The Full-Time Van Life Couple’s Rainy Day Survival Guide

It is easy to romanticize a day in the life of a full-time van life couple. Beautiful views, new and exciting places, cozy meals and cups of coffee in eccentric mugs, it’s just like every instagram post you have ever seen right?
Well, it CAN be all those things, but it can also rain. That means you are trapped in a 72 square foot box that houses two full grown humans for sometimes more than 24 hours straight and when one thing is damp, everything is damp.
This post is a survival guide for any van life couple that wants to still enjoy each other’s company at the end of the storm. Read on to explore tips and tricks for staying dry, entertainment options and the must haves for keeping your sanity intact.

Keeping The Van Dry

Nothing puts a damp-er (see what I did there) on being confined to a tiny space more than also dealing with things being wet inside. Taking a few simple steps to manage moisture in the van is paramount to successfully navigating a rain day.

Shoes Off

When you live in a van full time, everything has to have its place. If rain or mud is a factor it’s so much more important that everything wet from outside has a specific place on the inside where it won’t get other things wet. Moisture is like a virus in a van, it spreads FAST.
We have a super absorbent doormat just inside the sliding door that shoes can be taken off on. Alternatively, we enter through the cab and leave shoes on the front rubber mats. Only sock feet allowed in the living space on rain days. There is nothing worse than stepping in a puddle in your socks, am I right?

Designated Drying Rack

Having a designated area to hang wet clothes, rain jackets etc is crucial, not only for rain days but for good van life practices. We have a lot of wool clothing and a drying rack is a must for hanging those items to dry. Hooks by the door (over Eric’s left shoulder in photo above) allow us to hang the wettest items directly over the doormat to catch any drips.

Air Movement

In our van, we do not have a vent that can open if it is raining out. This is definitely on the list of things we would do different in our next build, but for now we have this rechargeable fan that we utilize for faster drying and circulation in the van to help minimize the discomfort.

Entertainment Options

When the weather isn’t great, you need a distraction of course. How can you amp up the cozy factor and have some fun when the weather is adamantly trying to get you down? Our solutions include games, movies, perhaps a little work and good food. Sometimes we even try for a “no spend day” when we are “stuck” in the van.

Two Player Games

Personally we are word nerds. Our Scrabble board has a permanent running tally of wins on the lid of the box. Eric is well in the lead at this time, I am sore to report, but I have hope that I may close the gap someday soon.
We also carry a few other two player games with us to switch it up since Scrabble does take a lot of brain power.

• Bananagrams: A more compact word game option if Scrabble doesn’t tickle your fancy
• Deck of playing cards: Rummy, Sevens, or War!
• Uno: Who hasn’t heard of Uno? Super compact fun game to have on hand.
• Farkle: An easy dice game to tuck in your games cupboard or basket.

Movie Or Show Marathon

If you are somewhere that you have an internet signal, a good old fashioned Netflix and chill could be in order. We do not have an outside internet source like Starlink, we only use our Visible phone service as a hotspot to stream. That means we have internet wherever we have a Verizon signal which is just about everywhere. You can’t beat the price of Visible either, for $25-$35 a month you get unlimited talk, text, and hotspot which is unmatched by any other carrier that we have found.

In Van Chores

A day stuck inside isn’t all bad, you can always check a couple things off of the procrastinators to-do list. Rehanging that picture that fell down a month ago, cleaning the interior vent screen or maybe reorganizing a cabinet. These little things can easily get pushed off on days when you want to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather so take the opportunity to tidy up and you won’t regret it!

Cook A Cozy Meal

Rummage through the pantry and pop something you love in the Instant Pot like a delectable pasta or hearty chili to take the edge off the cold, warm your heart and fill your belly.
It is called comfort food for a reason, and making yourself as comfortable as possible in a small space when it’s wet out is a must to survive with your sanity.

Rainy Day Van Life Couple Outings

We don’t always stay in the van the whole day, sometimes we go on a rainy day excursion to break up the monotony. We have a few go to options when it comes to rainy day activities that are a nice treat when the weather is tricky.

Museums

We are not only word nerds, we are suckers for a good museum. Natural history, science, space, local history, oddities, antiquities, art, you name it, we probably would enjoy it. We actually received a reciprocal membership card as a gift from my folks and it is the BEST for full time travelers.
The membership allows entry into hundreds of museums and botanical gardens in every single state in the US. Just search NARM museums in your state to find a location where a membership can be purchased. We got ours at Peace River Botanical Gardens in Florida, but there is very likely a location near you.

Coffee Shop

What could be more cozy than a couple hours at a little coffee shop, sipping lattes, researching where you might go next or just reading a book while some eclectic music drifts over the speakers. We used to have an espresso machine in our brick and mortar but now just stick to pour over coffee in the van so a pastry and a latte are an excellent treat on a chilly rainy day.

Errands

If you are lucky enough to have errand day line up with a rainy day you hit the van life jackpot. Grocery shopping, laundry, trash disposal, oil change or a dang old mall walk for funsies can all be done out of the rain.
Getting the everyday mundane stuff out of the way when the weather isn’t great for adventuring is a win-win! It feels like a superpower to get all the things done in the same day, I especially feel that when I am running support for Eric when he is on a big bike ride and I am all by my onesies. That is all in another post about how I run SAG on those big adventures. Be sure to sign up for our FREE monthly newsletter so you don’t miss any of our tips, tricks, or freebies.

Hit The Gym

Our first year of full-time van life consisted of learning how to navigate a new to us lifestyle and took up most of our time. As we enter our second year, we are savvier, seasoned and basically pro’s at navigating van life full time. We are zeroing in on our fitness goals in year two with all the logistics out of the way so that we can continue our health journey, climb higher and ride farther.
We have a planet fitness membership which we utilize for indoor workouts and showers and we definitely have found that getting our bodies moving always makes for a better day no matter the weather.

Movie Date

Taking in a film with a big bucket of buttery popcorn is a favorite for us when we have some weather to wait out. Eric doesn’t like popcorn and out of respect for his aversion (however ridiculous it may be, who doesn’t like popcorn?) I try not to make it in our small van space. This being the case you can imagine how excited I get for a movie date, because I get my POPCORN! We also appreciate a seat that isn’t our driver or passenger seat for a couple hours, especially the recliner kind. Who knew the one thing we would miss most from a conventional home is a couch or a seating option that isn’t also your car seat.

Sanity Checklist

When it comes down to it, there are a few products that are going to make your life a heck of a lot easier when you are living full-time van life as a couple.
It can’t be helped, at one time or another the mere sound of the other person chewing (not even open mouth or gross, just normal closed mouth chew, doing nothing wrong) or watching a video on their phone is going to drive you up the wall. The following items will be relationship savers at minimum, lifesavers for some.

These earplugs are super convenient in a variety of situations, loud traffic, someone’s kid having a meltdown at the grocery store or maybe you just need to not be able to hear your partner brushing their teeth with an electric toothbrush (aka: jackhammer) and flossing with what sounds like an ice pick or else you will jump out the window. They allow for clear speech recognition but take the edge off all the rest. These little beauties will calm your nervous system and let you still be present, perfect.

There is nothing more distracting than someone watching something on their phone just out of eyeshot, you can hear it but you can’t really hear it and it is so frustrating. Do yourself and your bestie van mate a favor and grab some wireless headphones so you can explore your own interests without subjecting the other to it. Be sure to send them the funniest reels of course, but don’t make them half hear the screening process.

In our van, we each have a small bookshelf since we still like to have a hard copy option when reading, but we both also have our own kindle. You can store hundreds of books on them, the battery life is incredible and with the anti-glare screen you can read anywhere. There are also numerous options to get titles for FREE through programs like bookbub, amazon first reads, and Goodreads giveaways.

The Wrap Up

Rainy days as a full-time van life couple are a package deal. You get the beautiful sound of raindrops on a metal roof in cozy quarters with all your favorite things at arms length, but lets be real, you are trapped in a metal box, everything is kinda damp and if they take one more loud bite you might end up on the news. By setting realistic expectations and giving each other some grace, you can keep the romance of van life alive without losing your sanity.
Use the tips and tools provided in this survival guide to map out your rainy day game plan. Some friendly competition, body movement, a special outing and a favorite dinner are sure to be a recipe for success when the next storm rolls in.