FROM TENT CAMPING TO TRUCK CAMPERS

During my move from Virginia to Colorado, I packed everything I could into my Tacoma—plus a friend and my dog, Chaco—and hit the road. What could have been a 23-hour drive turned into a full-on adventure. We made it a road trip, stopping at national parks and other scenic spots along the way, and spent the week camping in a two-person tent every night.

Despite the tent blowing away one morning (yes, I chased it through the field) and all three of us squeezing in every night with a very dirty dog, it was such a fun journey. It reminded me why I love spontaneous trips, even when they get a little messy.

Discovering Lightweight Truck Campers Along the Way

Moving to Colorado, I was most excited about the endless outdoor activities. My first winter, I found myself wandering ski resort parking lots, eyeing the creative setups on trucks and vans. Lightweight truck campers quickly caught my attention—they seemed like the perfect blend of comfort and mobility. But at the time, they were a bit out of my budget.

So, like any resourceful adventurer, I went down the Facebook Marketplace rabbit hole searching for rooftop tents. That’s when I stumbled across a listing for a lightweight truck camper. It was still slightly out of my price range, but something told me to check it out anyway. I invited my friend Jacob, who had recently lived in a truck camper himself, to tag along.

That Marketplace meetup turned out to be the start of something much bigger—it eventually became Madix Outdoors.

How My Madix Drift Camper Transformed the Way I Travel

I fell in love with the camper immediately. The very next morning, I set out for Moab. That trip completely changed the way I traveled and camped. Everything was easier: setup took minutes instead of hours, I had more space, and I slept better than I ever had in a tent. On this particular trip, we had three people and one large dog, and still had plenty of room—two of us in the roof top tent, plus the dog and third person on an air mattress in the bed of the truck.

Since then, the camper has become my adventure basecamp for everything I love—hiking, snowboarding, climbing, mountain biking, live music, and traveling. Over the past year and a half, I’ve done four solo (plus Chaco!) cross-country road trips in my Madix Drift. I’ve felt safer traveling alone, and I’ve saved so much money by skipping hotels. Plus, I get to travel the way I love most: spontaneously, making plans as I go and finding stops along the way.

Living Nomadically with My Truck Camper

The Drift has also been a game changer at festivals and in unpredictable weather. At Bonnaroo 2025, when storms canceled the festival after the first day, my camper was one of the only dry places left on the farm.

Additionally, I became the designated driver for all our ski and snowboard trips and fall mountain biking weekends—my setup comfortably fit everyone and had plenty of secure space to lock up all the gear. Some of my favorite memories are from those parking lot lunches, hanging out by the camper, cracking open cold beers, and tailgate-cooking bacon grilled cheese with tomato soup alongside friends.

As a daily driver, the camper has been impressively low-maintenance. I’ve had both a prototype and now the Drift on my Tacoma for a year and a half with no issues. My gas mileage has barely changed, I still have excellent clearance on tight trails and still easily able to manage city driving, and it gives me a secure place to store all my gear year-round.

What started as a cross-country move turned into a lifestyle change—and eventually, into helping launch a company built around that very lifestyle. Over the past six months, I’ve been living nomadically and spending more time on the road than at home base, all thanks to my Madix Drift Truck Camper.