The more I travel in my van, the more I realize I should add some new pieces of equipment or put in action some of my ideas. So here are the latest … and probably the last.

My days are often busy, ending for me with sweat and dirt on a body that even the best wilderness wipe cannot care for. But after any shower, I had a wet towel … rarely using a second towel … because where would I put two wet towels in a late afternoon? I also had wet sandals and the sweaty clothes from the day. For some time I was hanging items from a rope that runs parallel to my bed. Other items I stuck socks, gloves, or whatever onto the legs of my upside-down camp chair. 

Then I realized I could use a folding clothing rack! When weather is beautiful, I hang my clothes on the rack between my two back van doors. When weather is dicey, I put the rack on my bench inside of the van.

My final frustration while traveling has been the amount of ice needing to be bought on the road. My soft-sided Yeti coolers were not doing it for me. Now I carry one Yeti cooler and put canned or bottled drinks in it with ice. Whatever stays cold is okay, and when I want one drink even colder, I put it in a hard-shelled RTIC cooler for that night’s icy drink. The RTIC cooler is a fixture now just inside my side sliding door. It holds everything colder for longer periods of time, thus less ice purchases in my future!

Do I still wish for additional heater and air-conditioning in my van? Well yes, but they will never be in this van! I remind myself … as a backpacker, I would not have had them then either …  so get on with life and adventure, and cope with nature as you would when backpacking! Traveling on!