Sydney or Los Angeles: Where to Start a Campervan Workation
If you're planning a slow road trip where you keep working, the city you start in shapes the whole month. Sydney and Los Angeles are both easy to fly into, and both have campervan depots close to the airport. After that, they're very different trips.
I've written a lot here about coworking trips and coliving, where the desk and the Wi-Fi are sorted for you. A campervan works the other way around. You give up a reliable desk so you can move whenever you want, and finding signal and power becomes part of your day.
To compare like with like, I looked at one operator that covers both cities: Travellers Autobarn, a budget campervan and RV rental company with depots across Australia and New Zealand, plus a US side that says it has rented campervans since 1993.
Sydney or Los Angeles at a glance
In Sydney, you collect the van from the Banksmeadow depot, about 10 minutes from Sydney Airport. Rates are lowest from May to June and from August to September. Hires longer than 14 days get a cheaper daily rate, and the rate drops again past 35 and 75 days. For a first weekend away, head to the Blue Mountains or Royal National Park. Australians drive on the left. Sydney is 8 to 10 hours ahead of Central Europe, so your late afternoon lines up with their morning.
In Los Angeles, the depot is in Inglewood, a short Uber or Lyft ride from LAX. Low season runs from November to April. Daily rates drop for hires of 7, 14, 21 and 34 days or more. Joshua Tree is an easy first weekend, and Big Sur suits a longer first trip. Americans drive on the right. LA is usually 9 hours behind Central Europe, so your morning overlaps with the end of their working day.
Which Van Works for a Laptop Day?
For a working road trip, the van you pick matters more than the route. This is the decision I'd spend the most time on.
Smaller vans are fine for sleeping and cooking. Where they fall short is the six-hour stretch at the table answering emails. If you can't stand up, you end up hunched over the laptop or working from the driver's seat, and by Wednesday your back hurts.
A high roof is what I'd prioritize. You can stretch between calls and keep a small workspace set up instead of packing it away every time you want to lie down.
Tip: bring a power bank that can recharge your laptop at least once. Powered campsites are the easy option, but you won't always reach one before dark.
Starting in Sydney: Hiring a Campervan Near Sydney Airport
If you want to try this in Australia, Travellers Autobarn in Sydney hires out campervans from a depot in Banksmeadow, about 10 minutes from Sydney Airport. You can collect a van straight off the plane and head north or south without driving through the city first.
After a long-haul flight, skipping city traffic on your first drive makes a difference.
The Budgie Van and Chubby Camper are the simple bed-and-kitchen options. The Hitop and Kuga let you stand up inside, which makes a long laptop day far more comfortable. For a month on the road, I'd pick one of those two.
May to June and August to September are Sydney's low season, and rates drop further once a hire passes 14 days, with bigger steps at 35 and 75 days. That suits remote workers planning a slow month rather than a two-week holiday. Sydney winters are mild, but nights inland get cold, so pack layers if you're heading into the hills.
Tolls are handled for you. They're charged to your card plus a $3.30 service fee, which is one less admin job on a day you also have a client call.
For your first weekend away from the desk, the Blue Mountains are west of the city and Royal National Park is about an hour south. Both make a good test run. You'll find out quickly whether the van works as an office before you commit to the longer drives up or down the coast.
The time zone is the bigger question. If your clients or team are in Europe, their working day starts in your evening. Some people love having the daylight free for driving and hiking. Others find late calls in a van draining after a week or two.
Also Read: The Best Cities in Australia for Digital Nomads
Starting in Los Angeles: Renting a Campervan or RV near LAX
For the US version of this trip, Travellers Autobarn rents campervans and RVs in Los Angeles from a depot at 500 W Florence Avenue in Inglewood, a short Uber or Lyft ride from LAX and right by the I-405 and I-105.
Every Los Angeles rental includes unlimited miles, and on this trip you will use them. Your first week could take you up the coast to Big Sur or inland to Joshua Tree. Stay out longer and you can keep going to Las Vegas and the national parks beyond it, including the Grand Canyon and Zion. Distances in the American West add up fast, and you don't want to be doing mileage math on top of your actual work.
If you're working nights to match a European time zone, the Beeva Camper has a built-in heater, which helps once the desert cools down after sunset. The Kuga and Hitop give you standing room for a proper workspace, for the same reason I'd choose them in Australia.
LA's low season runs from November to April, with better availability and lower rates than the busier May to October period. Rentals of 7, 14, 21 or 34+ days get automatic discounts.
One thing to plan around: pick-ups run 10am to 4pm, Monday to Saturday. There is no after-hours option. If you land on a Saturday evening, you're looking at two hotel nights and a Monday collection. So choose your flight to fit the depot hours.
How the Working Day Differs
In Australia, the coast roads north and south of Sydney link up towns where you can find a cafe with Wi-Fi or a powered campsite. Coverage is reasonable along the main routes and can disappear once you head inland. A slow coastal month with short drives between work days is very doable.
In the US, the national parks are the main reason to go, and they're also where signal is weakest. I'd plan work days in towns and save the parks for days off, instead of trying to answer emails from a trailhead.
Sydney gives you a calmer first week with short drives. LA puts more variety within a few days of the depot, though you spend more time behind the wheel to reach it.
Is a Campervan Workation Right for You?
A van suits you if:
you like heading out on your own and don't want a fixed group schedule
your work is mostly asynchronous, so a patchy afternoon doesn't wreck a deadline
you're happy to plan around powered sites and town days
you're fine with a small space and a simple kitchen for weeks at a time
It's less suitable if:
you have daily video calls at fixed hours
you need a big monitor and a proper chair to do your best work
I value being able to head out on my own when I travel, and a van gives you that every single day. It simply asks more of you on the logistics side than a coliving house does.
Tip: if you've never worked from a van, start with a hire of just over two weeks. That's long enough to qualify for long-rental discounts in both cities and short enough that a bad fit doesn't cost you a whole season.