Traveler Camper's Guide to Campervan Life

Do you sometimes feel like you need a break from your busy life? Are you fed up with social media and phones? A Campervan might be your answer!

Campervan lifestyle is all about freedom, minimalism, and nature. You can go wherever you want, whenever you want. You can discover hidden gems that would never see with your guided tour or see the sights you miss by flying on a plane. 

Here are 10 reasons why people chose the Campervan life:

• It's cheaper than hotel rooms and eating out
• To reconnect with nature
• To disconnect from the busy life and work
• Love camping, but want to sleep in a comfy bed
• Doing road trips with several stops, for example when surfing on various spots along the coast
• Value minimalism
• Mobility: you don't have to wait for the next bus or book flights 2 months before
• Time to self-reflect and grow as a person
• You can carry more stuff with you 
• Stay at beautiful locations: wake up to the sunrise or sleep under the stars
• Spending quality time with your travel companion 

Our Guide for the Campervan life

1. Driving and Parking

This may seem evident, but driving and parking a campervan is much harder than driving a regular car. Parking can be tricky, especially if you have the older types of vans which doesn't have reverse cameras. They are also wider than most cars in the city, so if you are traveling in a city, it might take you longer to find a suitable parking space. 

2. Fines

Make sure that wherever you park or camp it is legal. The rules and fines vary from country to country, but the most common fines to look out for is parking, speeding, and toll fines.

3. Security

Unless you converted your own minivan into a campervan, most campervans are pretty big and stand out from the other cars. While it might be cool, unfortunately, it also makes you a target for thieves. 

Apart from (human) thieves, you should also look out for animals. Store your food in sealed containers to avoid uninvited rodents or bugs into your van. 

4. Shower and Toilet

You either have them in your campervan or you have to do it somewhere else.

If you don't have them in your van, you can either do it outside in nature and use a solar shower for showering, or you can wait until you get to a campsite where they have toilets and hot showers for you to use. This might mean that you will have to cut back on your showers.

If you have them in your van, that's very convenient since you can use them whenever you want to. However, that means that you have to carry fresh and wasted water with you, and the toilets can get smelly...

5. Air-conditioning

Make sure your AC works, otherwise campervan life can turn into hell instead of heaven, especially in the summer or if you are traveling in areas with a hot climate. 

Unfortunately, running the AC in your van will increase your gas consumption and your spendings.

6. Campsites

Apart from their hot showers and toilets, campsites are perfect for socializing!

Unless you are specifically looking for isolation, campsites are excellent places to meet interesting and like-minded travelers. They usually have parking space for vans and caravans, and you will always meet great people with great stories. You can always get tips and useful advice from other travelers who have been to the places you want to visit. 

7. Personal space

If you are traveling with someone else, be prepared for NO personal space. You will have to share every minute of your day with your traveling companion and this can be hard. But on the other hand, it will give you quality time with whoever you are traveling with! 

8. Enjoy it!

Make sure to appreciate every moment of it! In our busy, digitalized life we tend to forget to appreciate interactions with humans and nature. When was the last time you saw a star-filled sky or wake up to see the sunrise on a beautiful beach?! If you are worried about the inconvenience of the campervan lifestyle, just remember, the feeling of freedom and reconnecting with nature is an invaluable thing! 

 

10 Campervan Decor Ideas

When people think of a Campervan, they think ok freedom, adventure, road trips, nature and all the fun things you get to do! But some people might think of small, crowded, uncomfortable living spaces. However, for those people who might reject the idea of a Campervan because they fear it would be too uncomfortable and "nomad", we collected some Decor Ideas which can help you transform your Campervan into a lovely, homey, living space!

1. Curtains

With a little fabric, you can make your Campervan not only stylish and homely, but it can also provide you with security against passerby! You can a smaller curtain for you van windows or a larger one for separating the sleeping area from the rest of the van. 

Putting a curtain on your windows will really make it feel like you are looking out a regular window. Imagine waking up in your campervan and drawing the curtains in the morning to the most spectacular countryside, forest or beach! 

2. Storage 

You feel like you have so much stuff and so little space? The trick is to utilize every square inch of your Campervan! Create a storage place under your bed! You can build some cabinets or just put boxes under your bed! It's perfect to store your clothes or household stuff in it without making your van overcrowded! It's a win-win!

 3. Wood floor

Changing your floor in your van to wood floor can make such a BIG difference. It will make it look like a real room in a house! 

4. Wooden Walls

More wood! Who said you should stop at the floor? If you like the wooden design, you can change your interior walls to wood as well! 

5. White

If you want to make your van look more spacious, white is your color! Bright colored walls always make your room large and clean. You can match it with white furniture or any other color!

6. Fairy Lights

To add a romantic, vintage, hobo touch to your van, hang some fairy lights along the walls and your bed! It's a perfect mood setter or a romantic night or just relaxing by yourself!

7. Seats

Spice up your driver's seat with some fabric! You can change the whole seat to something more fashionable or just get some new seat covers to match your van interior!

8. Rugs 

Use some rugs or carpet to make your van feel like you are sitting in your own living room! You can choose a simple, one color rug or something bolder, like a faux cowhide!

 

9. Roof Vent

To add more natural light or fresh breeze to your van, install a roof vent! It will save you electricity during the day and who doesn't love to peak out the roof vent?!

10. Bamboo Interior

Have you ever dreamed about a vacation in bamboo bungalows by the ocean? Here is a way to replicate your dream vacation campervan style! Just change your interior to bamboo linings and camp at the beach and Voilá! A must for surfer Campervans!

10+1. Exterior

Do you want your van to stand out from the rest? Are you tired of looking at your boring white van? The fix is easy: paint your van! You can change it to any other color or decorate it with different motives and patterns! Use your imagination, the limit is the sky!

 Closing thoughts

Campervan life is certainly not for everyone, but we encourage everyone to try it! You don't have to buy a campervan to try it! You can rent campervans for short-term, which might be ideal for people playing with the idea or who want to try it just for fun!