Trip Fundamentals - Looking Fresh
You’d never know it, but here in this photo we haven’t showered in days!
When Andrew and I started traveling for longer periods of time, I would pack up my large gym toiletry bag into the Vanagon and call it done. I soon realized that my day-to-day products could be packed more efficiently for our trips. Plus, we wanted to make room for other things in our cabinet.
We started packing more efficiently by purchasing a bunch of high-quality reusable bottles that we could refill. Remember, you get what you pay for. We’ve purchased the cheaper version of bottles in the past, and they’ve only lasted around a year. It’s worth it to spend the money on the better product.
These days, we have small dedicated bags for our products such as soap, toothpaste, lotion, etc. These bags are for the van only. We refill them after every trip to make sure they always have our essentials well stocked. This keeps us from forgetting any item that we will definitely use every single trip.
These two little bags carry all of our toiletries.
I’m a person that loves skincare and makeup. I’m also a sucker for pretty colors and nice packaging. One lesson I’ve (slowly) learned while being on the road is that I don’t need to bring my entire cabinet full of skincare. Having GOOD skincare products allows me to use LESS products. I only take the things that I know will help my skin in the environment I will be in. Sometimes that means extra moisture. Sometimes that means extra cleansing. Either way, I try to keep it to one extra skincare product besides my facial cleanser.
In terms of makeup, again, it’s minimal. I only take the essentials that will make me look put together, while not wasting time putting on a full face of makeup. Normally, that consists of products that can do double duty. A tinted moisturizer or CC cream with SPF, a small cream bronzer, cream blush that doubles as lip/eye product, mascara and a brow pencil. Now, I don’t go to the trouble of putting all of this on every day, but if I know we’ll be visiting a town and I want to look a little more special, I’ll wear it all.
For my ladies, one necessity that you need to consider is your monthly cycle. If you will be traveling while on your period, there are some extra items to bring that may help you out. I recently switched from using tampons to using a silicone menstrual disk. It takes a few tries to get the hang of it, but once you do, you’ll never go back to a tampon. There is no waste, and it can be kept in for about 12 hours a day. Now that I have learned to use it correctly, I don’t feel it at all. I do not recommend learning to use it while you’re on the road (it has a bit of a learning curve). If you’re experiencing cramps, bring a hot water bottle or a heating pad. I can’t think of anything worse that being on a bumpy backroad and having cramps.
For Andrew, things are much simpler. His bathroom cabinet at home is much smaller than mine. The only thing he really eliminates from his daily routine is shaving. However, recently, I’ve come to notice he may go a day or two on the road without even washing his face! He’ll slap on some deodorant and body spray in the morning, and away he goes. He does keep some powder and body/face wipes in his bag to keep himself “fresh” on days when he doesn’t shower.
Lastly, I wanted to speak on our toilet. One of the real showstoppers of our van. When I first mentioned getting a portable toilet to Andrew, he was extremely unsure about having one. I talked him into the idea that having one was not only a good idea, but it was essential to our trips. He purchased one made by Camco and built a wooden box to house it. The conversation that ensued was that we would not bring it on all our trips, only on long distance ones. Well, fast forward a few years. That little toilet has been a game changer. There is no more stopping for potty breaks unless we need to get out of the van and stretch our legs. There have also been many high speed restroom breaks on the highway! During the high points of COVID-19, there were some rest stops/truck stops that we just did not feel comfortable going into. That trusty potty saved the day. Plus, there is no more waking up entire campgrounds in the middle of the night opening/closing our slider door to head to the restroom. It took a little trial and error on how to empty it, and how to keep smell in, but that learning curve came quick. It’s capacity is small enough to allow us to empty it in the toilets at rest stops. The little box he built also doubles as extra seating, a table, and a stool. Andrew will quickly tell you these days that the portable toilet was easily one of our top 3 purchases for the van.
One of the smartest van purchases we ever made.
That about does it for our keeping fresh routine. Next time we’ll cover the things we do to prep the van for a big trip.
—Bink