There are plenty of people who enjoy solo van life, and many couples who love to travel together in their professionally converted campervan. Sooner or later, some of those couples become families – so how do you keep the van life up when your life changes that completely?
The good news is that, so long as you add a little more planning into your travel, adding kids to the van life is pretty easy, as well as being a great way to make memories.
Plan Realistically
As adults who love our campervans, we view a day with eight hours’ driving along beautiful roads, stopping off somewhere for lunch in the middle and maybe making another pit stop along the way as a perfectly reasonable part of a road trip. A younger child in the van is going to object well before you’ve been on the road that long, to say nothing of giving you less warning before a bathroom break is needed.
That doesn’t make campervan getaways impossible at all, but it does mean your daily routes are going to be shorter. For weekend holidays, that limits the distance you can reasonably travel. So plan your maximum distance accordingly, but remember that every year they get older, they’ll be able to handle a slightly longer drive per day.
You should make sure there’ll be places they can answer the call of nature regularly, and aim for the big lunchtime stop to be a treat they’ll enjoy before you have to coax them back into the van. Keeping them happy and giving them a chance to burn off energy is important.
On days when the visibility is good, you might rediscover the joy of games like I Spy or Yellow Car – they’re great ways to keep little brains occupied.
Pack with Forethought
If you’re only really stopping at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter so much how you pack; you’ll have time to get what you need out, and adults are patient. With kids you’ll want to make sure that their coats, rainhats, wellies, sunhats and sun lotion are all going to be easily to hand, along with whatever distractions you have for them, whether you choose a classic Uno deck or a Steam deck.
These little steps buy you the time you need to find other things. And if your plan for lunch is a picnic, make sure you’ve got everything you’ll need readily available – that doesn’t just mean the food but any napkins or wipes you might want!
Choose Campsites Carefully
You’ll find that kids really do love the adventure of a trip, but make sure that where you spend the night has places to play or explore. Some family-friendly caravan sites have childrens’ playgrounds on-site, but a place that has some really interesting walks will capture their attention.
If you’re travelling coastal routes, there are going to be opportunities to park on a beach above the tideline – and having the run of a secluded beach in the twilight will make your kids fall in love with the van life!
Where possible, if you’re changing campsites daily make sure each site is very different from the last.
Remember the Rain
So far we’ve talked about keeping your kids entertained while travelling and by picking the right campsites. That’s definitely all true, but some days the weather will keep you inside (except maybe for a quick sprint to a café if you’re near one). Having a variety of different games can be helpful, and books or audiobooks can really help.
Maybe you’ll want to download some videos onto your tablets, too – just be sure to pace these so you’re not burned out by halfway through the trip.
What’s best to pack for this will vary a lot depending on the age of your kids, and you may want to invest in some quality headphones for them so you can focus on other things.
Pack a First Aid Kit
Really this isn’t a tip for travelling in a campervan with kids so much as it’s a tip for all travelling, but it’s even more important when you have kids on board.
A decent first aid kit is an absolute must for any trip. Sure, most of the time you won’t need it, but it’s the days when you do where you’ll really be glad of it.
Choose the Right Snacks
Too much sugar in your children’s snacks and they’ll be fidgety and excited while you need to travel. Too much salt and they’ll want to drink more, which means more frequent bathroom breaks (and probably louder demands for them too). Fresh fruit can be great, so can things like cereal bars. Baked goods are also ideal for this but do consider the crumbs issue, especially when snacking en route.
Van life with a family has a lot of magical moments in the sunset or around the picnic table, and it’s well worth it for those, but always remember sometimes you’ll be snarled up in traffic or stuck waiting for a farmer to clear the road of a herd of sheep or cattle. Just don’t be downhearted – van life is for everyone.
If you’d like to ride out in style on family campervan adventures, contact us directly and we’ll help you find the perfect campervan conversion for you.
