Going minimal after many trips and lessons learned. Thoughts?

[Pitstop Penny]

I’ve had the Cali Ocean since late 2019 - I know, unlucky! And although we’ve not yet taken it abroad, we’ve done quite a few nice trips and feel very grateful given it was a dream come true! But we did a classic beginner mistake and got a little over-excited on buying stuff.

Now we’re older and wiser. Getting better at packing the van. But also realising we’ve got way too much “stuff” that we need to tone down. Just an inflatable mattress for the bed. Massive comfy chairs that go behind the driver seat. Screens and more screens. Just getting ridiculous. Haha.

Opting for a minimal approach from now on. I mean, we’re not too bad. But we really need to slim down. Going to use the VW blinds for the spring and summer months we reckon. Remove the VW upper mattress and keep the Sea2Summit air mattress up there. Gonna keep The Wool Room topper. And the pillows and duvet. Chairs are going. Unless we go somewhere where we just camp out at and stay put, like Eskdale or The Quiet Site.

I don’t want to get a pop up tent where we dump all our stuff, but that’s what so many of you do, right? Here’s our current setup!


My question is, did you go through the same process and what stuff did you tone down? What solutions did you find?

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

I’ve had the Cali Ocean since late 2019 - I know, unlucky! And although we’ve not yet taken it abroad, we’ve done quite a few nice trips and feel very grateful given it was a dream come true! But we did a classic beginner mistake and got a little over-excited on buying stuff.

Now we’re older and wiser. Getting better at packing the van. But also realising we’ve got way too much “stuff” that we need to tone down. Just an inflatable mattress for the bed. Massive comfy chairs that go behind the driver seat. Screens and more screens. Just getting ridiculous. Haha.

Opting for a minimal approach from now on. I mean, we’re not too bad. But we really need to slim down. Going to use the VW blinds for the spring and summer months we reckon. Remove the VW upper mattress and keep the Sea2Summit air mattress up there. Gonna keep The Wool Room topper. And the pillows and duvet. Chairs are going. Unless we go somewhere where we just camp out at and stay put, like Eskdale or The Quiet Site.

I don’t want to get a pop up tent where we dump all our stuff, but that’s what so many of you do, right? Here’s our current setup!

View attachment 80761
My question is, did you go through the same process and what stuff did you tone down? What solutions did you find?

We’re going through the process, learning to pack what we need for each trip rather than taking everything every time. Decisions based on time of year, what activities we plan, etc, etc.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

We’re going through the process, learning to pack what we need for each trip rather than taking everything every time. Decisions based on time of year, what activities we plan, etc, etc.

It’s a lot to learn isn’t it! But getting there.
We bought some new wash bags this month. From Noom. Very good indeed. And I’ve got one of those towelling robes from Dry Robe so I can just whack that on for the shower and come back and get dressed in the van. So much easier.

 

[Wildcamper]

Have a look at the "What Essentials Have You Ditched" thread. Less is more. We now have empty cupboards!

 

[TheDoc]

From a minimal perspective, when I go camping on my motorbike I take a 2 man tent, stove, pans, kettle, cutlery, swiss army knife, plate, cup, sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress, camping chair, change of clothes, wine and food for a weekend. I’ve got no panniers or luggage rack and fit the lot (carbon and titanium expedition stuff) in a 30ltr rucksack on my back. Some would say that was excessive;-)

 

[GrumpyGranddad]

From a minimal perspective, when I go camping on my motorbike I take a 2 man tent, stove, pans, kettle, cutlery, swiss army knife, plate, cup, sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress, camping chair, change of clothes, wine and food for a weekend. I’ve got no panniers or luggage rack and fit the lot (carbon and titanium expedition stuff) in a 30ltr rucksack on my back. Some would say that was excessive;-)

Wow that’s impressive

 

[Pitstop Penny]

From a minimal perspective, when I go camping on my motorbike I take a 2 man tent, stove, pans, kettle, cutlery, swiss army knife, plate, cup, sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress, camping chair, change of clothes, wine and food for a weekend. I’ve got no panniers or luggage rack and fit the lot (carbon and titanium expedition stuff) in a 30ltr rucksack on my back. Some would say that was excessive;-)

That’s incredible! We’ve seen loads of bikers this weekend and really enjoyed it. It’s so wonderful to see people enjoying themselves and meeting friends. We always slow down or pull over to let them past. Bikers are so cool!

I always imagine glamorous lifestyles. We saw a slender couple on a bike the other day and being a writer, I dreamt up a passionate lifestyle of tussled sheets and dramatic encounters after a day spent winding the many marvellous country roads!! Haha

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Have a look at the "What Essentials Have You Ditched" thread. Less is more. We now have empty cupboards!

I love that! And yes I found that thread. So interesting! All this is good practice for next summer when hopefully, fingers crossed, we can finally take our van abroad

 

[ThomasHJ]

Of course different people have different needs, but we find, as a family of 2 adults and 2 young kids, that the Cali really has sufficient room to bring everything we need. We went through the process of getting more and more stuff and then getting less and less. Now everything has it's own place in the van and a lot of it stays in the van year round, because it feels nice to:

A: not have to carry everything to the van / back from the van when packing and arriving home.
B: it feels good knowing all we have ever -really- needed on trips is in the van at all times.

We had a Quechua pop-up tent-thing, but ditched it after 3 trips. We do not have a drive-away awning. Just the regular roll-out awing.

I tried to think of a complete list. I believe this is what we bring:

- clothes for everyone. Everybody gets 1 packing cube (4).
- max 2 pairs of shoes (or boots)
- toiletry bag for everyone (4)
- towels (4)
- the chairs that came with the van (2)
- the table that came with the van (1)
- a flatfolding table that we can have dinner on with the 4 of us (1)
- folding chairs for the kids (2)
- blankets and pillows
- fold-up raincoats (4) and extra warm fleece (2)
- folding fire pit
- grill roster
- electricity cable + accessorries
- portapotti
- Food
- Nespresso machine
- frying pan
- 3 pan-cooking-set
- plates, cuttlery and cups
- Omnia oven
- fishing rods (3) and accesories
- A case with small toys (largest is a football)
- A couple of books (kids)
- 2 E-readers, handheld GPS. phones and chargers.
- Axe (2: large and small), hammock, knives, woodcarving tools, edible plants book, gloves, ducktape.
- 3 bikes on the back of the van
- child seats (2) because we have to (grrrr... they take op room!)

Stuff we ocassionally add to this list:

S2S Selfinflateable matress

Yeah, I think thats it. And then we have a some space left. For example, we never seem to have anything in the rear cupboard above the gasbottle. (Which makes it easy to reach it).

 

[Pitstop Penny]

Of course different people have different needs, but we find, as a family of 2 adults and 2 young kids, that the Cali really has sufficient room to bring everything we need. We went through the process of getting more and more stuff and then getting less and less. Now everything has it's own place in the van and a lot of it stays in the van year round, because it feels nice to:

A: not have to carry everything to the van / back from the van when packing and arriving home.
B: it feels good knowing all we have ever -really- needed on trips is in the van at all times.

We had a Quechua pop-up tent-thing, but ditched it after 3 trips. We do not have a drive-away awning. Just the regular roll-out awing.

I tried to think of a complete list. I believe this is what we bring:

- clothes for everyone. Everybody gets 1 packing cube (4).
- max 2 pairs of shoes (or boots)
- toiletry bag for everyone (4)
- towels (4)
- the chairs that came with the van (2)
- the table that came with the van (1)
- a flatfolding table that we can have dinner on with the 4 of us (1)
- folding chairs for the kids (2)
- blankets and pillows
- fold-up raincoats (4) and extra warm fleece (2)
- folding fire pit
- grill roster
- electricity cable + accessorries
- portapotti
- Food
- Nespresso machine
- frying pan
- 3 pan-cooking-set
- plates, cuttlery and cups
- Omnia oven
- fishing rods (3) and accesories
- A case with small toys (largest is a football)
- A couple of books (kids)
- 2 E-readers, handheld GPS. phones and chargers.
- Axe (2: large and small), hammock, knives, woodcarving tools, edible plants book, gloves, ducktape.
- 3 bikes on the back of the van
- child seats (2) because we have to (grrrr... they take op room!)

Stuff we ocassionally add to this list:

S2S Selfinflateable matress

Yeah, I think thats it. And then we have a some space left. For example, we never seem to have anything in the rear cupboard above the gasbottle. (Which makes it easy to reach it).

That’s epic, thank you! Had to look up a few things there. But all so helpful.

Things we have that are essential to us:

- S2S inflatable mattress
- The Wool Room topper
- Two pillows and a duvet
- Cadac Safari Chef and spare gas bottle
- external screen cover
- Ridge Monkey
- Pan set
- Side and front panels for wind out awning
- clothes in packing cubes
- down jackets for each of us, plus fleeces and waterproofs
- one awesome Noom washbag each
- one quick dry Towel for husband, one Dry Robe for me!
- two pairs of Crocs
- flip flops
- walking boots and smartish shoes
- one nice outfit for a night out, otherwise everything else is camping/walking clothes
- portapotti and carry case
- levelling chocs
- water carrier, electric hookup, and all that other essential stuff
- storm protector straps for awning
- cintronella candle
- sun cream and first aid kit

Sometimes we bring our folding bikes, too! And in winter we will always bring…

- Wraparound pop top cover
- Dualit mini oven and grill

Aside from the above, we also have little board games, some decent bourbon, and our iPad with downloaded movies and tv shows. We watch the iPad in the roof bed, by tucking the cover into one of the half moon windows, and leaving it to hang! We always pass out fast asleep though!!

 

[bob_summers]

From a minimal perspective, when I go camping on my motorbike I take a 2 man tent, stove, pans, kettle, cutlery, swiss army knife, plate, cup, sleeping bag, pillow, air mattress, camping chair, change of clothes, wine and food for a weekend. I’ve got no panniers or luggage rack and fit the lot (carbon and titanium expedition stuff) in a 30ltr rucksack on my back. Some would say that was excessive;-)

Very impressive, that’s roughly what I take minus the chair and wine, plus running shoes and kit, (usually going hill running in pyrenees) wash bag and towel, and it’s a fairly tight fit in a 40l duffel bag strapped to the seat.

Haven’t done cali camping yet but the current van setup works fine so most will just carry over. There will be some duplicates (always going to prefer cooking on my Coleman unleaded stove + lantern + 10L jerry can) but still going to use the mats and sleeping bags - you build up a system over the years. Probably even carry the 2 man tent in it, in case of strong winds and not being able to use the roof for my 8yo.

Shopping list for when the thing actually arrives is bike rack, solar, seat covers ( current van is plastered in mud inside and don’t see that changing) and screen/side window cover. Can’t see much else being needed..

 

[Betty67]

samish experience bought last year mainly weekends away and still working it out, thought about getting alittle pup tent to accomodate towbar bike rack and bits n bobs as just stayed on IOW FOR 3 nights a pup tent would have made it easier to pop of in the van during day, i agree never use upstairs for sleeping so why do i carry heavy materess?

 

[Hantshog]

I’ve had the Cali Ocean since late 2019 - I know, unlucky! And although we’ve not yet taken it abroad, we’ve done quite a few nice trips and feel very grateful given it was a dream come true! But we did a classic beginner mistake and got a little over-excited on buying stuff.

Now we’re older and wiser. Getting better at packing the van. But also realising we’ve got way too much “stuff” that we need to tone down. Just an inflatable mattress for the bed. Massive comfy chairs that go behind the driver seat. Screens and more screens. Just getting ridiculous. Haha.

Opting for a minimal approach from now on. I mean, we’re not too bad. But we really need to slim down. Going to use the VW blinds for the spring and summer months we reckon. Remove the VW upper mattress and keep the Sea2Summit air mattress up there. Gonna keep The Wool Room topper. And the pillows and duvet. Chairs are going. Unless we go somewhere where we just camp out at and stay put, like Eskdale or The Quiet Site.

I don’t want to get a pop up tent where we dump all our stuff, but that’s what so many of you do, right? Here’s our current setup!

View attachment 80761
My question is, did you go through the same process and what stuff did you tone down? What solutions did you find?

We are going through the same process. I asked myself why I pack two camping chairs when there are two perfectly good ones neatly stored in the tailgate. I take an electric heater when there’s a diesel heater under the floor. I take a two ring electric hob when there’s two unused gas rings in the kitchen area and I take a camping table. Almost forgotten there’s a table in the sliding door. Didn’t take the cozy cover or the windscreen cover ( again why have a windscreen cover when there are built in screens? ) Then I moan there’s no room in the boot. I have lost the wonder of these camper vans. Just returned from two weeks in Wales with the van loaded to the brim yet our first holiday in a van four years ago in France in a hire van had only the basics and the holiday was one of the best we ever had. I guess some of us go through the process of acquiring all these extra Items and the cycle takes us to the realisation that we don’t need all this duplicate kit. Just get back to basics and enjoy the van as was designed and appreciate how brilliant they are. Having said all that I have just splashed out on a Thule Residence Room, which is massive during transit.

 

[Pitstop Penny]

We are going through the same process. I asked myself why I pack two camping chairs when there are two perfectly good ones neatly stored in the tailgate. I take an electric heater when there’s a diesel heater under the floor. I take a two ring electric hob when there’s two unused gas rings in the kitchen area and I take a camping table. Almost forgotten there’s a table in the sliding door. Didn’t take the cozy cover or the windscreen cover ( again why have a windscreen cover when there are built in screens? ) Then I moan there’s no room in the boot. I have lost the wonder of these camper vans. Just returned from two weeks in Wales with the van loaded to the brim yet our first holiday in a van four years ago in France in a hire van had only the basics and the holiday was one of the best we ever had. I guess some of us go through the process of acquiring all these extra Items and the cycle takes us to the realisation that we don’t need all this duplicate kit. Just get back to basics and enjoy the van as was designed and appreciate how brilliant they are. Having said all that I have just splashed out on a Thule Residence Room, which is massive during transit.

A residence room…! That sounds posh, whatever it is. And you’re right. The simple route is always the best!

 

[Anthony1]

Wow that’s impressive

It is indeed.

 

[Joker 1299]

That’s incredible! We’ve seen loads of bikers this weekend and really enjoyed it. It’s so wonderful to see people enjoying themselves and meeting friends. We always slow down or pull over to let them past. Bikers are so cool!

I always imagine glamorous lifestyles. We saw a slender couple on a bike the other day and being a writer, I dreamt up a passionate lifestyle of tussled sheets and dramatic encounters after a day spent winding the many marvellous country roads!! Haha

While I like the idea of tussled sheets and dramatic encounters, the reality is sweaty leathers and aching limbs

 

[66tim99]

I asked myself why I pack two camping chairs when there are two perfectly good ones neatly stored in the tailgate. I take an electric heater when there’s a diesel heater under the floor. I take a two ring electric hob when there’s two unused gas rings in the kitchen area and I take a camping table. Almost forgotten there’s a table in the sliding door. Didn’t take the cozy cover or the windscreen cover ( again why have a windscreen cover when there are built in screens? ) Then I moan there’s no room in the boot.

Why indeed?!

 

[Erbster]

samish experience bought last year mainly weekends away and still working it out, thought about getting alittle pup tent to accomodate towbar bike rack and bits n bobs as just stayed on IOW FOR 3 nights a pup tent would have made it easier to pop of in the van during day, i agree never use upstairs for sleeping so why do i carry heavy materess?

Curious as to why you never use upstairs for sleeping?

 

[andrew bazeley]

I’ve had the Cali Ocean since late 2019 - I know, unlucky! And although we’ve not yet taken it abroad, we’ve done quite a few nice trips and feel very grateful given it was a dream come true! But we did a classic beginner mistake and got a little over-excited on buying stuff.

Now we’re older and wiser. Getting better at packing the van. But also realising we’ve got way too much “stuff” that we need to tone down. Just an inflatable mattress for the bed. Massive comfy chairs that go behind the driver seat. Screens and more screens. Just getting ridiculous. Haha.

Opting for a minimal approach from now on. I mean, we’re not too bad. But we really need to slim down. Going to use the VW blinds for the spring and summer months we reckon. Remove the VW upper mattress and keep the Sea2Summit air mattress up there. Gonna keep The Wool Room topper. And the pillows and duvet. Chairs are going. Unless we go somewhere where we just camp out at and stay put, like Eskdale or The Quiet Site.

I don’t want to get a pop up tent where we dump all our stuff, but that’s what so many of you do, right? Here’s our current setup!

View attachment 80761
My question is, did you go through the same process and what stuff did you tone down? What solutions did you find?

We've had our Cali since 2008, and have never used anything but what was provided in the van (apart from an ISOtop lining upstairs). The chairs, tables, mattresses and other facilities have been just fine. Mind you, we'd been staying away in tents for a few years before all that!

 

[California4x4]

Have a look at the "What Essentials Have You Ditched" thread. Less is more. We now have empty cupboards!

I hate the search function on this forum. When I search for what you have put in quotes, I get your comment in this thread only. Can you link it please?

 

[ThomasHJ]

here's the thread: https://vwcaliforniaclub.com/thread...ories-have-you-since-ditched-overboard.40277/

 

[Anthony1]

We've had our Cali since 2008, and have never used anything but what was provided in the van (apart from an ISOtop lining upstairs). The chairs, tables, mattresses and other facilities have been just fine. Mind you, we'd been staying away in tents for a few years before all that!

I understand that, but if we have EHU we use an electric kettle, toaster, hot plate and heater. Bearing mind some sites are all EHUs I want my money's worth.

How do you make toast without an electric toaster? I bought one of those things you put on the gas ring - just about acceptable, but slow and uneven.

 

[Amarillo]

Having spent six weeks travelling around China with nothing more than a 25L backpack, and several multi week bike packing tours, I am well used to packing light. Unfortunately, Clare is not, and wants two or three spares of everything. But things are improving bit by bit, and we have packing more or less under control now.

 

[WelshGas]

Curious as to why you never use upstairs for sleeping?

I
We have never slept upstairs. We live in a bungalow for the last 30yrs. Upstairs is for the grandchildren. Besides I like my morning cuppa in bed.

 

[Anthony1]

Having spent six weeks travelling around China with nothing more than a 25L backpack, and several multi week bike packing tours, I am well used to packing light. Unfortunately, Clare is not, and wants two or three spares of everything. But things are improving bit by bit, and we have packing more or less under control now.

I understand that, my wife take half her wardrobe and I'm not much better and I took have undertaken some long backpacking type trips - London - Singapore, London to Kathmandu etc I am familiar with lighweight travel but isn't it always the case, if you have space one will fill it.

I reckon if we moved from our 4 bed bungalow to a 10 bed mansion, within a year or two all rooms would be full to bursting.

I also like a bit of self sufficiency, ie tools, spares, sand mats and tow rope, even theough we are 4 Motion and have breakdown cover. If I get a puncture in the Scottish Highlands of Norway, i would rather change the wheel myself than wait two hours. Belt and braces.