5 common van life problems with simple solutions
Van lifers face many of the same problems everyday that can cause stress and make our unique lifestyle harder than it needs to be. Take a look at these quick solutions that can make things easier. I hope you can learn something new and solve one of your problems! Thanks for reading Into Nature!
1. Personal Space
Everyone needs alone time and a quiet place to be away from it all. With such a small space, it’s hard to get away from each other and the dogs sometimes. Our solution? An indoor table and an outdoor table! As you’ve seen before, we have a large table in our van to work at, but we also bought a card table from Walmart for $35. This way one of us can cook or work outside while the other enjoys the inside table. The table folds in half for storage.
2. Dirty Dogs
Our dogs have lots of freedom to play outside and get dirty. And they do! Finn and Meeko like to lay in the dirt, jump in the water, and get into things they aren’t suppose to get into. They shed and track in dirt into our tiny space everyday. But the worst part is the stink! Even though we can’t always give them a bath, we can help them smell better with doggy cologne! It’s cheap and effective and helps them smell fresh.
3. Cold Weather
When we first left for our trip we stayed in several cold places like Arkansas and Colorado. Though it was warm during the day, it got down to freezing at night. Staford and I had trouble sleeping because we couldn’t stay warm. Until… we bought cold weather sleeping bags! It truly made all the difference. We can now sleep comfortably and stay warm throughout the night no matter where we camp.
4. Finding a Spot
People always ask us how we find these amazing, beautiful secluded spots to camp at. It can be difficult to figure out where you can and can’t camp and what you can find for free. We don’t stay at campsites or pay for places to park. We also go out of our way to camp in a spot alone and find our spot before dark. Free Roam is an app that connects to your phone GPS to show you were free open land is.
5. Hygiene
When you are a full time traveler, you spend a lot of time outdoors and very little time getting clean. Showers are difficult to come by and creeks are usually freezing. We use washcloths and biodegradable wipes to freshen up throughout the week. We also purchased a solar shower bag for when we absolutely had to take a shower. It isn’t the most convenient tool due light water pressure and an easily punctured bag, but it gets the job done!
Into Nature 
Modern-day pioneers on the Oregon Trail! Stay safe! Keep warm! Happy trails !!
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