I’ve had a few questions come in after people have read the blog, so in the spirit of this blog (that’s “over sharing” in case you missed it) here’s the questions, and then the answers – if you’re a pictures person then this post isn’t for you! 🤣
- What did we forget to bring?
- What have we brought we shouldn’t have?
- What have we left behind while on the trip?
- How’s the data holding up?
- How are we finding places to stay?
- What’s your breakfast and dinner?
- How are we staying cool at night?
- How do we configure the van when we pitch?
- What camera gear are you using?
- Are we enjoying it?
That’s enough for now, let’s get to the answers…
What did we forget to bring?
Nothing really. We could do with a colander and a bigger chopping board, but that’s about it. We’ve done nearly 10,000 miles in the van since we bought it, so we’ve figured out the basics by now.
I was wishing I’d brought a nylon trouser belt, but my leather jeans belt is filling in fine.
We’re thinking it might be good to have a bigger mat for the awning space and we’ve looked at some electric grills for cooking outside, but nothing essential.
The bigger question is the next one really…
What have we brought we shouldn’t have?
Not a biggie either really, but I brought an extra rucksack that I don’t think we’ll use (Sue goes out with a 10L rucksack and I have a 15L camera rucksack that we carry each day).
I brought three camera lenses with me and I pondered long and hard over which to bring. I was just going to bring the 100-500mm and the 24-105 f4, but I chucked in the 24-240 at the last minute and it’s that one that I’m using the most. 10 days in and I’m wishing I’d left the 24-105 at home (which is odd because that’s the one I use the most at home).
Space is at a real premium on a long trip like this one in such a small van, so extra crap lying around is as bad as forgetting something – you can always buy the thing you’ve forgotten, but not really an option to throw away a £1,000 lens I’m not using!
What have we left behind while on the trip?
Well, nothing at the moment. Though we very nearly left my laptop at Toms… thanks for spotting that as we were rolling down the drive Arri!
How’s the data holding up?
Ok… ish!
Sue is almost out of her monthly 20GB. That disappeared really quickly and we don’t know why. It renews on the 22nd but we’ll probably need to buy more.
My 50GB per month is holding up. I’m 7 days into this month’s allowance and have use 4.5GB… about 10%. That’s working out fine, but I’m using WiFi whenever we come across it. 50GB is the max that EE allows in a month, so I won’t be able to buy any more if it goes.
We’ll have to use a data SIM service or a burner SIM if we run out.
How are we finding places to stay?
We use a combination of the Park4Night app and web searches. We tend to find sites we like more with Park4Night.
What’s your breakfast and dinner?
Mostly the same as recently at home… scrambled eggs and ham for me and yoghurt and a banana for Sue.
Dinner is usually salad and chicken or salad and sausages. It’s tough on a Paleo-Keto diet! 🤣
How are we staying cool at night?
We’ve only had a couple of really warm nights but Sue keeps the windows open downstairs and I have a swamp cooler and the vents open upstairs.
If the opposite happens and we’re
Cold, then we have a diesel heater as part of the California kit.
How do we configure the van when we pitch?
Usually we have the eyes (wrap around) on the windscreen and the awning out.
If it’s really cold or hot then we put the wrap-around around the pop-up too (silver side out if the sun is going to hit the van).
What camera gear are you using?
I’m rocking a three tier setup 🤣
- iPhone for quick stills, panoramas and ad-hoc run and gun
- Canon R5 with mostly 24-240 zoom
- Insta360 X4 for panoramas, tiny-world and 360 videos, plus the short Insta360 collapsible pole (good for cleaning the top of the awning with in the morning before winding it up 😉)
Are we enjoying it?
Absolutely! It’s a bit full on, but we’ll probably try and slow the pace from now on.
Leave a Comment