Howdy! After a couple of weeks away from the van I was able to sneak away and spend some time at the lake last weekend. In my time away from the camera I’ve purchased several essential items for the van and to be honest “essential” is a bit strong. Some of these things are handy to have, some are useful to own, and some are just fun. Regardless, I thought I’d share each of them with you.
Right as I’m writing this, it seems it would make more sense to write individual reviews of each of these items so that I can talk about them in a bit more detail, so I think that’s what I’ll do over the next few days. In the meantime, here’s a quick list of the things I purchased: a portable tire inflater, two USB rechargeable power banks, a new digital TV antenna, USB rechargeable hand warmers, a new electric kettle (the one I got from Goodwill was broken), two metal coffee mugs (to go with the electric kettle), a rearview mirror dashcam, and a pair of collapsible camping stools.
Portable Tire Inflater: https://amzn.to/49atX8U
Power Bank (50,000mAh, solar): https://amzn.to/4eKQBpw
Power Bank (10,000mAh, magnetic): https://amzn.to/4fDWaan
Digital TV Antenna: https://amzn.to/411jnyS
Rechargeable Hand Warmers: https://amzn.to/3Ziy27x
Electric Kettle: https://amzn.to/3Ziy27x
Coffee Mugs: https://amzn.to/3Zh2crI
Rear View Mirror Dashcam: https://amzn.to/495r60F
Collapsible Stools: https://amzn.to/3Zn5ha0
The strangest and most questionable of the purchases were these collapsible stools. Collapsed, they shrink down to approximately the size and shape (but not weight) of a weightlifting weight. Extracted, they look more like the Stanley Cup. Looking at that picture, you’re probably thinking the same thing my wife (and secretly, also me) was thinking: there’s no way that thing is going to hold your weight.
(You’ll have to watch the video to find out, hee hee.)
It’s easy to go overboard when buying things. Amazon makes it easy to click a button whenever we see things we want and do their best to shrink the amount of time we have to second guess those purchase decisions. While I’m pretty happy with all of these things, I realize that the van only has so much storage space and eventually, decisions will have to be made as to what lives full time in the van, what comes along occasionally… and what ends up collecting dust at home in the garage.