Decking Out Our Caravan: Part Two

In Part One I talked about the overarching philosophy that guides every decision we make about our caravan, the idea that everything we bring must earn its keep. In this second part I want to get into the specifics, covering four areas that I think are worth talking about in some detail: how we approached power and flexibility, the kitchen choices we made and why, how we think about reducing waste on the road, and the little touches that make us feel at home even when we are travelling.

Power and Flexibility

Before I go any further I want to make it clear that any product mentioned here is something we researched, chose and paid for ourselves. This is not a review and we receive no payment or endorsement from anyone. What works for us may not work for you, and that is perfectly fine.

The caravan we purchased did not come with an inverter, and when we investigated adding one we quickly discovered that it was not as simple as just sliding something else in. We were told that adding an inverter would also require upgrading the Battery Management System and the batteries to accommodate it, bringing the total cost to $4,157 inclusive of installation.

Something that shaped this decision goes beyond the caravan itself. We live on a rural property with no town water, which means we rely on a pump and rainwater, and when we lose power during a bad thunderstorm, which has happened more than once, we have no water either. So whatever we chose needed to solve more than one problem. A diesel generator was one option we considered and quickly set aside, for two reasons: the noise, which for us would completely defeat the purpose of being out in nature, and the need to carry extra diesel just for the generator on top of everything else. After some research we decided to purchase a BLUETTI AC200L - 2,400W Portable Power Station with portable solar panels, at a total cost of $3,200. The reason this made more sense than the inverter was simple: it could do three things rather than one. It powers what we need in the caravan when we are off grid, it comes with us when we travel without the caravan in our Nissan ute, and it powers the water pump and anything else we need at home during a blackout. It can also be charged in multiple ways, through its own portable solar panels, through the existing solar panels on the caravan, or through the 12 volt plug we have installed in the back of the Nissan ute, which gives us a great deal of flexibility without any extra fuel to carry. The motto should be: one good thing that does three jobs is always worth more than three things that each do one.

Kitchen Choices

Another decision we made that goes somewhat against the trend was not to have a Weber or other barbecue in the caravan. We have a slide-out kitchen instead, and with the addition of a cast iron griddle pan with a foldable handle we have everything a barbecue would give us and more. Anyone who has read the instructions for cleaning a Weber properly will understand what I mean. Between scraping the cook box, replacing the drip tray, burning off residue for fifteen minutes, etc., it sounds like a part time job to me. My cast iron griddle pan goes in hot soapy water and is done in two minutes, and if used on the slide out kitchen a quick wipe down of the gas stove or induction cooktop is all I need to do. The cast iron griddle pan is also small and portable, which means it works on a firepit, on any gas or electric stove and even on induction, and it travels with us everywhere and earns its place every single time we use it.

My Italian toaster is another thing that has become one of my most used items in the caravan kitchen. It is a wide-slot toaster that does exactly what any toaster does, but with the addition of a clamp cage it also makes perfect toasted sandwiches, which means one appliance earns its place twice over. I realise buying a toaster in Italy and bringing it home is a slightly eccentric thing to do, and I say that with complete awareness, but the good news is that you do not need to do the same. Clamp cages that fit over a standard wide-slot toaster are available online and transform any toaster into a toasted sandwich maker at very little cost. This is just one example of the kind of thing you can find with a simple search online.

Feeling at Home on the Road

There is one more thing worth mentioning, not because it fits neatly into the earn your keep philosophy but simply because it is true: I do not leave my Italian self at home when I travel. On that caravan bench you will always find our Bialetti moka pot, a Dolce and Gabbana edition that was a gift from dear friends and which has a special place in our kitchen wherever that kitchen happens to be. Beside it sit the cups I brought back from Italy on one of my trips, because a good coffee deserves the right cup. And the De'Longhi toaster that started this whole conversation sits there too, quietly doing its two jobs every morning without any fuss. Somewhere nearby there will always be a packet of Mulino Bianco Tarallucci as well, because some biscuits simply cannot be substituted. These are small things, but they are the difference between camping and living, and for me that difference matters.

Reducing Waste on the Road

Now I want to address something that almost nobody talks about in the caravanning world, and that is rubbish. When you travel and cook and clean, all of that waste, vegetable peelings, empty packets, food scraps, has to go somewhere, and until you can dispose of it properly it has to live with you in a small space. So the most practical thing you can do is reduce how much of it you generate in the first place.

Rather than packing a different product for every surface and task, we transferred what we already do at home: a multipurpose cleaner called Koh handles most cleaning jobs, bicarbonate of soda and cleaning vinegar take care of deodorising and tougher tasks, and for dishwashing and laundry we use plant-based sheets that I store in a small plastic box, because the original cardboard packaging does not survive well in a caravan environment where things can get damp and a wet box means wasted sheets. I write about this kind of practical, low-waste approach in more depth in my Lazy Shortcuts ebook, which will be available shortly.

One thing I have transferred from my kitchen at home to our caravan trips is preparing and peeling vegetables before we leave. Everything is washed, chopped and ready to use before we set off, which means all the scraps and peelings stay at home where they can go straight into the compost, nothing needs to be disposed of at the campsite, and we save water that would otherwise be used washing vegetables on the road. This kind of thinking, using what you have, preparing ahead, wasting as little as possible, is also at the heart of my ebook Taste of Italy on the Road, which explores how to cook real Italian food beautifully and simply wherever your wheels take you.

A Final Thought

We do not travel full time, and if we did, some of what I have described above would need to be different. But the underlying principle would stay the same: find what fits your life, not someone else's. I hope that sharing our experience, including the decisions that might seem a little unconventional, gives you something useful to think about as you find your own way on the road.