After watching John with his 20 years of vanning tips some people commented on how bored I looked sat there – hahaha.. There’s only so much listening to talk of LED bulbs and inverters that I can take so my mind was wondering to what I would say are things that have helped me most in the years we have been vanning too – so here you go 🙂
I always take as many ways of drinking coffee with us as I can – I have the Nespresso machine, a coffee press, a cool single serve cafetière mug, regular instant and if i feel like a treat – those single serve Cappuccino sachets too, in our van it’s definitely “No coffee, No Talkie” from me so I take plenty.
I use sweat bands when washing in small spaces, I hate it when the cuffs of my clothes get all wet or the water drips to my elbow then on my feet so i pop a sweatband on each wrist and it saves the water from getting up your sleeve. Also keep the plug in if you are washing your face as you can use it for a flannel to wash elsewhere too!
I love our Ridgemonkeys – I’ve hardly used the oven since we bought/tested them and have used them on the fire or outdoor grill as well as in the van, keep cooking low and slow and they work like tiny ovens, we have 2 as John is a fussbag and doesn’t do veggies where as I love them so I can make slightly so I can make slightly different meals for each of us or if we are in a rush we have Rustlers in 1 and hash brown bites in the other – nice bit of beige food to fill a hole 🙂
So, we all know that the two most stressful parts can be pitching or parking up, checking lights and putting up any awning that isn’t a simple roll out – if you do find that arguments tend to kick off a bit as we did (don’t expect any words of wisdom to stop this happening! Apart from no definitely no big awnings! haha) get yourself some cheap walkie talkies, at least if you do end up disagreeing the whole camp site can’t hear it and it saves embarrassment making things worse.. Haha
A place for everything and everything in its place – also known as put it back when you’re done, it saves on so much rushing around when you pack up and go and you always know where things are. John is working on this as, at the moments it’s called “leave all the Gadgets everywhere so Mandy can’t sit down or make a brew or read on the bed” .. I might need to use the walkie talkie to “advise” him in future.. haha
Save leftover Kettle water – If you are having a brew using the kettle but fancy more than one brew then get yourself a decent flask – once the kettle has boiled fill it up so you’ll be able to have another couple without having to put the kettle on again and anything left over can be used to wash up with. This saves on having a hot hob when travelling too, i don’t like putting the glass lid down if it’s still too hot so gives it time to cool down.
Make the bed before you open the wine! This came after we were camping in France with some friends and I was tasked with making up the double at the front of the van – I had possibly drunk a little too much at this time and when I was pulling the bedding out from under the seats I kind of slid in and couldn’t get back out, John waited a good 15 mins before seeing where I was bless him and I’d gone to sleep upside down half in and half out of the seat box – never going to live that one down – so make the bed (if you have to!)
Always carry ice if you have a freezer – even if you think you might not need it – it’s a great way to tell if your fridge and freezer is working as well as it should be and hasn’t had an interruption of power – frozen hash browns look the same if they’ve been defrosted and refrozen but ice doesn’t!
Invest in a Kindle – I know there will be die hard Bibliophiles out there who shudder at the thought of reading on an electronic device but if you read a lot and read in the night then a Kindle or specifically a Kindle Paperwhite will be your best friend. I love that I can read while John sleeps, especially as the bed in the van is much smaller so it’s easier to keep him awake, it’s backlit and has no rustling pages to turn so stealth reading is much easier. I can also carry 100+ books and take up no extra space or weight at all and if you have amazon prime you can use their Prime Reading site to access LOADS of books for free and the Amazon Lending Library gives you a selection of more recent books that you can borrow 1 per month. I get over 2 weeks on a charge too.
Keep a place for your shoes – i know that sounds a little silly but having a chosen spot to find them for midnight toilet trips and taking the dog out first thing in the morning is much easier if you can just slip your shoes on, We’ve had to move in the night before too when wild camping so being able to find them quickly was very helpful. You can also keep shower caps tucked nearby, you can get a couple for a quid or use any you might have picked up in hotel rooms on your travels and pop your shoes in to keep the van clean.
Get some fairy lights! I LOVE my fairy lights – it took a little white to convince John that they were indeed a nice addition and not an accessory that makes the van look fussy. As the van is John’s daily drive too he didn’t want the fuss but he loves the light they give off when we are sat all cozy in the van at night and they hardly use any power at all – we have the thin wire ones tucked around so you can hardly see them.
Carry a collapsible bucket – Need to wash your hair – bucket, need to collect kindling for the fire – bucket, need to wash the dog/van/underwear – bucket, need a fire bucket – bucket, need somewhere to put wet clothes so that water won’t go everywhere – bucket, run out of water in the tank and need to flush – bucket, toilet full – plastic bag in the bucket (just don’t sit on it!)
Pack your underwear in bags – I ran up a couple on my sewing machine (but you can use anything) that we can use so all the clean undies go in one and dirties in another, it keeps them all in one place and with us using the high cupboards there’s no more being hit in the face by flying knickers!
Reusable sanitary products.. sorry guys but this needs to be covered.. I use a moon cup which means no tampons or pads.. depending on your flow you can leave it in all day and when you need to you empty, rinse, wipe and pop it back.. nothing nasty to store until you can dispose of and you buy it once and you’re sorted.. I also made my own liners (Mandy liners..!) which can be very easily rinsed and reused when needed (in the bucket..!!)
Check your license..! I passed my test in 1997 just after the changes which means I had to pass my B+E test to tow over 3.5 tons and I can’t drive a van with a MTPLM greater than 3.5 tons but John can
Multi purpose cleaning products.. get some white vinegar, bicarb of soda, apple cider vinegar and ecover washing up liquid and you can clean the world.. well not quite but close.. use white vinegar, water and a few drops of ecover in a spray bottle to clean the cooker, bathroom, shoes, fire pits – anything.. that stuff cleans everything..!!! You can use bicarb and vinegar as a paste to scrub things, you can use bicarb and water as a shampoo if you run out and apple cider vinegar and water to condition too.. Bicarb and vinegar washed down plug holes gives them a good clean too.. I use all the above in my kitchen anyway so think it’s fab to use them for other things too..
Bungee cords inside your cupboards.. Ours is still work in progress in this van but brilliant for keeping stuff where it should be.. We have them on open shelves to keep things in place but also behind the cupboard doors to stop anything toppling out that has moved when driving.
