Okay, it may seem a bit weird...9 things? Why not 10? Well to be honest we struggled coming up with 9! You see, full time travel and small living has really made us realise that you don't actually need a lot to live a full life. Theres so much 'extra' stuff humans feel is important, but actually when it comes down to it, these 'extras' are not needed.
So here we go, after 7 months on the road, here are 9 things we really just could not live/travel/vanlife without!
#1. Washing Machine.
I bought this before we left, on the advice of a fellow traveler. For the first month or so we weren't convinced it was worth the money, nor the space and weight in the Van! BUT we have slowly been converted!! It is SO handy! Now we don't have "laundry days" where you have to go to a public laundry or the campsite laundry and pour all your coins into machines that you then have to babysit! We simply plug it into our inverter on the car which powers it with solar energy, and hook it up to our own tank water. It means we can free camp for as long as we like and don't have to worry about washing! We use all natural laundry powder so we feel comfortable putting the water waste on the trees and plants around us. We also use the rinse water that comes out to wash the dog! Perfect!
Here's a photo of our little washer doing what it does best. Suns out which means awesome solar energy feeding the battery!
#2. Solar Set Up.
Which leads us to our solar panel / battery / inverter set up! This is what allows us to free camp for weeks on end! It can be a costly outlay to set this up, but we went for the cheapest brand in everything and haven't come up short yet! Heres what we have...
-160watt solar panels fitted onto the roof, we got these from Kings 4WD super centre for a couple hundred dollars.
-The solar is connected to a deep-cycle battery which we got from an auto electrician for another couple hundred dollars. This battery powers our car fridge 24/7. The battery is charged by the car running, or the solar panels on the roof.
-The inverter is a 1500watt inverter and what it does is convert the battery power from 12v (which would charge small items like lights, phones etc) to 240v which then powers big ticket items like the washing machine, the laptop and camera batteries. The inverter again was about couple hundred bucks.... but a top line one could cost you up to $1000!
With the amount of free camping we do, we could not live without this set up. $600-800 to set up, but we save AT LEAST $200-$400 a week!! And we feel so proud running our lifestyle on good old sustainable solar power!
The battery and inverter, sunny days are the best for recharging everything and doing washing!
#3. Laptop.
One thing we use our solar set up for is recharging our laptop ! When we set out on this journey we wanted to minimise how much 'stuff' followed us from our old way of life! We also wanted to maximise on space in the van! Nowadays we are alllll about stuff having 'multiple purposes'. So we got rid of the Jayco factory fitted TV and heavy TV bracket. We don't watch TV, only the odd series on Netflix, but the kids like to watch a movie every Friday night, so we bought a little DVD player to connect to our laptop. We also have a Bose bluetooth speaker so it feels like we have surround sound in our tiny little van! We also use the laptop for blogging and schooling! Its a simple, easy and lightweight way of being entertained !!
The kids enjoying a movie in their bed!
#4. LEGO.
Speaking of entertainment. We could not cope with this lifestyle without the wonderful invention of LEGO. It keeps the kids quiet and entertained for hours on end. They never ever get bored of it! We get soooo much quiet and alone time thanks to their obsession with LEGO, and its pretty much the only toy we have in the van. (They do have an unhealthy obsession with Hatchimals too!!)
They also play with the LEGO in the morning so we can sleep in!
#5. Games.
As a family we love playing games together. You need games for those rainy days! But we also always play games when its afternoon tea, or over lunch. We are currently obsessed with the card game Monopoly Deal, but we also love real Monopoly. Its a wonderful way for them to learn also, adding and exchanging money and properties. Jameson actually learnt to add up 10's and 100's when he was 6 by playing Monopoly! We also have Pictionary, Pass the Pigs and good old Snakes & Ladders!
Hours of fun man!
#6. Pull Out Work Surface and Drawer.
We knew right away that we could live without a microwave, and 7 months in I can tell you I haven't needed to use it once. Not once. So we piffed it. It was heavy and took up valuable space! So I came up with a much better more space efficient design and my clever handyman husband put it into effect for me! Now I have extra bench top space (PRICELESS) that is a section of marine ply that slides out, and an easily accessible area (another section of marine ply that you pull out, with a basket on top) where we keep snacks, bread and condiments - the things you need access to on a regular basis!
Let me tell you, this is amazing! I seriously think without this little area, my kitchen would feel cramped and overflowing with stuff. Definitely could not live without this!
Best addition to our van, hands down!
#7. Tea Pot & Wacaco minipresso.
Okay, lets get serious. Tea and Coffee, how do we make it work bearing in mind we like small, lightweight and eco friendly?
The tea is easy, ditch the tea bags, get a tea pot and tea leaves! Not only does it taste a million times better (fuller, sweeter, stronger) but you are saving SO much waste from going into landfill! Win!
The coffee was harder. We toyed up getting a coffee machine (so BIG! so HEAVY!) We knew we didn't want to go down the coffee pod road (SO much waste and not as tasty). So what to do?? Then we came upon this little beauty from Wacaco! It makes espresso. From real ground coffee. One shot, two shot, however many you want, real life espresso literally in the palm of your hand !!!! We just warm up some milk on the stove, sprinkle on some chocolate and voila - a cappuccino!! If you'd like to know more, please ask us or head to this link... http://www.wacaco.com?aff=329 You won't regret this purchase!!
Tea & Coffee Time made so easy and eco friendly by 2 simple additions to our kitchen!
#8. Weber Q with Temperature Gauge.
I love baking! And most vans don't come with an oven. So a simple (although expensive) way around this was to get a Weber Q with a temperature gauge! And it actually works! Ive baked cakes, muffins, bread, pizza and done a fair few roast dinners, all of which came out perfect thanks to that little gauge!
Our family favourite Sultana Cake perfectly baked in the Weber Q!
#9. Pip's Kennel.
I picked up this fold down / camping kennel from a salvo's for $20!! Such a bargain! So glad we have it. She loves it and so do we! Pip struggles a bit with moving from place to place, she gets a bit anxious and worried, maybe she thinks we're going to leave her behind? But her kennel is her home. She feels safe there, and it means we don't have to have her sleeping in the van (she's a really noisy sleeper) or in the car (setting off the car alarm!) It also means she has somewhere safe and shaded to chill out if we go out for the day without her! We get lots of comments from fellow travellers about this little portable kennel! Its a simple thing that we couldn't do without!
Thats Pips kennel there in the red!
So there you have it! 9 mostly simple and all extremely effective things we couldn't live without! Living comfortably on the road doesn't have to break the bank, honestly this lifestyle is supposed to be about the simple things. Downsizing, de-stressing, slowing down, so don't make the mistake of thinking you need to fill your van and car with all this 'stuff'. You'll just end up getting rid of it down the road!
Hope its been helpful!
