A PICNIC IN PARK With full-size refrigerators, stoves and sinks, traveling families can prep their own meals on the go.  ILLUSTRATION: STEVE SCOTT

“Originally, we were going to make it a six-day trip,” said Mr. Goble, “but we were honestly having such a good time we extended it four times into an 11-day trip.” Normally, rental companies’ full calendars preclude such spontaneity. Thanks to the motorhome’s self-sustainable features, they stayed overnight at a campground just twice on the trip. Most of the time they’d “boondock”—that is, stop at places without water or electrical hookups, or nightly fees. Say, creekside clearings off fire roads deep in the forest.

But boondockers needn’t choose between a remote forest or a Walmart parking lot. Harvest Hosts, an app that helps road-weary travelers find pastoral plots to pull in, offers members no-charge access to more than 1,400 wineries, breweries, farms, museums and even golf courses that will let them put up for a night (from $79/year, harvesthosts.com). The rules require that your RV has its own bathroom and not need external power or water—a standard most recreational vehicles meet. And Harvest Hosts requests that you patronize the place you’re staying, buying whatever is on offer in the way of wine, beer or produce.

No need to scout a campsite. Road-weary travelers can find pastoral plots to pull in, from wineries and breweries to farms, museums and even golf courses.

Novice boondockers with mega-RVs are often surprised they have access to even more places. Spots like Mountain Falls Luxury Motorcoach Resort (mtn-falls.com, from $115) in the Blue Ridge Mountains, about an hour south of Asheville, N.C., or the Polson Motorcoach Resort on Flathead Lake (polsonrvresort.com, from $90) in Montana cater exclusively to tourbus, or “Class A”-style motor coaches, offering guests spacious landscaped lots, often outfitted with outdoor kitchens, gazebos and the kind of concierge service typical of five-star hotels.

If you’re not ready to pony up more than $2 million for a top-of-the-line luxury land yacht, talk to Goss RV of Atlanta, a travel specialist and coach brokerage who maintains a nationwide fleet of vehicles for their owners and rents them out while they’re not in use, with models starting at about $15,000 per week (gossrv.com). In a more typical year, one would find Goss’s inventory parked at megaevents where the well-heeled congregate, like the IMSA Series of auto races, airshows like the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh and cultural happenings like Burning Man, where upward of 15 of high-end Goss coaches rolled in last year.

“The folks who are renting these vehicles are professional athletes, celebrities—we’ve had maybe 10 or 15 billionaires this year,” says CEO Jer Goss. Take, for instance, the unnamed entrepreneur who had planned to celebrate the sale of his company with a whirlwind six-week European jaunt this summer. When that got scuttled, he reached out to Mr. Goss. The 45-footer he’s taking on a month-long amble is built by Marathon Coach on a Prevost chassis, and outfitted with a master suite including a king-size bed, two bunks in a slide-out compartment, a kitchen that includes a full-size Subzero refrigerator, DirecTV, Wi-Fi from a Verizon Wireless Jetpack and iPad controls for all of its major functions including the full-length awnings.

Once the RV is parked, an outdoor entertainment system that tucks into the luggage bays under the carriage can be unleashed. Though Goss also offers drivers, the entrepreneur has chosen to take the wheel himself, with the company guaranteeing 24/7 support. The month’s bill? In the neighborhood of $130,000.

Depending on your chosen adventure, Goss will even deliver your coach to you wherever you live (or wherever your jet lands), fresh from a cleaning and maintenance process that takes about five days, fully stocked with whatever groceries and supplies you request. But long duration travel isn’t reserved for the 1%, nor is it only doable in something the size of a brownstone, said Bill Ward owner of Livmobil (livmobil.com), which rents silver-skinned Airstreams from locations in San Francisco, Denver and Washington, D.C. Livmobil largely stocks recently built models like the 22-foot Safari Sport, the Flying Cloud 23D and the International Signature 25, which start at $260 per night, with a five-night minimum. They also offer tow vehicles, which range from Dodge Ram pickups to Cadillac Escalades and Range Rovers.  

“We have been flooded with new inquiries, and an unusually high number of longer rentals (lasting from one to three months in duration),” said Mr. Ward. “I think this is going to be the trend for the remainder of 2020 and 2021, at a minimum.” One couple, he said, just booked their RV for a three-month loop around the deep South on short notice. “Neither have work to do right now due to the virus, so they’re like, ‘There’s no better time. We’ve always wanted to travel in an Airstream. This works for us now.’”

In a season when the urge to escape home will only be matched by the need to be flexible, getting lost in America in an RV works for a lot of people right now. Mr. Rybak and Ms. O’Hara are still hoping to tick at least one national park off their list in the next few months. They even have a campsite reserved. If you see them, say “Hi.” From a safe distance.

WHAT’S THE BUZZ? V.W.’s all-electric ID. Buzz camper will bring back the brand’s uber-popular microbus.

PHOTO: VOLKSWAGEN OF AMERICA, INC

IN MORE CAREFREE times, camper vans were merely funky and bohemian, the sort of vehicle you’d take to outdoor bluegrass festivals and Wiccan weddings. But in the Summer of Corona, they represent what amounts to mobile quarantine units for apartment-mad millennials. Smaller than a motor coach and easier to park, these boxy havens support up to two days of socially distanced travel, apart from hotels, restaurants and even campgrounds. You might have to stop for gas.

And yet, in this hour of need, where is VW’s camper van? Elsewhere, alas. The company sells a version in Europe, called the T6 California, which is not available in the U.S., even in California. That hurts.

VW has, however, broadly hinted that its new all-electric ID. Buzz microvan, due in the U.S. in 2023, will have a glamping configuration. That would be pretty granola. But if you can’t wait, I’ve pulled together a summary of camper-van options, for getting away from it/them all. 

Mercedes-Benz announced in February it would import a version of the Metris Pop Top Camper, with bunks for up to four. Mercedes has partnered with one of its “master upfitters,” Driverge, to convert the vans at its facility in North Charleston, S.C. Prices will start in the low $70,000. Another of Mercedes’s collaborators, Peace Vans of Seattle, offers Metris conversion—including cabinetry of dovetailed plywood, stove, fridge, sink—for $47,995, not including the Metris itself. Allow 90 days from order to delivery.

Winnebago hasn’t made a pop-top camper van since 2003. That product white space was filled in with the new Solis, which smartly packages dinette seating with three-point safety belts, two-burner range top, a pull-out counter and stainless-steel sink and fridge. Plumbing includes a hot water shower, toilet and exterior wash stations, with a 21-gallon freshwater tank. Starting at $100,667.

The trouble with camper vans, as anyone who’s shopped them knows, is the exorbitant prices. But Cascade Campers of Grass Valley, Calif., will convert a Ram ProMaster City utility van (about $28,000) into a tiny bit of glamping heaven, with fully equipped versions starting around $7,000. The company holds down costs by pre-assembling components in batches, including quarantine-friendly options such as birch paneling, a fridge and solar-backed onboard battery. Once delivered to Cascade Campers’s door, the conversion takes only one day to complete.

If you’re handy with a table saw you can do what thousands of vagabonds have done over the decades: build your own camper-van interior, typically out of marine plywood.

The #vanlife industry has spawned dozens of conversion-kit manufacturers who will ship cabinetry, galley fixtures and appliances to be installed DIY. Zenvanz in Portland, Oregon, for example, has designed its modular bamboo interior to be easily installed or removed using the original bolt-holes of Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans. This leaves DIYers easy access if they want to upgrade systems, or return the van to normal whenever the carpools kick off again.

—Dan Neil

The Wall Street Journal is not compensated by retailers listed in its articles as outlets for products. Listed retailers frequently are not the sole retail outlets.