Adventure Advice Vol. 2 With Zak Shelhamer, Luno CMO

Welcome to our new series, Adventure Advice. Each month, we’ll highlight a Luno team member, sharing both a snapshot of their story and a few of their favorite camping tips. Expect us to cover everything from their go-to road trip snacks to car camping hacks they learned the hard way. Long story short? If you want to step up your game and camp like a pro, you’re in the right place.

Who is Zak? 

Zak Shelhamer, our Chief Marketing Officer, has always been a vagabond. As a kid, he bounced from Oregon to Montana, Alabama to Colorado. After high school, he migrated to the mountains of Lake Tahoe, where he snowboarded all winter long and spent a couple of summers living life on the road in the back of his Land Rover before upgrading to a camper van and sailboat.

After many dirtbag adventures, Zak kicked off his marketing career at GoPro on the California coast, where he also fed his surfing addiction. When he first started at GoPro in 2010, the camera company was in its infancy, operating in the small town of Half Moon Bay, with only around 20 employees. When Zak left, there were well over 2,000 employees, and he aided in their global brand growth, leading as the creative director on all major product launches. So far in his career, Zak has sculpted many campaigns for events such as the Super Bowl, Tour de France, and the Olympics.

These days, Shelhamer lives in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, with his wife Whitney and three-year-old daughter Marigold. When he’s not steering Luno marketing initiatives and brand growth, you can find him camped out on an AIR + FOAM PRO Camping Mattress on a surf, climb, snowboard, or fly fishing adventure.

Pit Stops: Rapid-Fire Q & A Interview

Q: What’s a bucket list road trip for you? 

A:  Honestly, I’ve been fortunate enough to visit everywhere that I had on my bucket list. What I’d love to do now is revisit places with my family and share some of the experiences I’ve had with them. I’d like to start at home here in Idaho, go through Montana to Jackson, Wyoming, then down to Southern Utah, to Northern Arizona, then over to the Califonia coast and finally down to Baja. Obviously, there would be lots of climbing, fishing, and surfing along the way!

Q: What’s your go-to Luno mattress and why?  

A: Definitely the AIR+FOAM Pro Camping Mattress. The R-value is super high, meaning it’s a warm, well-insulated pad that’s crazy comfortable and cozy all year. I winter camp a lot in ski resort parking lots or even backcountry trailheads, so that’s super practical for me. I love the versatility, too–I can use it in the back of my rig, in a tent, you name it. Shoot, we even use it for sleepovers at home.

Q: What Luno accessories are you packing on a road trip? 

A: The Cargo Hammock is my main squeeze–I always keep it up in my car, even if I’m not camping. My daughter's three now, and she always has stuffed animals that she likes to play with. With the Cargo Hammock, we have quick and easy access to those toys, plus extra jackets, flashlights, and random gear…it’s a great place to store items. It magically creates 8.5 square feet of extra storage space out of thin air, so it’s a game-changer, for sure!

I’m also really proud of our new Camping String Lights. They’re so easy to use and versatile, they’ve become my new favorite, especially with these longer nights we have right now during the fall going into winter. 

Q: Any other gear you don’t like to camp without?

A: My Daylodge bag–I keep all of my camp kitchen and coffee items in it. It’s easy to pull it out of my trunk, hang it on the side of the car, unzip it, and boom–I have an instant countertop and cooking station ready to go. 

Q: Favorite road trip snack? 

A: Skittles. Don’t tell my dentist.

Q: Favorite camping meal?

A: Sesame beef tacos. They’re delicious and surprisingly quick and easy. I marinate some beef with soy sauce and sesame oil at home, then whip it up at camp in a skillet with whatever veggies I have. Make a big pot of rice for the crew, top that with a mixture of sour cream and sriracha, then garnish with green onions and sesame seeds. Finally, wrap it all up in a tortilla for fireside enjoyment. I’m getting hungry just talking about it!

Q: You’re heading out on a 3-hour drive tomorrow–what are you listening to? 

A: Sigur Rós’ new album, ÁTTA, is amazing for road trips.

Q: If you could have a car camping superpower, what would it be? 

A: I’d magically double the size of my trunk, so my whole family could car camp in the back of my rig. Kinda like Harry Potter and those wizarding tents. 

Adventure Advice: Zak’s 5 Tips For Campers

Tip #1: Be Mindful Of Your Organization

I think the biggest challenge when you first start car camping is figuring out where to put everything. It’s important to be really mindful of your organization. I recommend you bring along storage solutions to sort out your gear, and always be intentional about putting that gear back where it belongs. Otherwise, you're constantly trying to find things, always asking yourself, “Where's my headlamp? Where's my spoon?” Those little things can get lost easily and throw a wrench in your adventure plans for the day. The more organized and tidy you are, the more comfortable camp will be, and you’ll have a better time right out the gate. 

Luno makes a ton of awesome accessories for gear storage and organization, from the Cargo Hammock I mentioned earlier to our upcycled Gear Tote and Mesh Gear Duffel, but if you’re just getting into car camping for the first time, it doesn’t need to be anything fancy. Bring whatever you have at home–tubs, milk crates, cardboard boxes–whatever you have access to that can help you stay organized on the road. 

Tip #2: Treat Your Trunk Like Your Home–And Keep Wet Gear Outside

I like to treat the inside of my vehicle like the inside of my home. If anything is really wet or really dirty, like a damp wetsuit or fly fishing waders, I try to keep it outside until it's dry.

If you need to bring wet gear in the car because you’re driving somewhere, make sure it's self-contained in a leak-free tub or something like our ultra-durable Gear Tote. That way, you won’t contaminate your bedding, other gear, clean clothes, or your car seats.

As soon as you stop and the weather cooperates, just pull out the wet gear, air it out, and hang it up. That’s honestly a bonus tip within this tip–always take advantage of sunny weather to dry gear or charge electronics via solar! 

Tip #3: Sleeping Bags Aren’t The Only Way To Go

When a lot of people think of camping, they think you have to camp one way, and that’s sleeping inside of a sleeping bag. That’s usually the move if you’re camping in a tent, sure. But when you’re car camping, you can treat your car camping mattress more like your bed at home.

Unless it’s extremely cold and I need a winter sleeping bag, I usually don’t even bring a sleeping bag at all. Instead, you can make your setup a lot more comfortable if you grab a sheet, blanket/comforter from home.

That said, I definitely recommend getting a fitted sheet that’s purpose-built for your Luno mattress. They’re hypoallergenic, designed specifically for the curved corners of a car camping mattress, and will stay put no matter how much you move around!

Tip #4: Stealth Camp Like A Pro

When I was living in my car, I got really good at “stealth camping,” or what I like to call “urban camping.” After all, many of the best surf spots are near urbanized areas. And sometimes on long drives, you don’t need anything fancy, just a safe place to have a quick snooze or rest for the night while you wait for the snow to clear. To me, the most important thing when you’re stealth camping is privacy, and your privacy comes down to a few things:

• Where you park:  When you’re driving around a neighborhood or a city looking for a spot to park overnight, it’s a bit like a picky dog looking for a place to go to the bathroom. It’s a funny metaphor, but it’s true! You're sniffing over here, looking over there until you feel comfortable and safe. You can use apps like iOverlander to find spots other campers recommend, or just cruise around until something feels right. If I have to park in the neighborhood, I always try not to park in front of somebody's house–you don’t want to take someone's personal parking spot or them to feel weird about the random car out front. Quiet streets are ideal, maybe under a shady tree, or even sometimes parking alongside a quiet business that you know won’t be open until you’re long gone, look for nearby BLM land, Walmarts or truck stops that allow overnight camping (read our guide HERE). But more than any one specific tip, I just like to use my intuition. I never take the first spot I find. I’m always asking myself, “Is this a safe spot to camp?” and I’ll drive around and feel out a few spots before I decide where I’m going to call home for the night. I actually do this at campgrounds, when boondocking, or urban camping.
  
  
• What direction you park: What direction you park can make a big difference in how comfortable you feel camping in your vehicle. I like to angle my vehicle so the trunk is more private. That way, people can walk by and have no clue you’re sleeping inside.
  
  
• The Privacy Curtain: One of my favorite Luno accessories to bring along on a camping trip is the Privacy Curtain. It’s super easy to keep set up during your road trip, and easily blocks nosey neighbors from looking into your vehicle. It gives you a little bit of peace of mind, which quite literally will help you sleep at night. Plus, it blocks the sun, too, so you don’t wake up at the crack of dawn. Which reminds me, bring a sleep mask. Those little eyeshades can help you clock an extra couple of hours of sleep while camping.

Tip #5: Bring Wet Wipes 

Every car camper knows showering on the road can be difficult, and it can sometimes be days between showers. Especially if I’m not surfing or near a river I can jump in, I always bring a big pack of wet wipes. That way, I can wipe my feet and my face before I get in bed. It’s not as effective as a shower, but it does feel good to get nice and clean, and it makes longer trips a lot more comfortable.

Now, there are some dirtbags who will say bringing hygienic wipes is overkill and unnecessary–all power to ‘em. But if you want my advice? Bring wet wipes–and use them.

A Little Adventure Advice Goes A Long Way

Whether you’re new to the game or you’re a road trip veteran, learning from the pros can be super beneficial. That’s why we started this series–to help you level up and camp like a champ. That said, we hope you enjoyed this month’s edition of Adventure Advice. Maybe you learned a new gear storage hack, got inspired to try a new camping recipe, or simply gained the confidence to embark on that adventure you’ve been dreaming of for years. Regardless, thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more Adventure Advice in the not-so-distant future!