Nearly everyone recommends testing out vanlife before jumping into the lifestyle. And this is good advice, but sometimes no amount of trial runs can teach you what you will learn once you’re actually living in the van. There’s no substitute for the “real thing” when it comes to figuring out what adjustments you want to make. We luckily feel that we mostly got things right for our campervan build, but there are still plenty of updates and changes that we made after the fact. These are the top five things we added to our campervan after completion.
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1. Hammock Hooks
Relaxing in our hammocks is probably our favorite leisure activity. So our absolute favorite thing that we added to our campervan after completion is a pair of hammock hooks. We love to kick our feet up, have a drink, and gently swing our stresses away.
But despite all the time we spend camping in nature, it isn’t always that easy to find a good hammock spot. Sometimes the trees are too close together, too far apart, too small, too many branches, or there’s undergrowth in the way. Not to mention all the camping in the desert, where strong trees are really hard to come by.
These strong eye-bolts make the perfect anchor points to hang our hammocks, as long as we can just find one good tree. This post describes how to install these hammock hooks.
2. Spice Rack
When storage space is limited, it’s crucial to use your space wisely. For many months we had all of our herbs and spices just sitting inside our pantry cabinet. They took up so much “floor space” inside the cabinet and were prone to tipping over and falling out.
So finally we got around to adding in a spice rack. We didn’t want our spices to live outside of the cabinets because we think they are a bit of an eye-sore. So we built a rack sits elevated in the back corner of the pantry cabinet, which leaves so much more real-estate for other groceries.
Like many things in our van this was another DIY project. We joined two pieces of wood in an “L” shape and attached them to the wall. Then we added a flat bungee cord to hold all the spices in place.
3. Fruit Hammock
We used to keep fruits and vegetables in our cabinets and drawers. They were always getting bruised from all the bumps of life on the road. And some things would spoil quickly without proper airflow. We were aware that many campervans use a fruit hammock to address this problem. But the short height between our counter and overhead cabinets doesn’t leave enough space for a traditional fruit hammock.
We searched endlessly for a fruit hammock with a low-profile design, but found nothing suitable. So we ended up making our own fruit hammock. Our simple cargo hang design is very low-profile, so it fits in our kitchen without getting in the way. Now, our fresh produce is so much happier because it doesn’t spoil or bruise as much!
4. WeBoost Cell Signal Booster
One of the most common questions people have about vanlife is how to stay connected to the internet. Sure it’s nice to disconnect, and trust me, we spend plenty of time disconnected. But when your job is online, you have to stay connected. We need internet regularly to work on this website. We use our cell phones as WiFi Hotspots for our computers. But if the cell signal is weak then it simply doesn’t work.
So we invested in the WeBoost 4G-X Cell Signal Booster (Full Review Here). It’s a device that can take whatever cell signal is present and amplify (or boost) the strength of the signal. Most times that we have a little bit of cell reception, like one or two bars, we can turn it into usable bandwidth to get some work done. At this very moment, I am writing this post from a campsite in the woods. The cell signal isn’t great, but with the booster, it’s totally adequate. But it’s not magic. If there’s no service, then it can’t create service out of thin air.
At around $500, it is a worthwhile investment for us to stay connected. It’s definitely one of the best things we added to our campervan after completion. It’s basically a business expense for running this website. But that doesn’t mean we don’t enjoy using it for entertainment as well. We highly recommend it to anyone who needs to stay connected and productive online.
5. Bug Nets
We love to keep our van doors open as much as possible, weather permitting. There’s no better way to let in some light and fresh air! But with fresh air comes lots of bugs. So we made some bug nets/screens to cover our side and rear doorways. They let the light and fresh air through, but keep the bugs out. The best way to mount screens so that they are removable is with velcro or magnets. But with velcro just make sure you get a really tough adhesive because they need to withstand extreme temps. Or the best magnets we have found are these CMS Magnets.
We initially used fiberglass screens on both doorways but found the screen to be too rigid for our side door. It was fine for the back doors because we don’t go through there. But for going in and out the side-door just didn’t work with that thick of a material. So we eventually changed the side-door screen to a lightweight mesh. And that makes it much easier to go in and out.