It only took me three days to be convinced that a campervan is the ultimate holiday - here's what made it so special

The only thing better than tucking into a fresh bacon and egg roll for breakfast is eating one you've made yourself in the back of a van while watching the sun rise over the ocean. 

I came to this realisation on a recent campervan road trip I took just outside of Sydney. 

Normally, I'm the kind of person who thinks that holidays should be overseas affairs, jam-packed with activities and new experiences.

But it turns out that this low-key van trip was what I'd been looking for all along. 

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My partner and I rented a van from Apollo Campervans for three nights. Our initial plan was to travel down the coast, hitting up different beaches, hikes, and small towns. 

But after one night parked up right on the water in Shellharbour, we decided to stay put. 

That's the beauty of a campervan trip - you can really do whatever you want on a whim, without the need to book flights, hotels, and activities. 

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Over our three days on the road, we played mini golf and barefoot bowls, swam in the ocean, took multiple beach walks, watched surfers at sunrise, cooked in the van, visited a top-notch country bakery, checked out the local pub and huddled in bed watching movies while it rained. 

Initially, I thought we'd be roughing it, that travelling in a van was just one step above tent camping. 

But with a comfy bed big enough to fit even my boyfriend's six-foot-two frame, a cooktop and microwave, a TV, aircon and heater, and even a dining area, the campervan really had everything we needed. 

The microwave was probably my favourite unexpected delight - being able to pop a bag of popcorn when a random 3pm storm rolled in was perfect for an afternoon movie sesh. 

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It only took three nights, but we're now campervan converts. You get all the benefits of a getaway, without having to stress about heading to an airport, random accommodation fees and taxes, or even the need to pre-plan anything. 

I did learn a few things along the way, though, some tips that I'll take with me on my next trip. Here's the inside scoop. 

Bring a lamp or fairy lights

This might not be such an issue in summer, but on our trip, it got dark at 5pm every night. We'd find ourselves in bed at 7pm after eating dinner, just for lack of anything else to do - it was too cold to just sit around outside!

Though the van's internal lights are great for cooking, I wish we'd packed a low-lighting option to switch on while reading or watching TV - just a small lamp or battery-powered fairy lights would have been perfect. It just makes things a little cosier.

Use packing cubes

Even though it was just a three-day trip, I packed everything in cubes to keep it neat in my bag. This made it way easier to find things I needed - as opposed to my boyfriend who had his clothes flung all over the van by the last morning. 

Chat to locals

My favourite place to get advice about a new area is by asking the person pulling beers at the pub or serving pies at the bakery. Whether you're looking for good coffees, the best beaches, or great hikes nearby, they'll be tapped into the good recommendations. 

Similarly, if you're staying at a caravan park, chat with your neighbours or people you meet in the kitchen. We got some great tips for future trips from a lovely retired couple who were slowly making their way from Melbourne to Newcastle. 

Bring an empty container

If you're a campervan aficionado,  you probably travel with all manner of handy implements. But as we left home I grabbed an empty Tupperware container on a whim, just in case. 

It came in handy when we cooked pasta for dinner one night and definitely had eyes bigger than our stomachs. Leftovers were put into the container and consumed for breakfast the next morning. A win!

Consider your charging cords

I packed both a USB and a USB-C charger for my iPhone, and it was a good thing I did! The built-in charging port on the van's console was a USB-C charger.

If you have both at home, bring them along just in case. 

The writer travelled as a guest of Apollo Campervans.