Cooking on the road – getting started

Food is more than fuel for us — it’s how we mark the day, explore a place, and keep a sense of home inside the van. A month in, we’ve found a rhythm that works for our nomadic kitchen.

How we eat

We tend to eat once a day, usually early evening, with the occasional snack in between. It wasn’t by design, it’s simply emerged as a comfortable pattern.simplifies life in the van — it does mean fewer dishes, less faff, and more time to savour one proper meal. We drink three to four decaff oat lattes per day. These are a necessary not a luxury – to forego the coffee maker would seem like attrition. We have built it into the cupboard – it stays!

Cooking in a small space

• Equipment:
  • I tend to use only one of the three gas burners to conserve space and fuel.
  • We have an induction hob that has seen service a couple of times. I only use it when on shore power.
  • The microwave has so far seen little service but to put a bit of heat back into food ready for service.
  • OurTefal Pain et delice bread maker produces a lovely wholemeal spelt loaf. It takes minutes to load the ingredients and we have fresh bread ready in 2.5 hours.
  • A surprise star of the kitchen is the vacuum food sealer. It’s allowed me to keep veg longer (blanching required) and is a useful way of sealing food waste to stop odours affecting the interior of the van – it’s a small space, smells wreak havoc!
• Space:
  • There is space to prepare and cook in the galley area itself but as we do not use the dining table and bench configuration for eating at, I use that for food prep and cooking.
  • We purchased a cheap washable shower curtain that I hang on the front of the bedroom curtains and around the dining area to stop food splashes spoiling the van. Simple and a bit ugly, but effective.
  • Everything is stored away for transit. I only get out the equipment I need for that meal and clean and store it the moment it’s not required further, this allows me to manage the space efficiently.
• Ingredients:
  • It’s obvious that we can’t have all the ingredients we would have at home. The trick is to stock the ones you need most. We didn’t know which ones we’d need when we left, but after a month I have a better idea.
  • Big bags and containers are generally cheaper per unit to purchase, but there’s a storage issue. We need to store on the basis of what we are going to eat, not have a selection of pantry goods to cook anything at anytime – we just don’t have the room.
  • Our ethos is to buy locally produced food wherever possible, using supermarkets only when we can’t source locally. Food is generally much fresher and it is nice to give something to the community as we travel.

Local finds

• Skidby: A Sunday roast at the Half Moon pub reminded us that not every meal has to come from the van.
• Plumgarths farm shop complex, Cumbria: The artisan bakery’s chocolate-malted sourdough was extraordinary. Half became a loaf, the other half became a bread-and-butter pudding with chocolate orange ganache. A triumph.
• Yorkshire & Nidd Gorge: Local eggs, fresh veg, and the chance to cook simple but satisfying suppers after long walks.

Food as routine

Cooking is part of the daily rhythm. A way to pause between drives and walks, to sit down properly. The van fills with the smell of onions softening, bread toasting, or chocolate melting. The routines around food matter as much as the food itself. I will not compromise on what food I can produce in this van.

Drinks on the road

Beyond coffee, we have a soda stream – its main purpose to turn water into tonic for our evening G&Ts (mine’s alcohol free).

We haven’t been drinking as much water as we did in the house. We both need to hydrate more.

What we’ve learned so far

• One good meal a day works for us — and for the van.
• Cooking local makes the journey richer than any restaurant.
• A small kitchen can handle big flavours if you manage the space effectively.
• Food is memory — circus popcorn, pub roasts, sourdough, and the first proper oat latte of the day.

Food and drink are how we explore as much as where we park. They turn a car park stop into an evening, and a loaf of bread into a story. If Our Third Life is about living deliberately, then every meal cooked and shared is a step along the way.