What to expect:
Hey folks:) welcome back! This is the post I should have read before renting a van to travel in. The truth is, traveling in a van is a MAJOR budget hack, but it can sometimes be inconvenient if you don’t know what to look for in a van build. Just know that everything in this post is something I think is important to consider when it comes to picking a travel van that’s going to fit your budget and NOT be a pain in the butt to live in. Feel free to scroll around until you find the info that you’re looking for!
Quick note: I really recommend looking for vans on outdoorsy.com. They have a TON of options and you should be able to find something that works for you pretty quickly. I found my van on airbnb, and I wish I’d known about outdoorsy first. The renting process could have gone much more smoothly.
What amenities are actually USELESS?
Let’s be so for real. I did not rent the van I did for looks. I rented it because it was the cheapest option on airbnb, and I bet you can’t tell why. It wasn’t cute. BUT, that van allowed me to spend 6 WEEKS on the island of Oahu, and I thought it was totally worth it. There are definitely some things that I thought were going to make life easier about that van that actually made no difference, OR were an inconvenience. So here is a list of all the amenities that I think are totally overrated. Further down I’m including a list of things that I think are actually important!
A working sink
USELESS. Okay not entirely. But I think we used the sink maaaaybe 3 times in that six weeks. Why? Because it’s actually super inconvenient to use. Using the sink meant pouring the water we purchased in-store into the water tank (which was under the mattress and hard to get to), using the sink, then disconnecting the grey-water tank under the sink and emptying that out, as well as washing the everything down afterwards so it wouldn’t attract bugs. It was MUCH easier to just pour water into a big plastic mixing bowl, wash the dishes outside, and empty the water right on the ground. We quickly turned the sink into extra storage space for pots, pans, and utensils.
Not saying a sink is a waste of space. But in a list of amenities when you’re looking at vans, don’t make that a priority. There are definitely other things I would prioritize over that, which will be in a list further down in this post.
An oven and a stove top
My van came with a burner and an oven. We didn’t use the oven one single time. Why? Because vans are SMALL. I don’t care how big it looks, it’s never big enough for your stuff. I cannot imagine trying to bake in a limited space like that. Also, if you’re going on a road trip in a van and planning on baking, I don’t care what you say, you’re gonna forget the baking soda. Or the cream of tartar. Are you really going to try to bring your whole baking cupboard so you can have a cute moment baking bread in an aesthetic van? You’ll have conniptions when it’s time to find space to store that stuff.
Pretty much anything you could want to eat can be made on a burner or a small hot plate. We made dang good use of our frying pan on our trip. Don’t panic, you can definitely bake tollhouse cookie dough in a pan and they’re SO good. My advice is ABSOLUTELY make sure there’s a small burner or a hot plate in the van, but you don’t need a stove, or a dual hot plate. There are so many other ways I wish we could have used that space.
An indoor shower
This tip is a personal preference and a space thing. If you want your van to have a shower, don’t stress if it’s a hose and shower head attatchment that goes outside of the van. Indoor showers take up a lot of space, and they tend to add a good amount of cost to a rental.
I personally thought it was pretty fun to put on my swimsuit, park the van somewhere with a pretty view, and take a shower outside. I remember one night on Oahu I parked right on a beach, it was dark outside, still warm, and I just listened to the waves crashing on the sand and watched the stars while I rinsed off before bed. It was one of those, “wow, I’m alive” moments. Such a simple, surreal moment. Those are the best kinds of memories.
A toilet
We had a small portable toilet in the van, but we never once used it. Why? Because when you use it, you have to clean it out. Or it just sits there. And how do you clean out a toilet in a van? You have to find somewhere with a hose. Or else buy water from a grocery store and wash it by hand. It’s just impractical and unnecessary. And gross.
What you NEED to have in your van
A mattress
Okay “need” may be a strong word. But hear me out. Some van rentals (or car builds) you can find online have sleeping bags and pads instead of a real bed. Obviously if you’re trying to pinch a penny, these are the way to go because they’re the cheapest options. But guys in my opinion, it’s not worth it. I’ve camped out multiple times in the back of my car with pads and sleeping bags. It’s all fun and games and cute until you need to get a good night sleep, and then it’s NOT COMFY. Not even a little. Doesn’t matter how good of a sleeping bag and how many pads you lay down, it’s not gonna cut it. I don’t care how much extra money a van with a matress is, it’s worth it. I’m trying to wake up in the morning ready for some adventures, thank you very much.
A fridge and freezer cooler
My favorite amenity in our van was the fridge and freezer. It looked like a cooler and had a small plug in that fed off the solar panels installed on the roof of the van. It saved our little booties. If you’re going on a quick weekend trip, maybe this isn’t going to be super important to you. But if you’re going to be gone for at least a week and you don’t want to eat out every day, this is going to be a lifesaver. A cooler will cut it if you need, but keeping it stocked with ice while you’re trying to go out exploring, as well as having to empty out the water every so often, is going to get old.
Utensils
This is a HUGE convenience thing. When they provide utensils, pots and pans, it makes things so much easier for you as far as packing goes. You can’t forget the spatula because they already have one! Most van rentals will have these listed as an amenity, but if they aren’t make sure you reach out to the van owner and ask about it.
And even if it’s listed, BRING A CAN OPENER. I’m telling you it won’t be there when you need it. You’ll have to open your cans with a knife, and from experience that is the worst possible outcome. That sound is easily worse than nails on a chalk board. I’m tough about a lot of things, but if a can needs to be opened with a knife, I’m gone. You gotta do it. I cannot stand that sound. I’m not sure if you’ve seen the viral video of the girl trying to open her leftovers in a styrofoam takeout box, but that’s about how it goes when I have to open a can with a knife. Good luck charlie.
Make sure your van gets good gas mileage
Before you rent the van, make sure you wont be paying a million for tank of gas. If you want a reference: Our van was about 90$ to fill in Hawaii, and it was a diesal motor. However, we only had to fill the tank twice on the whole trip. While Oahu is a small island, we still did quite a bit of driving and our van got SUPER good mileage. This makes a huge difference in your overall cost. Sometimes big vans look intimidating when it comes to the price of gas, but double check the miles per gallon and you may be pleasantly suprised.
goodness gracious, storage space
This is just huge, and you can probably tell because it’s played a big factor in what I deem necessary and uneccesarry in a van build. You’ll just never have enough storage space. Your van is going to get messy every day simply because of how small it is. If you’re looking to travel for more than a week at a time, you’re going to want a van with smart storage space that’s easy to access.
Convenient extra’s that YOU can bring
I’ll just fire off a list of what was really nice to have, and what I wish I’d brought, as far as extras go.
- A fan! I’ll link the one we brought here because it had a plug in but it also ran on battery and it was a life saver. If you’re traveling where it’s going to be warm or humid, your van is going to get super stuffy at night. This will change your life.
- Garbage bags
- Solar powered battery packs. Leave them in your windshield all day and use them whenever you need!
- A speaker (for obvious reasons:)
- Camping chairs or hammocks
- Pepper spray or a taser. We had both, and on nights when we had to park in a place we didn’t fully trust, it was a nice reasurance.
- Pre-prepared food. I mean like pancake mix, ramen, canned things that just need to be heated up, anything to make your mealtimes more convenient and take up less van space.
- PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT: have a bathroom and laundry plan! Wherever you go, make sure there’s a restroom you can use or…a bush. You gotta do what you gotta do. Just don’t strand yourself with no options is what I’m saying. The same goes for laundry. Make sure where you’re headed has a laundromat you can use, so you can pack light and wash what you need to when you need to.
Van travel is infinitely worth it
Even though I just warned you how inconvenient living in a van is, I still have to say it’s so so worth it. There are a million amazing experiences I was able to have with my van that would have been simply impossible without it. Being able to pack up, hit the road, and take home with you wherever you go is kind of magical. I absolutely loved it. And now that you know what to look for in a van, I’m quite convinced you’ll love it too:)
If you’re wanting to book a van in a different state or even country, you may want to check out my post about how to find cheap flights as a college student: here!
Thanks for reading!
I’m glad you’re here:)
-El
