The lighter side of camping

Day Lewin

Hi fellow campervanners and motorhomers

Lots of excellent info shared on here: tons of jolly good stuff about inverters (huh?) batteries, insurance, tests and regulations...the technical detail that has to be done right for comfort and safety, (not to mention the Law)

But let's turn our gaze to the lighter side. How about sharing the fun stuff?
For instance, ~~
Odd spots you may happen on for a surprise overnight stop:
The pleasures of travelling in freedom.
The minor snags that preoccupy us with problem-solving.
Those useful Facebook groups.
And so on!

I will throw in the ball...

My biggest nuisance when on the road is keeping milk cold. I've only got a little portable fridge that plugs into a car-socket while in motion: once parked up, it doesn't "fridge" any more and loses its cool over about a day.
My Van is a simple panel-van conversion without much fancy electrics: I experiment with UHT milk but they nearly always come in 1 litre containers which are really too big and the remainders go sour.

I'm a resourceful traveller and everything else can be managed without refrigeration. But we're Irish - we love to put milk in our tea and coffee.

What are your minor snags and brilliant solutions?

Del2005

Day Lewin wrote: »

My biggest nuisance when on the road is keeping milk cold. I've only got a little portable fridge that plugs into a car-socket while in motion: once parked up, it doesn't "fridge" any more and loses its cool over about a day.
My Van is a simple panel-van conversion without much fancy electrics: I experiment with UHT milk but they nearly always come in 1 litre containers which are really too big and the remainders go sour.

I'm a resourceful traveller and everything else can be managed without refrigeration. But we're Irish - we love to put milk in our tea and coffee.

What are your minor snags and brilliant solutions?

Could you get small a insulated container for putting the UHT milk into? That way if you put it into the fridge cold and drive for a while there should be loads of time before it gets warm.

Or else Dealz do the single serving UHT milks that you get in hotels.

Freedive Ireland

I have a halfords plug in one but trying to upgrade to a gas one for a potential new van. Start off with it cold, I use bags of ice, about E1 in most shops and place food on top of the bag. Good for a couple of days. Obviously open and close the lid as quick as possible and keep closed.

Day Lewin wrote: »

Hi fellow campervanners and motorhomers

Lots of excellent info shared on here: tons of jolly good stuff about inverters (huh?) batteries, insurance, tests and regulations...the technical detail that has to be done right for comfort and safety, (not to mention the Law)

But let's turn our gaze to the lighter side. How about sharing the fun stuff?
For instance, ~~
Odd spots you may happen on for a surprise overnight stop:
The pleasures of travelling in freedom.
The minor snags that preoccupy us with problem-solving.
Those useful Facebook groups.
And so on!

I will throw in the ball...

My biggest nuisance when on the road is keeping milk cold. I've only got a little portable fridge that plugs into a car-socket while in motion: once parked up, it doesn't "fridge" any more and loses its cool over about a day.
My Van is a simple panel-van conversion without much fancy electrics: I experiment with UHT milk but they nearly always come in 1 litre containers which are really too big and the remainders go sour.

I'm a resourceful traveller and everything else can be managed without refrigeration. But we're Irish - we love to put milk in our tea and coffee.

What are your minor snags and brilliant solutions?

Day Lewin

I saw a good tip which was to fill a 2-litre plastic bottle with water, and freeze it.

Say a Cola bottle or something like that and very well washed and rinsed. And you don't fill it right to the top because the ice expands.

You put this in your cool box and it stays cold for a day and a half, thawing very slowly and keeping things cool.

Then you can drink it as drinking water!

Day Lewin

I'm planning for a camping trip this week, off-grid.

Stocking up on flour, porridge, granola, spuds, onions, apples, crackers and tinned stuff, too.

What are your staples for camping?

Moomat

Day Lewin wrote: »

I'm planning for a camping trip this week, off-grid.

Stocking up on flour, porridge, granola, spuds, onions, apples, crackers and tinned stuff, too.

What are your staples for camping?

Ireland- greasy stuff and beer
France- baguettes, pate and wine

SeamusG97

OP great idea for a thread. This forum needs a bit more fun. Tech stuff is great but sharing the good stuff is nice too.

SeamusG97

On the pleasures of traveling in freedom we met a retired French couple (young) last week who had sold it all and are motorhomomg in Spain with a new Hymer for the foreseeable future. Northen Spain is mostly beautiful- still unspoiled and ridiculously cheap. Just had a beer and a glass of wine in a bar that came with four tapas (unasked for) - chicken wings, bread with chorizo, olives,chips - €2.80. Friendly locals and nice weather. I'm tempted.

Tigerandahalf

When I was travelling in Australia I met a Croatian expat couple who were retired and sold up the house. They bought a top of the range camper and toured full time around the coast of Australia.

When it was winter down south they travelled North so they had permanent warm weather. They seemed to be happy to do it for as long as they could and stay in as many places as they could. What a way to retire!

SeamusG97

Resisting the temptation to make this thread Into a blog about Spain. Parked cheek by jowl in Boiros in the sun. German guy parked next to us excuses himself to open his lugggage door to get some cans of beer out. Drops two on our table on the way back and says enjoy.

spaceHopper

Buy a better fridge or half ltr's of milk and freeze them. What about powered milk or put diesel in the tea instead

Day Lewin

spaceHopper wrote: »

Buy a better fridge or half ltr's of milk and freeze them. What about powered milk or put diesel in the tea instead

LOL after five days in a field with no hookup, we nearly were reduced to that. Used Viva UHT milk which lasts about two days.
Finally fell back on memories of caravan holidays long long ago, before fridges were general - tinned condensed milk, on porridge (excellent) and in coffee - also good.
It's horrible in tea, though - far too sweet. A useful standby, all the same!

_Brian

Day Lewin wrote: »

Hi fellow campervanners and motorhomers

Lots of excellent info shared on here: tons of jolly good stuff about inverters (huh?) batteries, insurance, tests and regulations...the technical detail that has to be done right for comfort and safety, (not to mention the Law)

But let's turn our gaze to the lighter side. How about sharing the fun stuff?
For instance, ~~
Odd spots you may happen on for a surprise overnight stop:
The pleasures of travelling in freedom.
The minor snags that preoccupy us with problem-solving.
Those useful Facebook groups.
And so on!

I will throw in the ball...

My biggest nuisance when on the road is keeping milk cold. I've only got a little portable fridge that plugs into a car-socket while in motion: once parked up, it doesn't "fridge" any more and loses its cool over about a day.
My Van is a simple panel-van conversion without much fancy electrics: I experiment with UHT milk but they nearly always come in 1 litre containers which are really too big and the remainders go sour.

I'm a resourceful traveller and everything else can be managed without refrigeration. But we're Irish - we love to put milk in our tea and coffee.

What are your minor snags and brilliant solutions?

TBH we recently got a tin of Tesco brand powdered skim milk and it's nice on coffee, will be bringing some on caravan for "just in case", must try it on tea and cereal for the crack.

Nekarsulm

Day Lewin wrote: »

I'm planning for a camping trip this week, off-grid.

Stocking up on flour, porridge, granola, spuds, onions, apples, crackers and tinned stuff, too.

What are your staples for camping?

Pasta, jars of various pasta sauces and also curries, Korma etc and rice.
Have tried those tinned potatoes, but they are always those "soapy" varieties, and I like flowery spuds, so now just bring Kerrs Pinks or Roosters when heading abroad.

Woodies were selling non-stick frying pans for 12 euro, super job compared to the yoke we had in the MH beforehand.

Day Lewin

A decent frying pan, for sure.

But of all the little comforts that I enjoy when camping, a hot-water-bottle on a cold night tops the list. Oh, so cosy!!!

Pending

Couldn't manage without my 600W microwave. Turn it down and wait a bit longer so it doesn't blow the fuse. Frozen meals straight from freezer to cooler with frozen milk cartons and we've home cooked dinners for days!

SeamusG97

Day Lewin wrote: »

But let's turn our gaze to the lighter side. How about sharing the fun stuff?
For instance, ~~
Odd spots you may happen on for a surprise overnight stop:
The pleasures of travelling in freedom.
The minor snags that preoccupy us with problem-solving.
Those useful Facebook groups.
And so on!
What are your minor snags and brilliant solutions?

In the early days we were circling around Anguleme in France looking to find somewhere to park for the night - fairly clueless and hoping to find a few other vans to park next to. Then we spotted a place that seemed to fit the bill. Drove in through the broken barrier and were mildly surprised to see people sitting on three piece suites outside their vans with tables and chairs and proper furniture. There was a sort of permanent look about the setup. They were looking oddly at us and then the penny dropped. Carlsberg don't do halting sites but...

landmarkjohn

Re milk, on cereal we use almond milk...not bad at all and doesn't need to be refrigerated though there seems to be two types very similar, one you will see in the fridge in stores and the other on the shelf. Tea and coffee black, you'd be surprised what you can get used to, I would have only taken a tiny drop of milk anyway.

The lighter side of camping... I only discovered the importance of levelling the camper when I woke up one night in the early days with Guinness flowing back up my neck!

Betsy Og

A Cadac is a great investment for outside grilling (keeps unit cleaner, more sociable, more cooking scope). One of those wheel ramps is handy for a single axle caravan if arrive on a sloping site, so you get fairly level on the side to side plane (IYKWIM) - unless you like your cornflakes sliding across the kitchen table .... :-)

Loads of books, esp. if heading to non-english speaking country where hard to pick up reading material.

autumnalcore

A nice addition this summer for us was one the cheapie grilling plates from aldi - they're down to €2-€3 now all over cork. Very handy for grilling smelly / smokey / fatty stuff outside the van, heats up really quickly and actually gives a reasonable bbq taste as the fat burns off underneath.



The other best addition this year was a hoover freedom cordless hoover, we spend 95% of our time at the beach so sand and salt is always an issue. Should pay for itself in reducing wear caused by sand and grit and corrosion caused by salt too. If I was getting one again I'd probably get the bosch 18v dusbuster one with the hose as a hose would be much handier for all the nooks and crannies in a van.

air

Those portable gas stoves are down to about 6 quid in Aldi now too, great yokes.

Day Lewin

Ooh, chasing bargains! I'm always interested in camping gadgetry.

In my own little van, I have to make the most of every inch of space.
But I've got a wine-rack...that is, a narrow space between the waste-water tank and the cupboard door. Made of the bases of plastic bottles, wired together: it holds three wine bottles, four beer cans, and one larger bottle, eg Cola. This stops them clinking against each other while in transit...and provides for evening entertaining come what may!
There's also a tiny rack of wineglasses....well, three plastic ones, hanging by their stems in a little rack of hooks made out of an old TV aerial...on the side wall of the same cupboard.