Before my son started school we had the opportunity to take 2 months off to go travelling as a family. My parents had just bought a camper van and were kind enough to let us borrow it for 8 weeks so that we could do a family road trip through Europe. We had an amazing time and learnt a lot along the way. If you are thinking of planning a similar trip, here are 26 things I learned living in a van with kids for 2 months:

1. Test everything before you leave- know how everything works and make sure the kids are comfortable with the van before you go. This will make sleep, transitions, everything easier on you when you head out on your big trip. We did two short trips in the camper van before we left and, to be honest, we still felt a bit underprepared. However we knew the basics and managed to figure out the rest along the way.

2. Make sure you have the right equipment. Going in winter? You need to be able to stay warm and dry. Going in summer? You need to be able to keep cool enough to sleep and live comfortably. The van we were in didn’t have aircon, so that meant thinking carefully about the bedding we were taking and packing USB fans so that when it was warm at night we could still keep cool (ish). We have one each so there was no arguing about who had it on them the most. We still use these for our summer trips too.

3. Accidents and breakages things will happen- always have a roll of duct tape with you just in case. It’s a great short term fix for so many emergencies.

4. Book campsites in advance for the high season. Some are full in the summer and you need to book months in advance. We booked one for 4 nights near Barcelona but hated it so much that we moved on after one night. Trying to find a pitch at another site in the height of the summer holidays was tricky (and expensive!).

5. Don’t overpack- we made a packing list and stuck to it but there were still things we took that we didn’t use and we just carried it around in the van for two months. Our daughter was only 18 months old so we took a buggy AND a carrier for her. In reality we only used the buggy once because it was cumbersome in comparison to the carrier. Plus a lot of the places we went to had cobbled streets and buggies just don’t work well in that situation. The carrier, in comparison, was used almost daily. The following year we did the same with an inflatable kayak that only got used once in 4 weeks. We probably could have done without that.

6. Take two towels per person. We use microfiber towels so that they don’t take up too much space and dry really quickly. We have found it’s easier to take two each, mainly because I hate using a towel for showering if it’s covered in suncream and sand from the beach. Plus when one is in the wash, you still have another for the beach/ pool.

7. It’s okay to need a reset- if you need to book accommodation for a night or two to rest and regroup then do that. We didn’t do this but in hindsight I wish we had. One week we had a stressful time with a campsite that we hated (and didn’t feel safe with the kids), a problem with the van which meant it needed to go into a garage to be fixed, and my daughter being ill and needing a trip to the doctors. It was also 40c with high humidity, and to be honest we were all a bit hot and bothered. It was a tricky week and would have been easier to manage if we had just booked some accommodation somewhere for a couple of days to regroup.

8. Make sure everything has a home. Because if you have random things floating around the camper van you will actually lose your mind.

9. Plan your distances. Long days driving with kids are not much fun and there were times when we simply planned to go too far in one go. It takes time for a whole family to break camp, drive to a new destination and make camp again. Plus you need to factor in a million toilet breaks, snack stops, and potential delays on the road. Plan conservatively and you won’t regret it.

10. Enjoy the simplicity of it. You have limited ‘stuff’ and limited clothing options so just roll with it and enjoy not having to worry about that. Spend your time enjoying being outside, playing games with your kids and exploring everything around you. My favourite thing about road trips and camping is the freedom to just relax a bit and slow down together.

11. Take a small tent/ drive away awning/ gazebo to leave your stuff in if you need to take the van off site to explore. We were lucky enough to have great weather most of the time but on the few occasions that it rained, we were glad to have somewhere to store things so that they weren’t squished inside the camper with us. 

12. If the local supermarket has a laundry place it’s probably quicker and cheaper than the ones at the campsite. This took us an embarrassingly long time to figure out. Many trips have been taken where we’ve spent a day at the campsite doing laundry. The campsites rarely have enough washing machines for the number of people staying there so you have to queue your load or keep checking if it’s free throughout the day. Sometimes they need a token that you need to buy from the shop/ Reception and if you miss the opening hours you can’t start a wash. Or the washing machine has broken down and isn’t being fixed anytime soon. Then we discovered that many supermarkets in France (and other European countries) have self-serve laundrettes attached to them. These usually have industrial sized machines, and are significantly cheaper and quicker than the campsite machines. Plus you can stock up on food while it’s washing.

13. And on that note- take a washing line. Not all campsites allow them but it will make drying clothes, swimwear and towels so much easier.

14. Small costs add up really quickly. A gelato each day doesn’t seem like a big cost but 4 people at 2.50E per gelato, over 8 weeks is 560E. Read that again. That’s a decent chunk of money. Now do the same for that beer at lunch time, or a small carafe of wine, and suddenly you need to increase your budget. We don’t go without but we are mindful that these small treats quickly add up.

15. Plan rest days. Travelling with little ones can be tiring, for them and for you. Sometimes you all just need a day to chill and relax. We’ve never regretted having a rest day and are always raring to go and explore the next day.

16. Plan to have a base and take day trips from there to minimise long travel days. We often do this now to reduce the amount of travel days we have to do. When we were staying in the French Pyrenees we took day trips to Andorra several times. It was an hour or so driving to explore a whole other (very beautiful) country which had some incredible, child-friendly hikes.

17. You don’t need much cash but a little bit of change is helpful. We use Monzo for free cash withdrawals and card payments.

18. Make the most of aires if you’re staying in France and need to break up a long leg of the journey. Aires are designated camping stops, some offer overnight facilities such as toilets and showers, you can use them for 24 hours so if you need a cheap and easy overnight stop they are a great choice. The beauty of them is that they are low cost and are specifically set up for camper vans and motorhomes so have plenty of space. However, because they are low cost and non-bookable they do sometimes get full early on. We’ve never stayed in aires overnight but they are just as good for a scenic lunch stop or somewhere for the kids to get their wiggles out after a long spell in the car.

19. Build some flexibility into your itinerary. Don’t think of it as a checklist that you need to tick off. You have a menu of options to choose from and if you don’t do everything that’s just fine. Make it enjoyable for everyone. We usually choose one activity per day and that gives us something fun to do, plus time to chill at the pool or at the beach.

20. Consider sleeping arrangements. Our kids were 4 years old and 18 months old when we went and my 18 month old wasn’t sleeping through the night so some disrupted sleep was inevitable. Our camper had a pop top with a queen sized bed and a roll bed underneath which was a double. We tried various options but with my partner being 6ft only the top bed really worked for him. In the end it worked best for us to be up top and the kids sharing the bottom bed. 

21. Get insurance- we had a problem with the van and had to take it to a garage in Girona to be fixed partway through our trip. Luckily the van was brand new and in warranty but we were still grateful that we had insurance to back us up. 

22. Take a small medical kit. We always carry the basics in the car but added a few extra bits just in case. Having said that, pharmacies in Europe are always really well stocked and the pharmacists have always been really helpful.

23. Organise everything. We each had a section each for our clothes and if we filled it up, that was it. It was a one in, one out policy from there onwards. Having said that, the kids will need more clothes than you, especially if they are young, because they are more likely to spill food etc down themselves or get dirty. If you pack too few clothes for them you will end up doing more laundry.

24. Get your kids used to showers before you go. We didn’t and it was tricky as neither child was happy about showering. We were the family with the kids who screamed their heads off every time we went to shower. It was traumatic but we could have made life easier if we had just got them used to showers before we went. In the end we bought the world’s smallest paddling pool (because we still had to save space!) and used it like a bath. It wasn’t perfect but it worked.

25. Keep back a few small games or activities for later in the trip. When the kids get bored of what they already have you can bring out something new to capture their interest and entertain them. I usually pack a few small and easy craft activities, or some acrylic pens so they can do rock drawings, plus a new game for them to learn and a book for them to read.

26. Accept that parenting doesn’t change with location. There will still be tantrums and arguments, kids are still kids after all. Just roll with it.

There are definitely pros and cons of family van life but I hope this list has given you some tips to make your trip easier. Could you see your family living in a tiny van for 8 weeks? Why or why not??