Last Updated on 16 January, 2026 by Robyn Dockendorf

We’ve been vanlifing for a little while now in our Ram Promaster campervan, but we’ll never forget what we learned the first week of traveling in a van full-time. The van lifestyle on social media is far from what real vanlifing is – it’s tough! But if you’re willing to face a few challenges, vanlife is so worth it!

Here are 6 vanlife tips we learned in our very first week of vanlife!

1. Your van gets dirty FAST
2. Velcro is amazing
3. Finding level parking is tough
4. Bugs are annoying
5. You use more water than you think
6. You need to re-wear clothes

In this article, I’ll cover each of the vanlife tips listed above in detail and offer advice on how we managed to make living full-time on the road a little easier.

This post includes affiliate links, but rest assured that we only recommend items we would use ourselves. If you choose to make a purchase, we receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. There are no sponsorships; this is just the truth about our favorite finds.

1. Your Van Gets Dirty FAST

It’s amazing how dirty our van gets in a single day. We take our shoes off before entering the van and wipe our pup’s feet before letting him inside. We even wipe our cat’s feet after taking her on walks!

Still, our van gets so much dirt and gunk in it. The floor of our van is what gets the dirtiest, for sure, but even our tabletop accumulates grit each day. Unless you keep your van doors shut 24/7, you’re going to attract dirt and dust. It’s unavoidable!

Realizing your van will get dirty is just one of many things to know before you decide to commit to a nomadic lifestyle. Our article on the 6 things to know before you start vanlife is a great resource for those thinking about jumping into full-time vanlife.

How To Keep Your Van Clean

Here are a few vanlife tips to keep your home on wheels clean, even after a grueling hike up the side of a Colorado mountain or a swampy stroll through the Everglades.

• Sweep the floors daily. We use a collapsible dust pan like the Coghlan’s Tent Whisk Broom and Dust Pan.
• Do a quick wipe-down of the countertops after each use. We have pets, so we use pet-friendly cleaners like Simple Green when possible.
• Scrub the floors weekly.
• Do the dishes immediately after using them.
• Store your sheets and pillows away daily, and place them off the ground.
• Get a 12V hand vacuum and use it every few days.
• Use netting or hanging organizers to keep small items off the floor and countertops.
• Clean the bathroom area once a week (if you have a toilet and/or shower).
• Don’t skip daily tasks.
• Briefly clean the sink daily and dry it with a towel so water doesn’t sit in it overnight.
• Take your shoes off before entering the van and leave them in the driver and passenger areas.
• Don’t leave clothes lying around. They probably have dirt and grime on them. This is where netting and hanging organizers are fantastic!
• Keep a plant or two inside the van to filter the air (I recommend bamboo or air plants – they are easy to take care of and require little water and light).

We scrub the van floors every few days to keep them clean. It’s a bit of work, but it only takes a few moments and keeps the van looking tidy. Again, we typically use Simple Green because it’s safe to use around pets when used as directed.

Our bed area stays relatively clean because we wipe ourselves down each night with Sea to Summit Wilderness Wipes. This ensures that any dirt or grime accumulated during the day doesn’t get on our bed or sheets.

These are just a few vanlife tips that we use to keep our van cleaner for longer. I consider myself a bit of a neat freak, and even I can’t keep up with all the dirt that somehow makes its way inside the van! However, using the tips above, our van stays relatively clean.

2. Velcro Is Amazing

Seriously, we use Velcro for EVERYTHING. Have storage cubbies that rattle when you drive? Velcro. Need to keep your pantry cabinet up while looking at your food? Velcro. Want to hold down your plant so it doesn’t fall over while you take a road trip? VELCRO.

God bless you, George de Mestral, the inventor of Velcro. We use it anywhere we need to hold something down or keep something open. We have it on our cabinets, fridge, cubbies, and toilet compartment to keep the lid from rattling!

Velcro also secures our kitchen supplies, such as our dishwashing soap and sponge, which we keep in a Velcro-secured cup. Granted, the Velcro has to be replaced every month or so because the stickiness wears down, especially in the heat.

I don’t care. If we had the space, I’d buy a 200-foot roll of Velcro. It’s handy! And it’s one of the best vanlife tips we can offer!

If you’re wondering where to begin with a vanlife conversion, head over to our guide on how to start a camper van conversion!

3. Finding Level Parking At Night Is Tough – And More Important Than You Think!

When you drive a regular car, you probably barely notice when you park somewhere that isn’t flat. Why would it matter? When you drive a vehicle that you also sleep and live in, it makes a huge difference!

If you vanlife as we do, we look for secluded spots that are the least people-y possible. This often means the camping spot is down a dirt road with lots of ruts and rocks, which is fine, but it also means you might be parked on a slope or slight hill.

This is a problem.

The first night we parked somewhere that wasn’t entirely flat, we vowed we’d never do it again. Even a slight angle to the left or right makes sleeping uncomfortable.

The University of Rochester Medical Center reports that the muscles and ligaments of your back relax and heal when you sleep at night. If your body is positioned at an angle or leaning, your back can’t relax, and you wake up stiff, sore, and unrested. Not good for vanlife!

Vanlife Tips To Find Level Ground

Here are a few vanlife tips and tricks we learned to find a level spot for your camper van, even in the most remote camping areas:

• Research before you go:
  • Look at forums about the camping spot to see if people say anything about the flatness.
  • iOverlander and Campendium are fantastic apps for finding wild camping spots. They also allow users to leave comments about the area, such as whether the spots are flat.
• Buy levelers: Levelers are useful when parked on a slight slope. They work by allowing you to drive up the levelers to raise any desired tires and, subsequently, the van. Check out the Camco RV Tri-Leveler to make sleeping in the van comfortable. It can raise up to 3-7/8 inches and can handle up to 4,000 pounds.
• Buy a collapsible shovel.
  • Dig out areas in front of or behind your wheels to level out your van, depending on which side is not level. (Fill in after leaving, and don’t dig if you will damage anything!)
• Download a level app on your phone or use a physical level
  • This will help you figure out if your van is leaning one way or the other.

Check out our article on Campervan Overnight Parking for tips on how to find free parking while vanlifing!

4. Bugs Are Annoying

If you’re a fair-weather vanlifer like we are, you’ll probably run into bugs occasionally. Or…all the time.

We’ve found that mosquitoes and flies are the worst. They’re super annoying, buzzing in your ear and biting your legs and arms. Even worse, these insects can carry harmful diseases for you and your pets.

When the bugs are unbearably thick, you have to spend your time in the van, which isn’t fun or the point of vanlife.

We haven’t found a good solution for keeping the mosquitoes and flies off ourselves. We don’t use DEET or Thermacell products because they are toxic to kitties. We’ve tried Wondercide and a few other natural products that are safe around cats and dogs, but they haven’t been very effective. Murphy’s Natural Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus Spray was the best natural product we found and is safe to use around pets (NOT on pets).

The best purchase we made to combat bugs is bug netting. We have it covering the entire opening on our sliding side door and the entire back opening of the van. Even if the mosquitoes are thick, they can’t get through, and we can at least open the doors and dream about being outdoors.

We bought ours from Amazon, but later discovered that the company that made our window covers now makes bug netting! Shout out to Wanderful! Bug netting is just one of many vanlife hacks we’ve learned over the years. If you want more hacks to make vanlife easier, read our article on 57 vanlife hacks to make life easier.

If you have a solution to bugs, let us know in the comments! Just remember, it has to be safe for kitties and dogs!

5. You Use More Water Than You Think

We use a foot pump instead of an electric pump for our van’s setup. We thought it would help us conserve water, and I’m sure it does, but we still use a TON of water each week.

We bought a 20-gallon water tank for our van and tend to go through it in about a week if there are no water sources nearby to wash dishes or fill our portable shower bag. If you like wild camping like we do, finding water sources is pretty tricky if you want to avoid the mosquitoes!

We bought two 6-gallon Reliance Rhino Heavy Duty Water Jugs for an additional 12 gallons of water so we didn’t have to fill up so frequently. We love these jugs! They were super affordable from Bass Pro Shop, running about $22 (2026).

We removed the cubbies on the driver and passenger side doors and utilized that space to store the jugs. They fit perfectly and are held in place by the doors while driving. When we’re parked, we only use our sliding door to enter and exit the van, so they’re never in the way.

It does make getting in and out of the van while driving a bit of a challenge, though!

Vanlife Tips For Finding Water

Finding water to refill your tank can be a challenge in itself. We have found a few ways to fill up water for free or really cheap so far. If you have more suggestions, let us know!

• Public Parks: Some parks have potable water with spigots that you can hook a hose to and fill a water tank for free.
• Twice the Ice: These little gems are typically only located out west. You pay a few bucks and can fill jugs with water.
• Dump stations: Some RV dump stations have potable water spigot hookups. There may be a small fee to fill at a dump station if you’re not staying in the associated campground.
• Grocery stores: Many grocery stores have water refill stations. Most are typically 40-80 cents per gallon.
• Gas stations: Gas stations may have water spigots available, but we’ve never trusted getting water from a gas station before!
• Watermill Express: These are mostly located in southern New Mexico and West Texas. Like Twice the Ice, you pay a few bucks to fill water jugs.

The iOverlander app can direct you to water sources that other travelers have found on their journey. The description will usually say if it is a spigot or jug refill station, the cost, and how long a hose you may need. Our guide on finding potable water reveals all the ways to find drinking water on the road.

6. You Need To Re-Wear Clothes

Let me clarify – underwear and socks are NOT included in this! Those should always be changed daily for cleanliness. However, your shorts, shirts, and pants? Definitely re-wear them.

This took some getting used to. As I said, I’m a bit of a clean freak and have a hard time wearing clothes more than once, even if it’s just a pajama t-shirt that I wear only one night for eight hours.

Now? I’ll wear the same outfit three days in a row… The reason? Laundry takes up a lot of space, and washing clothes at a laundromat costs money. To conserve the small space in our van and save money, we re-wear our outfits (as long as they’re not disgusting).

In our first week of vanlife, we accumulated so much laundry that we spent about $30 at the laundromat to get through all our clothes. It was definitely an eye-opener. And honestly? It’s not that bad to re-wear clothes…

We have a fantastic article that sums up the pros and cons of vanlife. Check it out – All you need to know about vanlife.

Van Life Tips: Wrap-Up Session

Full-time van living comes with its ups and downs. Hopefully, our 6 vanlife tips will help make your road trips easier. We’re still looking for a solution to the bug problem! Let us know if you have one in the comments below.

To recap, the 6 things we learned in van life 101 (our first week) include:

1. Your van gets dirty…FAST.
2. Velcro is amazing.
3. Finding a level parking spot is super important…and challenging!
4. Bugs are annoying.
5. You use more water than you think.
6. You need to re-wear your clothes.

Until next time, keep exploring our beautiful world, enjoy the adventure, and give your furbags an extra pet from us! For more vanlife tips, check out our blog!