The title of this should probably be, ‘what I bought for Katy next’, but as this is an homage to the books that Katy is named after, which I still need to read again, I will leave the title as it is.

As you may know, I belong to several campervan groups on Facebook, mainly ones for women travelling on their own. I have used my original van purchases blog post several times for people who are starting out, and people have found it useful, so I thought it would be a good idea to do an update post in readiness for this season.

Often people like to look at links to where I got things from, and as links are difficult to put in posts, and often not allowed, I thought that I would do a new post. I did a little update last autumn after my first 2 months in the van, so this can serve as a before the 4 months and first Europe trip post. By the way I am not sponsored, neither do I get any commission for these items, links are just in case you would find them useful.

Van structure and decoration

The basic van has not changed much since the first post, apart from the addition of the flower stickers to cover up the ouch, and a very appropriate sticker from one of my favourite songwriters, Jess Silk.

Katy has a couple more stickers to be added, with her name and another one of my favourite quotes.I will take some more pictures of those at one of my next camps. The quote sticker and this band one were made by Draycott Decals, who my sister uses for all her custom ones.

I have also put two layers of foam carpet underneath the boot carpet, to smooth out the feel of the boot flooring ridges. I bought theses from Aldi, but you can get them from most DIY stores and they just jigsaw together.

I did buy some very gorgeous seat covers to make her look even prettier and I love them. These were from Amazon and were £35. They are a really nice velour type fabric rather than nylon, so very comfortable.

I also bought a thin net curtain and expandable curtain pole from The Range. I fix the pole to the van ceiling with my magnetic hooks and it works really well for a bit of privacy or keeping out flies when I have the back doors open.

Storage solutions

After trialling several different storage solutions for clothes etc, and realising that I pack far too much, I have narrowed it down to just two of the fabric storage cubes, the original blue one from Amazon, and another grey one that my sister wasn’t using, originally from Dunelm. You can see them both in the pictures below. The grey one picture is from when I was trialling things at my sister’s house, and the blue one shows the van in day mode without the kitchen in it. More on that later.

The little airline lockers you see in the above picture on the right are brilliant for storage, I have food in the left and toiletries in the right.

I use the space above the front seats for my sleeping bag and coats, so that they are accessible from inside the van.

The fabric storage boxes sit on top of the two grey plastic storage tubs that I bought from The Range, which fit into the footwells of where the passenger seats would be. I haven’t done a fixed floor yet, maybe I will for next year, but for now this works well.

In the grey plastic storage bins I have room for all my kitchen stuff if I need to pack it away. I have found that it is fine travelling with things in the camping kitchen, as long as I pack it tightly enough, and I usually pad it with one of my fleece blankets for longer journeys.

There is plenty of storage in this camping kitchen for everything, I have two collapsible plastic bowls, all cooking stuff, crockery and cutlery and a cubby for my crafting stuff. Excuse the mess in the picture below but that is what it looks life in real life!

I also have a soft cool bag behind the kitchen, again from The Range. I chose this one as it is on wheels, if I want to take it shopping, and as it is squishy fits better into the limited space there.

The front passenger footwell is where I keep the little folding table and chairs, the window blinds, and a few other essential car supplies. There is a surprising amount of room there and I keep the seat free for other storage such as my day rucksack.

New purchases for this summer

Although I have the camping kitchen, and the small folding table I wanted something else for outdoor cooking so I bought this slightly larger table, which slides down the side of the camping kitchen when not in use. I got mine from Go Outdoors but this is similar from Amazon.

I also got this cute little worktop saver from the Poundshop, brilliant for putting my kettle on.

I added a larger collapsible kettle as well, for camping during the colder weather so that I can fill hot water bottles and I love it. Again it was from Amazon.

I also got a little toaster for my gas stove, and treated myself to a small Ridgemonkey, which I love for making toasted sandwiches. I am looking forward to trying out more things in the Ridgemonkey this summer as I have gained so much inspiration from the Ridgemonkey Recipes Facebook group. Mine is the compact one and it is the perfect size for one person.

The latest purchase has been a collapsible toilet, for emergency use when I am in France and Spain, as most of the time I will be staying on campsites. I have not tried it out yet but the different toilet solutions are a popular topic of discussion on our Facebook forums 😉

Thoughts going forward

I think I have now got just about everything I need and am happy with the flexibility that the layout and equipment gives me. I like having the option to move the kitchen outside to cook when it is hot.

That gives me more space inside the van, where I can sit in my little reading nook in the shade.

For the moment I am still happy using my small tent as a storage awning. I am still looking at other types of awning to fit onto the back of the van but they are very expensive at the moment, up to £700. I have bought a new throw from the market here for £5 and will be trialling that this summer so will take some more pictures of how that works over the back doors.

The tent also gives me the ability to just book into sites as a tent and car, and to sleep in it comfortably if needed as I still have my inflatable mattress. That will be useful for one of the festivals that I am going to this year, as they only allow officially converted vans in the campervan field. Some campsites do object to micro campers so I like having the option of both. I have never had any problems with the van at the Caravan and Camping Club sites but know other people have at other sites.

I have all of the lovely things in Katy as well to make her feel like home, my cushions and hangings, and my new tin. I am really pleased with how the lap quilt has turned out and will take lots of pictures of her looking pretty for you soon.

I hope that you have enjoyed this little update. I will be back soon with more Spanish fun in the sun updates for you. Until then have fun, take care, stay safe and thanks for visiting.