This one is for you motorhoming ladies out there! I make no apology for the potentially perceived sexist nature of this Blog. There are just some purchases for our motorhome that just need to be left to us girls. Now don’t get me wrong the practical ‘boy’ things are so essential to the smooth running of our ‘homes’, although sometimes the female touch can make living our lives on wheels, for any length of time, just that little bit softer and more comfortable.
I’ve been inspired by a friend to write this Blog. She and her husband have just bought a new MH and she asked about any tips we had for things they needed to buy and, she added in brackets (especially things for girlies). So boom, a new blog was born as I set fingers to keyboard, offering my essential shopping list for the female traveller, following our 11 months full-timing in Scoobie. And here are the Top 20 Entries, in no particular order….
1. Packing Cubes
This is an essential purchase for the easy organisation of clothes in cupboards or in underneath storage. After 6 weeks in New Zealand, I had to have a weekly routine of tidying up our clothing cupboards, which after an initial burst of super-organisation, invariably ended up getting messing when you’re trying to look for something at the bottom of the pile. These different sized cubes are brilliant for packing more clothes into a small space and keeping certain items all in together. I’m all for reducing the amount of noise and hassle in our lives and these have been a godsend – even Myles agrees with this purchase. Purchase from Amazon through by clicking here.
2. Tupperware
I have to admit to being a tupperware fan and have been for many years – I think I must just be from that generation where tupperware parties were all the rage for me as a young bride. So it made so much sense for these to migrate into Scoobie’s kitchen. Just so much easier to store food stuff, keep it dry and easily reach it. It’s a bit of a no-brainer for the cost of the items.
3. Kitchen organisers
Staying with the kitchen theme, I use two other essential organisers that just make life so much easier, in what can be some hard to reach places of our MH cupboards. Again we learnt this from New Zealand, and whilst for 6 weeks I could live with struggling with how things were organised, in my full-time home on wheels, such a compromise was not on the cards. So I bought adjustable, plastic dividers that you can get from Amazon and then cut or snap them to the size you want. I use them for dividing up my glasses and mugs to stop them rattling.
And for the tins and condiments, I bought various sizes of plastic storage containers, which allow me to pull out the drawers to get to the ‘not often used’ items at the back, without having to stand on anyone’s shoulders. It is so much easier to see what you’ve got hidden at the back and makes it easy to clean out too. You can view these here.
4. Colour soak sheets
Our friends over at Follow our motorhome are responsible for a couple of times on this list and this is the first of them. Whilst you’re living on the road, getting to a washing machine can be a bit of a luxury and so doing two or three loads when you find one, can be a ball’s ache. So with these colour soak sheets, you can put your whites and colours in the same machine without the danger of your whites becoming grey or pink (thanks to your red shirt!) You can get these from supermarkets for very little money.
5. Hairdryers, straighteners and make up.
I might not be very popular with this paradoxical non-entry to our Top 20. These items are ones NOT to include on your essential list. They take up too much space, weight and are rarely used. So why pack them? I had a lady ask me about the practicalities of living away from home for so long and how you go about finding a hairdresser. Now I’ve long been someone who has always bothered about how my hair looks, almost as if it defined me in some way. Just ask my mum, she’ll tell you how many times I cried after her hairdressing episodes. Now I’ve moved beyond that and simply let my hair grow and when I wash it, it dries naturally and then simply tie it up, back or put some sort of clip in it. Being a nomad doesn’t mean you let go of your appearance, although it matters less when you’re travelling. Although I still like to look nice, having my hair tied back doesn’t make me look like a hobo. Same goes for make up. I use the odd bit of mascara and lip gloss and that’s it. I use coconut oil for a multitude of jobs, such as moisturiser or make-up remover, if I wear it, so all my expensive creams and potions don’t need an appearance in our bathroom cabinet either. Go on – try living without these items. Be naturally beautiful just the way you are. Now doesn’t that sound like a familiar advert!
6. Colouring in books
Colouring in or Art Therapy as it is called these days, is the latest craze. And it’s true that it is a great time consumer that keeps you very grounded and is such a relaxing activity. All you need is a few, good quality, fine tipped pens and an Adult Colouring in Book. Takes you right back to your childhood. And why not!
7. Scented candles or tea lights
I’m one for smells, nice smells that is. I’m a bit like a bloodhound that can pick up a scent of something that others don’t smell. So for me, an essential entry on my Top 20 list is to have nice smelling candles, organic of course, so you are limiting the toxins you are breathing in. We live in such a small space, especially with integrated kitchens and the close proximity of the bathroom, that having a smell diffuser mechanism is crucial. So I always make a little room for a smelly candle and tea lights to ward off evil smells and it creates a lovely, cosy ambiance too.
8. A plastic table cloth for outside table
One thing we have learnt from watching how others do things is, how quickly the Dutch in particular, make their pitch home. Within minutes of arriving their carpets are down, their tables out, table clothes on and a little pot of flowers. We love how they make their outside space part of their home and we very quickly adopted the same approach. So when we’re not wild camping, we get out our table cloth and make it really feel like home. And it’s so much easier to keep clean and scratch-free.
9. Get a Fiamma carpet for outside
Thanks to some other lovely, life-time friends we made, Julie and Philip, we came to learn what a difference having a good quality outside carpet can make. Again the whole ‘outside living’ becomes very much part of your life and so to have something that you can step out on that is soft underfoot and reduces the mess you bring into the van from beaches, forests and gravel pitches really does make all the difference. Thanks guys for your inspiration – our Fiamma carpet is a lovely addition to our essential’s list. For more info, click here!
10. Colour theme then accessorise
Now this might sound really girlie, although the way I see it – if this is going to be my home, then I want it to look and feel nice and aesthetics are important to me. So find a colour you like that works in the van and see if you can accessorise to match or contrast with it. Our brown interior lent itself to lime green, so I have a number of items that bring this out and make it feel like a really cosy home. Now my obsessional nature could go a bit mad with this, so to manage my tendencies, I decided to make the bedroom feel like a different room – so chose a different colour. This way Scoobie feels more spacious because the colours are different, creating a definite ‘room’. Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen would be proud! (These collapsable items can be viewed by clicking here.)
11. Cheap washing tablets
I’ve been brought up as a cost-conscious lass and I’m always looking for efficient ways to manage our budget, whilst not being too anal about it. So when we started to adopt using cheap washing tablets for our toilet, rather than blue fluid or tablets, my thrifty personality gleamed with delight. A quick visit to one of our cheap supermarket friends out there will provide you with a much longer supply of resources and it smells so much nicer too. As you know by know, my nose picks up any scent, so having a nice smelling toilet is important and if I can do that under budget at the same time – everyone’s a winner!
12. Back rests
This is another great entry from our Follow your Motorhome buddies – thanks guys. Both of us have back issues and the difference these cheap back rests have made to our driving and lounging experience, even to the somewhat skeptical Myles, is really quite amazing. They cost us €2.99 from one of the many Chinese Shops you get in Spain, although I think Lidl and Aldi do them sometimes too. Here’s Amazon’s link.
13. Non-negotiable Essentials
When you’re weighing up what to sell, store or give away or indeed pack into your motorhome for a trip, do not compromise on items that are important in your life. Two of my non-negotiables were my Juicer and NutriBullet. Now granted I did buy a lighter juicer than my deluxe version I had back in UK, so I guess there was a compromise made, although as someone who loves a healthy living, these had to have space. And, I wouldn’t be without them. Of course if your non-negotiable is an outdoor umbrella, you might need to rethink, although I’m sure you get the general idea!
14. A handheld electric blender
Whilst my NutriBullet doubles up as a soup maker and whizzer, if I didn’t have this, then one of my kitchen essentials would be a handheld blender. They are easy to store, light, cheap and such a good all-round tool for blending, chopping and mixing. A great kitchen aid.
15. Shoe rack for garage doors
This may seem more like one for the boys than girls, although you’ll see the up-side…. Myles got so fed up with the plastic boxes we stored our shoes in, that we bought two 12 shoe Shoe Rack which are attached to the inside of each garage door. This has created more space and better organisation in his garage and creates more opportunities for my shoes. It does seem that I have commandeered much of the space available on both racks!!
16. Wine carriers for storing bottles
Another one for us thrifty searchers. We use these for our under-seat storage (read Bar!) and they are great for storing our copious amounts of cheaper European wine and it stops them clinking whilst we’re travelling, more importantly. What a great Travel Hack.
17. Top Sheet for your bed
It’s worth investing in an additional top sheet for your bed, especially if you have a duvet. Our duvet is tailor-made for our curved, end-bed and getting the little sucker in and out of the duvet cover in a small space, is tricky. So I reduce the noise level and instead of changing this every week or two, instead I have a top sheet that I change regularly instead. That way I only have to strip and wash the duvet once a month. In addition it becomes an extra layer when it’s cold out there and in one of my ‘hot flushes’ – yes I know they’ve come early – then we have an easy ‘get this quilt off me’ solution without Myles freezing his whatsits off. In summer when my hot flushes merge with the temperatures of southern Europe, then the quilt gets packed away under the bed and we have our ‘summer’ bedding already on hand. Same if you’ve got sleeping bags for the kids – just make your life, or whoever mostly does the washing, easier with this travel hack.
18. Vacuum Storage bags
These bags have been great for us, both in terms of packing things away in our storage unit and also for us on the road. We have some additional blankets for visiting family/friends and of course when we need to store our quilt away, then we need these ‘squish-down to nothing’ bags to pop underneath the bed and keep them dust free. These have been invaluable. Click here to review or purchasing these little goodies.
19. Gas lighter
What a fab little idea this is. For no pennies at all, get yourself a mini gas lighter so that if you loose your matches, if they get wet or even worse your stove igniter stops working, you have an alternative. Such a great little tool.
20. Hand-held hoover
And my final entry is the good old hoover. If like us you have carpets in your van, then keeping on top of the dust and grime that is so easily trodden in from outside, (even with your super-duper Fiamma carpet), then a hoover is vital. Whilst a dust-pan and brush will suffice pro-tem it’s not a great long-term solution. We bought a Dyson DC34, which gives us long-life without electric and just needs juicing up when we’re on a campsite. We use it every day, and wouldn’t be without it. Again, click here to view this product, there are of course plenty of others available on the market.
So there we have it ladies, (or gents reading on behalf of your good ladies). I’m sure if you talk to others they will have a completely different set of essentials so it is, of course, a subjective topic. Although seeing as I was asked for my perspective, here it is. Take it, leave it, assess it against your needs and use it to help you make a list of your very own. As you notice, these Top Tips are all about how things look, smell and feel to make our lives and those we choose to travel with, more comfortable. Living in a van is a stunning way of life, although it needs organising, it needs solutions for easy, noise-free living that will make everyone’s day-to-day so much easier. That way you can concentrate on having fun.
Travel well and safely. Karenx
As a full timer, it’s interesting to see what’s essential to others. I love this list.
Just as a suggestion, re washing, my mother in law doesn’t use washing detergent or conditioner. She adds two teaspoons of table salt and half a cup of white wine vinegar to her wash and hey presto!! Clean clothes which are nice and soft. It’s like magic!
I’ve tried it and it works.
I agree Tina and they’ll all be slightly different based on our experiences. Be lovely to culminate a handful of us and see what turns up as common between us. Now that would be a fabulous exercise to do. I like your m-i-l suggestion worth giving a go one of these fine days. Thank you. Kx
Good article Karen. Thanks.
We use the cardboard wine carriers you get from supermarkets to store bottles, cleaning materials and general garage dross.
Thanks Ann. Yes sometimes it’s the real simple things that make the biggest difference. Kx
Yep got most of them, always packed ready to go!
Brilliant Debbie. Have a fantastic time. Kx
Regarding the washing tablets you use in your loo, do they break down the solid matter or is that a no-no in your van?
Hi Joyce, thanks for getting in touch. They do indeed break everything down and yes we do ‘everything’ in our loo. 🙂 It’s a much cheaper and more effective option I think. Been using them now for six months now. Kx
Hi Karen, how many washing tablets do you put into the toilet cassette each time after it’s been emptied and cleaned? Is it just one or do you have to put a couple in?
Hi Philip, we just use one. Haven’t been through a really hot period though so will report back if more are needed. Myles
Thanks for all this usefull information like you I am the tupper ware queen
Hi Karen and Myles.
I used to use conventional Tupperware but now find I have so much more storage space using collapsible containers
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192097939311
Hi Pauline, brilliant, yes the collapsables are great too. Have some of those in my tupperware collection too! Kx
Lovely top 20 ideas some of which I already use but great to see how other ladies pack and store essential items whilst M/H. Quick question is the dyson Hoover suitable for use with the suction bags as we could do with both to store our quilt each day?
Many thanks
Hi Glenis, thanks for getting in touch. Yes I use ours with the vacuum bags, although our bags also came with a reversible pump so we have a couple of options for using them. Kx
Brilliant article, so many things l would not have thought about, especially a collapsible kettle! Thanks for taking the time to think about the girls one… love that too!
Hi Heather, so glad you found it helpful. July is fast approaching!! Happy travels. Karen x