Trip Hacks

 I am absolutely no expert when it comes to #vanlife, although it has become my default Halloween costume for the past 2 years.  Good friends like to tell me its not actually dressing up when I just wear my regular clothing and add a flower crown and hold the #vanlife book.  But, I digress.. 

We are half way with this adventure and there are a few hacks along the way that have made our lives easier.  If one of them could possibly help to make your next cross country road trip better, then let an angel get it’s wings and we all win.  I would love to know how many of you just did a spit take and screamed “HA!” at the idea of cramming into an RV and traveling across the US with a kid.  But, for those of you who get leeettle butterflies at the thought, read on!

Food

 We have been eating really well because we also have a full stove to play with, so we do mixed veg with sausage or chicken cutlets we made and freezer from home.  Lunches I keep easy so I can make wraps as we go, and chips and chips and chips (Bickel, Amy and Mer know what’s up). Also, it is the perfect excuse to down an entire box of Mac and cheese, per person.  What?? You’re camping!  

But, for Noah, I knew there would be moments when we would need to just keep driving and I didn’t want to pull off on the side of the road to cater to his every need.  Before we left I made big batches of the following and froze them in little silicone muffin tins, then popped them out and have big freezer bags full of them:

-Mac and cheese with finely chopped spinach and veggie dogs (you cant taste the spinach, please don’t tell him what he’s eating)

-Rice balls with mixed in peas and carrots 

-Egglets with spinach and cheese

-muffins with veggies mixed in and blueberries to mask it all 

These have been a life saver and everything is portioned, so I just pop it in the ‘wave and we’re good to go.  I am definitely waiting for him to tell me he’s sick of these freezer bites, but maybe then we will be East and Michael’s fam can stuff him full of delish treats, as they love to do...ahhh chicken cutlet sandwiches and pizza...

These popsicles came as a gift from Mama Sunday (the OG, Laura) and they are phenom because you don’t have to freeze all at once, plus they are organic, blah blah.  

Sleep

I bought a tiny travel noise machine that charges off USB and runs all night off a charge.  It’s a lifesaver because Noah is used to it and it helps drown out neighboring campers.  Noah is also sleeping in his own bed in the camper (I got no time to be kicked in the face while sharing his bed) so we created a makeshift pack n play using a couch cushion from the camper and built a wall to keep him from falling out.  Gotta get crafty to save that sleep!

Entertainment for his majesty 

I threw screen time rules out the window, so when he has been in his seat for too long, and I just can NOT anymore, I give him an old IPhone that my mom doesn’t use anymore.  It’s perfect because I downloaded a ton of Bob Marley, Phish, Graeteful Dead, Rafi and Elmo on Spotify and he can DJ himself into oblivion.  There’s no service on it, so I don’t worry about some random former coworker texting me, “um, did you just try to FaceTime me?  what’s up??”  Noah is a master at phantom texting and FaceTime.

None of these are groundbreaking, but they are fun things making our life on the road easier!  Now, please tag me as your favorite influencer and I will be taking all sponsorship requests through Lady’s Instagram account.