Our Top Ten “Must Have On-The-Road” Items
Journal Entry #11
When you head out on a extended road trip with very limited space you have to go through the calculus of what things you believe you will need/most use/can’t live without. After seven weeks of travel, here are the items that have become our top ten go-to’s:
Old green towels. These were a complete surprise and a total necessity! We use the for EVERYTHING… doormat/bottom of bug screen block, drawer jambs, floor cleanup, wine bottle wrap/protectors… the list is endless. And we actually brought them as an afterthought thinking we would throw them away at some point!
Camp chairs. The GCI Outdoor Pico chairs are terrific. They are a bit more costly than most camp chairs but worth the money. They are sturdy, comfortable and fold into a very small compact profile for storage. Given the outdoors are essentially our living room, it’s good to have quality seating in our living space.
Coffee pour over and collapsible kettle. Okay, I am combining two items here, but they go hand in hand. We have noticed that most van people prioritize coffee needs and we are no different! There is something civilizing about have a coffee ritual each morning and we happily indulge in it. Our pour over has a great metal mesh filter that’s very easy to clean and the collapsing silicone water kettle is a space “lifesaver”.
LED lamp. This little lamp is perfect for lighting the cab of the van when we have our window covers on. We often sit in our driver and passenger seats in swivel mode as our “living room” at night and the light brightens that area. We can also bring the lamp outdoors to light a picnic table or it can serve as gentle night lighting when don’t want our ceiling lights on. It’s weighted by the batteries and has three brightness settings activated by touch.
JBL Bluetooth speaker. Tom considered outfitting the van with built in speakers and sound system. But in the end, the space constraints and need to add yet more wiring to an already complex electrical set up was a deal breaker. Instead, our Bluetooth speaker was a simple and surprisingly great substitute. The sound quality on this one is terrific. We use it outside or inside and orient it in the direction we want for best listening.
Bugwall screens and Vanmade Gear window covers. Both are specialized products for van conversions like ours and the investments were worth the price tags. The Bugwall screens cover both our sliding door and our rear door. We especially like that the we could customize the screen opening dimensions and zipper locations; for example our screen zipper on our sliding door is offset to the right to match our entryway. The rear wall has a screen above and tarp below matching our mattress height so that the items in our garage are protected by the tarp and our bed has a screened area for our bedside view. Our window covers were made specifically for Ford transit vans. The covers have both a reflective surface to keep the van cool and also a thinsulate material for insulation. Each of the covers has magnetic tabs that attach to the metal of the vehicle to keep them in place.
Hanger thingamajigs. Okay, that’s not the real name but, you know, these are the things that are sold on late night TV that apparently help maximize your closet space. You hook hangers on them and then you can hook them on to the hanger pole or drop them down to have four or five clothing items hanging vertically. I bought them years ago in a moment of 2 am weakness. They never worked as described in our closet but we did find them useful back in our “stationary home” as laundry room hooks to air dry things we didn’t put in the dryer. Now they’ve become super handy to have in the van to hang everything from jackets to towels that need to air out to underwear to backpacks, you name it.
Driver side large window ledge. This ledge was really just a fortunate outcome of our window frame build. It wasn’t built for this purpose at all but as part of the structure to support our interior walls. The window ledge has become a really useful, convenient space where we can set phones to charge, wallets, keys and our JBL speaker when we are at a campsite.
Deep sink and silicone veggie strainer. Another “twofer”! Choosing a big deep sink was a great decision. Obviously, we can use it for washing dishes and filling water bottles or pots. But its real utility comes as a place for a quick hair rinse when we don’t need full shower, (it is our sink for teeth brushing too) and it is an amazing STORAGE space when we are on the move. Inside the sink we put things that we don’t need to refrigerate (apples, onions, various loaves of bread etc.) much of these food items sit in our collapsible silicone strainer in the sink as we travel. I don’t think we’ve used it yet as a strainer— mostly it’s our bread box!
A yoga block. No, it’s not for yoga. I wish I could say I was being all groovy a new age-y and doing yoga every day but this just isn’t the case. This important tool helps little ol’ me get into our bed at night! We have a beautiful 8 inch memory foam mattress which sits on a fairly high platform. The bed was built high in order to account for the items we keep in our back garage (like our bikes, our kayak our grill, camp chairs, ladder, plumbing systems and electrical systems, etc). It turns out that for me (I am a petite 5 feet tall and a bit!) to hoist myself up into bed, it’s just about 3 inches beyond a simple knee up. My handy-dandy indispensable yoga block “stool” does the trick! And it’s lightweight and small and can be tucked away when I don’t need it. I can even use it as a little boost up to grab things that are just out of my reach in our pantry.
One more bonus item! As you know I am an oenophile; I taste, review and write about wine and plan to do so on the road. However, in the spirit of van space conservation, container durability and sheer convenience… friends, it has come to this… we do carry BOXED wine for everyday drinking. Now, before you hold your nose, I will say that there have been vast improvements in the quality of boxed wine. I am trying various brands and varietals of the boxed stuff as we travel and am happy to report that the Bota Box Old Vine Zinfandel isn’t half bad!
Some super-helpful stuff here… thanks!!!