Campaq News

We've been living in our caravan full time for a while now - my husband, our dog Bella, and me. And while I could tell you all the beautiful things about this life (the sunsets, the freedom, the complete absence of a commute), what I think actually helps people is the unglamorous stuff. The systems. The realities. The things that took us a while to figure out.

One of the biggest is managing gear. Not just packing for a trip - but managing an entire household worth of belongings across different seasons, different climates, and a space that, while very well designed, is still a caravan.

Here's how we actually do it.

First, Let's Clear Something Up

There's a misconception that full-time caravanners live out of bags and tubs. Most modern caravans - and especially vans set up for full-time living - have a really good amount of storage. Cupboards, drawers, overhead compartments, tunnel boots, under-bed space. Our van is well set up and we use all of it.

Day-to-day, everything lives where it belongs - clothes in drawers, kitchen gear in cupboards, food in the pantry, tools and outdoor gear in the tunnel boots. That's just how you live. It would drive you mad to be in and out of bags for your everyday stuff.

The system we've developed isn't about putting everything in bags. It's about knowing what belongs in the van right now, and what doesn't.

The Shed: Our Secret Weapon

We have a shed where we store gear we're not currently using. This is honestly one of the things that makes full-time van life manageable long-term, and I don't think enough people talk about it.

The shed holds seasonal gear that doesn't need to be in the van all year. Winter bedding and clothing when we're heading into the warmer months. Things we use occasionally but not constantly. Gear we're holding onto but don't need right now.

When the seasons change or we know we're heading into a different climate, we do a swap. We drop off what we don't need and pick up what we do. It keeps the van lighter, less cluttered, and means we're not carrying things for six months that we're not using.

Under the Bed: For What You Don't Need Every Day

Our under-bed storage is where things live that we need, but not regularly. Shoes we're not currently wearing. A small amount of tech gear we don't use daily. A couple of gym things we keep telling ourselves we'll use more. Medical supplies and first aid. Items that have a purpose but don't need to be in a drawer taking up everyday space.

In our previous van, the bed was higher and we used CamPaq large bags under there - shoes, winter gear, anything bulky that wasn't needed daily. The zip placement on top of the bag was great for that setup because you could open the bag and see what was inside without having to drag it out from under the bed, find somewhere to put it, and then wrestle it back in.

Our new van has a lower profile bed, so that setup didn't work the same way. That's actually what led us to design the CamPaq Under Bed Bag - a lower, flatter bag that slides in and out easily under a lower bed height, keeps everything contained and visible, and makes the most of that space without the frustration.

The Toiletry Bag: Not Just for Toiletries

Our CamPaq Toiletry Bag lives under the bed and holds all the smaller bits we don't need access to daily. Extra cables and tech gear, a few medical items, things that are good to have but don't need to be in a drawer or cupboard taking up prime real estate.

The bag has one large pocket and four smaller ones, which makes it genuinely useful for this kind of miscellaneous storage. Everything has a pocket, the pockets are clear, and you can find what you need without tipping the whole thing out.

When We Leave the Van for a Few Days

A few times a year we spend a couple of days at our daughter's place. The van stays parked, but we don't live out of it the same way - we want to pack properly for the visit rather than run back and forth to the van every time we need something.

This is actually where the large and medium CamPaq bags come into their own for us. We pack what we need for the visit - clothes, toiletries, a few other bits - and we have proper bags to carry it all in. Clear, so we can see what's in them. Sturdy enough to handle being carried in and out of the house a few times. And then they go back in the van when we leave.

It's a different use case from the usual camping or caravan scenario, but it works really well and it's something we hadn't anticipated when we first started using the bags.

Bella's Gear

Bella travels with her own kit - her bedding, her bowls, her leads, her grooming bits, her tick and flea treatment. Dog gear has a habit of ending up everywhere if you don't give it a designated spot, so hers has a home in the tunnel boot and it stays there. When we do the shed swap, her seasonal items come and go the same way ours do.

If you travel with a dog, the one thing I'd say is don't let their gear get mixed in with yours. It sounds obvious, but it's very easy to let happen and very annoying once it does.

What Full-Time Living Has Taught Us About Stuff

After a while on the road, you get a very clear-eyed view of what you actually need versus what you think you need. When your space is genuinely limited and your weight limit is real, there's no room for "just in case" items that never get touched.

Every six months we do a proper cull of the van. Everything gets looked at - does it belong here? Has it actually been used? Does it still fit? If the answer to any of those is no, it either goes to the shed, goes to a garage sale, or goes. It sounds a bit ruthless but it's one of the most satisfying things we do. The van feels lighter, more liveable, and we're back comfortably within our weight limit.

The things that earn their place in the van are things that get used. Everything else is just weight you're hauling down the highway for no reason.

The system we use isn't complicated. Everything in the van has a place. What we don't need right now lives in the shed. Under-bed storage is for things we need sometimes, not every day. And when we leave the van for a few days, we pack properly.

It took us a bit of trial and error to land on it, but now it runs pretty smoothly. Most of the time, anyway.