Budget, tools and lack of a driveway were always going to slow my build, but I wanted to start camping in the van straight away. These are the temporary measures that I took to make that possible.
LIGHTING
LEDs these days are surprisingly effective at emitting light. We hooked up two 60 LED battery powered camping lights and two small strings of fairy lights and found that we had plenty of light to see by. Not enough to read, but definitely enough to see!
I recommend the LED lights we used, Lixada 60 LED, they were really bright and the batteries lasted well. The on/off rubber button did fall off, but you can still operate the light by poking a pencil (or small fingernail) into the hole.
HOW TO SLEEP WELL
Whether in a van or in a tent, bedding can make all the difference.
Place a thick blanket or carpet on the floor.
Use a blow up bed – or even a spare mattress. We have a Coleman twin chamber double blow up bed which is great as it’s easy to inflate with a battery powered pump and the twin chambers mean that it is very comfortable even if you are sharing the mattress.
Take your normal pillows and a thick duvet.
Take extra blankets.
Take a hot water bottle if the weather is cold and if you have a way to fill it (using a camp stove and kettle, or using the campsite kitchen facilities).
EXTRA COMFORTS – FOOD & DRINK
If you have one, take a small camping stove, kettle and pots.
This will have to be used outside the van (or carefully inside if suitable and with the door or window open).
Take a cool box to hold any fridge food, drink or alcohol.
We have a second hand electric cool box, but when we plugged it in to the cigarette holder it started to give out a burning smell so we decided that it wasn’t worth the risk or the battery drain. Instead we would just pack it with icepacks and place any meat that we wanted to cook on day two in the freezer before hand so it could defrost. We could go for a weekend trip this way and our beers would stay cold and our bbq fresh. The same approach would work in a well insulated cool box with loose ice (we couldn’t use ice due to the exposed electric fan)
THE BENEFITS
I hope these tips help inspire you to use your van while you are building it. Although there can be the temptation to get the build done quickly I have found the slow process to be of great benefit. It has enabled me to discover what I need and what works/doesn’t work for my needs before I commit too deeply to any part of the build.
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