask (if you don’t want to wake at dawn), a torch (something clockwork or easy to recharge), some sleeping gear that’s loose and comfy, and finally, some slip-on shoes for nighttime excursions.

Choose your spot

Car camping works best where you’ve got lots of wild, open, natural spaces—think Oregon, Wyoming, Idaho rather than New Jersey, New York or Florida (‘gators don’t make great camp mates).

If you’re travelling somewhere well-developed, most of the land will be built on, occupied, or fenced off for farming, so it’s tough to find a spot. It’s exponentially tougher to find spots in long-settled areas where there is lots of agriculture and fencing.

Scout in daylight as you're driving around. An hour or so before sundown, start taking mental notes of where might be appropriate. You’re looking for tracks, turnouts/lay-bys, quieter rural roads. Go with your instincts the first time you see a spot that looks good.

Don't be tempted to roll the dice and keep going in search of something better. If you find a spot, it's probably sound, and you don’t want to be turning around an hour later to head back to the first place you saw, but this time in the dark.

You need some daylight to properly scout your spot and check for obvious hazards. Potholes, animal tracks, sharp rocks and vegetation, sudden drops or water runs. Big, obvious “Private Property” signs, anywhere with buckshot or bullet holes. You also don't want to be right by the roadside unless it's really untravelled. If you can find spots by streams or lakes, then you have nature's own refreshing cold shower waiting for you in the morning, too.

Bedding down

It stands to reason that there ain’t no facilities for ablutions in the backwoods, so plan ahead and see to your business earlier in the day, or be a good camper, leave no trace and pack it out.

When you’re ready for lights-out, turn off the interior alarm on the car. There’s nothing more aggravating to you (or the landowner whose house you didn’t see over the way) than rolling over in the night and setting the car alarm off!

Wind the windows down a touch so you have some flowing air, then lock up and put the keys in the central glove box—somewhere easy to reach, and not down the bottom of your sleeping bag.

If you’ve gone hardcore and hired a two-seater, top tip: try to find a steep incline or hill to park on with the car facing up the hill. You can use the slope angle to get surprisingly flat in the passenger seat - even in bucket seats!

The Upside

I was lucky enough to find some incredible overnight spots on my trip, and I loved the rhythm of early nights and rising with the sun at 4 or 5 in the morning. It meant I got way more daylight hours and had some of the most popular tourist spots in America to myself.

Not shelling out a minimum of $50 every night for a motel/hotel probably saved me at least $3,000 during my trip. I parked outside McDonald’s and used their Wi-Fi. I bought and made sandwiches from local stores rather than paying for hotel catering. I avoided campground fees and maintenance and all the baggage of a camper van. Car camping won’t be for everyone (it’s a long way from glamping), but if you enjoy the road, your own company and just doing it differently, I thoroughly recommend it!

Is there an article you’d like to see in the Detour? Do you have a travel conundrum you’d like Detour readers to help you solve? Just let us know!

Ask us for a travel tip!

On travelling solo...

Ah yes, the single supplement—the bane of every solo traveller’s attempted budget!

For anyone who isn’t familiar, it’s a charge that anyone travelling alone may have come up against when booking hotels or cruises in particular—especially if the room you book is designed for multiple occupancy. To make up potential losses from one less person in a room, guests have traditionally been expected to pay extra on top of the standard rate.

These days, hotels tend to be priced by the room regardless of how many people are occupying it. On top of that, it’s much more common to find single-occupancy rooms at lower prices. The same goes for cruises, with cabins designed for solo seafarers commonplace on newer ships.

When it comes to booking tour packages, there are also quite a few operators that won’t charge you double for going it alone. In fact, there are now so many companies that specialise in running tours for solo travellers that we would likely be here all day if we tried to list them.

That said, getting a private room is not a given if you join a solo tour. As anyone who’s ever booked a hotel will know, the cost of a single-occupancy room is rarely half that of a double. Many operators keep costs down by pairing you up to share a twin room with another traveller, unless you choose to pay a little extra for a private room.

Without further ado, here are the JFC community’s top recommendations for tour operators that won’t charge you a hefty single supplement, if at all:

• Intrepid Travel - These guys came up in our recent India feature, and again when we looked for recommendations for solos. More than half of travellers taking an Intrepid tour are going it alone, so you can decide whether to buddy up and share a room or pay a “small extra charge”. Trips range from exploring the streets of Budapest and Transylvanian castles to a gruelling trek to Everest Base Camp, and they run tours catering to various demographics and budgets.
• G Adventures - Another one that came up during our India research, as well as receiving rave reviews for their solo trips. They also work with the “modest additional fee” approach to private rooms for anyone who wants their own space. Around 40% of their guests are solo travellers, with ages anywhere from 20s-60+. They also offer tours for all kinds of travel styles, be it 18-35, wellness or a spot of luxury.
• Flash Pack - Specialising in solo travel for those in their 30s-40s, 98% of Flashpackers join trips alone. They focus on once-in-a-lifetime experiences, so you can generally expect these trips to be a bit fancier and more expensive than other companies. They’re big into the social aspect of their tours, and take great care to pair travellers with a roommate they’ll mesh well with. Once again, single rooms are available upon request for an extra fee.
• Jules Verne - Unlike the rest of the pack, JV negotiate special “No Single Supplement” dates on over half their group tours, where single travellers can actually get a room to themselves for no additional cost. They also run solo-only tours, so you can be sure you won’t be surrounded by couples or groups of friends who already know each other.
• One Traveller - These trips cater exclusively to the mature solo traveller, with most travellers in their 50s-70s. All their trips prices are based on single-occupancy rooms with ensuite facilities, so you won’t have to worry about sharing at all. They’re based in the UK, but offer trips all over the world.

While these are some of the companies we’ve heard JFC-ers praising, the increased popularity of solo travel is seeing more and more options popping up every year. We’d recommend Solo Traveler World’s handy tour aggregator (think Skyscanner but for solo travellers!). They only list trips with solo supplements of 0-20%, so you’ll never get a scare at checkout!

Let us know if you decide to take the plunge and grab any of these solo trips, D—we reckon you’ll have an amazing time!

You’ve definitely come to the right place for advice, Jim! Hopefully our above tips on where to avoid exorbitant single supplements have given you a few ideas already.

That said, we’d love to open the floor to all our wonderful readers. What kinds of trips would you recommend for Jim? Have you taken a particularly great tour or discovered a city buzzing with arts and intrigue?

Let us know by hitting ‘Reply’, and we’ll share all your tips for Jim next week!

All the important (or silly, or strange) travel news from across the web this week.

• Travelling retirees share their essential tips for making the most of every trip, including “BYOTP” - Bring Your Own Toilet Paper.
• In the market for a new “island paradise” that won’t be overrun by tourists and influencers? The Bijagos Islands in Guinea-Bissau could be just what you’re after.
• As next week’s solar eclipse approaches, Airbnb is reaping the rewards of the major astronomical event.
• And finally, residents on the Italian island of Alicudi have found themselves outnumbered by wild goats by 6 to 1, and the mayor has had enough. While the cliff-dwelling goats were once a tourist attraction, a rapid growth in numbers means they’re now more like a gang of mischievous kids.
  The only solution? Putting them up for adoption. Until 10th April, members of the public can get in touch and offer to take in as many goats as they’re able. The only snag in the plan will be catching the goats—if you can even work out how to transport them, that is. Do goats get seasick?