Enjoy life in vanlife: With the right vanlife tricks, your time in the camper quickly becomes a dream.
The best part: Most tricks are simple, affordable, and easy to put into practice. And it doesn’t matter whether you travel alone, with family, with children, in a caravan, or in a large motorhome – BioTioo shows you the best vanlife tricks to make your camping life more comfortable.
Life hacks in the camper: How to pack so you find everything again
The most important vanlife tip is not expensive: It’s called order. Because in the camper, every shelf quickly turns into chaos if everything is just lying around without a system. So: Pack your luggage not by feel, but by categories, and use boxes, containers, bags, jars, tins, sachets, and zip bags so that you can even find things blindly. This saves time, prevents stress, and in the end also saves your money because you buy less in duplicate.
A classic among vanlife hacks is the one-in-one-out rule: For every new item, an old one must go. Especially on long trips, this keeps you lean, clear, and flexible. If you want to be really efficient, label everything like spices, cables, or screws. Sounds nerdy, but it is often a real game changer, especially when family or several people are on board.
Practical tips for order
- Storage boxes for kitchen, bathroom, technology, outdoor
- Zip bags for small items: chargers, adapters, spare parts, screws
- Tins or jars for dry foods like muesli, flour, pasta
- Sachets for spices and powders, as this saves space and doesn’t rattle
- Quick-grip bag for everyday use: headlamp, rubbish bags, tissues, lighter
This way, your home on wheels becomes tidier and noticeably more relaxed because you search less and live more in everyday life.
Clean floor and less moisture: The underestimated camper hack
When you live in a camper, much happens outside. And that is exactly what brings in the dirt: sand, mud, forest soil, damp grass, and raindrops. But there is a very simple vanlife hack to catch the coarse dirt before entering: a doormat. It protects the floor and ensures you don’t have to clean every day. It sounds trivial but makes a difference in cleanliness.
Equally important is good ventilation for moisture. Cooking, washing, wet jackets, and breath in cold nights lead to condensation. And moisture brings smells and, in the worst case, even mould or other unpleasant surprises like insect infestations.
The life hack here is routine: ventilate regularly, even if the weather is bad. If possible, hang wet items outside under the awning or in the driver’s cabin on a clothesline. This creates a dry feeling in the space and makes the camper immediately more homely.
Hygiene hacks in vanlife: Showering and water on the go
If you only shower at campsites, you depend on opening hours, queues, and sometimes questionable hygiene conditions. A pocket shower is therefore a brilliant life hack: You simply fill water into the bag, let it warm in the sun, and can shower flexibly outside. It is quick, simple, but effective. Incidentally, you also save water and do good for the environment because you automatically use less than in a normal shower.
Important: If shower water seeps into the ground, use biodegradable shower gel and shampoo. Many vanlifers also swear by neutral soap or all-in-one products because you replace several products with them. This way, you benefit from less weight, less waste, and more space in the bathroom compartment. Especially on long road trips, this is luxury with a plus in everyday practicality.
Toilet without chemicals: Why the separating toilet is a real vanlife hack
After a few weeks of vanlife, you notice that the right toilet matters. Most vehicles have a classic toilet with toilet chemicals. This basically works but often brings problems like strong smells, unpleasant disposal, and dependence on stations. On top of that, the chemicals are anything but sustainable.
A separating toilet is therefore the hack that really changes something: It works without water and separates liquids and solids, which greatly reduces odour formation.
With compostable bags, the solid waste container remains even more hygienic, and you have less stress when emptying.
That is exactly why BioTioo as an alternative to chemical toilets fits so well into vanlife: The BioTioo 2.0 is a practical separating toilet for motorhomes, vans, caravans, or campervans, and works completely without chemicals, flushing water, or complicated fiddling. For more hygiene and freedom on the road.
Vanlife hacks for kitchen and food: Order, spices, and the camping oven
Cooking in the camper is a mix of creativity and organisation. The biggest mistake: open packages everywhere. They attract moisture, make crumbs, and lure insects – until it eventually smells unpleasant. It is better to transfer food into jars or airtight containers. Especially for flour, muesli, or sugar, screw-top jars are a small hack with great effect.
Spices are also a topic: Large tins take up space and rattle. Sachets or mini tins are therefore often the better alternative. And if you want a bit more home on the road, a camping oven is a nice addition. With it, you can make casseroles and even bake cakes. That is exactly the comfort that makes long journeys more pleasant.
Washing up and cleaning: Less is more
The best cleaning agent in the camper is multifunctional. Instead of ten different cleaners, you should take a few that you can use directly for several purposes. Neutral soap is the classic here and can be used for washing up, hands, and as an emergency solution for clothing. And another vanlife hack that works surprisingly well: toothpaste. Toothpaste removes some stains and smells from hands. For some fabrics, however, you should use it only carefully or not at all to avoid damaging the material.
Sleeping: Multifunction instead of square metres
Only with a good bed do you stay well rested on long journeys. If space is especially tight for you, the best hack is therefore a multifunctional bed: During the day you can use it as a couch, at night as a sleeping place. This way, you gain a pleasant sense of space, even without much room. Under the bed, the most valuable storage space in the whole camper is created, perfect for boxes, water canisters, tools, or outdoor gear.
In the rest of the living space, cosiness often arises from small things: a clean frame for shelves, warm colours, a small eye-catcher like a plant or a photo, and your camper quickly feels like home.
Small helpers in everyday life
Vanlife has many challenges but also many solutions. A large power bank, for example, is a real helper when you still need power for your phone in the evening or want navigation and internet on the go.
Cable chaos also eats time: Here, a dedicated tech box is a simple hack that saves you daily. Laundry is also a constant issue: A fixed clothesline in the driver’s cabin or under the awning creates order and helps with drying – especially in rain. This keeps your routines simple, even if the weather changes or you spontaneously go for a hike.
Off-grid – This is how it works
If you want to become more independent, you need a good energy and water system. A small solar system with lithium-ion batteries, a charge booster, and an inverter makes you much freer – especially if you are on the road for a long time or work in the van. On tour, it also helps to ration water well and keep an eye on weight. Tanks are heavy, and every kilo counts in terms of energy consumption. This way, you and your vehicle use less, and you do something good for the environment.
How to stay self-sufficient in vanlife
- Solar and battery for stable power supply
- Charge booster for charging while driving
- Smart water planning: not always full, but suited to the route
- Fixed routines for consumption: short showers, conscious flushing, and regular refilling
The big advantage over classic camping holidays: You are flexible, can spontaneously change the area, and still have your home with you. Everyday life on wheels works – if you treat it like everyday life and not like a permanent holiday.
Vanlife with BioTioo: Small vanlife hacks, big difference
You see: order saves nerves, hygiene saves stress and energy, and technology creates freedom. And because comfort also matters, the right camping toilet makes your vanlife truly comfortable and complete. We at BioTioo have the BioTioo 2.0 for you in our range. The strong separating toilet scores with fewer smells and completely dispenses with chemicals and flushing water. For real freedom while travelling.
So, optimise your setup step by step so that your camper soon feels like a real home.
