How to survive in a camper van

As many of you have asked us how we survived for a month in a camper van, I figured that we should shed some insight into how it's done. We soon learned that all it requires is for us to throw a few things out the window and embrace the whole aspect of simple living. There no longer was any sense of decency or modesty between us girls, as we quickly realized that there was only so much room to change and quite frankly it just took way too much effort concerning ourselves with covering ourselves up! As girls, of course we packed way too much, which meant that our suitcases and backpacks took up just about half of the limited space that we already had.

Hygiene
You will see from the pictures that the Britz didn't have a toilet or a shower, which forced us to be creative in how we were going to keep ourselves clean and in top condition. Gas stations, McDonald's, truck stops, pretty much any public bathroom we could find, soon was a blessing and something that we all kept an eye out for wherever we went. As inconspicuous as we tried to be, leisurely strolling to a washroom with our toiletries in tow, there were times when we got a few odd looks and soon enough nothing seemed to faze us. Some gas stations were utterly disgusting, but all we could do was laugh otherwise I think we would've went many nights with unwashed faces and unbrushed teeth, and when you are sleeping in that close of quarters with people, you did not wanna have morning breath.

Bathrooms were pretty easy to come by, but showers on the other hand proved to be very difficult. The easiest solution to that is to not shower regularly and instead rely on salt water to keep yourself clean. The ocean and outdoor showers are very good options when necessary. Shaving in the ocean proved to be very good for the skin and shampooing your hair at the outdoor showers at the beach is more common than you think. You must remember that you are living in a camper van and therefore your appearance should not be your top priority. Who cares if you haven't washed your hair for over a week, not to mention blow drying or even styling it. Embrace being free and if questioned on some things, just pull out the backpacker card. People seem to be a lot more understanding once you tell them that you are backpacking. The standard of your appearance and hygiene goes down a few notches and it's more acceptable to present yourself a bit on the greasy and dirty side.

Food
Now when it comes to cooking or eating in a camper van, there are a few options. If you aren't keen on being as economic as us, then you could get a campsite at night to plug in and use your stove to cook food and charge your fridge. Us on the other hand, being backpackers and trying to save every penny we could, decided to forgo the whole plugging in unless absolutely necessary, so our food options were quite slim. But soon enough, we found a quick solution and great meals to enjoy. For breakfast we would all pull out our granola and yogurt, maybe cut up a mango and enjoy with the spoons that we used the day before, hopefully washed, if not by water, then by us licking them clean. If we were really lucky, we would find a microwave either at a gas station or hostel, or some friendly hosts house that would allow us to make oatmeal. Oh what a treat that was! Most of the time for lunch and supper tuna and corn cakes would be on the menu. Not to fear though, there are plenty of different flavors of canned tuna, ranging from sweet chili to lime and cracked pepper, so our taste buds were always in for a surprise each night. Luckily our fridge would recharge whenever we drove and so we managed to have an good amount of fruit and veggies. Since we were sticking to our simple lifestyle, there were many times when we wouldn't cut up our carrots or cucumbers, but rather stick a few into our purses for snacks and when we were hungry, just grab it out and start chomping on it. Once again, a few odd stares our way...but hey, we are being healthy and not wasting time by preparing our food! Mangos were our choice for fruit, along with Sundowner apples. So you see, we managed to get all food groups in here. Of course there are other foods that you could try to manage in the camper van, but we found these to be the best. Oh, I better not forget to mention one of the desserts that we discovered and loved. Frozen yogurt bars! Britt found them one day and we were all instantly in love. We would buy a box at a time and end up having to eat them all in the same day since our freezer didn't really work b/c it wouldn't ever get cold enough without being plugged in. This worked out perfectly until we were on our way to Melbourne and the girls went a little overboard. I was talking on the phone with my parents and the girls come running up with boxes of yogurt bars in the hands...apparently they were on sale and they couldn't resist getting more than one box. I think maybe the closed quarters of the van made them a little bit crazy because it was a bit hot that day and so we had to eat the bars extra fast and we had twice as many each to eat. So in just a couple of hours we all finished off the boxes of yogurt bars, and as a result, we haven't bought them since. I think we all still feel a little sick to our stomachs whenever we see them in the frozen treats section. Since we couldn't fathom eating another bar, we quickly replaced that with cadbury chocolate bars and soon all our willpower to eat healthy seemed to no longer exist. It seemed that in no time, not only were we eating chocolate for dessert and snacks, but as a replacement for a meal, or when we were happy, sad, mad, frustrated, etc. You name it, anytime of the day, no matter how we were feeling, it always seemed that chocolate was necessary. Good bye to any hopes of bikini bodies! I am glad to say though that after the camper van, we have managed to put an end to our chocolate obsession...only to be replaced by another weakness, but let's not discuss that right now.

Another important thing to consider when buying food for a camper van for 4 people is that there isn't that much room in the fridge or the cupboards so you must be prepared to make daily trips to the grocery store. If you dread buying groceries, then this may be hard for you, but it is a necessity. Us girls love going to the grocery store, it's almost like being in grade school again and going on a field trip. Seriously we can spend so much time walking up and down the aisles, gawking at all the good food and deciding what we should buy. You would think that after a week or two in the camper van that we would know what to buy, but for some reason we seemed to spent so much time in the store and end up with the same food over and over again. Maybe it's just the fascination that we all have with food that did it for us. Tip of the day. If you are ever having a conversation with us and can't think of anything to talk about, just bring up food as we can all talk for hours on that subject. But be prepared, you may be a bit shocked just how passionate we do get...don't let it scare you away, just think of it more of us being passionate...even if it is about food.

Sleep
You must understand that getting a good sleep is one of the most important part of surviving in a camper van. Could you imagine how it would be if there were 4 girls in closed quarters on minimal sleep? Things would not be pretty and it would probably end up with a few cat fights and a lot of awkward silence as there would be no where to storm off to after an argument. Going from the front seat to the back isn't really enough space between 2 people after they've had it out for each other. So all you haveta do is ensure that everyone gets the best sleep possible. Yes, yes, we know, it's hard to do when you only have about an inch between your head and the roof when you are sleeping on the top bunk, and it's impossible to roll over, but it is manageable. Figure out a system so that each member of the camper van team will have equal chances of sleeping on the spacious bed downstairs and cramped quarters upstairs. You may want to practice your flexibility and gymnastics skills as your will have to go in feet first onto the top bunk, hopefully you are the first one otherwise you must maneuver around your sleeping partner without kicking him/her in the head or face. Another important thing to remember is that you absolutely cannot step on the stove. It will break and poof! there goes more money that you will most likely need to buy that canned tuna for lunch. At night you will most likely need to stack the luggage up between the fridge and counter and bottom bed. This leaves absolutely no room to walk, so if you must go to the washroom at night or are the lucky one who wakes up first, you need to squirm your way out of there without waking up the rest of the crew. It may seem a bit tricky at first, but before you know it, you'll be amazed by what you can do in small spaces...it's all about being stealth.

Parking
Finding places to park your camper van at night may be the most frustrating or most fun thing you do. In most places you aren't allowed to park your camper van just anywhere, but there are ways around it. Try to find areas where there aren't any No Overnight Camping signs, usually by beaches, behind schools, main streets, you know, those kind of areas are best avoided. Driving out of town and finding a turn off the road or some dark area blocked from the main road by trees is usually a better choice. Now if you wanna be a bit risky, you can try parking in town and if you can get away with it. We had really good luck during our whole trip, only getting caught once for parking behind a school, but luckily got away with only a warning...otherwise it could've been $250 each! Let's just say that after that we were a bit more careful when finding a free parking spot at nights. Keep in mind that a camper van doesn't really blend in with the rest of vehicles. You may think that if you park in between a couple of cars that it won't be noticeable, but believe me, it stands out like a sore thumb. There is no way to hide that baby, so this is your chance to be creative. If you do manage to get caught, just play ignorance...most of the time you will get away with a warning and promise that you learnt your lesson and will never do it again.

There are many more tips for surviving and making the most out of your stay in a camper van, but this is a good start. Remember to use the resources that you have around you, whether it's public bathrooms, hostels, or friendly hospitable contacts. Traveling with a camper van really is the best way to go...you will have more adventures and fun stories than you could ever imagine and will be sad to say goodbye to it when the day comes to give it in.
Cheers,
Jod