12 camper essentials you need
Online everyone refers about the same kind of products. I bought some of those for my trip and figured out some things myself. After traveling all summer with the van, I found my essential products! I share this with you below.
1. Duster
This may not be the nicest essential, but it is really necessary! Your camper gets dirty quickly because you do everything in the small space. In addition, you are hopefully often enjoying the outside world, this also ensures that you easily bring in dirt from the outside. Any dustpan and brush will work, maybe a plastic can is nice as it certainly won’t make any noise while driving.
2. An electric watercooker
I like tea. I have a gas stove, but if I just want a cup of tea, an electric kettle is very nice. You have to see if it is possible with the amount of energy you have in your camper, because it uses a relatively large amount of energy. And it is important to buy one that fits your inverter, so that the peak of the kettle is not too high for your inverter. But otherwise highly recommended if you drink a lot of tea (or coffee). You can buy a “normal” kettle, I have this one. Or a foldable, which is useful if you don’t have much space for an extra product.
3. A great comfy matras
One of the most important things always, but especially when traveling, is that you sleep well. A wonderful mattress does wonders for this. My mattress comes from Seminautic and I highly recommend them! Other options are of course also possible, but one thing is certain: a good mattress is very important.
4. (Electrical) blanket
An extra blanket is nice to have for (almost..) every situation. For when you want to sleep a little warmer or want to stay outside a little longer in the evening or when you are on the beach and want to wrap something around you or just for decoration to make your camper a little cozier. Everything is possible. In addition, an electric blanket can be useful when it gets colder. I don’t have a heater myself, so soon the simple blanket will be replaced by an electric blanket.
5. Key tracker
So my nightmare is losing my keys half way through the trip (in the evening). That’s why I was super happy when my father said he still had an AirTag left. I immediately hung it on my keychain and never took it off. It was really great to have such a tracker, I never had a moment of stress that I might have lost my car keys and that is a nice feeling when your car is also your home.
6. Alternator charger
I didn’t put solar panels on my camper because I knew I planned to look for the sun but also like to be in the shade. You need to have optimal conditions for your solar panels to work really well. Instead, I bought a dynamo that charges my household batteries when I’m driving. And one thing is certain during a road trip, you will definitely travel. On the other hand, I bought the most efficient alternator available at the time, namely 50 amp / hour. This way your batteries are fully charged. It works very easily and was cheaper. I am very happy with my choice. You have to make sure you buy one that also fits your battery. I have lithium batteries, only DC/DC alternator fit on them.
7. Phone holder
I have a phone holder that you can put in the ventilation grille. I think that’s a lot nicer than one that you can put against your window because your view is now not blocked while driving.
8. Camper apps
You can make a good guess and see if you drive past a nice campsite or camper spot, but otherwise camper apps are still recommended. I personally like campercontact very much, but others such as park4night or iOverlander can also be useful. It also depends on which country you are in. In addition, I have also had to use EasyPark . Campspace and natuurparkeerterrein can also be nice alternatives.
9. Cooking stove
For the RDW inspection, your cooker must be fixed in the Netherlands. However, you can fix it in such a way that you can in principle loosen it again. I would also advise that. Cooking indoors is easy, but if it’s sunny and not very windy, cooking outside is wonderful! I had the Cadac-2-cook stove. I’m glad I went for 2 burners because then you can easily fry the vegetables or meat and also let your pasta or rice cook.
10. Lounge camping chair
I bought a very simple camping chair, but also a really nice lounge chair. It is relatively large, you could almost say too large. But the focus is on almost! Because it’s really delicious. If you are going to spend a day reading and enjoying nature, then this Bo-Camp chair is really a must have!
11. Sleepmask
I had borrowed my mother’s sleeping mask. She had a thicker mask, which did not leave any light through at all. However, I personally didn’t really like it. You can also buy a somewhat thinner version. In any case, one of the two is definitely recommended. You will also sometimes be close to a lamppost, then this is a real essential.
12. Blender
When I was putting together my electrical system, I deliberately took into account my magic bullet blender that I already had. I wish she could at least handle it. At that moment I thought, is this another idea (making delicious smoothies in the morning) that you will never really implement in the end. But that was absolutely not the case! I think I made a smoothie 1 out of 3 days, so more than worth it. And a very good start to the day.