The Campervan Podcast

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

We meet Jenny, a featured writer at Vansage.com. We discuss how and why she got into Vanlife, and much more.

βœ… Be READY: FREE Checklist for Campervan Essentials Packing & Outfitting

We're always challenged by storage in the campervan. This cool, simple storage hack gives you an easy, cheap way to keep clothing folded, clean and neatly tucked away.

πŸ‘‰ Take a Vanlife TEST DRIVE! HOW TO RENT a CAMPERVAN

Clothing storage can be a real challenge. It's especially challenging for those of us with small vans.

Even if your van does have room for a wardrobe and other clothing storage, this hack, this cool trick, might be valuable for you.

For example, for a kid who only rides with you part-time or a partner who only rides part-time or for seasonal clothing or extra clothes that you might only need for some trips.

Also this approach can be used for both clothing and shoes, though it works better for foldable items. And I wish I could give credit for this. I saw glimpse of it on a video somewhere and it stuck with me all this time and I've employed it in my van, but unfortunately I've searched for it and, and I have no idea where this came from.

So if you do know, shoot me an email at [email protected] and let me know.

So the trick is this: You get a hanging closet organizer. Otherwise known as hanging closet organizer shelves.

Basically, it's just a set of cloth shelves with a hook on the top or a place on the top for a closet rod, oftentimes with a Velcro closure on the top to hang it. And you fill that with your clothes, your neatly organized clothes, and then you store the whole thing, all stacked on itself in a plastic storage bin with a lid.

So. Basically the deeper your storage bin, the more clothes you can carry, but getting back to the minimalism thing, we don't need a lot of clothes to carry around in a van anyway. And if you do have a wardrobe, again, this is a great backup, and I suppose you could even do two of these.

Maybe the biggest challenge of it is that once you take the lid off and accordion the thing out of the bin is hanging it somewhere.

As long as you have some place to hang it, and I have a van with a very low roof and it still works great. I've got a hook installed in my roof and I can just take the lid off, pull out the shelves and hook it to the ceiling of the van and there's my whole wardrobe right in front of me.

It's really great. So how to make this work. You can look at the various available hanging closet organizer shelves on Amazon, or wherever online and get the measurements and then go find a plastic bin that will fit, either online or in person.

Ross dress for less, if you have that chain in your neighborhood, or you have access to that chain. They actually typically will have these hanging closet organizer shelves for around 10 bucks.

Or any discount home store like Marshals… And other than that home Depot carries them. They're common just about any home storage department in home stores.

And then finding a plastic bin, that has the same inside dimensions as the outside dimensions of the shelves is the trick, because you don’t want a bin that’s too big, or you'll waste space with extra footprint. T

So make sure that the shelves actually fit in the bin nicely. And again, the taller the bin, the more...

It's tempting to fly through the steps of cutting and assembling materials for that new bed frame or any other build project. This talk is about the how and why of protecting yourelf while building.

βœ… Be READY: FREE Checklist for Campervan Essentials Packing & Outfitting

πŸ‘‰ Take a Vanlife TEST DRIVE! HOW TO RENT a CAMPERVAN

A talk about the advantages of having bicycles on board your campervan while traveling. Bicycles allow access to the areas you visit. Whether you're a serious cyclist or just need a simple, easy way to get around the campground or town you're visiting, bicycles are a great solution.

Like so many people, I started riding bicycles at a very early age. But at some point in my teens, a friend loaned me a lightweight road bike, and I became obsessed.

I worked in bike shops and I've been an avid bicycle rider of one kind or another ever since.

Especially mountain bikes. When mountain bikes came along, I really got into those and I've been riding mountain bikes for, well, let's just say a long time.

bicycles are the best way to see any area or even a wider region. If you want to get into a cycle touring, it's faster than walking obviously. But I think more importantly, it's slower than a car.

And so it gives you the opportunity to kind of look around and stopping is not a problem, you know, when we're in the van or in a car or even on a motorcycle stopping is an ordeal. Right? Well, find a place to park and, and clamor out and all that stuff.

Whereas with a bicycle, you just hit the brakes and either lay the bike down or put it on its kickstand or lean it up against something. And you're free to walk around a bit.

So, yeah my advice is bring bicycles on the van, in the van, whatever it takes, you don't have to be a cyclist or be β€œinto bikes”, you know, there's nothing wrong with a simple beach cruiser or even even a folding bike or maybe I should say, especially folding bikes.

They're so great for storing away and you take it out and in five minutes, it's reassembled and it's ready to ride around some small town or the campground or down to the beach or whatever's around and local. You can go see it without packing up the whole van and driving around without towing a car or getting out a motorbike.

The bicycle, folding bicycles, any bike, really just simplifies nearby travel. And again, if you wanna get into touring, bicycle touring or mountain biking, you can bring more gear, a more substantial bike and now you're good for many miles of travel on trails or roads all around the area that you're parked up at.

Even a simple beach cruiser is a wonderful thing. They tend to be heavy and cumbersome, but they're one gear and you keep them on a rack on the back of the van or, or tie them down to a roof rack, or if you've got a big van store it in your garage.

Another cool thing that's come along in recent years is e-bikes. If you just don't want this heavy exercise of pedaling everywhere and up steep hills and stuff like that, an eBike might be the answer for you.

The prices come down and the quality's gone way up in recent years and they're readily available everywhere and it's just a bicycle with a motor, typically pedal assisted. So when you pedal, the motor kicks in and helps propel the bike forward and how much you spend will determine how fast the bike will go.

And more importantly how much battery life or distance you have on one charge and also the weight. I was just reading about . I think it's Specialized bike company, they released an 18 pound electric road bike. Incredible 18 pounds. That's that's getting down into super light bicycle territory. So the possibilities are endless with that.

And, and I've been fortunate enough to get to ride a very powerful, full on downhill bike with a powerful motor that's good for two or three hours of climbing and it's like free shuttling without a car. So you get to the top of the hill very quickly and then you get to bomb down. It's really great.

Again, bikes