Van Life Essentials | A Packing List for Life on the Road

Packing for van life isn’t quite the same as packing for a short road trip or even a camping weekend.

Van life is a long term lifestyle so we need to pack accordingly.

Try to make sure your campervan accessories have a dual purpose where possible.

Don’t over estimate how many clothes and shoes you need. If you’ll only use it once in a while, don’t pack it.

Deciding what to pack is a serious step in preparing to live in a van. Essentials are probably all you’ll have space to pack. But what should be on the list?

This article provides a complete campervan packing list of van life essentials. Some of the items here will make fantastic campervan gifts too!

You know your own lifestyle better than we ever could so add more or less to this list for your needs.

This list gives a sound basis from which to start thinking about what to pack for your campervan trip or long term van life.

van life essentials packing list pin image

Campervan appliances
Camper kitchen essentials
Campervan bathroom accessories
Laundry & cleaning in a campervan
Clothes
Travel tech essentials
Bedroom
Safety gadgets
Outdoor living camper essentials
Campervan tool kit & maintenance
Campervan apps
Odds and sods
Printable van life essentials list

Campervan appliances

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The campervan appliances you choose depends on your budget, van lifestyle, size of the van and the activities you enjoy.

Choosing the best van to live in for your lifestyle is important.

Once you’ve bought your van, fitting essential campervan appliances will elevate the comfort and convenience of your van life.

Before you buy your appliances, make sure you do your research.

Where will you install them & will they fit?
Will your campervan electrical system cope with the demand?
Do you need to add a few camper solar panels to boost your capacity?
Will your campervan water system accommodate your water needs?

Here’s a list of the most common campervan appliances to consider:

Cooker
Campervan oven
12v fridge
Heaters for campers
Campervan toilet
Roof vent
Sink
Water filter
Wifi booster (Read more about RV Wifi here)
Camper van lights – LEDs
Portable solar panel

Camper kitchen essentials

Eating well for a healthy lifestyle in a camper van is much easier with a well equipped kitchen.

With limited space indoors, having compact and practical camper kitchen accessories makes life easier, more organised and minimises the storage we need.

We’re now on our 2nd camper van and over the years, we’ve perfected the contents of our van’s kitchen cupboards for our needs.

These camper kitchen essentials make sure we eat well and cook just about anything our culinary skills can stretch to.

Pressure cooker
Saucepans
Chopping boards
Plates & bowls
Thermos flask
Cutlery
Knives
Utensils
Can opener
Corkscrew
Camping coffee makers (no need for electricty)
Cast iron skillet
Kettle
Oven gloves
Vegetable peeler
Grater
Colander
Cups
Glasses
Tea towels
Air tight storage containers
Waste bin

Campervan bathroom accessories

Some campervans have fully fitted bathrooms. Others have outdoor camper showers and emergency use only toilets.

Your solution depends on the size of your van, how much space you’re willing to give up for the luxury and on personal preference.

But what campervan bathroom accessories do you need to pack?

To make your campervan showering experience a little more civilised, here’s a few bathroom accessories to include on your van life gear essentials packing list.

Laundry & cleaning in a campervan

If you live in your van for anything longer than a week at a time, you need to consider how to do your van life laundry.

There are campervan washing machines on the market but in reality, they take up a lot of space and need mains electric supply.

Laundrettes are a good solution but in some countries, quite expensive.

It’s best to have the means to wash your own clothes when living off grid. For that, you need a few of these van life essentials.

Clothes

Standing at the top of a mountain in hiking gear opposite Mount Fitz Roy, Argentina

Knowing what to pack for a short holiday is difficult enough. But how to decide what clothes to pack for van life or campervan road trips?

We need to prepare for all weather conditions, activities we enjoy and most likely eventualities.

Space is limited so we launder often and try to get fast drying, lightweight layers wherever possible.

You maybe surprised at how little you really need when you only have 40 litre storage capacity for your clothes as we do!

Here’s everything we pack (each).

Travel tech essentials

A few travel tech essentials can make all the difference to your van life and adventure travels.

These electronics will help you stay in touch, navigate, capture memories and provide a means to run a blog, write a book or simply watch Netflix.

Most important, aim for the 12v options of all the campervan battery charging devices and cables.

Bedroom

feet and legs sticking out of a campervan bed

If you live in your camper van full time, you’re likely to experience a variety of climates year round.

In summer, nights can be hot and sticky. In winter, outside temperatures can fall to below zero.

This means you’ll need a selection of blankets, duvets and sheets to keep warm or cool depending on the weather.

Consider investing in vacuum storage bags to reduce the storage space they need out of season.

Safety gadgets

A large padlock and chain on a wooden gate

Campervan security is important to protect your investment from theft, your home from burglars and yourself from harm.

In some circumstances it can even help reduce the cost of campervan insurance policies.

Vehicle thieves and burglars are often opportunists. Remove any temptation from view and visible deterrents like locks and other security features are often enough.

Prevention is better than cure.

You can get a full breakdown of everything we recommend you include in a roadside emergency kit here, including a free downloadable checklist. But here’s a few things on that list….

Can you guess which one of these has made it onto our list of top 10 RV gadgets?

Outdoor living camper essentials

If your campervan is small, your van life will be spent beside the van as much as inside it.

Even with a larger campervan or RV, living outdoors is part and parcel of van life.

So what camping gear do you need to take in your campervan?

Here’a a few outdoor living camper essentials to get you off on the right foot.

For more tips and advice for your life on the road check out our van life hacks.

Campervan tool kit & maintenance

Accidents happen, things wear out and stuff breaks. It’s a fact of life living in a van isn’t exempt from.

A well equipped campervan tool kit will help you through most issues.

You’ll need spare parts and tools for mechanical issues as well as for camper van interior repairs.

If your doing a DIY build, make a list of all the tools you use throughout your campervan conversion to help you identify what you need to include.

Campervan apps

A phone held in a hand in a remote location

Most of us carry smart phones these days. With a wealth of useful apps available covering all sorts of conveniences, van life assistance is never far away.

Ideal for wild camping and boondocking, navigation and sightseeing, fuel prices and translation service when travelling abroad.

Here’s some of the most useful apps we use regularly.

Odds and sods

And a few extra things to add to your van life essentials list:

Printable van life essentials list

Click on the image below or the link below it to print your own copy of our complete van life essentials packing list.

van life essentials packing list printable — Print or download the van life essentials packing list here

If you can’t find what you’re looking for here, check out our gear guides for more inspiration:

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Van Life Essentials Packing List for Life on the Road

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