There are so many things available to make day to day life inside the RV easier. From cooking to water management to staying organized and more, here are the things we wouldn’t want to live without along with links to those products (or similar) on Amazon.
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Just about everybody has heard about the Instant Pot and most RVers we know have made this a regular part of their meal prep. We use ours regularly to prepare large batches of meats like chicken breasts, pork, and more. We then divide those batches into single dinner portions and stock the freezer with tasty shredded chicken and pork for tacos, wraps, salads, quesadillas . . . you get the idea :-).
Adding accessory sets makes the IP even more versatile. We store these two sets in a bag right next to the IP in the bottom of our pantry.
Christina was even able to make Thanksgiving dinner for our first Thanksgiving in the RV, and the IP made that possible ! See how in our VIDEO.
We use these mixing bowls almost everyday !! The non skid bases make them stable and easy to use when mixing all kinds of foods, the lids seal very tight for storage in the fridge, and the stainless finish is nice enough to use them as serving bowls. They nest completely within the space of the largest bowl, which minimizes the storage space required. They are so versatile which is the name of the game in RV life.
There always times when you need a colander / strainer, and this set has the advantage of being collapsible which saves a bunch of space. We’ve shown them here with a can of tomatoes for scale.
Bonavita 1.7L Variable Temperature Kettle
Stainless Steel Vacuum Carafe,1.5 L
V60 Glass Coffee Dripper, Size 03
Making coffee in an RV involves some different considerations than making coffee in a normal sticks and brick house. We gave some thought on what would work best for us and did a bunch of “research” — i.e., YouTube watching and Google searching on different methods for making coffee. Let’s just say there’s an overwhelming amount of information out there, but after sifting through numerous different methods, we decided to devise our own version of the pour-over method.
We were able to find everything we needed for our method of coffee making on Amazon, and the links to what we use are provided here.
Brita Large 10 Cup Water Filter Pitcher with 1 Standard Filter, BPA Free Everyday, White
Brita Water Filter Pitcher Advanced Replacement Filters, 3 Count
We do have a whole “house” water filtration system on the RV, but with being hooked up to so many different water supplies, it’s nice to have a little extra filtration for your drinking water. We use this even more in the summer time to keep our water cold in the fridge rather than getting water from the tap which is pretty warm during the summer months.
We like to keep a few extra filters on hand in case we need a replacement when we’re somewhere we can’t get shipments quickly.
Speaking of water, conserving water is a high priority when you boondock as much as we do. We replaced our original shower head with the Oxygenics model shown here. The hose that comes with the Oxygenics is plastic and quite stiff, so we chose to keep our existing hose. This shower head reduces water use while providing a perception of higher water pressure. The “smart pause valve” is push button activated which makes it easy to operate with soapy hands and your eyes closed.
We have a shelf for shower products, but it wasn’t big enough. We initially purchased two dispenser units (one for each side of the shower head). Unfortunately one fell off the shower wall in transit and broke. We have been using just the remaining dispenser unit, and 10 months in, it’s working very well and staying attached to the shower wall. It comes with built-in hooks for hanging additional shower accessories. The only limitation we’ve observed is that the dispenser will not work well with products that are thick in consistency — like conditioner.
Another symptom of hooking up to different water supplies is that some sources of water are harder than others and leave terrible spots and hard-water deposits on the shower doors. The squeegee (shown in lower right of the picture) works well and keeps our shower doors sparkling without a lot of elbow grease needed.
This mirror is a great solution to weak eyes in less than ideal lighting. The light ring around the mirror really helps and is battery powered – so no unsightly cords to deal with. It has the advantage of being equipped with a very strong suction cup that stays put even in transit, and the gooseneck provides for good adjustability.
It’s nice to warm up our floors with a couple of throw rugs, but we didn’t like the slipping and sliding. We found these grippers which have been working great for several months now. They stay adhered to the back side of our rugs and keep the rugs steady but we can still pick them up to clean and on moving days.
Christina does a lot of work on her laptop and likes to keep it set-up inside for comfort and easy access. She uses the same kind of folding table we use outside as her desk / workstation. The adjustable height provides good ergonomic comfort. The size and L-shaped legs allow us to slide the desk against the driver’s seat when not in use OR under the dinette table when we’re in transit. We pretty it up with a table cloth.
Closet space in any RV comes at a premium, and these velvet clothes hangers are great at making the most of our hanging space. They are very low profile and have the added advantage of keeping our clothes from sliding off the hanger.