We are used to spending Christmas with family. Last year, though, we were on the road in Aotearoa living out of our van, Vandalf. So our Christmas in a van looked a little different. We wanted to talk about how we celebrated the day as a couple and how vanlife doesn’t mean you should miss out on holiday celebrations. They just look a little different in a van.
If you are reading this blog post as we posted it, then MERRY CHRISTMAS!! You probably know we always post a new blog post on Mondays and it just so happened this one is Christmas Day. So we figured we better stick to the theme and talk about Christmas. Here are our tips to make your next Christmas in a van, Spendingfun and eco-friendly for next year! You can always get started on some of them right now too, though!
Be sure to check out our Instagram to see how we’re celebrating Christmas!
The Tree
Obviously, you can’t fit a traditional Christmas tree in a van. I mean, you could if you didn’t want space for anything else, but it’s not overly practical. Our solution was to make a small Christmas tree that could sit on our table. We had some wood leftover from our first van build in Trev (let’s not delve into that story on Christmas though) and decided to utilise it by making the tree you see above!
Nathan made the tree whilst Tiff worked on the crochet and macrame decorations. After all, there is no reason we can’t have an eco-friendly Christmas in a van! You won’t see any plastic in this Christmas tree. Here is the pattern Tiff found on Pinterest to make the crochet heart ornaments to get you started. They make a great Christmas present or Christmas Day craft project too!
The Lights
We were a little naughty and got ourselves some Christmas lights! Probably not the most eco-friendly decision, but we will keep them for years to come. And don’t worry, they are at least solar powered. We hung them up in the van for Christmas Eve and then left them up for a good few weeks to really enjoy the festive spirit! It was nice to have these up to make it really feel like Christmas.
It was easy to use solar lights indoors as the outside is always so close when you live in a van. We poked the little solar panel bit out the window and let it sit in the sun during the day. We loved decorating our apartment for Christmas, so we wanted to make sure we didn’t miss out on that now that we live in a van. We even brought our stockings with us to hang up as well.
The Presents
If you’re living your vanlife dreams chances are you are on a bit of a budget too. Even if you aren’t on a budget, there isn’t a lot of room in a van for ‘things’, meaning you are a little limited on the present front. We normally don’t do presents between ourselves but felt that Christmas without presents was a little weird so we changed our rule this year. We set a price limit of $100 and a space limit as well. Gifts that we got each other had to fit inside our stockings.
This was, so we didn’t have to wrap the presents (wrapping paper isn’t the most eco friendly) and also so we would fit them in our van. Our other rule to keep it extra eco-friendly was that the gifts had to be as plastic free as possible and be something useful. No gag gifts or novelty items here! We ended up with a new game for Nathan, a book for Tiff (obviously) and an eye mask each, hand made in Taranaki (where we stayed for our Christmas in a van).
The Food
Not sure about you, but our Christmas revolves around the food we eat on the day. For Tiff, it isn’t Christmas without her Oma’s avocado dip and some freshly cooked prawns to dip into it. For Nathan, it isn’t Christmas without his dad’s trifle. We both love a good roast ham on Christmas Day and plenty of delicious salads. The menu has to be a little less lavish when there are only two of you to eat it though. We made the most of the above by picking two key salad recipes and reducing these down by at least half.
We then ate leftover Christmas ham and salad for a few days afterwards as well. If food is pivotal to your Christmas celebrations have a think about the one or two items that really make it feel like Christmas and make those for the day. Just remember you’re making them for fewer people and you don’t want to have any food waste if you can’t eat it before it goes off. Alternatively, invite a fellow van lifer in the campsite to come and eat some of it with you!
The New Traditions
You’re in a new living situation, so why not make a new Christmas tradition? The beauty of a Christmas by yourselves in the van is that there’s none of that stress or pressure of a family Christmas. No-one to impress with your fancy food or perfectly decorated house. No need to stay up prepping on Christmas Eve, as there’s only the two of you!
We decided why not go out for dinner on Christmas Eve? This is something we’ve never done because we’ve either been too busy or we’ve started Christmas celebrations early so that we could fit in all the different families we need to see on the day. It was so nice to go out to a fancy(ish) meal on Christmas Eve. It felt weirdly liberating to be stress free and enjoying the sunset as we ate a meal we didn’t have to cook, sitting at the harbour in Taranaki.
Spending Christmas in a van is a little different but just as enjoyable!
We really enjoyed our Christmas staying put in the one campsite and doing exactly what we wanted to do. Don’t get us wrong, we love Christmas with our families as well. It was just nice to have a Christmas on our terms. We video chatted with our families on the day and felt a little sad not being there with all the fun. We also really missed the family naughty secret Santa!
But we loved doing up Vandalf for us, drinking together and doing our Christmas Puzzle (Something we’ve done for a while is start a puzzle Christmas Eve or Christmas Day). We think the key to enjoying a quiet Christmas in a van is to keep up some of your usual Christmas traditions and add a few little extra ones to make the day together special. We hope you enjoy your holidays however you celebrate them whether you are in a van today or not! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from The Road Less Written!
Keen for more inspo? Be sure to check out:
- 10 Game Changing Vanlife Money Saving Tips
- Day Hike – Ngā Tapuwae O Toi – Whakatane Footsteps of Toi
- 6 Unmissable Short Walks in Waikato
