Is vanlife heaven, a hashtag or a hoax? Is Hossegor a summer destination? Can you die of fart inhalation? Those, and a load more questions, were percolating in my brain as I hovered over the go button to book a 10-day van trip in the Basque Country.

For the past five years, my son Kip and I have made the same pilgrimage to a campsite in Messanges for our Basque Country surf trip with friends. This year, calendar clashes and the grom’s growing preference for music festivals over his dad pushed us to go earlier and smaller. So we tried something new: a van, in early July. Here’s an honest, farts-n-all review of renting one in July.

The Van

We booked through roadsurfer, chosen for its easy-to-use site, range of pick-up destinations, positive reviews and claims of few hidden extras. I also found some big discount codes with a quick look online.…