Newfoundland was our longest shakedown trip to date, combining ferries, fog, remote coastal roads, wildlife, and weeks of living from the van. It proved the Sprinter could support real full-time travel rather than just weekend camping, with enough comfort and rhythm for a multi-year expedition.
Newfoundland meant ferries, fog, and some of the most dramatic coastline on the continent — puffins on the cliffs, whales offshore, caribou in the meadows, and fishing villages painted against the sea.
Our longest shakedown to date and a real test of living in the van for weeks at a stretch — exactly the kind of trip that tells you whether a build is ready for years on the road.
At a glance
- Getting there
- Ferry from Nova Scotia
- Duration
- Weeks on the island
- Wildlife
- Puffins · whales · caribou · moose
- Terrain
- Cliffs, fjords, fishing villages
Watch
What makes Newfoundland a useful shakedown?
Newfoundland starts with a long ferry across the Cabot Strait and a quick lesson in island weather: fog that rolls in and out by the hour, and a coastline that feels like the true edge of the continent.
The driving is all jagged headlands, deep fjords, and clapboard fishing villages painted hard against the grey — the kind of place where you keep pulling over because the next cove is even better.
What wildlife and road conditions did we find?
This is one of the best places on the continent to just stand still and watch. Puffins crowd the sea-cliff colonies, humpbacks work the bays close to shore, and caribou drift across the barrens.
It’s also where we proved we could live aboard for weeks at a stretch — cooking, working, and resetting without a house to fall back on. The strongest yes-it’s-ready signal so far.
Highlights
- Puffin colonies on the sea cliffs
- Humpback whales close to shore
- Caribou on the barrens
- Weeks of genuine full-time van living