VAN LIFE ESSENTIALS
STEP 10
CURATE YOUR VAN LIFE ESSENTIALS LIST
As the build comes to an end it’s time to think about what to buy to make remote, everyday living comfortable. There are many different van life accessories that could be considered “essential” to some but not to everyone, depending on what your tiny home features. While these may not apply to everyone, here is a list of our top van life essentials we couldn’t live without.
To see our full list of van life essentials, visit our Shop Essentials page.
COMPACT WATER FILTER
When living on the road you’ll want to make sure you have access to clean water. We love this compact water filter. We simply attach it to the hose that fills our main water tank making our tap water safe enough to drink and shower. It’s super compact and stores away nicely.
VELCRO
You really can’t have a moving tiny home until you have everything attached with velcro. Be sure to purchase industrial strength. We use it for over 7 things throughout our van. Think anything hanging from walls and on countertops. It’s a quick and easy way to keep decor in place and from breaking while your home is in motion.
TOOTHBRUSH HOLDER
I know this one may seem kind of odd but it truly is a must have for us. We didn’t start off with one and found ourselves finding our toothbrushes in weird places and getting dirty. We later learned about this and have been so happy we purchased it! We keep it in our bathroom and use velcro to secure it to the wall.
COMPACT CAMPING CHAIR
When moving into a tiny home on wheels, the outdoors becomes one of your main living spaces. So it’s important to have a chair you can comfortably sit in anytime as well as compactly put away when moving to the next location.
PACKING CUBES
There are multiple ways you can store your clothes while living in a tiny space. We have found we LOVE keeping our closet organized with these multi-sized packing cubes. When you roll your clothing it will surprise you how much you can bring. Because of this rolling technique, I ended up packing too much and don’t come close to wearing everything I packed.
USB RECHARGEABLE CABINET LIGHTS MOTION SENSORED
Lighting is so important in a home. We considered getting permanent upper cabinet lighting install however didn’t want to spend the money and luckily we found these! They are affordable, simple to use and install. They automatically turn on when you open your cabinets and the cool part is they will only turn on when it’s dark out! So high tech and their battery lasts a while. It took 4 us months before having to recharge!
HOTSPOT
We work remote while living on the road and this hotspot has totally saved our jobs! The truth is, working on the road and being reliant off wifi can cause issues. Most national parks have no wifi, not even a hotspot can save you so you may have to plan your work week being located closer to a city while saving “no wifi” areas for weekends. All in all, we have been very happy with this hotspot.
MAGNETIC CABINET HOLDERS
If there’s one thing you don’t want to forget before starting van life, it’s a system to keep all of your cabinets and drawers closed while moving. We fell in love with these magnet holders. We like how easy they are to open and close and feel they are strong enough to keep drawers closed when turning while driving.
MINI BROOM
Dreaming of living in a van in the wilderness? Well, get ready to sweep away! It’s not surprising how incredibly dirty your floors get after moving into a tiny space full time. It’s imperative you have a way to get all the dirt out. We love this mini broom. It stores away nicely as it hangs against our wall. This is a daily used item that we absolutely couldn’t live without.
WINDOW COVERS
Thermal window covers are a must must must when living in your van full time. From having instant privacy from people outside to keeping hot or cold temperatures regulated in your van. Part of our nightly and sometimes daily routine is putting these window covers on. They are compact and easy to put on and store away.
COLLAPSABLE WATER BOILER
Even if you have a stovetop cooking device, I highly recommend you get one of these. If morning coffee or tea is a daily ritual for you, you will be SO happy you purchased this. This collapsible water boiler, boils water in under 1 minute, there’s zero clean up and it stores away nice and compact. We truly couldn’t live without this. It’s also a great way to cook oatmeal for breakfast, an easy and quick van life meal.
HANGING FRUIT BAG
There’s truly no extra room to hold a bunch of fresh fruit after a full grocery shopping run. Fruit is big and bulky so the best storage solution is to hang it. We prefer this fruit bag over the classic banana one. We love this bag because it can hold more fruit and doesn’t smash up against the walls, spoiling fresh fruit.
RUBBER MATTS
These rubber matts are a must have for living in a moving vehicle. It’s designed so that whatever you put on top of it will not slide around in your drawers and cabinet. We’ve found it do effective to keep everything in place while in motion. Simply cut out sizes needed and place in all your cabinets and drawers and you will not regret it.
REMOVABLE HANDLE COOKING SET
When working with minimal storage you have to constantly be thinking about maximizing space. We love this two pan cooking set because of the removable handle feature. One of the pans is almost deep enough to act as a pot and it’s super easy to take the handle on and off.