Our Gear
When we started plotting for our new life on the road we had zero idea what sort of ‘stuff’ we’d need for day-to-day life! This is a list of what we’re currently using. Some links might be Amazon Affiliate links, so if you click and buy, we might get a small bit from Amazon as well! If you have any question, please drop us a note — we know how confusing it can be starting out!
Goal Zero Yeti 400 Lithium Power Pack
This is how we charge up our phones and laptops and most importantly… run our fan at night! There are cheaper ways to get power, but they are a bit more complicated (not super hard) and involve drilling holes for wires and attaching a house battery to your vehicle battery. There’s a fair bit of math involved. The Yeti can be recharged from solar panels (see below) or by plugging into an outlet. The company is also working on a cable to charge from a cigarette lighter 12 volt plug. The 400 can recharge a laptop a few times before needing to be recharged itself. We love this power unit since it’s light and portable, that means that I don’t have to charge up my laptop while sitting in the van… I can just bring the Yeti to where I am (plus our 12 volt fan clips onto the handle perfectly if I’m hot!) There are two regular 110 volt (US house-style) outlets, 3 USB outlets and one 12 volt outlet.
Goal Zero Boulder 100 Briefcase Solar
We recharge our Yeti with this portable solar setup, also from Goal Zero. The two panels fold down to about 20×22″. Truth be told, we’d thought of getting the Nomad panels, which are meant for backpacking and are more the size of a laptop when folded up. Portability costs, though, and it would have been closer to $650 to get the smaller setup versus $300 for this setup. Seems to work fine, in good sun will recharge our Yeti in about eight hours. There’s a kickstand that’s a bit limiting if the angle isn’t quite right, but so far we like!
Luci Inflatable Solar Light
This inflatable light is pretty cool! It’s solar, so you just leave out wherever, then blow up in a couple of puffs and your’e set! There are a few different settings (bright, brighter, flashing) and it gives off a lot of light. We like how light it is – our curtains in the van are mounted on jute rope and we don’t like to add more weight to them, but this is super light and we just clip on to the rope when we need light at night. If we had to buy over, I think we would get the Lux version, which has a softer light — we got this one because they had them at Walmart, so we didn’t have to order. The light on this version isn’t super pleasant to read by.
Futon Mattress
We heard about this futon mattress from Getting Stamped on You Tube. This mattress is completely awesome! It has independently encased coils, so it’s not hard like some futon mattresses. It’s 56″ wide and our van is only 48″ wide, but it squashed in very nicely. Our bed is a platform made from 5/8″ plywood, and there was just a teeny bit of firmness that we could feel while sitting (versus lying) on the mattress when we got it, but we had a piece of 2″ regular foam that we stuck underneath and now it’s perfect! Highly recommend for vanlife, but if you’re looking for a futon mattress, this sucker is heavy and I suspect would be a pain to fold into the sofa shape!
12 Volt Fan
We knew we’d want a fan, especially for sleeping in hot summer nights! It was hard to pick out one. We wanted a 12 volt fan (the kind that plugs into a cigarette lighter) for better power management and I combed through Amazon, but most people were using while the car was running for dogs and kids in the backseat. We ended up just going with the one option at Walmart — it didn’t need to be shipped and was cheap. I’m happy to report it’s perfect. It oscillates and moves a lot of air. Plus the cord is pretty long – five or six feet.
Ivar Shelf
Our main pantry is an Ivar shelf from Ikea. We could have built this from lumbar, but the Ivar shelf happened to be the exact size we needed at 33″ wide and 20″ deep. We purchased the 70″ high unit and had to cut it down a bit, but it works well!
Wire Shelf
This little wire shelf is the perfect size to go with the Ivar shelf from Ikea – this little guy is 20″ deep by 7″ wide, so it fits perfectly next to the Ivar and we secured it with some zip ties. The ‘shelves’ are fairly deep wire baskets, making it a perfect place to stash pantry items like vinegar and oil, plus our dry goods which we store in glass mason jars. All the glass jars and bottles have ‘sleeves’ made of old sweaters so they don’t crash against each other and drive us nutty when we’re driving….
![[vanlife diary] Our First Night in the Van](https://pattybrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/3snugbugs-vanlife-first-night.jpg)
[vanlife diary] Our First Night in the Van
It's our 2nd morning waking up in the van. Since we're just starting out, we decided to make it easier on ourselves by staying at a campground, rather than straightup stealth camping. The place we found is in the middle of the Ocala National Forest in Florida --...
![[vanlife diary] The Things You Can Find On The Internet](https://pattybrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/laptop.jpg)
[vanlife diary] The Things You Can Find On The Internet
Tuesday morning and we’re heading out in just two more days. As I’ve been getting ready to head out to live in the minivan, I’ve spent a fair bit of time trying to figure out what it will be like. Figuring out stuff is my kryptonite (well, along with a lot of other...
![[vanlife diary] The Best Laid Plans](https://pattybrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/bestlaidplans.jpg)
[vanlife diary] The Best Laid Plans
Monday morning and three sleeps left 'till we head out on the road. Yesterday I finished the third 'beginner' track in Headspace, my meditation app, leaving me free to pick the next set of meditations based on what appealed to me. If you're unfamiliar, Headspace is a...
![[vanlife diary] Packing the Van Like a Game of Tetris](https://pattybrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/vanpantry-1.jpg)
[vanlife diary] Packing the Van Like a Game of Tetris
Yesterday we worked on moving in to the van. It was a longer process that I really expected. First I fit together the kitchen like I was playing a game of Tetris. When we packed up the farmhouse in Minnesota, I tried to keep as many smaller baskets and Ikea organizers...
![[vanlife diary] Today We Pack](https://pattybrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/vanpantry.jpg)
[vanlife diary] Today We Pack
We're almost there! It's the weekend and we're still in Port Orange, Florida, at Jeff's mom's house. Today I'm spending a few hours on client work, then Jeff and I are dry-packing (is that a term?) the van to see how much of what we think we can bring with us can...

How We’re Preparing to Live In Our Honda Odyssey Minivan
In just a few weeks husband-Jeff, Peppermint the basset hound and I will be heading out to live full-time in our Honda Odyssey minivan. I’m excited, scared, a bit anxious, a bit dreamy and pretty much cannot wait to hit the road! Since we decided to move into a...

A Tiny #Vanlife Wardrobe Capsule
Hey, hey, snugbugs! Jeff and I are busily preparing for our upcoming departure on our grand #vanlife adventure in just 2 weeks. In all honesty, Jeff's been doing most of the work while I focus on client work. Since we're planning on heading out on the road, we're...

The Snugbugs Are Heading Out on the Road
Big news, bad bears! Jeff, Peppermint and I are moving on from our super cool B&B gig to the next cool adventure! In just a few weeks, the Snugbugs will be living life on the road. Can we come visit? So long-term readers might remember that we headed to...
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