Vanlifers are the ultimate minimalists, because living in a small space for extended periods of time requires filtering down to only yourmost useful, multipurpose, or prized possessions.So who better to put road-trip travel gear to the test? I asked five vanlifers with different types of rigs what item they can’t hit the road without. Here are their picks.
2020 Transition Sentinel Bike ($3,200 and Up) and Bing SurfboardsCypress 6’2″ ($785 and Up)
Corey Smith, creator of the #vanlife blog, is a New Hampshire native who’s been living in his 1987 Volkswagen Vanagonwith his wife and two dogsfor seven and a half years. He started traveling in a van originally to bike and surf, so naturally, his and tied for his top pick. Because he’s short on space, he needs both to serve many purposes. Thanks to the Sentinel’sgeometry, which includes a slack, 63.6-degree head angle and steep seat-tube angle, the bikeis playful yet planted. Smith says he’s able to use it for everything from laps at the downhill park to long backcountry days. Meanwhile, the Cypress’s shape and size (available from 5’4″to 6’8″)allows him to surf everything from knee-high to well over head-high surf. “It’s hard to pick one piece of gear,” Smith says, “but I would say that, without my bike and board, life might be empty.”
Berkey Water Filter ($278 for Two)
Kevin and Mandy Holesh, an app developer and a wedding photographer, respectively, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, have been for five years. They originally renovated an older Keystone Cougarbut upgraded toa this year. Mandy’s must-have item is their . “We don’t always have access to great water on the road, so it’s awesome that we can use it with rivers and lakes or RV-park water,” she says. The filter is gravity fed, so the couple doesn’t have to pump it or usepressurized water. They also appreciate the high output and the fact that it’s easy to clean. can purify 3.5 gallons per hour with two filter cartridges installedand seven gallons per hour with four installed.
LG 335-Watt Solar Panel ($300 and Up)
Filmmakers Bee Roper and Theo Gove-Humphries, the duo behind , are currently roaming aroundthe world in a long-wheelbase Mercedes Sprinter, but they’vebeen living in various vans since 2014. “It’s the best decision we’ve ever made. Our lives completely changed for the better when we realized we didn’t have to continue down the path we thought we had to, like staying in the city and getting a mortgage,” says Roper, who can’t imagine being this mobile if it weren’t for their van’s solar setup. It consists of an, two , and a and . They also have a Sterling , so they can charge while driving and hook up to shore power if needed. “Our job as filmmakers means we need constant power to work on our laptops, which can use a lot of energy. Harnessing free power from the sun means we’re absorbing energy all day,” says Roper.
Four Wheel Campers Hawk Slide In Camper ($12,995 and Up)
I first met van builderJon Burtt a few years ago at Overland Expo West while drooling over the2015 Tacoma he’d converted into an off-road-capable camper. While he’s spent much of the last four years living out of different rigs for extended periods of time, he went full-time in May and now lives in a 2000 Ford F-250 that’s outfitted with , a pop-up trailerwith a custom flatbed thatBurtt says is the one item he couldn’t do without. Helikes the Hawk Slide Inbecause it’s more compact and “semi-livable” compared to other models.
Camp Chef Outdoor Camp Oven ($235)
Colin Boyd and Sofi Aldinio run the lifestyle production studioand live full-time in a 1978 Mercedes 508D German Command and Control Center called Orange Crush. Being on the road with two kids has its challenges, but the family of four loves their lifestyle, and Boyd says one of the keys to happiness is keepingeveryone fed.“We decided to put a in our rig to the detriment of additional storage space, but this is really the heart and soul of our space,”says Boyd, who adds that it only costs about $8 in propane every month to run. “We do not eat out, and we’ve easily cooked over a thousand meals, warmed loads of hot drinks, and baked hundreds of cookies and dozens of loaves of bread.”