Vanlife is such an amazing way to see a country, but we can’t all buy our own van and spend as long as we want tripping around whilst we work. Rental vans are a great way to experience vanlife for your holiday, but they do lack a little of the Instagrammable beauty you see in permanent vans decked out by their owners. To help you easily make your rental van Instagram worthy, we’ve come up with some simple tips below. These will make your rental van feel more like your own and help to turn the space into your home for the time that you have it.
Don’t worry, none of these tips will have you losing your rental deposits, either. They are all super easy to do and won’t leave a scratch! So let’s turn your rental van into the Instagram van of your dreams!Â
Be sure to check out our Instagram to see more vanlife inspiration!
Pack A Blanket
Bonus points if you have the kind of blanket that can double as a picnic rug. Adding a touch of comfort from home will make your rental feel less like a rental. You’ll have a cute snuggly blanket to take photos with instead of the generic hotel style bedding you’ll get in your van.
Plus, it gets cold at night in vans. We’ve lent out extra bedding to people in rentals before because the rentals just don’t give you enough blankets. So if you have the space in your luggage, pack a cute cosy blanket. Trust us when we say you won’t regret it!Â
Fairy Lights
Yes, it does seem silly to bring fairy lights with you to put up in a rental van, but hear us out. On one hand, these are a great source of battery powered lighting. Rentals don’t often have great solar, so you want to save your batteries to run your fridge and charge your phone. And on the other hand, fairy lights are super cute! Just make sure you also pack something to put the lights up with. We’ve witnessed people trying to put lights up in their rental with nothing but blue tack, and it looked really hard.
We recommend using 3M light hooks to stick to the van walls. Not only do they work really well, they also come off without leaving any damage. Plus, you can use the plastic hooks at home and put your fairy lights up around the house when you get back (you just need more of the adhesive, which you can buy separately).Â
Cute Mug
I (Tiff) absolutely hates having the wrong kind of mug in the morning. I want a nice big mug with a great feel when you hold it. I absolutely do not want to drink my tea out of a plastic mug or a stained generic white mug. The best thing about having our home with us when we stay at work provided accommodation is having my favourite mugs on hand. It’s so nice not using hotel mugs.
The same goes for rental van mugs. They aren’t great. Pack yourself your favourite mug, or if you love a good souvenir then get yourself a souvenir mug early on and use that instead of the boring generic mugs! Not only will you get a bigger cup of tea or coffee in the morning, but you’ll get some super cute pics at the amazing locations you’re camping out at. Then you get to take home your mug and all the memories attached to it.
Sun Catchers
These are Tiff’s new-found favourite addition to our van. The best thing about them is they are reusable and super small. So even if you don’t have room for anything extra in your luggage, you will definitely have room for these! They stick to windows with a little bit of water and come off by peeling away.
They won’t leave any marks and best of all you can take them home and put them on your windows to bring some rainbow magic to your everyday life. We have one on the window above our bed and on the window next to the table. When the sun shines through, you’ll get some epic rainbows playing all over the inside of your van.Â
Make A Polaroid Wall
This one does depend on how long you are spending in your van, but it’s super easy to do and look so cute! Pack some blue tack and your Polaroid camera or printer and take some happy snaps as you are travelling around in your van. Instead of just putting your cute pics in a journal to take home, display them inside your van so you can enjoy them whilst you travel around. You can even add the odd postcard or cute table coaster to the wall to make it your own personal travelling wall journal. It’s like displaying your junk journal before you put it all together as your travel journal back home.
Bonus!
Get yourself a dashboard mascot! We have Piwi the Kiwi who has been coming on adventures with us for years. Once we leave Aotearoa we might find ourselves a little Aussie mascot to come on our adventures too! Choose a little stuffed toy you already have or get yourself a souvenir from the country you are visiting and include them in your adventures and photos. It’s a little silly but a lot of fun!
Keen for more inspo? Be sure to check out:
- How Eco-Friendly is Vanlife?
- Essential Road Trip Tips for an Unforgettable Journey!
- Vanlife in New Zealand: How to Start and What it Costs
Great tips!!
Thank you! Are you planning a Campervan trip?