Van Life Essentials 2026! What to PACK in your van

0:00 hi guys welcome back to the channel in today's video we are so excited to share with you how we have packed our van for our summer van life trip around Europe in this video we are also going to be sharing with you the essential items that you need to take with you while you're on the road all these items are

0:14 going to be listed Down Below in the description so make sure you check them out the first category is cooking and dining so these are items that we use every single day and we would be lost without them so we recommend that you get something similar to this when packing your van first item is this

0:28 all-in-one pan saucepan everything you need to cook for two people it's so nice and compacted and it's perfect for a tiny one like ours you get this here in the cosmo for 30 Euro and it's perfect because it has everything you need for two people next up is this camping cup where you can cook directly in it we

0:44 cook our porridge every single layer in it and it's so handy because it's one thing less to clean up at the end of the day our next item is this foldable strainer and Basin these items are so handy they take off no room when you're cooking pasta or cleaning Veg it's so handy to have just this strainer and

1:00 before each other take your room put in a Cupboard and you don't even know they are there so next up is our absolute favorite and latest addition to our collection and it sees only an oven with which you just take your cooking skills to the next level you can cook anything you want in it from lasagna to bacon to

1:17 chips you name it you can cook it in this it just makes your van have an oven so one good thing about the Omni oven is that it comes with so many accessories so the possibilities are endless with it so you have for example this mold for making muffins or this one here in which you can cook different things at the

1:34 same time without mixing so you can have lasagna here you can have chips in this other one next up is this rack that allows you to put hot sauce buns and pans on the table and you don't have to worry about your counter also you can use it for drying plates if you put it on the sink last but not least we have

1:49 the foldable table and the foldable chairs this wee table is so handy for a van like ours because we can just put it away and we can have so much more room inside rather than having a fixed table and this camping chair they literally take up no room they are very late and you can take them anywhere we take them

2:05 to the beach we use them for eating outside okay so the next topic that I'm going to be talking about is tools and maintenance so when you are setting off to go on this Epic Journey either for weeks or months on end it is good practice to bring some tools with you because we have taken them and we have

2:19 used them more than what we would have liked to and these Tunes have got us out of every single situation that we've got into so let's Dive Right In and look at what tools you should bring with you the first piece of kit that I recommend that you pack in your van is a toolkit something similar to this one here this

2:34 here is a very simple one from Halfords but it has everything that you need from knives pliers screwdrivers sockets wrenches Allen Keys everything you need is in this little toolkit right here and it's nice and Compact and sits underneath the bed I've used this here nearly every single day for no matter

2:51 what the issue is in the van this tool you could come out and it can fix nearly everything that goes wrong so continuing on from our little toolkit I have this bag right here where I keep my cans of like WD-40 my hammer I have cable ties extra fuses small wee bits and pieces in this here bag even small bits of wires

3:11 because you do not know when you're going to need them so in this little bag right here this just fits right underneath your seat and it can get you out of a hole up next on our list of tools and maintenance is to carry a tow rope with you we have this AA tow rope which pulls up to four tons so this here

3:27 is very small very compact it's easy just to store away in one of the cupboards or underneath the seat and God forbid if something did happen you broke down on a road on the motorway you can get told out of this by somebody else when you don't have to sit around waiting for a tow truck this here was

3:42 only maybe like 13 Euro on Amazon so very reasonable price and comes in very handy if you do need it so always bring a tow rope with you so up next on our list is a set of dump leads the these here jump leads have cut us out of several holes in this past couple of months while living in the van so you're

3:59 just very hand need to have you just never know when you're going to run out of battery maybe you park up and you leave your lights on by accident and you wake up the next morning and the van will start just very handy to have a set of jump leads with you and similarly when we broke down and it was our

4:14 starter motor I was supposed to test the starter by just having these jump leads with me I just put the wire it up check that it was working and get on the road again so always just carry a set of jump leads with you just in case something does happen and you need to jump start your van so the last item on a

4:28 recommended tools to bring with you is this little Jerry can right here this here one is a five liter one and you might think that you're never going to run in a field because you have a fuel gauge well sometimes your fuel gauge doesn't work especially on Fergus you just can't tell whether or not is

4:43 waterfall half full or even full at some times so we actually ran out of fuel one time in Galicia and luckily we had this little five liter Cam and it was supposed to run off to the nearest petrol station Phil is here buy up and we're setting it back on the road and fill up our tank so it was just very

4:59 convenient have this sitting in your van so before you set off and you are packing your van it's good practice that you set aside a cupboard or a drawer inside your van that you can put in some spare parts some spare tools whatever you think you're going to need on the road right here is our trusty old

5:13 cupboard in Fergus where you can see inside we have Sparrow wire we have spare alternator belts we have spare fuel filters everything that we think might go on the road we have in here and luckily we did because several times even when we were traveling around Ireland our old leader belt snapped but

5:31 luckily enough I had a couple in here spare that I could just throw on and get us back on the road so a few things like this here make your life so much easier while living on the road because you have the reassurance that if something does go wrong you have a couple of spare parts that you can get fixed and get

5:45 back on the road you are living and traveling in your van you're going to need to generate power somehow and for this there is several things you can pack in your van just to make sure that you are always going to have power while living on the road so there is two different types of devices towards one

5:59 for generating power and there's one for store and power first of all we are going to be talking about the jackery solar Saga 100 watt solar panel now this here is an absolute Lifesaver and this has kept us on the road for over six months this year solar panel folds out and you can place it wherever the sun is

6:17 and it can generate power and to store the power that is generated from the solar panel we use this jackery Explorer 240 so this here is the smallest of the jackeries now you can get much bigger ones which will charge your devices even more times and you can run nearly everything off it this here is enough to

6:34 keep our laptop drone camera phones charge so this here is sufficient for us especially when we don't have that much of room this here fits nicely underneath the bed and you never even know it's there so another cool way of charging this here is that you can plug it directly into your van through your 12

6:51 volt Port so when you're driving this here is actually charging up so when you're in a campsite or your wild camping you're going to have enough power to charge your phone your laptops drones cameras everything you can charge from right here and it will even give you 240 volts you have two USB sockets

7:05 and you have a 12 volt socket so another item that we recommend that you pack in your van and we do too is this pure sine wave inverter now this year plugs into your van through the 12 volt cigarette lighter port and this offers 240 volts and it has two USB sockets so while you're on the road you can be charging

7:22 your laptop through the 240 port or you'll be charging your phone or camera 3D USB port this here is so small fits in the glove box and you never know when you're going to need it because you're always going to need power when you're on the road on a day like today where the sun is high in the sky and The

7:36 Shining our solar panel on top of Fergus is generating loads of power and we need a way to store that so we always carry with us with these little miniature power Banks and this here one is a 25 000 milliamp hour and this year it can charge your phone loads of times so we have maybe five or six of these around

7:53 the van and we're in the Sun and shine we just have these constantly plugged in and these are just storing the power that our solar panel is generally so next up is closing and toiletry and for closing we have these packing cubes that are so handy they keep everything nicely organized and also compacted when

8:10 you're looking for something you don't need to pull everything out of your wardrobe because you know exactly where everything is you can get these packing cubes on Amazon we're gonna leave the links down in the description we really like these ones they are very good quality and they have two Zips so we are

8:24 very happy with this model here so next up is solid shampoo and solid soap these here are so handy when having a shower in the middle of nowhere these are 100 vegan and biodegradable they are plastic free so they are super eco-friendly also they take up no room these equals to four bottles of shampoo and it's tiny so

8:44 for a van like this this is literally perfect so next up we have this USB shower which is really useful for when you're coming back from the beach and you just want to rinse off all the salt or for when you want to have a proper shower so this shower is perfect for a van like this where we don't have a

9:00 fixed shower so it will come very handy in many different occasions along with this shower we have this 20 liter foldable pocket you just drop the pump in it and you have a fully functional shower and then last but not least we have the sermon shower this holds 40 liters you just fill it up put it out in

9:17 the sun it has a thermometer here it tells you what temperature the water is at and then you just hang it anywhere and you can use this shower it just works by gravity okay so the next category that we're going to be talking about is miscellaneous items that we think that you should definitely be

9:32 packing in your van before you set it off on a trip so the first item is a CO alarm now this here is an essential item when it comes to living in a van if you're cooking in your van and you have no ventilation and there's carbon monoxide then this hair alarm will go off so carbon dioxide is the silent

9:48 killer this here alarm will just give you the Peace of Mind knowing that you're safe if you are in a van cooking with very little ventilation the second item that you should definitely pack in is a little fire extinguisher just like this one here when you have your gas Hub go on you just never know what happens a

10:03 flame could catch on to your cartons or something at least when you have this here right beside you you can put it out or even if your engine goes on fire you can have this here right beside you so you can jump out put it out and see if maybe thousands upon thousands of worth of damage next up on the list is a

10:19 simple first aid kit and this here on right here it has Velcro on the back so it sticks to the back of our seats now this here is an essential item you always have to carry one of these with you you just never know when you're going to need when you're going to cut yourself like I've caught myself several

10:32 times when I've been changing oil filters do stuff in the back of the engine I've nicked my skin and a little bandage like this here stored Away really helps another item that we cannot live without is this little 12 volt USB fan this here has three different settings and when you're traveling in

10:48 Spain or in Europe during the summer it gets so hot it's like living in a tin can basically that's all you're doing this here can cool you down in seconds and it just makes it that little bit more comfortable to live in even when you're trying to sleep at night when it's absolutely boiling outside have

11:03 this little by going uses up very little battery and it just keeps you nice and cool during the summer months so the last item on our list of miscellaneous things to carry with you is going to be items in relation to the dreaded mosquitoes we have been absolutely here alive here in Spain with the mosquitoes

11:18 and if you can do anything to help then it's going to be a bonus because there's nothing worse than living in a van and just having that dreaded noise in your ear during the night first of all we have this little device right here that you plug in to a USB in your van and it just gives off a scent that stops the

11:35 mosquitoes coming in and all you have to do is you have to put in a little tablet in here and that comes in these little boxes right here just like a little pouch you slide it in here this here heats up and it just gives off his head and it just deters the mosquitoes from coming in we have sat out at night with

11:52 our door open with a roof up and this little bike going here and we've got back into the van with zero mosquitoes so this here is an absolute Kim Jr when it comes to stuff up in mosquitoes so if you are unfortunate enough and you do get added mosquitoes then this little pain might be a friend for you all this

12:07 does is if you do get bit you apply this to the skin and it will give player heat to the area and it will put the nerves to sleep start from that area becoming very itchy if you're not going to start scratching it and then be left with a scar on your skin so to see a little pain is very handy to be left in the

12:23 glove box in case you do get bit by those dreaded mosquitoes so there you have it guys that's how we have packed our van I hope you enjoyed this video and found it useful if you want to check anything out remember that everything is linked down below this video in the description for more van life videos

12:37 like this here don't forget to like share and subscribe and we hope that if you are going on an epic road trip this summer we hope that you enjoy it and we'll catch you in the next one bye